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At Dick Cheney’s lightly spoken suggestion, Bush’s face turned cold.

I can’t let this man run unchecked any longer.

But cutting him off immediately was too risky. Cheney was the symbol of the neocons, and he carried the public image of being Bush’s political partner.

“You want to make a bet on something this important?”

“I didn’t expect you, Bush, to use such a low-class word as ‘bet.’ Domestic opinion and international opinion both can’t oppose our move right now. A chance like this won’t come again.”

The neocons prioritized American values above everything and favored the use of force without hesitation.

That’s why Cheney and the neocons couldn’t afford to let this moment slip away.

There was anti-war sentiment, but it was rare for the American public to overwhelmingly support war.

Still, they needed to exploit the anger of a nation that had, for the first time since its founding, been attacked on its own soil—even if two wars had already dulled that meaning.

“That’s true. A chance like this won’t come again. But you prepared the Iraq War immediately after the terror attacks in New York and everywhere else. You didn’t say we should catch the terrorists—you said we should go to war. Even before it was confirmed who the hell had attacked America.”

“Who else but Iraq would dare attack America? It was obvious.”

“No. You simply wanted to invade Iraq.”

“You agreed to it too. And the UN passed the authorization. Don’t pretend to regret things now.”

The voices of Bush and Dick Cheney rose sharply. But no one in the room intervened.

Until now, the Vice President had always been a powerless, honorary role.

But under Bush, things were different. Cheney was often called the most powerful Vice President in American history.

Some gossips even whispered that Dick Cheney was the real president.

At Cheney’s retort, Bush nodded.

“I don’t regret it. You proposed it, but I agreed with you. But North Korea is different.”

“Why are you so soft on North Korea? What does that tiny country matter?”

“In some ways, it’s a bigger ticking time bomb than the Middle East. It’s a place where we must never, ever take military action. If we did, it could trigger World War III.”

At the words World War, Cheney raised the corner of his mouth.

“You think there’s a country that can challenge America? No one will ever dare. Russia is a weakened nation. China? They’d collapse instantly without American investment. No one will help them.”

“......”

“And if we promise them a portion of influence over North Korea, they’d look the other way. Just divide North Korea into pieces and administer them jointly—just like we split the Korean Peninsula after the Pacific War. Isn’t that part of the operational plan from your father’s administration?”

Bush, who had quietly listened, spoke.

“That plan was drafted by you, Cheney. When you were Secretary of Defense under my father.”

“Correct. I expected North Korea to collapse when Kim Il-sung died. So I drafted that contingency plan. But Kim Jong-il stabilized things quickly.”

“Enough. No point dredging up old history.”

Bush shook his head firmly.

“I will never approve military action. Don’t even dream of it, and stop talking about bets or anything similar.”

“Come on, Bush.”

Cheney narrowed his eyes. His voice was sharp, but Bush didn’t back down.

“I’m the President, not you. Understand that. What we’re going to do is craft a sanctions package strong enough to cut off North Korea’s air entirely and push it through the Security Council.”

“What the—...”

It was essentially a unilateral notice. Cheney glared furiously.

Ignoring him, Bush turned toward Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“Secretary Powell.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Scrap the draft sanctions we decided earlier. Prepare a new one. Think of it as completely blockading North Korea. Like our past blockade of Cuba. Not a single ship enters or leaves. And tighten things even up to the Chinese border.”

Powell hesitated.

“Mr. President... We can manage maritime control, but sealing the border is... honestly impossible. China will never allow that. As the U.S. and South Korea are allies, so are China and North Korea.”

“That man will handle it for us.”

“No matter how close he is to China’s top officials, that’s too politically burdensome. The best China would do at the Security Council is abstain.”

Bush stroked his chin, thinking.

At that moment, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice spoke.

“Mr. President, I agree with the Secretary. Border-level blockade will be too difficult.”

“If China keeps supporting North Korea, even a passed resolution becomes meaningless.”

“Then how about preparing the sanctions package first and gauging China’s reaction? Prepare multiple drafts and decide which to submit based on their response.”

Bush nodded.

“Good. The Secretary of State and Advisor Rice will coordinate and finalize the sanctions.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bush then looked at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

“Rumsfeld.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Even if we # Nоvеlight # don’t take military action, we need to apply pressure, right?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the best approach?”

“Deploy carriers from the 7th Fleet and the 3rd Fleet. Position two aircraft carriers near the Korean Peninsula.”

“Two? Isn’t the 7th Fleet alone enough?”

Rumsfeld grinned.

“It’s enough. No country can defeat the 7th Fleet—not even China. But...”

“You want to make sure China doesn’t consider doing anything foolish.”

“Yes.”

Bush thought, then nodded.

“Fine. Bring the George Washington from Yokosuka to Jeju Island.”

“That alone won’t be enough, in my view. We need a more forceful show of power.”

“Rumsfeld, do you also want war?”

Rumsfeld glanced briefly at Cheney before speaking.

“Not war. But we must show our full strength.”

Bush sighed and rubbed his brow. Rumsfeld, too, was a neocon.

“I said no war.”

“Yes. A show of force will be enough. Sending one more carrier to the West Sea will warn both North Korea and China.”

Even Rumsfeld pushed for a hard-line stance. Rejecting him again might only embolden them later. Eventually, Bush nodded.

“Fine. One carrier enters Jeju, the other conducts joint exercises with the Korean military in the West Sea. Rumsfeld, coordinate with Korea. Their special envoy is already in Washington.”

“Understood.”

Rumsfeld nodded.

Bush turned back to Cheney.

“Be satisfied with this much, Dick.”

“All right. But you’ll regret it. I still regret not taking down North Korea earlier. I hope you won’t make the same mistake.”

Cheney finally relented, and the long debate ended.

“Everyone, attend to your assignments immediately. I’ll give a strong statement condemning North Korea myself.”

Everyone stood.

* * *

Myungsoo’s stay in America was extended.

The Blue House ordered him to negotiate not only the schedule for President Yoon Changho’s visit but also the new sanctions package against North Korea.

And, unusually, China had issued a harsh statement condemning North Korea’s nuclear test.

— North Korea has ignored the opposition of the international community and conducted a secret nuclear test. Our Chinese government resolutely opposes and strongly condemns this.

Strongly condemns.

That was the harshest phrase China ever used.

China always sided with North Korea and wanted to deal with America through dialogue.

But not once did the word dialogue appear in this statement. Russia responded in the same way.

“At this level, persuading Russia and China shouldn’t be a problem. We should schedule stops in China and then Russia.”

The UN Security Council meeting was in two weeks.

Before then, I needed to go to China and Russia and negotiate directly.

China would be easy. Because of the prolonged Yukos situation, China was having trouble securing stable oil supplies.

They had even tried to buy Yukos themselves.

Now that I had acquired Yugansk, all I had to do was guarantee that oil supplies wouldn’t be cut under any circumstances. That alone would secure their approval.

Russia would be easy as well—they needed stability in North Korea to proceed with various projects with South Korea.

And Japan... Well, there was no need to worry. Japan was already in my hands.

“Director Ma, arrange the schedule. After the meeting in two days, we’ll head to China.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare everything.”

Two days later.

I entered the meeting room with the special envoy from Korea.

Secretary Powell, Advisor Rice, and Secretary Rumsfeld were all present.

Originally, this was supposed to be a one-on-one meeting with the Secretary of State, but things had escalated.

“Welcome.”

Powell greeted the delegation.

After exchanging greetings, we sat facing each other across a long table.

I sat beside Myungsoo in the center. It wasn’t my turn to speak yet.

Negotiations began with the schedule coordination for President Yoon Changho’s visit.

As Korea’s most significant diplomatic goal, they wanted the visit designated as a state visit.

A state visit was the highest level of diplomatic courtesy—full official invitation, all expenses covered, and full honors from the host nation.

Korea had only had four state visits since its founding.

Everything else had been official or working visits.

Making Yoon Changho’s first visit a state visit was the Foreign Ministry’s top priority.

“Let’s do it.”

Powell agreed without attaching any conditions. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Myungsoo and the delegation were stunned. I had expected it.

Given North Korea’s provocation, and the U.S. needing combat troops in Iraq, America had no reason to fight over protocol.

“...You mean, a state visit?”

Myungsoo asked. Powell nodded.

“Yes. President Yoon Changho will be received as an official state guest. With honors surpassing any accorded to a Korean president before.”

Once the state visit was settled, everything else proceeded quickly.

President Yoon addressing Congress, the topics for the leaders’ summit—every item was coordinated smoothly.

And finally, the topic Korea didn’t want—the troop deployment.

Rumsfeld brought it up.

“We’ve settled most issues regarding President Yoon’s visit. Now let’s discuss deployment to Iraq.”

“Deployment, sir? We already have troops in Iraq. Sending more is...”

Myungsoo spoke carefully, but Rumsfeld was firm.

“You know we don’t mean support personnel. We’re asking for combat troops. We’ve already sent a formal request through unofficial channels.”

At this point, combat deployment was inevitable.

Only the scale was left to debate.

Rumsfeld wanted a large force; Myungsoo wanted the minimum. Their discussion dragged on with no progress.

Then I finally opened my mouth.

“Instead of doing it that way, let’s do this.”