Chapter 8
December 23rd, 2015 15:30. NIS Safe House hospital room. Seoul.
Manager An greeted Assistant Manager Lee and the two agents guarding the door as he handed them coffee. “Working hard, huh? Did you get to go ho, Hye-jin?”
“I stopped by early in the morning. Chief Oh and Chief Kim were here since yesterday.”
“Okay. Thanks for your hard work.”
“Don’t ntion it.”
The two strapping agents in sunglasses neatly dressed in black suits answered in short, alert replies. They did not flinch as they guarded the door.
“How is In-jik?”
“He looks better... But he weeps from ti to ti.”
“As you’re a woman, Hye-jin... try to console him.”
“Manager An! I’m not just a woman, but a Counter-terrorism Investigation Unit 1 agent.”
“Oh, sorry. Let go in and see him.”
Assistant Manager Lee hated the embarrassnt he felt of learning to treat a woman the sa as a man. Manger An, who was letting it go, entered the room after he apologized.
“Hey In-jik. It’s .”
“Hello?”
“How are you feeling?”
“Doing well.”
“That’s good. I hope you can rest easy and get back on your feet.”
“Okay.”
Manager An pulled up a folding chair next to the bed and sat down. “This case was reported up to the Blue House. It’ll now be handled at a national level. We’ll report that you were killed in the explosion, and that your friend died in a car accident unrelated to this case.”
“What? Then Kyoung-ho’s parents won’t know the truth...?”
“Nothing we can do about that. If the U.S. intelligence agency found out that you’re still alive, they’ll try to track you down. We’re after the two suspects responsible for the explosions. We think they’re still in the country. We’re getting you a new identity, and you’ll have to live by that identity for awhile, so be prepared. Okay?”
“A new identity...”
Knowing that he should have died instead of Kyoung-ho, In-jik felt miserable and diffident of forsaking the na he’d used and the people he had known for 24 years.
“In-jik, I think the living have to live harder in the mory of the dead. After doing so research, it looks like you’re quite renowned in the programming world. It seems like you’re very talented and won many white hat hacker competitions. What do you think about working in this field?”
“What?”
Seeing In-jik disconcerted at his suggestion, Manager An thought he was too hasty. He continued, “I thought soone as talented as you working with us would be best for you and for the country. You’ll be here for at least a month, so let know after you give it so thought. Like I said before, let Hye-jin know if you need of anything, okay?”
“Okay, thank you for your consideration. I’ll give so serious thought to your suggestions.”
“Sure, I’ll be on my way. Be well.”
“Yes.”
As he walked out of the room, Manager An sat down next to Assistant Manager Lee and spoke quietly. “Hye-jin, talk to him as much as you can. Try to talk positively about working with us, understood?”
“Really? Why?”
“I’m trying to recruit him to join us. He’s a renowned expert in the hacking world.”
“Is it okay to do that to soone who’s been through sothing so horrifying?”
“What’s the matter? It’s a sha to waste soone with such a talent...”
“Manager An!”
“Sorry; I apologize. Take it easy, Hye-jin.”
As he got up in a hurry to avoid Assistant Manager Lee’s fist aid at his face, he waved his hands as to say sorry, took out a credit card from his wallet, and said, “Use this to buy anything In-jik needs, and treat yourselves to a nice al. Keep up the good work.”
“Yes, okay.”
“Okay, I’m going back to the office. Work hard.”
* * *
December 24th, 2015 13:30. National Security Council eting. Blue House, Jongro-gu, Seoul.
An NSC eting was under way in a eting room at the Blue House.
The President and four n, including the Minister of National Defense, the National Security Director, the NIS Secretary, and the Chief Secretary, were looking at the 100″ TV screen. The screen showed Kang Yi-sik, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary General of the Ard Forces, and twenty other n in uniform intently watching the chairman’s report.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs reported, “The army is currently maintaining ‘Def-Con 2’ around the DMZ, and we are on 24-hour surveillance of North Korean troop movents around DMZ and long-range missile silos, utilizing the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Joint Stars (J-Stars) reconnaissance airplanes and satellite. Additionally, the navy has deployed patrol aircrafts and frigates in the forward areas of the NLL in the East and West seas to monitor any deep water and surface incursions. Lastly, the air force has allocated maximum flight hours to early-warning aircrafts to observe movents of enemy airplanes.”
As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs wrapped up his report on the overall security conditions of the ard forces, the National Security Director Oh Jang-soo spoke up. “Mr. Chairman! We’re planning to negotiate with the U.S. concerning the transition of the warti operational control in a short ti. When we do, we could lose the support of ROK-US Combined Forces Command. If this happens, we need to have a contingency plan.”
“Yes. We’ll prepare a back-up plan so there are no lapses in our reconnaissance activities. I’ll report the plan as soon as it’s ready.”
“Mr. Chairman?”
“Yes, Mr. President?”
“What are you doing about the soldiers whose mandatory service period has expired?”
Hesitating after the President’s sudden inquiry, Chairman of the Joint Staffs replied after listening to one of his aides. “I’m sorry, Mr. President. Due to the issuance of ‘Def-Con 2,’ all military service periods were extended for one month.”
“Then are they receiving the sa monthly salary as they were receiving before?”
“That’s right, Mr. President.”
“Maybe we need to improve that. We can’t put all the burden of our national ergency solely on the shoulders of the Korean youth in their 20s.”
The President spoke as he looked at the Minister of National Defense. “Minister Kang, please adjust the salary of the soldiers whose service was extended for one month to 1.5 tis the national minimum wage, and issue paynt as soon as the budget is realized.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
The President continued. “How is Chairman Kim Jong-un doing?”
NIS Secretary Na, who had been listening to the President’s questioning, spoke up. “There’s no improvents to his health.”
“Hmm... Then are there any movents within the North Korean military leadership?”
“It fortunately looks stable, as Chairman Kim’s key lieutenants have seized control of the power struggle. Chairman Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, has risen to the center of the power vacuum.”
The power struggle within the ard forces leadership was serious for North Korea after Chairman Kim fell into a coma, but it was currently largely stabilized due to the prompt asures taken by those loyal to Chairman Kim and Kim Yo-jong. Kim Yo-jong was being hailed as the next authority figure with the endorsent of the loyalists. The North Korean TV broadcasts praised her every minute of every day.
“National Security Director?”
“Yes, Mr. President?”
“If North Korea regained stability in the regi, I think this is the right ti to deflate the tension between the North and the South. Quickly reach out to North Korea, please.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ok then, let’s move onto the next issue.”
* * *
December 24th, 2015 17:30. Presidential Office, Blue House. Jongro-gu, Seoul.
Upon returning to the office from a three-hour national security eting, the President, the National Security Director, and the NIS Secretary were drinking tea and having a conversation.
The President asked, “How is this student, In-jik, doing?”
Secretary Na answered, “Sir, he’s recovering at a NIS safe house hospital currently. Counter-terrorism Investigation Unit 1 is in charge of his security. He doesn’t have health issues, but the sudden deaths of his parents, his sibling, and a friend are agonizing him.”
“It must be painful. Can a normal person imagine losing the family and friends you love in an instant? We must protect him as a national priority. Please take special care of him, Secretary Na.”
“I’ll try my best to protect him.”
National Security Director Oh Jang-soo, who was quietly listening while having tea, took out a stack of docunts from his briefcase and put it in front of the President, then said, “This is part of the report from the National Science and Technology Institute. It assesses the imdiate application of the file the student hacked. These mind-blowing files contain information regarding stealth fighter painting material and structural blueprints, which are imnsely valuable docunts that can be used for the KF-X developnt project. Also, the next generation nuclear fusion reactor technology docunts are truly amazing files. Especially this one. Look at this docunt.”
As Secretary Na and the President read the docunts Director Oh brought in utter amazent, their attention focused on the one docunt Director Oh was holding out.
“Mr. President, this technology is sothing you can apply to our current industrial economy. This could be more than enough to reinvigorate the stagnant Korean economy.”
The docunt that Director Oh held out was on extre battery storage technology. With this next generation in extre battery storage technology, you can store up to thirty tis the lifeti storage capacity in an extrely small unit.
“It’s a sha, but that technology may be a pie in the sky, Director Oh.”
Director Oh asked with a puzzled look, “What do you an, Secretary Na?”
Secretary Na started to explain, “The current situation is that the U.S. governnt is sending agents to Korea to assassinate anyone related to these files. To deceive them, the NIS declared Kim In-jik dead and the hacked files destroyed. If we put these technologies to use on a national level, the U.S. governnt will officially claim that the hacking was done by the Korean governnt. Then our relationship with the U.S. governnt will reach a boiling point, and we’d be under constant pressure.”
After listening to Secretary Na, the President briefly thought about the relationship with the U.S. ‘If we use the docunts for national projects, we’d be officially admitting that we hacked them. Korea will beco more of a subordinate colony to the U.S. than it is now, or it would face economic and military sanctions.’ With this thought, he firmly said, “The Republic of Korea will have our opportunity one day. Let’s keep it under wraps until that day.”
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