Free Web NovelEven though a man had just been killed before his eyes, Kim Jongil showed little reaction. As if accustomed to such things, he only lifted his glass and drank, watching me.
“Mr. Kim, the more I learn about you, the more interesting you are.”
I heard Kim Jongil speak, but my gaze was fixed on the fallen body of Lim Dongok.
‘...Just like that?’
He hadn’t even spoken a single word about the clash with me.
As I thought this, Kim Jongil continued as if for me to hear.
“I hear there was a quarrel with Deputy Director Lim at the People’s Culture Palace.”
“...”
“Whether Lim Dongok knew or not, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that he was rude to a guest I had invited. That is our Republic’s responsibility. Do you understand?”
Soldiers carried Lim Dongok’s body away and began wiping the blood.
Watching the soldiers move with practiced ease, I thought to myself.
‘Is this a warning? Or perhaps even a gift.’
All my thoughts about how to punish Lim Dongok had just become pointless.
But since I could not know the intent behind this, I could not feel only relief. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“I have not known about Mr. Kim for long. When I heard Vice Premier Wen Jiabao had asked his brother-in-law to look into someone, I became curious.”
At those words, I slowly turned my head back toward Kim Jongil.
The smoke from his cigarette veiled his face so I could not read his expression.
“It was unexpected. A man who had never once spoken to us of South Korea, hearing Mr. Kim’s request, took on political risk just to petition our Republic.”
Pouring himself a drink, Kim Jongil spoke. My own hand shook slightly as I followed suit, so I gripped the glass tightly.
“Let us drink.”
As he held out his glass, I raised mine as well.
My throat moved with the tilt of my head. After downing his glass, Kim Jongil continued.
“So naturally, I had to be curious. Who was so important as to move Vice Premier Wen himself? So I ordered it. I told them to find out everything about Mr. Kim.”
Kim Jongil’s sharp eyes raked over my body. Under that piercing gaze, I swallowed dryly.
“America, China, even Russia. Watching you expand your reach was fascinating. That is why I called you here.”
“...It was nothing but luck.”
“Luck? Influence such as yours cannot come from luck alone. If it could, who would risk his life for power?”
Kim Jongil’s face twisted bitterly as he spoke.
“Outside, they think of me as an absolute ruler. But inside, it is not like that at all. I must always fear a military coup.”
Yet this man had just executed Lim Dongok, one of the military hardliners, without even a trial? The words didn’t line up.
“I need an achievement in raising the economy. That is why I agreed to the summit with South Korea.”
For a dictator, the end is always either a coup or a popular uprising.
I was beginning to grasp what it was he feared.
Yet from what I remembered, no such uprising or coup ever occurred until the day he died.
Perhaps feeling the wave of anxiety, Kim Jongil lit another cigarette and drank more.
“To be frank, the people’s livelihood does not matter to me. What matters is holding this seat.”
For him to say such a thing so openly to an outsider—it meant the internal situation was more serious than commonly known.
“Mr. Kim, I want you to help me.”
“Is there truly something I can do for you, Chairman?”
“Proceed actively with negotiations with the United States.”
The words burst from his mouth so unexpectedly that I was genuinely stunned.
“With the United States?”
“Yes, the United States.”
With a complicated smile, Kim Jongil gripped his glass.
“Chairman, may I ask why you would choose me, who is not even of the Republic, to negotiate with the United States?”
Blowing out smoke, Kim Jongil gazed at me.
“In the Republic, there are forces who bare their teeth at even the mention of America. No matter who I send as a special envoy, they cannot escape those eyes.”
“You mean the military?”
“It may be the military, or it may not...”
Leaving the answer deliberately vague, Kim Jongil went on.
“There are many other nations as well who would be wary of our Republic reconciling with the United States. That is why I choose Mr. Kim. With your wealth and influence, you could make the talks happen.”
For merely bringing Jang Daeho’s family to China, the risk was far too great.
China, Russia, Japan—all of East Asia surrounding the peninsula would not welcome change in the North.
This would not be easy.
“Will you accept my proposal, Mr. Kim?”
As I struggled over how to refuse, Kim Jongil pressed for an answer.
“...This is not something I believe I can shoulder. Please find another.”
“Mr. Kim, do you think I would offer this to a South Korean unless I were desperate? I am staking everything on this.”
“Yes, I can see your will for change clearly. But it is too dangerous.”
What he was asking could cost me everything I had built.
“To deceive neighboring countries and carry out negotiations with the U.S. government—that is not the work of an investor. I do not engage in affairs without profit.”
Perhaps ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) not expecting refusal, Kim Jongil’s eyes went cold.
The silence in the room was heavy enough that I could hear distant soldiers swallow nervously.
“Mr. Kim, are you rejecting me?”
His voice was hard when he finally broke the silence.
“Yes, this is beyond what I can do.”
“Even if everyone you seek dies? Even if it means your own life, here and now?”
“Chairman...”
Jang Daeho’s family mattered deeply to me.
But to accept so lightly was impossible.
“You think you cannot do it? With a single order, I can end them all. And even you, right now.”
“Chairman, I am not of the Republic.”
“What does that matter? You are sitting before me, here in the Republic.”
Clasping my hands tightly, I looked straight at Kim Jongil.
The suffocating tension pressed in around the room.
“...You will have to take responsibility.”
“Did I not say? In the Republic, words and actions carry responsibility. That applies to me as well.”
“...”
“From the moment you heard my plan, Mr. Kim, you had no choice.”
“But Chairman, if you kill me, all of your plans will collapse.”
No matter how much I refused, he would not kill me. Kim Jongil might be reckless, but even he would not go that far—unless he intended to start a war.
“If you accomplish this task, I will grant you whatever you wish. Anything at all.”
Realizing threats did not work, Kim Jongil shifted to persuasion.
“I will even look the other way and let you bring the family you seek back to the South.”
If I accepted here, I would be ensnared. Instead of answering, I studied his face.
His lips were stiff with stubbornness.
“Chairman, even if I were to attempt it, I cannot guarantee success. Nor how long it would take.”
I began to carefully explain why I could not simply accept.
“And truthfully, my relationship with the U.S. government is not good right now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The Clinton administration and I were not originally hostile, but at present they are keeping me in check.”
That, it seemed, was something Kim Jongil had not known. He stared intently, listening.
“Furthermore, as a South Korean, would it not look strange for me to conduct negotiations with the U.S. on your behalf? Chairman, could you grant me full authority?”
America was lukewarm toward easing tensions with hostile states.
If the benefit was not great, there was no reason for them to sign a peace treaty with North Korea.
In my previous life, North Korea had met with the U.S. twice at the summit level without producing results. Because the U.S. judged that maintaining tension was more profitable than reconciliation.
“You want me to give you full authority?”
“That is right. Only then could both America’s demands and yours be satisfied.”
“So surrendering our nuclear weapons alone would not be enough?”
Perhaps frustrated at the lack of common ground, Kim Jongil filled his glass to the brim.
“Chairman, you place too much hope in nuclear weapons. Can you truly say that an undeveloped nuclear arsenal poses any real threat to the United States?”
With a deep sigh, Kim Jongil set down the empty bottle and ordered Baek Cheolsu:
“Bring more.”
When the glass was once more filled, Kim Jongil’s voice finally rose.
“I will not conduct a humiliating negotiation!”
“I am not telling you to bow to America. I am only speaking of reality, Chairman. True negotiation is only possible when interests align.”
Kim Jongil uncorked the new bottle and poured again.
His hand trembled slightly as he did so.
“Mr. Kim.”
“Yes, Chairman?”
“If I grant you full authority, can you guarantee the regime’s preservation?”
“I can attempt dialogue. But I cannot promise how it will unfold.”
At that non-answer, Kim Jongil struck the table lightly.
“Then what difference does it make to give you authority! It is meaningless!”
“It is the minimum necessary just to begin talks. Ultimately, it will be you who decides whether to accept the results. I cannot promise them.”
Silence fell. Kim Jongil smoked, lost in thought.
Low mutterings escaped him as he pondered. I too began sorting through my thoughts.
‘I need to consider what benefit I can gain from this.’
What North Korea or the U.S. gained was irrelevant. What mattered was what I, the investor, could gain.
“...Do it. Full authority, whatever it takes—I will give it to you.”
At last, Kim Jongil spoke his decision.
“Very well. I will try. But the family I seek must be sent to China immediately after this summit.”
“Agreed. I will send them to China through my brother-in-law. But they must never appear in the South Korean press. Do you understand?”
If their story reached South Korean media, it would cause me more trouble than him. I nodded lightly.
“Yes, I will take it as a gift. If matters with the U.S. are resolved well, then we will speak of other things later.”
At my shameless-sounding words, Kim Jongil burst into loud laughter.
“So you truly are an investor. You never act at a loss. Come, let us drink!”
For some time after, Kim Jongil spoke of what he wished to secure from the United States: a permanent peace treaty, regime preservation, and economic aid.
As the drinking session wound down, I asked the question that had been lingering in my mind.
“Chairman, why did you choose me? You have Deputy Director Jang Songthaek, and many others you can trust, do you not?”
“To trust my brother-in-law... Do you think I trust him?”
A chilling smile spread across Kim Jongil’s face.
“There have been three assassination attempts this year alone.”
The words blindsided me. Of course, I had known rumors of plots against him.
But to hear it from his own lips left me unsettled.
“All three attempts were by soldiers of the Guard Command. That is why no rumors spread.”
“Surely it was not Deputy Director Jang behind them?”
Kim Jongil shook his head, his mouth curled in mocking disdain.
“No. My brother-in-law lacks the courage.”
“Then...?”
“I do not know.”
From the lips of Kim Jongil himself came the words: I do not know.
That there could be matters within North Korea unknown to its supreme ruler—I could hardly believe it.
“You do not know?”
“Other than those in this very room, I cannot trust anyone. Not even my brother-in-law.”
“...”
“Believe it or not, the naval clash in the West Sea was not by my order. I only heard after the fact.”
That the Battle of Yeonpyeong, which heightened inter-Korean tensions, was not his order?
I quickly racked my brain over who could profit from souring relations. There were too many possibilities, making it harder, not easier.
“I killed everyone involved in that incident, but things are happening inside the Republic that I do not know of.”
Drawing deeply on his cigarette, Kim Jongil gave a self-mocking laugh. The acrid smoke faded into the air around him.
“Right now, there is no force to check the military’s power. That is why peace negotiations with America are necessary. A new environment means a chance to cultivate new political forces... Well then, are your questions answered?”
Answered?
No, if anything, I now had even more questions.
