“We would start to boil some potatoes, and if the Japanese police came after us, we would bury the potatoes in the ground and run away. It would be so cold that by the time we got back, the potatoes would be frozen solid in the ground. The only thing we could do was dig up the potatoes, thaw them, and then turn them into powder, so we could make noodles out of them.”

       “Mr. President,” I said, “you are an expert on frozen potato noodles.”

       “That’s right. They taste good mixed in bean soup, and they also taste very good if you eat them in sesame soup. It’s a dish that is easy on the digestion, and because potatoes have a tendency to stick together, it is very filling.

       “Also, President Moon,” he continued, “it tastes really good if you do like they do in Ham-gyung Province and take some leaf mustard kimchi, like this, and put it over the noodles. You should try it.”

       I did as he suggested and ate my frozen potato noodles with some leaf mustard kimchi over them. The tasty flavor of the noodles matched well the spicy kimchi and left my stomach feeling light.

       “There are many delicacies in the world,” President Kim said. “I’m not interested in any of those. There’s nothing better than the potato cakes, corn, and sweet potatoes that I used to eat in my hometown.”

       “You and I even share similar tastes in food,” I said. “It’s good that people who share the same homeland can meet like this.”

       “How was it when you visited your hometown?” he asked me.

       “I was filled with many emotions,” I said. “The home where I lived was still there, and I sat in the main room to think about the past. I almost expected to hear the voice of my late mother, calling me. It was an emotional feeling.”

        “I see,” he said. “It shows that our country needs to be unified immediately. I hear that when you were young, you were quite mischievous. Did you have a chance to run around while you were there this time?”