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Yoon Changho’s visit to the United States proceeded smoothly.

At the U.S. Capitol, Yoon Changho gathered both senators and representatives and delivered a joint address.

—Honorable Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Vice President Dick Cheney, distinguished members of the Senate and the House, and esteemed guests present here today. It is a great pleasure to speak about the friendship and future between Korea and the United States in this place—the Capitol—symbol of freedom and democracy.

Beginning with his greetings, Yoon Changho expressed his gratitude to the veterans who had participated in the Korean War, and calmly addressed a range of other pressing issues as well.

Throughout the speech, the standing ovations never stopped, drawing applause more than thirty times in total.

In particular, his statements expressing a firm resolve regarding the North Korean nuclear issue and provocations drew applause five separate times.

—We must end the vicious cycle of North Korean provocations that has continued for so long, and now, with the United States and Korea standing hand in hand, guide them toward a path of openness.

Yoon Changho spoke in English for thirty minutes, and the contents of his speech were spread across the world by reporters.

“It doesn’t look like I really need to go to Washington.”

I kept a close eye on the situation in Washington while going through my schedule.

The visit progressed without issues, and a summit between President Bush and President Yoon Changho was scheduled for the next day.

Then, suddenly, Myungsoo called.

—Hey, Muhyuk!

Myungsoo’s voice was already heated the moment he called my name.

“Hey, what’s wrong? What happened? Why do you sound like that?”

—Those bastards suddenly changed their tune.

“What? What do you mean?”

—Handing over the people involved in the middle school girl crushing incident. They’re saying they can’t keep that promise.

Handing over those responsible for the middle school girl crushing incident was the prerequisite for everything.

It was a powerful weapon to calm anti-American sentiment and proceed with deploying troops to Iraq.

If the core agenda—the alpha and omega of this visit—was not resolved, nothing else could move forward.

Strictly speaking, things could still proceed, but Yoon Changho’s approval rating would fall.

“......Why all of a sudden?”

—It feels like they planned this from the start. You persuaded China and Russia, and the resolution already passed unanimously at the UN Security Council. So now they’re saying there’s no reason to bear the political burden of handing over their own citizens to us. Does that make any sense?

“These crazy bastards......”

The curse slipped out on its own. They dared to overturn their promise to me like flipping a hand?

—You need to come. President Yoon Changho is meeting President Bush tomorrow, and if this doesn’t get coordinated, this visit will end with nothing gained.

“Got it. I’ll leave right now.”

—I’ll keep negotiating on my end for now.

I ended the call and slipped my phone into my inner pocket.

After closing my eyes briefly to suppress my anger, I spoke to Manager Ma.

“Cancel all schedules. We’re going to Washington.”

“Yes, Boss. I’ll prepare immediately.”

By the time the sun had set, we arrived in Washington. I immediately picked up the phone.

—Hello?

“Good evening. This is Kim Muhyuk.”

—Charlie! I heard you were in the United States. But what is this about at this hour?

“I’m in Washington right now.”

While talking, I got into the car that had already been prepared. The car carrying me headed toward the hotel where Myungsoo was negotiating.

—Ah......

“Did you know? That they would overturn the promise like this. Or was this a direct instruction from Secretary Powell?”

—......Of course not. I still believe they should be handed over. Charlie, there’s a presidential election next year, isn’t there? The Democrats have already begun their primaries, and the response hasn’t been bad.

“I already know that.”

Powell let out a quiet sigh and continued.

—If you already know, that makes this easier to explain. But there was strong opposition from aides who argued that taking issue with a ‘mistake’ committed by our citizens—especially when they were soldiers—would negatively affect next year’s presidential election. And President Bush accepted that argument. I had no way to push back.

President Bush knew. No—he approved it. And he diminished the gravity of the matter by calling it a ‘mistake.’

But this wasn’t the time to nitpick words. The situation was too urgent.

“Then you should have contacted me in advance. I haven’t even had time to rest, traveling through China and Russia to negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government. And this is what I get in return? Is this the U.S. government treating me like a fool?”

Even at a loss to myself, I had honored trust and promises.

For them to break their promise to me meant, effectively, that they had no intention of doing business with me anymore.

“I’m going to side with the Democrats now. And I’ll mobilize my entire fortune to make sure President Bush loses his re-election bid. Remember this. President Bush and you are the ones who provoked me. There will be no reason for us to speak again. Thank you for everything up to now.”

—W-wait, Charlie. Just a moment.

At the mention of supporting the Democrats, Powell hurriedly stopped me.

“Is there more to say? The trust between us is already broken. I have nothing left to do for President Bush or the Republican Party.”

—Let me speak with the President first. Please wait a moment.

“Then make sure you convey this clearly. Fulfill the promise as agreed. You know, Secretary, that I know far more than you think. If all of that goes to the Democrats, it’ll be quite a spectacle.”

Powell couldn’t continue. A heavy silence flowed through the receiver.

“I am not President Bush’s subordinate. I stepped up to help in this matter because the interests of the U.S. government and mine happened to align.”

—For now, please wait. I’m going to meet President Bush immediately.

“I’ll wait until tonight. If President Yoon Changho leaves the United States without gaining anything, then it’s truly over.”

I ended the call before hearing Powell’s reply.

“How much longer?”

“About thirty more minutes.”

I gave a small smile to Manager Ma, who was watching my face with concern, and gave an instruction.

“Manager, check how the Democratic primaries are progressing right now. John Kerry is likely the leading candidate. See if a meeting with him is possible as well. Don’t set anything yet.”

“Understood.”

Manager Ma nodded and immediately took out his phone.

After confirming that, I closed my eyes and organized my thoughts.

‘How did the 2004 U.S. presidential election unfold again?’

I dredged up memories buried deep in my mind. They weren’t perfect, but the overall outline soon took shape.

The Republicans ran President Bush for re-election without a primary, while the Democrats held a fierce primary through which John Kerry emerged as the presidential nominee with overwhelming support.

Having succeeded in energizing their primaries, the Democrats attacked Bush and the Republicans with confidence.

Until the results came out, no one could predict the outcome.

‘But in the end, Bush won.’

There were many reasons, but a major one was that the American media still didn’t know about incidents that occurred during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

At this moment, Bush’s approval rating was quite high—unlike in my previous life.

Even so, unable to guarantee re-election, Bush had discarded his promise to me like a worn-out shoe.

I knew of dozens of bunkers blown up by U.S. forces.

If I handed just a few of those to the Democrats, no one could say how the election would turn out.

No—maybe the Democrats would truly win.

It would be twisting the future once again, but if I just took this lying down, they would continue to ignore me.

‘Still, I hope they keep the promise today.’

The idea of the future I knew changing weighed heavily on me. I simply wanted to reduce variables.

“Boss, we’ve arrived.”

While I was sorting through my thoughts, we arrived at the hotel where President Yoon Changho and Myungsoo were staying.

I called Myungsoo from the lobby, and he came down.

“You’re here?”

“How did the negotiations go?”

Myungsoo shook his head grimly.

Once instructions had come down from the White House, a negotiation team with no real authority couldn’t defy the President’s decision.

“And President Yoon Changho?”

“He said his stomach’s burning, so he’s having a few drinks.”

“Let’s go up.”

I went up to the top floor where the President was staying, together with Myungsoo. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Both the Blue House security team from Korea and the U.S. security team assigned here were controlling the floor.

The Korean team recognized us and tried to let us through, but the American team was different.

“We’ll need to conduct a body search.”

The reason they were being this strict was simple.

If anything were to happen to a foreign head of state on U.S. soil, all responsibility would fall on the United States.

Myungsoo and I submitted to the search, and only after a long time were we allowed through.

“Those guys are overdoing it for no reason. They clearly know who I am.”

I just smiled at Myungsoo’s grumbling.

Unlike Korea, where your face could serve as ID, the United States runs purely on systems.

If only the people sitting in the White House moved like a system as well.

Swallowing that thought, I opened the door to the room where Yoon Changho was staying.

Yoon Changho, drinking alone in the living room, smiled when he saw Myungsoo and me.

“Chairman Kim, Director. Come in.”

I thought the First Lady would be with ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) him, but Yoon Changho was alone. I glanced around and asked,

“Where is the First Lady?”

“I told her to rest first. No reason for her to be dragged down by me. Come, sit. Since you’re here, let’s have a drink together.”

Yoon Changho’s face looked dark. Myungsoo and I exchanged a glance and sat down.

Yoon Changho poured two fresh glasses and slid them toward Myungsoo and me.

Without a word, he drained his glass. I took a sip as well.

Setting the empty glass down, I spoke.

“I watched your speech at Congress. It must have firmly engraved your philosophy in the minds of people around the world.”

No matter how loudly you proclaim your philosophy, if it stays within Korea, it’s hollow.

But when the President of Korea explains his political philosophy at the U.S. Congress, with the world watching, it inevitably spreads everywhere.

It was an opportunity for Yoon Changho—and for Korea as well.

“Really? You watched it?”

“Yes. I didn’t know your English was that good, Mr. President. It was quite fluent.”

There were a few awkward moments, but he delivered the entire speech in English without faltering.

“I prepared hard. I considered speaking in Korean, but I wanted to imprint the Republic of Korea directly on everyone there—not just the senators and representatives, but the entire world.”

“Yes. You did very well.”

“But now all of that has become meaningless. I was just told they won’t give us anything we want. What is this? Did you know as well?”

At his heavy question, I shook my head slightly.

“No. I heard it from Myungsoo today and just spoke with Secretary Powell. He said they can’t hand over their citizens because of next year’s election.”

“How can they overturn something that was coordinated in advance? Even if it’s the United States, this is too much.”

“Because it’s the United States. It’s a country that always prioritizes its own interests, isn’t it?”

It was the tyranny of a superpower. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, international politics were now being dominated by the single superpower that was the United States.

China would eventually rise as a rival—but not yet.

“Even so, we’re allies. The United States is Korea’s only ally. And this is how they treat us? Me! The President of the Republic of Korea came to the United States! Is this really how they do things?”

Yoon Changho shouted, his voice raised high. He wasn’t drunk—his voice was drunk on anger.

“No matter what, this isn’t right.”

I poured him another drink and spoke.

“I warned Secretary Powell. If I don’t hear that they’ll honor the promise by tonight, I’ll look for another path as well.”

Yoon Changho, curious at my words, asked,

“Another path? Is there such a thing?”

“We may take the hit this time, but President Bush will fail to win re-election. I’ll make sure of it.”