Free Web NovelThe private jet landed at Beijing Airport in China.
“Every time I come here, I just can’t get used to it.”
I frowned at the sharp, foul stench that pierced my nose. From the moment I stepped off the plane, I could clearly feel that the air was different.
A representative from the Chinese government was waiting for us at the airport.
“Mr. Kim Muhyuk?”
“Yes. I am Kim Muhyuk.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Wei Dabao, from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. The Prime Minister has ordered me to escort you.”
I nodded and followed Wei Dabao.
The car carrying me did not head toward downtown Beijing but moved toward the outskirts.
“Where are we going?”
“We will escort you to a secret villa.”
“Hm...”
So this was something that couldn’t be discussed in any official setting.
After driving for a long time, we arrived at a place where soldiers were heavily armed and guarding the main entrance.
Wei Dabao lowered the window and gave a brief order to the soldier.
“Open it.”
“Yes!”
The soldiers removed the barricades and opened the firmly sealed entrance.
The vehicle moved again and soon reached a villa built in the French style.
Wei Dabao got out first and opened the car door for me.
“This is as far as I go. Everyone is waiting inside.”
“Everyone? Am I not meeting Prime Minister Wen Jiabao alone?”
“......”
He gave no answer to my question. As I got out of the car, I quietly fixed my gaze on him.
“You will understand once you go inside. That is all I am permitted to say.”
In the end, Wei Dabao did not give me a clear answer. He simply opened the door of the villa.
I entered the villa with Manager Ma.
“Welcome.”
An elderly man, who appeared quite old but had a kind expression, greeted me.
“Please follow me. Your aide should follow that person over there.”
I looked at Manager Ma and nodded. Bowing respectfully, Manager Ma followed a young man.
“Please come this way. When speaking inside, always think twice or three times before you say anything.”
“Who is inside besides Prime Minister Wen Jiabao?”
“...The people who run this country.”
With those words, I could roughly guess who would be present.
If he meant the people who ran China, then Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao — along with the elders.
If the elders themselves had not come, perhaps someone from the princeling faction would be there instead.
But judging from the age and atmosphere of this aide, it seemed the elders had come directly.
We climbed the circular staircase slowly and reached the second floor.
There was one large door, guarded by two large, imposing men.
Their eyes were razor sharp. They were wearing suits, but they could not hide the intensity in their gaze or their well-trained bodies.
So they had stationed military personnel even here.
“We must conduct a brief body search.”
I nodded and obediently raised my hands. They searched me carefully and thoroughly for a long time.
After finishing the search, the men stepped back and held out a basket containing small pouches.
“Please leave your phone here.”
I placed my phone into one of the pouches inside the basket.
Only then did the men open the firmly shut doors.
I slowly walked inside.
At a very large round table sat Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
They were not the only ones. Eight elderly men who were clearly the elders were also seated.
As I checked each elder’s face and tried to identify who was who, Wen Jiabao rose from his seat and approached me.
“Mr. Kim Muhyuk. Welcome.”
Wen Jiabao greeted me with open arms. I returned the embrace lightly.
“I understand you were surprised. But everyone here said they wanted to see Mr. Kim Muhyuk once before making a decision.”
“I was a bit surprised. I thought we would talk alone. Since this isn’t something to be discussed openly, at most I expected to meet President Hu Jintao.”
“That was the original plan. But this matter is not something President Hu Jintao can decide alone. Kim Jong-il, who has been under our shadow, acted on his own without permission. We no longer need someone who cannot be controlled.”
After those chilling words, Wen Jiabao finished the embrace and guided me toward the round table.
He then introduced every person seated, one by one.
After moving past the elders, I finally faced Jiang Zemin for the first time.
“Mr. Kim, welcome. I’ve heard much about you, but this is our first time meeting face-to-face. I am Jiang Zemin.”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Chairman Jiang Zemin.”
“Haha! It’s been ages since I stepped down from the Chairman’s seat, yet you still call me that?”
Even as he said that, it was clear he liked being called Chairman. Jiang Zemin let out a hearty laugh.
Every time he laughed, the plump flesh of his cheeks shook with him.
Although his glasses concealed his eyes somewhat, the greed lurking within them gleamed unmistakably. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
“You are still the Chairman of the Military Commission. And besides, there isn’t much else to call you.”
“We’ll sort out titles later. For now, please sit.”
I slowly walked over and sat in the empty chair.
The round table was large enough for me to see everyone’s face. The elders’ expressions carried nothing but curiosity about me.
“I heard you scheduled this meeting with Wen Jiabao because of North Korea’s nuclear test.”
Jiang Zemin was the first to ask a question. The fact that he spoke before current President Hu Jintao seemed meant to display the power structure clearly.
I organized my thoughts and answered.
“That’s correct.”
“Mr. Kim Muhyuk. Aren’t you a businessman?”
“I am. But this time, I’ve come on behalf of the U.S. and South Korean governments to negotiate with China. Unofficially, of course.”
“On behalf of the U.S. and South Korea? Do you have the qualifications to do that?”
Jiang Zemin asked with a tone that subtly belittled me for being a businessman.
“What qualifications do you mean?”
“Whatever is decided here — will the U.S. and South Korea accept it?”
At Jiang Zemin’s question, I shook my head.
“It will ultimately be each government that makes decisions and final agreements. I came to China to coordinate things in advance. After this, I am also scheduled to meet with Russia.”
Naturally, I could not make any final decisions. My role was simply to find a mutually beneficial position before the real negotiations began.
“Hm.”
Jiang Zemin stroked his chin and glared at me. Then Hu Jintao followed with a question.
“What exactly are you coordinating? Did you come because of the sanctions against North Korea? Or does the United States actually intend to wage war against North Korea?”
“...War, war. The U.S. kept casually throwing around that word, and now I hear it again here. I didn’t expect to hear more war talk in this place. None of you are war fanatics, yet you think of war far too lightly.”
“Of course they would. The U.S. is the U.S., after all. Right now, their government is run by lunatics obsessed with war.”
“They’re not quite that extreme. The U.S. only fights wars it deems necessary.”
At my response, Jiang Zemin snorted.
“Not extreme? Mr. Kim Muhyuk, look at the wars the U.S. has fought in recent years. They toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and then the Hussein regime in Iraq. You want me to believe they’re not war-mad?”
“Even so, I heard they are not planning a war at this time.”
I denied it calmly, but Jiang Zemin still showed blatant skepticism.
“How can we believe that? If North Korea is invaded, China will automatically join the war.”
“Are you serious?”
“China and North Korea are allies. If an ally is invaded, we must fight. Am I wrong?”
I glanced around the table. Most of them nodded, agreeing with Jiang Zemin.
“Are you saying you intend to go to war with the United States?”
“What’s stopping us?”
“May I speak frankly?”
“Frankly? Speak.”
With Jiang Zemin’s permission, I decided to aim right where it would hurt.
“No matter how large a nation China is, if the U.S. decides to wage war seriously, it wouldn’t take a month for China to suffer a crushing defeat.”
“What did you say!”
Except for Hu Jintao and Wen ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Jiabao, everyone slammed the table and glared at me.
But I did not stop.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Everyone here already knows. Even if China and Russia join hands and fight the U.S., you will lose.”
“We will not lose.”
“This is not about pride. It’s an undeniable fact. Face reality. Ah, unless you plan to use nuclear weapons — then it would be different.”
At the word nuclear, their expressions grew sharper.
“I do not want war. If the U.S. invades North Korea, the entire Korean Peninsula will become a battlefield. It is the land where I was born and where I will continue to live. But the U.S. does not think that way. They do not care what others think. If they feel threatened, they will crush that threat completely. From the Cold War until today, you know better than anyone how they deal with hostile nations.”
“We also possess nuclear weapons.”
Jiang Zemin cut in sharply. I raised an eyebrow slightly and looked straight at him.
“North Korea is the one being invaded, not China. Are you saying you would use nuclear weapons over that? Using nuclear weapons means mutual destruction.”
“...”
“Nuclear weapons are an asymmetric tool that loses all value the moment they’re actually used. The U.S. is not threatened because they trust China and Russia will not use theirs. But Kim Jong-il is different. He is someone who might actually use them. The U.S. wants to eliminate the threat before North Korea completes its nuclear development and its intercontinental ballistic missile program.”
Silence settled over the meeting room. A few heavy breaths broke the stillness.
“You know this, don’t you? The U.S. is not actually crazed for war. For the first time in its history, the U.S. mainland was attacked. And not by a country — by a mere terrorist group. The American Goliath was struck by Osama bin Laden, a David.”
They all glared at me, but none interrupted.
“So North Korea now irritates them. Once nuclear development and ICBM development are completed, North Korea will be a direct threat to U.S. security. Even if they let this go now, eventually the U.S. will invade North Korea. Or they will carry out a decapitation strike on Kim Jong-il.”
Everyone in the room already knew this.
They all knew that if the U.S. and China ever went to war, the U.S. would win.
Thus China had very few choices. Mutual destruction, surrender, or...
“Right now, the U.S. wants the UN Security Council to pass a strong sanctions resolution. If China and Russia support it, they can pressure all the other countries as well. That is why I visited on behalf of the U.S. — unofficially.”
After finishing, I straightened my posture. In the spacious meeting room, even breathing could be heard.
The one who broke the silence was one of the elders — Li Peng.
Li Peng was the son of Li Lianshun, an early leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
After Li Lianshun was executed, he was adopted by Zhou Enlai, and became one of Deng Xiaoping’s closest confidants, serving as Premier from 1988 to 1998.
The fact that he served through the late Deng Xiaoping era and into Jiang Zemin’s first term showed how powerful he was.
“You there. Young businessman.”
“Yes, Premier Li Peng.”
“We are not afraid of war. We resisted the Kuomintang’s tyranny through the Long March. Why should the U.S. be any different?”
“...”
“But that does not mean we desire war.”
I inwardly scoffed at Li Peng’s stubborn pride but answered respectfully.
“Yes. Which is why we are asking for support on sanctions, not war.”
“Do you know the sanctions the U.S. is preparing?”
Li Peng was known as the Butcher of Beijing — a hardliner.
He directed the suppression of protesters during the Tiananmen Square incident and acted under the elders’ will rather than Deng Xiaoping’s.
Because of that, he earned Deng’s resentment, and Jiang Zemin became Chairman instead.
The fact that even he said they did not desire war was a good sign.
“It is a level of fully blockading North Korea.”
“Fully blockading?”
“Yes. No vessel will be allowed to enter or leave North Korea, and no vehicle will be allowed to enter or leave North Korea.”
“That is... essentially starving North Korea to death, isn’t it?”
If the sanctions were implemented as written, all goods entering North Korea would stop.
With its already devastated economy, North Korea would undoubtedly collapse.
