Free Web NovelManager Ma, who had been standing behind me like a shadow, stepped closer and whispered into my ear.
“What should we do?”
“Let’s wait and see for now.”
“If we stay here with them, Boss, your safety could also be at risk.”
His voice carried heavy concern, but I gave a slight shake of my head.
“If the coup succeeds, it won’t matter where we are—we’ll be in danger regardless. This might actually be the safest place.”
Even as I spoke with Manager Ma, Kim Jongil was venting his fury.
“That son of a bitch Kim Ilcheol!”
“General.”
“Yes, Cheolsu. Find out who else besides Kim Ilcheol is tied up in this. Right now!”
Baek Cheolsu hesitated, glancing between me and Manager Ma.
“What? Do you think Mr. Kim is going to harm me? Forget that and focus on finding out who’s involved in this! You must personally look into it. Go at once!”
“Yes, General.”
At Kim Jongil’s roar, Baek Cheolsu bowed deeply. Then, with the soldier who had entered earlier, he started to leave.
“Cheolsu, try to get in touch with the Director of the General Political Bureau first.”
Kim Jongil called after him before he left.
When Baek Cheolsu had finished answering and stepped out, Kim Jongil collapsed back into his seat. He sighed deeply, then poured and downed several drinks in succession.
Weariness and shock were etched across his face.
“Hu...”
The room filled with nothing but his cigarette smoke and heavy sighs.
“Mr. Kim, forgive me.”
“It’s nothing. But a coup? Is everything truly under control?”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be crushed soon. That bastard Kim Ilcheol...”
Hearing him mutter the name in anger, I began to feel uneasy.
The Minister of the People’s Armed Forces was equivalent to the Minister of National Defense in the South.
The Supreme Commander of the military was Kim Jongil, but the one who actually moved the army was the Minister of the People’s Armed Forces.
So it was no wonder he was so furious when a man in that position launched a coup.
“Surely you appointed a trustworthy man to such a post?”
Kim Jongil sighed once more and stubbed out his cigarette.
“I had to strip power from the line of Choi Hyeon, O Jinwoo, and Choi Gwang. That’s why I appointed Kim Ilcheol, the Navy Commander, as Minister of the People’s Armed Forces—splitting authority between the General Political Bureau, the General Staff, and the Ministry itself.”
“Ah, O Jinwoo... I know that name.”
“There’s no man more infamous in the South than him, is there?”
O Jinwoo had personally directed major incidents ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) such as the Panmunjom axe murder and the Aung San Mausoleum bombing.
His name was well-known in the South.
“Back in Minister O Jinwoo’s time, there was talk that he’d name his own successor. Mr. Kim, would you leave a man in place who could threaten your position?”
Grinding his teeth, he posed the question. I nodded.
“It would indeed be a threat.”
But even as he spoke of checks and balances, I sensed that Kim Jongil held a certain respect for O Jinwoo.
“If that power were used wholly for me, it would be ideal. I trusted Minister O Jinwoo. But not the others. That’s why I placed that Navy man Kim Ilcheol in the seat, and that bastard dares...”
Kim Jongil’s cheeks trembled. His rage was genuine.
A Navy man as Minister of the People’s Armed Forces...
Given that most of the People’s Army were Army, it would have been difficult for a former Navy Commander like Kim Ilcheol to fully control the Ministry.
So that was why Kim Jongil had told me not to worry.
At the same time, I recalled Kim Seongjin’s confident demeanor in Seoul, and unease stirred in me. Surely he wouldn’t make the mistake of moving troops on the sole trust of his weakened father.
“Comrade Chairman, what kind of man is this Kim Ilcheol?”
“He was a faint, nearly invisible presence. That’s why I appointed him—he seemed perfect to merely carry out my orders. I never thought he’d strike me in the back like this.”
A bitter look spread across Kim Jongil’s face as he muttered about his misjudgment.
“Do you truly believe Kim Ilcheol could pull this off alone? You seem far too relaxed.”
“Haha, even if the entire 2nd Corps came, they could never break through the 91st Capital Defense Corps. No need for you to be so tense, Mr. Kim.”
Just as his hearty laugh filled the air, gunfire rang out.
The room’s atmosphere froze solid in an instant.
With my face stiffening just like his, I asked,
“That sound just now... gunfire, wasn’t it?”
“...”
This was one of Kim Jongil’s secret villas. For gunfire to be heard nearby meant their location had already been discovered.
At last, Kim Jongil answered my question.
“It’ll be dealt with shortly. Don’t worry.”
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to reassure me or himself.
But contrary to his words, the gunfire didn’t stop. It was drawing nearer.
Suddenly the door slammed open and Baek Cheolsu rushed in.
“General, you must flee.”
“Flee? What are you saying?”
“The 91st Capital Defense Corps has stormed this place.”
Kim Jongil asked in shock,
“What did you say?”
“There’s no time to lose.”
“Cheolsu—”
“General, forgive my rudeness.”
Baek Cheolsu bowed deeply and moved toward Kim Jongil.
“President Kim, prepare yourself as well. This place will fall soon. It may be dangerous.”
Hearing that even the 91st Capital Defense Corps—the very unit tasked with defending Pyongyang—had joined the coup made my head pound.
“President Kim!”
Rubbing my temples with a sigh, I heard Baek Cheolsu’s voice grow sharp. Rising to my feet, I said,
“Give us weapons too.”
“That cannot be allowed.”
He flatly refused.
“Captain Baek Cheolsu.”
“The only ones permitted to bear arms near the General are the Guard. Absolutely not.”
“Then I will not move a single step from here.”
Since he was so adamant, I sat back down, folded my arms, and closed my eyes.
“Do as you wish. General, we must leave.”
My safety meant nothing to Baek Cheolsu. His only thought was to get Kim Jongil to safety.
“Enough. I’ll go on my own. Mr. Kim, come with me. I can’t have you injured. Cheolsu, give Mr. Kim’s men weapons.”
“But—”
“Cheolsu! Will you continue to disobey my orders?”
“Understood.”
At last, compelled by Kim Jongil’s command, Baek Cheolsu handed his pistol to Manager Ma.
He inspected it thoroughly.
“Nothing else?”
“For now, that must suffice. I’ll get you more later.”
Manager Ma only nodded. Having achieved his goal, he pressed no further.
He rose smoothly and asked,
“Let’s go. Is there a way out?”
“Follow me.”
Baek Cheolsu led. Kim Jongil and I followed. Manager Ma took the rear, watchful.
The gunfire grew closer.
We hurried through a maze-like corridor until we reached a dead end.
I looked questioningly at Kim Jongil. He only nodded grimly.
At his signal, Baek Cheolsu felt along the wall and pressed something. A faint mechanical sound followed, and a hidden door opened.
“I’ll go first.”
Inside was pitch-black. As he stepped in, lights flickered on, one after another.
We descended the stairs behind him.
At the bottom, a tunnel and a small car awaited.
So this was the rumored passage to Kim Jongil’s underground bunker.
“General.”
Opening the car door, Baek Cheolsu called. Kim Jongil boarded with a hard face.
“Mr. Kim, get in as well. Have your man take the passenger seat.”
Quietly, I followed and sat beside him. As soon as I was in, Baek Cheolsu shut the door and walked to a panel on the wall.
When he pressed a button, the tunnel lit up brightly.
“Departing.”
With Manager Ma seated in front, Baek Cheolsu drove us off.
Kim Jongil, calmer now, let out a long sigh and asked,
“Cheolsu, what is going on?”
“The telephone lines are cut. On our way to the satellite phone, we were suddenly ambushed.”
“You said it was the 91st Capital Defense Corps?”
“Yes. The attackers wore their uniforms.”
“You’re saying the Corps Commander, Kim Namgil, betrayed me?”
In any country, the commander of the unit guarding the capital was always the leader’s most trusted man.
All the more so in North Korea, a dictatorship, such a position would never be given to someone untrusted.
“It’s not confirmed that Corps Commander Kim Namgil joined. If he had, the scale would be far larger.”
Fortunately, the forces that struck the villa seemed fewer than expected.
Still, if units across the corps acted without command, defectors could appear not only in the 91st but in other corps too.
“You’re telling me troops moved without Kim Namgil’s orders?”
“We’ll verify as soon as we arrive.”
“Then the Director of the Political Bureau, the Chief of General Staff—no contact with any of them?”
“Yes, none.”
As I listened, I pieced the situation together in my head.
Not the entire People’s Army had joined the coup.
If I were the one staging it, my first move would be to secure Kim Jongil himself.
“Is the place we’re heading truly safe?”
Startled, Kim Jongil turned his head, as if demanding an explanation.
“If I were them, I’d send troops to the very place we’re going first.”
“Mr. Kim, no one knows of it. No one but me, Cheolsu, and that boy.”
“If they fail to find you at the villa, they’ll soon discover the hidden passage. Then they’ll pursue.”
Lighting another cigarette, he answered,
“This is a labyrinth. There are multiple exits. It will take them a long time to find us. I built this in case America ever invaded...”
He trailed off bitterly, puffing smoke. I left him to it.
Baek Cheolsu drove swiftly through the maze-like tunnel without hesitation.
After a long drive, we finally halted. He and Manager Ma got out first, followed by Kim Jongil and me.
We emerged to the surface, boarded another waiting car, and drove again for some time.
At last, we reached another underground bunker, deep in the mountains.
“Even a nuclear strike won’t break this place. Now we must crush the rebels.”
The bunker was as lavish as the villa we’d left behind.
“Bring me liquor.”
As soon as he sat on the sofa, Kim Jongil demanded drink. Baek Cheolsu brought whiskey and glasses.
“Mr. Kim, will you join me?”
“No.”
To still think of drinking in such a moment... though perhaps it was the only way he could endure.
But I refused.
“Is that so? Then I’ll drink alone.”
He poured and downed a glass in one go.
“Contact the Director of the General Political Bureau. Once this is settled, I’ll have his head as well.”
“Yes, I’ve given the order.”
“Good. Damn bastards.”
He muttered darkly, as if to devour them. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
“The companions I left in Pyongyang—they will be safe, won’t they?”
“The rebels aren’t crazy enough to kill visiting businessmen from the South, are they?”
He brushed it off as if it were nothing.
“Damn scum... A disgrace to the Republic.”
Kim Jongil muttered to himself, washing down his bitterness with strong liquor.
