February 20, 2020, 14:30

  Conference room at the Presidential Palace in Pyung-yang, North Korea.

  The Supreme Guard Command used a variety of well-known torture methods on Lee Byung-chul, forcing him to reveal his plans and the names of all the people involved. This seemed to resolve the ten days of bloody mess in North Korea. However, the person from Washington D.C. that Lee Byung-chul had been in contact with remained unknown. There was a reason why Lee Byung-chul was unable to reveal this person’s identity, even though he was suffering—he didn’t know anything about the person from Washington D.C., either. They had only ever communicated through satellite telephone, and the financial support was wired to a Swiss bank account. Therefore, he could not say who it was, even though he was being tortured.

  “Here is a list of the names of the people who worked with Lee Byung-chul. Park Young-sik, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces, Ahn Gang-un, Chief of General Staff, Kim Won-hung, Director of the State Security Department, Choi Yu-won from the National Defense Committee, Oh Dong-ho, Leader of the Eighth Army, Park Tae-wan, Leader of the Ninth Army, Kang Young-won, Leader of the Third Army. They are all imprisoned at Supreme Guard Command.” Na Dong-il, Commander of Supreme Guard Command, listed the names of those who had participated in Deputy Director Lee Byung-chul’s plan.

  “B*stards! They’re all from powerful militaries in Pyung-yang! What was Chief Na Dong-il doing when all this was happening?”


  The Eighth Army, the Ninth Army, and the Third Army protected the frontiers North, East, and West of Pyung-yang. This meant that Lee Byung-chul had three main militaries with which to control Pyung-yang. Party Secretary Oh Choon-hwan was shocked. He questioned Director Na Dong-il of Supreme Guard Command about the undercover polices they used in this situation.

  “I’m sorry. I have nothing to say.”


  “Sorry won’t solve anything. That son of a b*tch Lee Byung-chul could have taken over Pyung-yang by himself!”


  First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung defended Director Na Dong-il. “Please stop. We were able to catch the rebels without incident because of Director Na Dong-il’s quick decision-making. ”


  “Okay, Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung.”


  “Anyway, Kim Yo-jung, the first vice chairman of South Korea, is requesting information about who Lee Byung-chul was contacting in Washington D.C.” Party Secretary Kim Young-chul, who had almost died at the South-North conference, carefully brought this up.

  Because Kim Young-chul broached the subject, Kim Yo-jung asked Na Dong-il,

  “Director Na Dong-il? Has Lee Byung-chul said anything about this person from Washington D.C?”


  “That’s the thing. We tried every torture method, but that’s the only thing he won’t tell us about. It seems like he doesn’t have a clue, either.”


  “If that’s the case, please let Secretary Kim Young-chul at least know when they started to connect and what kind of conversations went on between them.”


  “Got it, First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jun. I will organize the information and send it right away.”


  “And there’s one more thing.”


  “What is it?”


  “South Korea requested a summit.”


  “What do you think about this?”


  The chairperson of the National People’s Congress, Kim Gi-nam, raised his hand and spoke. “South Korea really did us a huge favor in this situation. It will be difficult to hold a summit meeting right now, but once the situation calms down, I don’t think it would be a bad idea.

  Kim Choon-won from the National Defense Committee, who had replaced Lee Byung-chul, continued on from what Kim Gi-nam said.

  “Chairman Kim Gi-nam is right. We don’t need to rush, and I also think it’s a good idea for Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung to meet with the President of South Korea.”


  After listening to everyone’s opinions, Kim Yo-jung nodded.

  “I see. Then, let’s determine a good time for the summit. Party Secretary Kim Young-chul, please let South Korea know that we accept.”


  * * *

  February 25, 2020, 10:30

  Ambassador’s office in the U.S. Embassy, Sejong-ro, Jongro, Seoul.

  Ambassador Jacky Robins raised his voice at Kim Jae-hak, Minister of Foreign Affairs. “The U.S. government would like to know the truth about the bombing at the embassy. Six American guards are dead, and five employees are injured.”


  “Ambassador Robins, about ten of our citizens died, too. Please don’t make it seem like only Americans were affected.”


  “Whatever happened, it happened in Seoul, Korea. Don’t you think you need to strengthen your security measures? The United States is not taking this well, especially when it comes to terrorism—we are very sensitive about that topic. At this moment, if the truth about what happened at the embassy doesn’t come out, in favor of its citizens, the U.S. government will have to impose various sanctions—particularly on military weapons, from purchases to general exports.”


  [This guy wants something out of this situation…… doesn’t he?] Thinking this, Minister Kim Jae-hak took out a small recording device from his inner pocket and put it on the table.

  “What is this?”


  “This is the evidence that you wanted, Ambassor Jacky. Listen to it.”


  After listening to a few recordings on the device, a strange expression passed over Ambassador Jacky’s face.

  Minister Kim Jae-hak started to speak again. “This is a recording of Lee Byung-chul from North Korea and a person from Washington D.C. contacting each other. What does that seem like to you? Don’t you think the U.S. is also involved in this?”


  Ambassador Jacky Robins seemed flustered by what Minister Kim Jae-hak said, but then quickly assumed a blank facial expression……

  “Don’t jump to conclusions. Just because the call is from Washington D.C., that doesn’t mean the person is American. Don’t you think it could be foreign terrorists calling from Washington D.C.?”


  “Then please check this out when you have time.” Minister Kim Jae-hak took out a flash drive from his inner pocket, and then continued speaking. “This was sent from North Korea. This flash drive contains the information that Lee Byung-chul gave during his torture. He talked about the Swiss bank account and how he was contacting an anonymous person from Washington D.C.”


  “This is the list of transactions between Lee Byung-chul and the Swiss bank account,” he continued.

  Ambassador Robins’ face turned white, and he started to sweat. Just before Minister Kim Jae-hak came in, it was all but guaranteed that he would be able to use this situation to put the U.S. in an advantageous economic position.

  Minister Kim Jae-hak read Ambassador Robins’ pale face and then made a final statement. “If we wanted to, we could investigate this anonymous person from Washington D.C.—if you don’t like what we have right now as evidence, that is. What should we do? Should we investigate this further?”


  “No, that…… that should be enough. I’ll let you know once I contact my country.”


  Minister Kim Jae-hak felt great. Ambassador Robins bought the made-up evidence.

  “Yes, please do so. However, I hope to not hear anything about how the U.S. is leading the Korean economy in light of this situation.”


  After he cleared his throat, Ambassador Robins got up from his chair, wishing he could get out of the meeting as soon as possible.

  “Then I will contact you soon.”


  Knowing what was going through the Ambassador’s mind, Minister Kim Jae-hak smiled, then mentioned one last thing as he slowly got up from his chair. “I hope you rethink your perception of Korea. I will see you soon.”


  The bombing at the United States Embassy shocked everyone worldwide. Allegations and rumors about a war and security crisis in Korea were on the news, which made everyone worry that Korea’s economy would go back into a recession. However, ten days after the bombing, the Korean government reported that Lee Byung-chul, who had organized the bombing and had been planning a rebellion, was arrested in North Korea along with other rebels, and the situation was now resolved.

  * * *

  April 1, 2020, 13:00

  Republic of Korea (South Korea).

  In 2019, the United States made major changes to its military strategy in Northeast Asia by changing wartime operations and withdrawing U.S. troops from Korea. This changed Northeast Asia’s top line of defense from Korea to Japan, with the U.S. military as backup. The U.S. then sent the latest weapon technologies, which were banned as exports, to Japan so the country could restrict the military activities of China, North Korea, and Russia. Prime Minister Abe welcomed this situation and spent large amounts of money on the military, regardless of the state of Japan’s economy. These policy changes showed that the U.S. no longer considered Korea as an ally.

  In light of this situation, South Korea requested a summit with North Korea’s Kim Yo-jung in order to maintain friendly relations between the two countries, and the summit was soon set for April 27 at Panmungak. It seemed to be decided by the National Vision Committee that South Korea would move toward Korean unification.

  First, there was a change in the Korean military. The current policy aimed at North Korean military was now aimed at surrounding countries, such as China, Japan, and Russia, in case they tried to prevent the unification of Korea. In preparation for possible wars after the unification, South Korea reorganized the army’s infantry divisions into eight armored units and ten mechanized units. The DMZ defense line was also reorganized into eight mechanized units, each unit capable of strengthening the mobility and survivability of the entire unit. For example, the 7th Armored Unit was divided into two mechanized units; the three control divisions were divided into two armored units and one mechanized unit; and the roles of the entire unit were divided among the five units. Additionally, the unit was given the newest weapons produced by the Olympus base. Once these changes were complete, the 7th Armored Unit would be the strongest independent unit to take a war mission in Northeast Asia.

  Second, there was a change in the Korean navy. In order to take actions against China, Japan, and Russia, three KD-3A Aegis battleships, which were commissioned in March, were stationed at each of the three fleets defending Korea’s three seas. When six Kd-4 Hocula destroyers were commissioned, three King Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers, and six Grand-class Gwanggaeto the Great destroyers, which were originally in the 7th Armored Force, would be assigned to the unit in order to expand its scale of operations.

  Additional destroyers were also soon to be stationed in the 7th Armored unit to serve in 2022. Finally, the 10th Landing Fleet would be reorganized. Four Ganghwado-level landing ships, six sentry ships, four Dokdo-level landing ships, and eight Cheonwangbong-level ships would be added to the fleet.

  Third, in the air force, three combat aircraft would be added to the original nine combat aircraft for a total of twelve commissioned aircraft, and the KF-21p and KF/A-25P from Olympus base would be stationed at both the new units and the units with old aircraft.

  Finally, South Korea was creating an aerospace force to run various satellites, including Zeus 1, and as soon as the new space aircraft was completed in 2022, it would be deployed in preparation for future space wars.

  * * *

  April 27, 2020, 13:00

  Panmungak, Paju, Gyeonggi-do.

  On April 27, 2020, the leaders of South Korea and North Korea shook each other’s hands at Panmungak for the first time in five years. Shutter sounds and flashes from the numerous media and broadcast cameras filled the room.

  “Nice to meet you, Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung.”


  “Hello, nice to see you, President Suh Hyun-woo.”


  A middle-aged man in his 50s and a lady in her 30s shaking each other’s hands seemed awkward and new, but they were friendly to each other and offered for the other to sit first.

  “Ladies first, please.”


  “Thank you. Then I will sit first.”


  The first summit was opened publicly to inform the world that the unification of Korea was progressing smoothly, and the second summit was to be held as an informal one-on-one meeting. In the first part of summit, each country’s policies concerning the relations between South and North were discussed for about three hours.