George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 39

“If North Korea is willing, I will hold a meeting at Panmunjom tomorrow.”

Bush’s bombshell declaration was broadcast worldwide via television.

Unsurprisingly, everyone was shocked. As president of a superpower, he surprised the world by acting entirely on his own terms.

The only people not shocked were the American staff who had a general idea of Bush’s plan beforehand. They had no power to stop him, and frankly, no reason to.

How does the United States operate? Doesn’t the President propose, and the Federal Congress approve? The Federal Congress couldn’t stop Bush even if they wanted to. More accurately, they didn’t *want* to stop him.

The fundamental way for any group, be it the Federal Congress or any other body, to unite is by forming a ‘consensus.’ Bush’s actions, for better or worse, created a consensus in Congress: a consensus to protect America from terrorism and disaster.

Aside from completely secret Federal Reserve interventions, there was little that would upset the Federal Congress. But even those could only be challenged if they were known, right? If they remained secret, they were effectively legal.

Still, potential points of contention with the opposition party included increasing the budget for new weapon development, significantly increasing the fire department budget, and overspending the police budget under the guise of preventing terrorism.

The problem was that the new weapons faced opposition not only from the opposition party but also from Republicans. And Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who had staunchly opposed it, had long been ousted. Opposing the fire department budget would make you seem unpatriotic, and the situation in neighboring areas made people think the police budget should be increased even further.

In short, there was no decisive reason to sanction him. Furthermore, if you were to pinpoint the time when the President’s popularity and authority were at their peak, everyone would immediately choose the Bush administration. However, that didn’t mean Bush’s actions were without problems. On the contrary, they were riddled with them.

The problem was that the United States at that moment *demanded* a problematic president. The United States wanted to project its power outward. 9/11 was merely the trigger. Sooner or later, the United States would have tried to flex its muscles.

Of course, after losing some strength and regaining their composure, they would realize what they had done and adopt slogans like ‘No More War! Love and Agape!’ and stage anti-war demonstrations, but that time was not now.

In conclusion, the only thing the opposition party could latch onto was President Bush’s abrasive behavior.

He almost single-handedly went to the site and declared his North Korea diplomatic policy as if he were simply informing them. Secretary of State Colin Powell was among the staff who came to South Korea on SAM 27000 [Air Force One call sign when the President is aboard], but Colin Powell didn’t wield much power. It would be more accurate to say that he agreed with the President’s appeasement policy rather than lacking the power to implement it.

Colin Powell was generally moderate in his ideology and had experienced war firsthand, making him one of the few who truly understood the horrors of war.

There’s a significant difference in awareness between understanding something theoretically and understanding it empirically. This isn’t to disparage those who understand it theoretically, but there’s bound to be a gap in how they view war compared to those with direct experience.

Those with theoretical knowledge often consider the potential gains and arbitrage from war first, while those with direct experience worry about the potential losses. Of course, this isn’t always the case, but it was true for Colin Powell.

Anyway, back to Congress, the ruling Republican Party was split in half: neoconservative lawmakers who welcomed Bush’s cowboy antics and non-neoconservative lawmakers who found it excessive.

In reality, about two-thirds of the Republican Party leaned towards the neoconservative faction. They weren’t entirely neoconservative, but they were a group that capitalized on the current climate created by the times and Bush.

The situation was similar for the opposition party, which was supposed to keep the government and president in check. Openly checking the ruling party is a virtue for the opposition, but they need a valid reason to oppose, right?

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, there wasn’t much to reject. They vehemently opposed other bills put forward by the Republican Party, but there was no reason to oppose Bush’s bills related to disaster and national defense. Of course, there was *some* opposition, an exception to the consensus: lobbyists.

So, did that lobbying work? Not at all.

America’s largest lobbyists were oil and guns. Thanks to the unprecedented disaster of 9/11, more people felt the need to protect themselves, boosting gun sales. Bush threatened to “take one guy with me as a ghost!” in the oil industry, and they were so preoccupied with the booming shale industry that lobbying efforts were sidelined.

In particular, the unstable Middle East caused oil prices, already on the rise, to surge even further, leaving oil companies overwhelmed. They had no bandwidth for anything else.

The conclusion was this:

Congress was somewhat bewildered but continued to support Bush because he was pursuing fairly moderate and consensus-building policies.

No one knew when that support would waver.

* * *

‘Ah, I knew that Yankee bastard was crazy, but I didn’t realize he was *this* crazy!’

What was North Korea’s state of mind at this time? Utterly bleak and hopeless.

There’s a saying that extreme shock leads to emptiness. Kim Jong-il was feeling exactly that.

‘Or am *I* the crazy one?’

At least one of them had to be insane. In short, they were both crazy. Both George Bush and Kim Jong-il believed they were normal. A commonality was that neither faced strong opposition or restraint.

How could the supposed leader of democracy and the champion of Juche [North Korean ideology of self-reliance] be so similar? If they resembled each other, one might think they were long-lost brothers.

‘This is a threat.’

By stationing three aircraft carrier fleets near the Korean Peninsula, Bush narrowed North Korea’s options to two. This was qualitatively different from South Korea’s gradual pressure, saying, ‘Will you live with me? Will you die with me!’ The United States was now holding an anti-tank missile to their mouths, demanding, ‘Come out. Come out!’

If South Korea’s approach was a thriller romance, the United States was a Hollywood action movie. Kim Jong-il clearly sensed that Bush’s eyes were filled with a desire for total destruction. It was a sense of kinship, something only fellow madmen could recognize.

North Korea always had Plan C: the rice of modern industry! The culmination of Juche ideology!

Nuclear weapons. Of course, that wasn’t really the case, but Kim Jong-il believed it. To him, the rice of industry wasn’t steel, petrochemicals, or even semiconductors, but only nuclear weapons.

‘Fly, fly, Mount Baekdu! A shell united with justice, Baekdu Mountain No. 1!’ He had said that just yesterday, but what was there to fly? He was about to die right now.

“Did you see this madman?”

The officials who usually agreed with his every word were silent today. They realized that speaking up now wouldn’t help them stay alive.

“Ah! What are you doing? Say something!”

Kim Jong-il was so frustrated that he pounded his chest. If this had happened earlier, he would have swallowed his pride and conceded, but he didn’t want to go down like this.

“It’s an absurd tyranny! Where in the world does someone point a gun at your face and say let’s reconcile! An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth! We should respond with missiles!”

A military officer rattled off words like a machine gun, as if he had been waiting for the opportunity. On the surface, it sounded perfectly reasonable. Kim Jong-il might have exclaimed, ‘That’s right! That’s the spirit!’ in normal times, but while Kim Jong-il possessed a divine ability to protect his throne, his emotions were as volatile as a teenager’s. He was a man who bestowed gold and silver treasures when in a good mood but could wipe out three generations with a single gesture when angered.

Wasn’t Kim Jong-il himself a person who maintained power through force? Kim Jong-il was very upset right now. In other words, he interpreted the officer’s statement as, ‘Is that bastard criticizing me indirectly?’

How unpleasant!

“Purge him.”

“Comrade! I’m just…! Aaaagh!!!”

He was dragged away by two military officers eager to escape this place. The sight of him bleeding from his head was unbearable, but everyone in the room stared intently at the two officers dragging him away, envying their escape from this purgatory.

“Okay, another person. If you have any opinions, speak up!”

But how could they open their mouths? The murderous intent emanating from Kim Jong-il triggered the production of fear hormones. Fear was contagious, and everyone’s brain allocated all its capacity to survival instincts. Of course, this was impossible chemically and physically, but few had thoughts beyond survival.

“What are you all doing? Does our Republic have no talent? Are you all freeloaders? Are you gathered here to suck the blood of the people? Give me your opinions! Opinions!”

While everyone watched, one of the party members who had been completely sidelined offered a textbook answer. To him, success was more important than life.

“Comrade! Now is the perfect opportunity to cut off the head of the American ringleader! There are operatives in South Korea, even if there aren’t in America! Give the order now! Then I will personally go and cut off his head and achieve the communist unification of the Supreme Leader’s Juche ideology!”

Could there be a more perfect answer in North Korea? He even volunteered to do it himself.

Of course, he *could* do it. The probability of success was quite high. But if that happened, it would truly be an all-out war. Kim Jong-il would definitely die. The military officers would simply cry and say they were following orders. Maybe, just maybe, a lead bullet would be lodged in Kim Jong-il’s head as soon as he gave the order.

‘In other words, he’s shouting flattery to gain favor without thinking about the consequences!’

You’re also very unpleasant!

“Comrade! I, I can’t do this…! Aaaagh!!!”

That’s how two more people escaped this hell, plunging everyone else into silence. If the model answer doesn’t work, silence was the only option. I’ll get cursed a little, but I won’t die.

“Why doesn’t anyone answer?”

Just as Kim Jong-il was about to shout again.

“How about going down first?”

“What?”

How dare anyone tell Kim Jong-il to concede? Wasn’t the purpose of gathering opinions to avoid conceding? This was almost a rebellious statement.

Kim Jong-il glared. Who dared to rebel against Kim Jong-il? But this time, Kim Jong-il couldn’t simply purge him as he pleased because the person was Jang Sung-taek.

“Even if you just open your mouth at Panmunjom, the American bastards and South Korean *saekkideol* [bastards] will be delighted. Then, as always, we just have to get some rice, right? If it’s the American *saekkideol* [bastards], they’ll give us *seoyu* [oil] like crazy, right?”

And he smiled slyly, a cunning smile even for Kim Jong-il, who enjoyed flattery. He wasn’t wrong. It was the same attitude North Korea had adopted during South Korea’s inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation policy.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Do you think this is such a simple matter?”

Of course, Jang Sung-taek didn’t know this, but he had no choice but to take the lead because it seemed like about half of the officials here would be blown up by gunfire. If they conceded this time, North Korea would have to show ‘something’ to some extent, separate from South Korea. He didn’t know what that something was, but there was a clear limit to the showmanship so far.

‘No, no.’

Kim Jong-il’s bipolar disorder relapsed. Suddenly, he lost interest and retreated into his own world. Jang Sung-taek, seeing this, secretly sighed in relief, grateful to have survived.

‘Since ancient times, crisis has been an opportunity.’

When you think about it, North Korea has always wanted a place to talk directly with the United States, not South Korea, which is meddling and interfering with all its might, right? Of course, the situation is quite unfavorable, but that would be the same even if recent nuclear development is over. Then, wouldn’t it be easier to talk now?

‘Still, it’s difficult to concede immediately.’

“Jang Sung-taek!”

It is diplomacy to appear not to be intimidated even if you are actually intimidated. You have to play hard to get for about a day.

“Tell them to issue a statement around tomorrow.”

“What should we issue?”

“That I’m going down!”

With this, the US-North Korea three-way talks were set in motion.