Chapter 1297. Making Deals (2)

“A coup d’état, you say?”

Kim Myeong-Chan nodded. “Yes. Chief Lee.”

The gears in Lee Hyeon-Su’s brain quickly spun around.

North Korea and coup d’état; those two terms didn’t seem to go hand-in-hand for some reason.

No, wait. Why am I surprised?

Wasn’t there supposedly a coup attempt a few years ago in North Korea? During the transition of power from the late Supreme Leader to his son, the world was holding their collective breaths from the worries of a potential coup d’état.

Didn’t the Prime Minister say it? That North Korea was also a country populated by humans?

“I guess some people can’t stomach the idea of bowing their heads to a wet-behind-the-ears brat, even if the power structure is...

Oh

.”

Lee Hyeon-Su clamped his mouth mid-sentence and sneakily glanced at the person next to him.

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“Sir, I assure you, I wasn’t thinking of you while saying that.”

“...”

“

Uh

, it’s because your physical age is younger than Chairman Kim from up north, so...”

“...Let’s get back to our topic, okay?”

“My apologies, sir,” Lee Hyeon-Su sheepishly replied.

Although it was wholly unintentional, at least the atmosphere had improved a tad from that brief exchange.

Lee Hyeon-Su stared at Kim Myeong-Chan. “Okay, so... Are you saying your side has detected signs of an impending coup d’état, and China is secretly backing the would-be rebels?”

Kim Myeong-Chan nodded. “This is a chicken-or-egg situation in that we don’t know which side initiated it first. Of course, figuring that out isn’t really that important at this stage.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Indeed, the important bit right now was the coup d’état attempt, not who had thought of it in the first place.

“Prime Minister, to my knowledge, there have been several coup attempts in North Korea before,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. “But they have all been successfully quashed. What makes this one different?”

“You’re right about the previous attempts,” Kim Myeong-Chan readily nodded. “In fact, the number of coup attempts that flew under the radar is far, far higher than those the public is aware of. But they all have been quelled quite effectively to allow the Kim dynasty to continue. However, this coup attempt will be different.

“Until now, North Korea’s higher-ups had been under China’s protection. As such, all the past coup instigators couldn’t go all the way. However, China is now supporting the instigator this time.”

Kim Myeong-Chan paused there to quench his thirst with a cup of cold water.

“The truth is that the current Supreme Leader’s position isn’t as secure as his predecessors. Not only is he still considered too young for the job, various recent events ensured his populace doesn’t trust him as much. That naturally led to the pro-coup faction gaining a lot of momentum. And with China’s backing on top...”

Kim Myeong-Chan sighed deeply.

“Our analysis shows that the odds of the coup d’état’s success are very high.”

“How high?” Kang Jin-Ho curiously asked.

“At least ninety percent.”

Ninety percent? And that was the “at least”? Didn’t that mean... the coup would succeed?

The odds of failure being less than ten percent were low enough for a gambling person to bet their entire farm, and then some. In fact, with such odds, one should just assume that the coup d’état was not the matter of if, but when.

Lee Hyeon-Su asked, “Does the North Korean leadership know about this?”

“Yes, but knowing doesn’t help them in this situation. The only way to survive the coup is to seek political asylum in another country, but the North Korean military won’t let that happen.”

“

Mm

...!”

Lee Hyeon-Su furrowed his brow.

If he analyzed what the Prime Minister said, the balance of power in North Korea had tilted far too much to one side to the point where resisting the coup d’état was an impossibility despite knowing its imminent arrival.

Since when did things reach such a breaking point up north?

Sensing the ball was in his court now, Lee Hyeon-Su cautiously asked the Prime Minister. “Sir. There is something I’m curious about.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Is there a reason for us to get so nervous about a coup up north? I mean, isn’t the situation up there already in the crapper? It’s not like that porky son of a b*tch is a saint who deserves to be saved or anything. Doesn’t he kill people regularly whenever he runs out of video games to play?”

Kim Myeong-Chan slowly nodded. “Yes, no one will call him a good person. Although I can’t say this in public... Politics is not about what’s right and fair. No, we simply discriminate between who can be beneficial to us and who will harm our interests.”

“Are you saying that porky bastard can be beneficial?”

“Yes. The administration has determined that, in order to maintain our cordial relationship with the North, we’d like the current Supreme Leader to remain in his office. Rhee Ki-Gwang has proven to be an extremist time and time again, and we have reasons to believe that his view of South Korea is unfavorable. Finally, he’s also the leading figure in the pro-China faction.”

“I see. He’s like an amalgamation of all things we don’t want in a politician, then.”

“Indeed. Rhee Ki-Gwang is a tough opponent to deal with. If we let him take over North Korea, all the bridges we’ve built until now will crumble, without a doubt. Worse still, the tension in our peninsula will heighten to an undesirable level.”

“As in... war?”

Kim Myeong-Chan slowly shook his head again. “I’m sure he’s not a brainless moron, so things won’t spiral out of control like that. However, heightened tension in our peninsula means foreign investment flowing into the country will see a steep decline. Meaning, even the ordinary citizens will be made to pay.”

Lee Hyeon-Su nodded contemplatively. This all sounded reasonable.

However, did he see a need, a worth, to protect the one ruling over North Korea? If he was being honest, the answer had to be a no. But the prospect of someone worse taking over that place didn’t sit comfortably with him, either.

Kim Myeong-Chan bowed his head a little at Kang Jin-Ho.

“This is our current situation, Assembly Master. I know what I said offended you. But please, understand that I didn’t ask what I asked because my desire was to line the administration’s pockets.”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath. He understood the situation and that it wasn’t something he should lose his cool over. Of course, whether he wanted to take the job or not was a separate matter altogether.

“Okay, so...”

Kang Jin-Ho mouthed a fresh cigarette and lit it up himself. After leisurely exhaling the gray smoke, he muttered quietly.

“You want us to infiltrate North Korea and assassinate that Rhee Ki-Gwang? Is that it?”

“Definitely not,” Kim Myeong-Chan resolutely shook his head.

...And that left Kang Jin-Ho flustered somewhat. “Definitely not? What do you mean?”

“We won’t demand something that ridiculous from you, Assembly Master. Even some of the elite operatives receiving specialized training won’t be able to pull such an operation off. It’s not that I’m doubting your abilities, but... The priority of an operation like this isn’t successfully taking out the target, but remaining undetected till the end. I won’t ask you to do something impossible like that.”

“Then... What are you asking us to do here?”

A subtle grin formed on Kim Myeong-Chan’s face after realizing that Kang Jin-Ho had gotten a little more cooperative than before.

“Fortunately for us, an ideal opening presented itself. According to our intel, Rhee Ki-Gwang is scheduled to visit China sometime next week.”

“China, you say?”

“Yes. We believe he wishes to contact CCP’s higher-ups and get their permission in person before commencing with the coup d’état.”

“Mm...!”

Kang Jin-Ho figured out where the Prime Minister was going with this.

“Rhee Ki-Gwang dying in North Korea will become a serious issue, but his demise in China will make it harder for the CCP to dump the blame on some other country. Is that it?”

“Although I can’t guarantee that outcome, yes, his death on Chinese soil should create a more favorable situation for us all.”

“However, will that be enough to quell the situation? After all, the pro-coup faction will still exist, no?”

“The thing about that is the collaborators of the coup attempt don’t know who the others are. In short, they operate like independent cells right up until the start of the coup. That’s the only way to prevent the entire faction from crumbling apart, even if one of the cells is exposed.”

Kim Myeong-Chan gulped more water as if his thirst had gotten worse. After loudly putting the cup down on the table, he wiped his sweat-soaked face with his sleeve. His body’s state seemed to illustrate how important this matter was to anyone with eyes.

“That’s why this coup attempt will instantly lose its momentum as long as we take out the central player, their central pillar. We believe removing Rhee Ki-Gwang from the picture will be enough to achieve our aim, which is to stop the coup.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded away. Now he had more or less the full understanding of the situation.

To summarize, there were signs of an impending coup d’état in North Korea. And the one initiating it was not someone South Korea wanted in power. Eliminating that person would be ideal, and as luck would have it, the person in question would visit China next week. So, the South Korean government wanted

someone

to pop over to China and kill Rhee Ki-Gwang.

Lee Hyeon-Su sneakily glanced at Kang Jin-Ho to ask for the latter’s permission.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded in silence, prompting Lee Hyeon-Su to fake-cough first, then address the Prime Minister.

“Sir, now we get what you want from us. Before we proceed any further, there are several things we need clarification from you on first.”

“I see. What are they?”

“Firstly... Wouldn’t it be better to deploy the military’s special forces? Black ops, so to speak.”

“No. The risk is too great,” Kim Myeong-Chan shook his head. “It’s not an issue of whether they can pull the mission off or not. Deploying military operators on foreign soil and attempting an assassination of a high-ranking individual from another nation is unthinkable and unacceptable in the international community, you see.”

“Assuming they get discovered.”

“Indeed,” Kim Myeong-Chan grinned awkwardly. “In all honesty, government-sanctioned murders are taking place all over the world, even as we speak. It’s just that ordinary citizens are not privy to such information. I don’t have any desire to pretend that my conscience is clean, that I’m a moral person. But the risk outweighs the potential benefits this time. That’s why we dare not utilize our own military personnel.”

“...And we’re nominally civilians. Isn’t that right, Prime Minister?”

“Correct.”

“That means... Should I assume that the Korean government will deny any knowledge or involvement if we get popped by the Chinese authorities?”

“Also... correct.”

“

Hmm

...”

Lee Hyeon-Su slowly rubbed his chin.

How brazenly honest the Prime Minister was! But the real irony here was that Lee Hyeon-Su understood Kim Myeong-Chan’s sentiments. From the government’s perspective, it simply had no choice but to play dumb. After all, this situation could lead to an all-out war if things were not handled correctly.

“So, in short... We shouldn’t expect any back-up from our own government. We should just travel to China on our own dime and kill the target. And we should do so in a manner that no one will suspect us, like an unfortunate accident. And then, we escape China without support, and return safely to Korea. Am I missing anything, Prime Minister?”

Kim Myeong-Chan sheepishly chuckled without replying to Lee Hyeon-Su. Even he could see how unreasonable this demand was.

“We’ll have to refuse,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“...”

Even so, Kim Myeong-Chan didn’t expect the reply to come this quickly and this firmly.

“Chief Lee...!”

“Sir, it’s an unreasonable demand. And we don’t have a reason to say yes in the first place,” Lee Hyeon-Su shook his head. “We’ll take responsibility for the crimes related to the drug circulation. Of course, we won’t sit still if we believe the compensation asked of us proves to be extremely unreasonable. But we’ll try our best to be understanding. And that would be the end of that discussion. Sir, exchanging that matter with this one is not a fair trade.”

Lee Hyeon-Su subtly narrowed his eyes.

“No, it’s a threat.”

Kim Myeong-Chan flinched subtly as if he got momentarily flustered. “Believe me, that is not my intention.”

“Sir, a man in power demanding something unreasonable from others usually constitutes a threat.”

“You’re overestimating my authority, Chief Lee. I certainly do not enjoy the kind of power you think I wield. And my office isn’t enough to threaten the Martial Assembly.”

“Sir, the ones being threatened will decide that.”

Lee Hyeon-Su’s calm, nay,

gentle

tone hid his anger that cut as sharply as a treasure blade.

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath again. This kind of dealing just didn’t suit his style. Besides...

“...Let us conclude our discussion here,” said Kang Jin-Ho to cut the two men off. “Both sides need time to organize our thoughts first. Since that’s the case, why don’t we finish this discussion some other time?”

“But, Assembly Master!” Kim Myeong-Chan urgently called out. “This matter isn’t about securing the administration’s benefits. If you still suspect us of duplicity, I can bring the head of the official opposition party next time. I promise you, this is for our country.”

“So what if it is?”

“...I’m sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho disinterestedly stared at Kim Myeong-Chan. “What will doing that change?”

“...?”

Kim Myeong-Chan couldn’t say anything, as he didn’t quite understand. But he still tried to rack his brain to say something. What came out of his mouth, however, sounded too cliched even by his standards.

“Assembly Master, this is for the good of our citizens. If you agree to do this, we...”

“I’m sorry, but!” Kang Jin-Ho didn’t wait for Kim Myeong-Chan to finish and cut the latter off. “Patriotism and sacrifice only mean something when performed voluntarily. Someone else demanding patriotism from you is when you no longer feel patriotic.”

“...”

“I prefer a trade that’s kept as simple and fair as possible. Make this trade more reasonable, Prime Minister. Then we’ll consider it more seriously.”

Kang Jin-Ho unhesitantly turned around to leave. Lee Hyeon-Su silently bowed at Kim Myeong-Chan and left the room alongside his boss.

Now left alone, Kim Myeong-Chan forced his slightly trembling hand to guide a fresh cigarette to his lips.

He groaned deeply.

“At least you could’ve left after finishing the food...”

Tonight’s dinner would be a lonely one for Kim Myeong-Chan, it seemed.