Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 187
Chapter 67. typhoon caused by butterflies
“… … So, you mean that you accepted it as it is and returned to Pyongyang? A hundred listings?”
“Yes, Comrade General Secretary!”
Three days later, Baek Seung-cheol said so in a confident and proud tone to Jeong-hwan, who looked at him with a bewildered face and asked.
As soon as he returned from the DPRK-China joint training in Dandong, he requested an interview with Jeong Hwan, and the story he told was surprising.
The news he heard through Baek Seung-cheol shook his head, but Jung-hwan decided to deal with the things in front of him one by one.
“… … Didn’t you just take the money on the spot and keep your mouth shut?”
“I am not that stupid. Comrade general secretary. The general secretary would have figured it out someday, sooner or later, so why would I walk into my own path to death?”
‘Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve grown my head, didn’t I?’
In response to Jeonghwan’s test-like question, Baek Seung-cheol shook his head as if to say what he saw himself as, and Jung-hwan thought so to himself.
However, given the importance of the matter, it was too early to cast doubts on this level.
“But why didn’t you just refuse on the spot? Could it have been better if I just turned it back and turned it down?”
“Comrade General Secretary, if I had refused right on the spot, wouldn’t the other side have been more wary? I have to make them think I’m subsumed. Just like the general secretary did to Black Venus. Besides, there’s no way I’m the only one who approached and planted the People’s Army. In addition, thanks to this, the introduction of the US-made Apache helicopter passed without much friction.”
“I guess I should. I also don’t think the Ministry of National Security would be reckless enough to approach Baek from the very beginning.”
To Baek Seung-cheol’s answer, “Isn’t it natural?” Jeong-hwan couldn’t help but agree this time too.
The Korea-China relationship is, in essence, a relationship of complete distrust of each other, even though it appears to be a friendship and blood alliance.
China sees North Korea as a breakwater against the South Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance made up of South Korea and Japan, and North Korea sees China as a diplomatic and economically good source of water.
In Pyongyang and Beijing, they did not know that they were escaping from an under-the-ground war between infested spies and double spies in order to dig up each other’s secrets, to detect signs of betrayal and to expand their influence.
And, of course, the other country’s soldiers and high-ranking party officials were the number one target for these spies.
Since Jeong-hwan had no illusions about this kind of relationship between the two countries, his anger did not rage at China’s brazen attempt to bribe the general of a friendly country at the joint training session.
Because right now, he was digging up intelligence on China through Li Jong-su and the General Bureau of Foreign Reconnaissance.
“… … From the perspective of Comrade Baek, how long do you think their tentacles will extend within the Republican Party Army?”
“It’s a real number, only they know it, but there are some people who are suspicious of the left-ranking military officers as well as the generals. If I had to tell you my feelings, it’s the beginning. It started after the Persian Gulf War, but it seems that the number has increased significantly since the last North-South compromise. They must also be seriously suspicious of us.”
“I thought if I could eat this rice and make my stomach full, I would think differently, but I am very disappointed.”
“Because I’m full, I’m not thinking about anything else. When I tasted the capitalist cola in dollars, I became greedy even though I was not greedy when everyone was hungry. There may not be one or two Ganna bastards who think that entrusting their fate to a bigger country than this small republic would be better for protecting themselves… … Most of all, since you have greatly reduced the size of the military over the past 10 years, there must be many reactionaries inside and outside the military who harbor resentment.”
“Rather than a small republic, we will share our destiny with a large country… … I have to say that, that’s right. You have to be born in a big country to make your dreams come true, right? Right now, even these high-spirited CCP party officials must have had their children already brought to the United States or Canada.”
Junghwan smiled bitterly and tapped the desk.
Whether the system is democracy or tyranny, communism or capitalism, a failing country and a failing government have one thing in common.
It is the leadership that has thrown away the sense of responsibility and duty.
Jeonghwan also saw countless people in Korea who forced the people to go to the forefront and fled all their possessions abroad, and the generals who demanded sacrifices for the country from their subordinates but raised their sons to be Americans.
Unfortunately, with globalization and globalization of capital, the movement of manpower and goods between countries has become free, and the number of cockroaches has increased rather than decreased, and North Korea is no exception.
“Then what about the back listing? Have you ever thought that I am useless as a listed comrade who wants to fight against a trading country that is 30 times bigger than Joseon?”
At that time, when Jeonghwan asked again without notice, Baek Seung-cheol, who had been talking leisurely until now,’s face hardened a little.
And Jeonghwan continued speaking with a relaxed voice as if trying to penetrate his innermost feelings, but not missing his reaction and keeping his eyes open one by one.
“I heard that among the great masterpieces of South Korean dignitaries, there are many cases of moving all of their wives and children to the United States, using their position in their homeland to drink sweet water, and then acquiring American citizenship at the right time and living as an American from their children’s generation. China may be inferior to the United States, but if it is in the position of a publicly traded comrade, they can hand over what they want and three generations of descendants will be able to favorably in China… … .”
“… … When I was working as a KGB spy, there was one thing I felt.”
When Baek Seung-cheol opened his mouth heavily, Jeong-hwan remained silent and listened to him.
Just by looking at his sincere attitude, he could tell that the words that would come out of his mouth from now on were something he had been thinking about for a long time.
“… … At the time of recruiting us, the KGB was entangled in providing them with special pleasures and wealth. But what moved my heart even more than that was ‘responsibility’. I will make you a career, if you do as we say, you will be in charge of your bright future. … … I think what the Chinese now say to the weakest in the People’s Army is not much different from what they were back then.”
“… … .”
“By the way, when they lost the war in Afghanistan and things got worse in the Soviet Union, they were the first to abandon us like devoted partners. Even if we didn’t completely believe in them, we never, never dreamed, would throw them away so easily, like scraps of used paper. It was then that I realized something. Traitors are not welcome anywhere in the end.”
Baek Seung-cheol, who has spoken up to this point, said with a serious expression, his eyes flashing, and he said each word with strength.
“It’s a hit in the back, wasn’t one time enough? Even if I sold the Republic once, I’m not a bastard enough to sell twice. How much less is the republic back then and the republic now different in heaven and earth? … … Even the leader of the republic is a different person than that.”
* * *
After the interview, Baek Seung-cheol returned.
Jeonghwan, who was left alone in the secretary’s office where there was no one else, took a cup of coffee with his own hand after a long time and took a sip.
There was also no Hyerim Yoo, who inevitably made coffee by herself, saying, ‘I almost got poisoned while leaving Kim Il-sung’s food to someone else’s hands,’ to Jung-hwan, who said that he could drink coffee on his own because he had both hands.
He had been alone for a very long time.
But now, instead of feeling restless, a typhoon was raging in his head.
“… … Where the hell did it start to change, Won.”
Threat of terrorism, rise of Islamic extremism, Taliban out of control.
A mosaic painting made by disassembling and reassembling the information that Baek Seung-cheol had heard from the generals of the People’s Liberation Army sounded an alarm in Jeong-hwan’s mind.
Read at noblemtl.com
New York.Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, hijacked American Airlines Flight 11,
Airplane crashes into World Trade Center, people jump from burning building… … .
And September 11, 2001, that changed the world for the next 20 years or so.
‘As the US began to reduce its involvement in the Middle East, it quietly moved on, but is there really such a thing as an immutable history?’
In its original history, 9/11 was a mega event in the early 21st century, which plunged the United States into a war with the imperial graveyard of Afghanistan, followed by a war in Iraq with Saddam Hussein under the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction, which plunged the United States into an endless quagmire beyond the Vietnam War.
9/11 is an opportunity that greatly weakens the power of the United States, which seemed to have no end in sight, and allows Russia to dream of a return to Eastern Europe, and for China to dream of a leap to the G2 and ambition for world hegemony by breaking away from the restraints of the United States.
And for Jeong-hwan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, who are slowly starting to scratch the nerves of China while aiming for a pro-US diplomatic route, it was no different from the development of a tiger cub next door into a giant adult tiger, a disaster.
But now, listening to Baek Seung-cheol’s information, Jeong-hwan has just discovered the possibility that 9/11 will happen in a completely different country other than the United States in this world.
“No, calm down. The only thing I’ve heard firsthand is that there is a terrorist threat from Islamic extremists. No matter how close China is with Israel, it cannot be concluded from that alone.”
Considering that the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the generals of the People’s Liberation Army are very sensitive to even the slightest instability in society, it might be an overreaction to determine the facts of terrorism with this piece of information and decide the course of action in the future.
However, what cannot be ignored is the fact that the Namsoon Reinforcement has failed and China’s advance into the Middle East and North Africa has been greatly accelerated, and the situation has been continuously coming in, which is causing friction with the Taliban.
Jeonghwan also paid attention to the activities of the Taliban, such as al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, through the General Bureau of External Reconnaissance in preparation for such a situation, but unlike in the case of Black Venus, this time there was no significant result.
At the time of Black Venus, Jung Hwan already knew who Black Venus was and for what purpose he was dispatched, but at this point in time, there was no way of knowing in detail where, with whom, what Osama bin Laden, the initiator of terrorism, was doing in the Middle East. .
The budget and manpower of the General Bureau of Foreign Reconnaissance are not infinite. It is impossible not to search all of the numerous extremist groups and mujahedines in Afghanistan.
“I’ve heard of Chinese people making a fuss in the Middle East, but what kind of beehive did they put in to cause this change? No, from my point of view, if such a huge terror really happens in China, it is primarily beneficial. However… … .”
The ripple caused by the huge rock thrown into the pond of 9/11 was too great to be considered so simple.
The trajectory of history, whether in China or the United States, has been seriously changed from what Jeong Hwan knew, and there is no law anywhere that the same event as in the original history will have the same result.
On the one hand, the most important ally will be greatly weakened, and on the other, the result will be the result of a hypothetical adversary who is obsessed with getting bigger and bigger like a wild boar.
One thing is certain, it has become extremely dangerous to act on the premise that only one’s future knowledge is unconditionally correct, as before.
“Damn, the problem is that if the subject has changed, there is a high probability that the time has also changed… … No, it’s hard to find a target in China. If it’s the number one goal, of course it’s Beijing… … Hong Kong? If it’s a new first-class city, it could be Guangzhou or Shenzhen… … .”
Jeonghwan clicked his tongue like that, picked up the direct line phone from the secretary’s office and connected it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Bureau of External Reconnaissance.
“Chief Lee. fly. A serious terrorist threat to a friendly country has been detected. I need to go through the verification process, so I need to mobilize all the ambassadors, consuls, defense officers, and counselors to China regarding the information I’m giving you right now to specify the timing and goals in cooperation with the Middle East Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. no… … It’s China, not America.”
Either way, it was clear that the number of subjects that should now be on the highest-level vigilance had been increased from one to two.
I don’t know if the timing has been pushed back or not, but maybe that day could be the next month or next year.
Or it could be tomorrow.
* * *
Sometimes there are things that cannot be changed.
Read at noblemtl.com
Not long after Jung-hwan hastily summoned all the diplomatic and spy lines to warn him, a Boeing 767 of China International Air Corporation, which was flying from Shenzhen, China to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, was hijacked.The perpetrators threatened the stewardess and crew with a letter-cutting knife, stabbed and killed the captain and co-pilot, then locked the cockpit door and grabbed the control stick.
The control tower at Pudong Airport lost communication halfway through and noticed that something strange was happening, but when they realized the true purpose of the terrorists and realized that not one plane had been hijacked, it was around the time that one plane had already entered the sky over Shanghai.
On July 13, 2001, the day the IOC General Assembly confirmed that the 2008 Olympic Games would be held in Beijing, a Boeing 767 crashed into the Oriental Pearl Tower in the Bund in Shanghai.
It was the first signal of the tragedy known as the ‘2001 Shanghai terrorist attack’.
