December 25th, 2023, 11:00

  Ministry of Foreign Affairs office building, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Namju (Reception room)

  The door to the reception room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened, and a middle-aged man came in, guided by the secretary. He had a full beard, and the man who must have been overly nervous had an uncomfortable expression on his face.

  “Welcome. Long-time no see.”


  Minister Kang Kyung-hee, who had been waiting in the reception room, greeted him with a charismatic smile. A little embarrassed by this, the middle-aged man greeted him with a forced smile.

  “Yes. Minister Kang! I am finally seeing you again after a long time. By the way, are you all right?”


  The middle-aged man, who shook hands with Minister Kang Kyung-hee in an awkward posture, sat on the reception sofa and said hello, was ambassador Milad Aghaei of the Iranian Embassy in Korea. He had been deported after being rebuked by First Vice Foreign Minister Oh Jin-myung two months ago.

  “Yeah, everything is fine now.”


  Minister Kang Kyung-hee spread his hands and said in a relaxed manner.

  “That is a relief, Minister! I was very worried.”


  Minister Kang Kyung-hee responded with a warm smile to the words of Ambassador Milad Aghaei, though he did not know if he was being sincere or not.

  “Thanks to Ambassador Aghaei, I seem to have gotten better rather quickly.”


  This pricked at his conscience and Ambassador Milad Aghaei chose his words carefully, rubbing his sweaty hands together.

  “Thank you for allowing me to come back to Korea like this. With the previous work…”


  “Ambassador Aghaei! Let’s put aside the past for a moment and talk about what we are going to do now.”


  “Ah! That’s right.”


  Two days ago, in response to a call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea to allow the Iranian ambassador to Korea to enter Korea, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately dispatched Ambassador Milad Aghaei.

  Iran is currently in a dilemma and is facing a very difficult situation, both militarily and economically. To block the independence of the Kurdistan Republic, it received military support from Russia and engaged in a close all-out war with the Peace Unit dispatched from the Republic of Korea. The missile attack destroyed the nuclear power plant and various industrial facilities that supported Iran’s economy. As a result, Iran’s domestic economy was deeply shaken, and as time went on, it faced economic collapse.

  In addition, Iraq, with which it had a temporary alliance, had practically raised its hand without being able to take any military action after the Kirkuk oil field was taken over by the Peace Corps. Moreover, the Iranian government could no longer afford to continue the war with the Peace Corps as it had taken measures to recall the latest weapons provided by Russia.

  Under these circumstances, the first thing that Korean diplomacy reached out to was the hope to avoid the current crisis from the Iranian government.

  December 25th, 2023, 13:00

  Jangmun-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Namju

  Ambassador Milad Aghaei, who was driving back to the official residence, was immersed in his thoughts for a while. He was recollecting the two-hour-long conversation he had with Minister Kang Kyung-hee in the reception room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right from the beginning and organizing them one by one in his head.

  “Will the top leader approve with the current situation? I don’t think it’s that bad, though. No, it’s not a bad condition, he has to agree unconditionally!”


  Ambassador Milad Aghaei muttered to himself while thinking.

  The proposal that Minister Kang Kyung-hee made during the two-hour conversation was not too bad if Ambassador Milad Aghaei thought about it. If Iran recognizes the independence of the Kurdistan Republic and suspends all current military actions, the South Korean government will provide financial support for the reconstruction of destroyed oil and industrial facilities, along with an actual investment of 30 trillion won per year for five years.

  It was a proposal that could be far short of a comparison in terms of the amount of damage suffered by Iran, but in reality, Iran would accept the proposal without thinking.

  It was inconceivable for a country to make such a favorable offer to the other country, which was driven to the brink of defeat in the state of the assassination of its foreign minister and had even gone to war. The problem lies with the decision of Mustafa Hosseini Hamanei, Iran’s de facto ruler.

  A little worried, Ambassador Milad Aghaei urged his driving assistant.

  “Step on it! I need to call my home country quickly.”


  Meanwhile, the biggest reason that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first made this proposal to Iran was the dispatch of troops to Ukraine, which could be seen as an extension of the Korean-Russian war.

  As the war with Russia, which seemed to have ended in a month, prolonged all-out war and additional troops to Ukraine were discussed in earnest, the Ministry of National Defense submitted an opinion to the Blue House that the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence war should end early as a pre-emptive condition.

  In response, President Choo Eun-hee ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present an appropriate proposal and negotiate with Iran before approving the dispatch of troops to Ukraine.

  December 26th, 2023, 13:30

  B2 bunker, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Namju (The Republic of Korea Armed Forces Joint Command and Control Office Conference Room)

  In the morning, the Joint Chiefs of Staff received a call from President Choo Eun-hee from the Minister of National Defense that the plan for dispatching troops related to the Ukrainian civil war had been officially approved.

  After the first talk of sending troops to Ukraine, the staff of the Operations Headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spent the past few days being busier than ever before, establishing a plan for the selection of dispatched troops and intervention in the civil war, as well as a detailed plan for an invasion operation in southern Russia after suppressing the civil war.

  “This morning, I heard that the Iranian government officially recognized the independence of the Kurdistan Republic. So, the president has approved the dispatch of troops to Ukraine.”


  Before the briefing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Shin Sung-yong delivered the news he had heard from Minister Kang Yi-sik to about 50 staff an hour earlier.

  “What happened to Iraq?”


  “Ah! Iraq seems to have recognized the independence of the Kurdistan Republic long ago. Guess I won’t have to worry about it anymore! I was a little worried, but it seems to have been solved easier than I thought, Lieutenant General Yang! Let’s begin the briefing now!”


  When Chairman Shin Sung-yong of the Joint Chiefs of Staff nodded to announce the start of the briefing, Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun, who had been standing on the left side of the podium for a long time, gave a short answer and started the briefing with a salute.

  “From now on, I will start with a brief report on the dispatch of troops to Ukraine and in addition to a few units currently dispatched to the Republic of Kurdistan.”


  When Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun began the briefing, the central screen of the conference room lit up, indicating the names of several units.

  “First, let me tell you about the Ukrainian civil war and the contingent units that will invade southern Russia in the future. As you can see on the screen, the first unit to be dispatched to Ukraine will be the 5th Marine Division.”


  The 5th Marine Division (jiryong) was a marine unit established in November 2021 and was an infantry-based marine unit that defended the entirety of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four representative islands. The staff of the Operations Headquarters had various opinions in the process of selecting the units to be dispatched, but in the end, they decided on the 5th Marine Division (jiryong) defending Shikoku, Japan.

  Currently, additional support units of the Russian army were joining one after another along the border in northern Manchuria, so it was not possible to determine the units stationed in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula as the dispatched units. This was the reason why the 5th Marine Division (Earth Dragon) had been chosen to be the one defending Shikoku.

  “Currently, the 5th Marine Division has been preparing for dispatch for the past three days and it is expected that all preparations will be completed by the 28th. Accordingly, various military transport planes are scheduled to arrive at Dockmark Military Airfield in Zaporizhia, which is right next to Donetsk, at 11 p.m. local time on the 29th. The transportation of war materials and various heavy equipment is scheduled to begin at midnight today.”


  According to Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun’s explanation, the central screen showed a list of military equipment to be transported from that night in the order he mentioned.

  “The main task of the 5th Marine Division, the first contingent unit, will be focusing on suppressing and retaking the rebels in Donetsk and Luhanska, together with the Ukrainian Army. Next, the second contingent unit will begin dispatching preparations as soon as it completes handing over Sakhalin, which is currently occupied by the 3rd Marine Mobile Division, to the 63rd Marine Regiment of the 6th Marine Division, and will move to the Verdansk Civil Airport in Zaporizhia. The expected time for this to happen is at least mid-January next year.”


  “Hey! It must be quite difficult for the entire mobile team to move such a long distance.”


  Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun made a rather strong statement and questioned Yoon Gi-yoon, deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  “As soon as the handover procedure to Sakhalin is completed, we will mobilize all military transport aircraft to transport them at once.”


  “At the same time?”


  “Yes. More than 300 medium-sized military transport aircraft currently in service will be mobilized.”


  “If you move like that, won’t you be caught in the Russian air defense?”


  “The air route will be largely detoured to the south and will be approved in advance by the destination countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, India et cetera.”


  “What do we do if we don’t receive their permission?”


  This time, Kim Yong-hyeon, deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked a question.

  “If a country does not approve use of their airspace, we will choose an air route across the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf, even if it will take some additional time.”


  “Going over the Persian Gulf would mean going over Iraq. Would that be okay?”


  “It has been said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will use pressure to get approval for that.”


  “Okay. Keep going!”


  “Yes, as I said before, the 3rd Marine Mobile Division, the second contingent unit, will complete its dispatch by at least January 10th next year, and then start moving along the northern coast of the Sea of Azov! After a swift passage through Donetsk Oblast, our primary mission will be the capture of Rostov-on-Don, one of the southern regions of Russia, Rostovskaya Oblast.”


  After the explanation, Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun glanced around at the generals and staff looking at him to see if anyone had any other questions for him.

  “If there are no questions, I will continue.”


  Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun continued explaining again when there were no other questions.

  “At the time the 3rd Mobile Marine Division passes through Donetsk, the 11th Marine Mobile Brigade, among the Peace Units stationed in the Kurdistan Republic, will quickly pass through Azerbaijan and then quickly move north to the Russian Dagestan Autonomous Republic.”


  “Did you talk to Azerbaijan?”


  Shin Sung-yong, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had been silently listening to the explanation, asked a question.

  “This is also under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”


  “Then it’s not been completely decided!”


  “Yes, if Azerbaijan does not approve and the 11th Marine Mobile Brigade cannot move north, we will switch to Plan B. Instead of the 11th Marine Mobile Brigade, Plan B plans to infiltrate the main cities of the Autonomous Republic of Takestan by airborne assault divisions of two airborne land combat divisions, which are currently performing guard missions in various parts of Kurdistan, to shake them off the rear.”


  In preparation for such variables, the briefing on the plan of the operation had already passed an hour.

  “This concludes the briefing on the deployment of Ukrainian troops and civil war and the plan for invasion into southern Russia.”


  “Good job.”


  After Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun saluted, he returned to his seat and sat down. When he saw the expression on the face of Chairman Shin Sung-yong of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he felt quite satisfied.

  “Thank you. Chairman!”


  “The chief of staff as well as the rest of the staff go home as soon as the meeting is over and rest until tomorrow.”


  “No. We can’t rest at home just because we haven’t slept for three days due to this situation.”


  “Heh heh, do you think only of yourself? Look at your staff. Their dark circles have reached their cheeks.”


  At the joke of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the conference room instantly burst into laughter.

  “Hahaha, that’s right, you have been overworked these past few days. After listening to what I was told, they said they hadn’t slept in three days. As the chairman said, take a good rest. In war, physical strength comes first, doesn’t it?”


  “Then we’ll take a break in the afternoon and come to work early tomorrow.”


  “Haha, look at that stubbornness……”