George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 213

< 212 >

“What the hell.”

That was Bush’s reaction upon receiving the report about what was happening on the Korean Peninsula.

“I never imagined that such a unique… person would become a leader in this era.”

He skillfully swallowed the words, ‘And there are two of them.’ The Chief of Staff’s ability to maintain composure had reached perfection. Specifically, he could maintain his expression even while being brutally tortured sober. Conversely, it also meant that if you couldn’t do at least this much in the Bush administration, you couldn’t hold the position of Chief of Staff.

“Is this actually working?”

In fact, it was close to impossible. At least, that’s how Bush understood it. Think about it, if you could achieve bloodless entry with just rice, why wouldn’t other countries use that strategy?

“According to the report, it is. It seems that the effectiveness of this strategy is due to the unique circumstances of the ‘Korean Peninsula situation.'”

The word ‘uniqueness’ was not included for no reason. The strategy that the South Korean government was using now was a strategy that could not be used in any situation that humanity had ever experienced. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a strategy that could only be used at this moment, right now, on the Korean Peninsula.

Although it was somewhat forced, the exchange with South Korea was enough to return a sense of reality to the countless people who had been brainwashed by North Korea’s isolationist policy, believing that North Korea was the most perfect country, a paradise on earth, and that only the greatest and wisest General and the beloved Leader watching from heaven could lead the people.

Like a dam that had burst in a sink, the interest in the outside world began to soar. And the peak of that was right now. Kim Jong-il, who should have stopped it, had lost his power and was lying in bed, and the Communist Party, which should have replaced him, had already predicted and accepted the fall of North Korea and began to create its place in the newly born unified Korea.

If it had only been up to this point, it would have been unified smoothly, but Kim Jong-il died, targeting the current Communist Party in his will and issuing instructions. He wanted to strike the United States if he could, but he had been completely disarmed. And because he never had the ability to do so in the first place, he decided to destroy the Communist Party that had betrayed him.

Here, even those who had been advocating for mental fortitude in cities and towns, urging people not to succumb to the temptations of capitalism like demons, left for Pyongyang. This historically insane operation gained power in the imagination of a president, breaking the shell of reality that seemed unbreakable and revealing itself to the world.

‘Imagining it is one thing, but I never thought there would be a human being who would actually put it into practice.’

In that it mobilized troops in a sovereign state, it was virtually an act of aggression, but the only countries that could stop it were the United States, Russia, and China. The problem was that the United States was naturally silent, China was too busy dealing with its internal problems to pay attention to the outside, and Russia had no justification. Just coming down under the pretext of maintaining security in North Korea was hindered by the aircraft carrier stationed in Nampo Port, and there was no reason to occupy North Korean territory while engaging in a war of nerves with the United States.

If you were to find an excuse, it would be if the Communist Party, the government of North Korea, a UN member and a sovereign state, asked Russia for help, but the Communist Party was not so foolish as to call in a tiger to chase away a fox.

Above all, no matter how many people flocked to Pyongyang, in the end, people are just people. There was no way that an unarmed group could defeat a properly armed and trained elite force. If North Korea had developed nuclear weapons a little earlier, there would have been quite a few options both externally and internally, but now the only options the Communist Party could choose were ‘kill them all, or die.’

“If there is no intervention from the outside, that will happen.”

“Our intervention now could be a source of conflict.”

That was true. Of course, no other country would try to intervene in North Korea unless they were crazy, but it was a different story for the United States to take the lead in creating a source of conflict.

Right now, the world, including the United States, is going crazy thanks to Super SARS, so even if the U.S. military rampages a bit in North Korea, which has now become like America’s front yard, they wouldn’t care much, thinking of it as a neighbor’s business, but the problem was what would happen after that.

Even if words came out, the United States could somehow try to smooth things over by mobilizing its international influence, but there was no way that a coercive method would be without problems.

“We won’t particularly intervene. Isn’t South Korea already fully involved? They’ll take care of it. Even if that peace operation… I don’t know where it’s peaceful, but anyway, even if that operation fails, the wave that has already started in the Korean Peninsula cannot be stopped by anything.”

However, the form that the turbulence would take was entirely up to North and South Korea. The United States laid the groundwork. The groundwork itself was laid unintentionally, but since it was laid, the plan was to minimize external intervention for the time being.

“I just hope it’s not the Korean War Season 2.”

Bush emphasized every time that war itself was terrible, but there was something he didn’t bother to mention. That’s because he was afraid to even say it.

What Bush feared was that the stock market would fluctuate terribly like a wave. War is like that, but Korea was even more so. Now, unlike in the past, the piece of pie called Korea was not such a small piece in the world economy. Think of a pizza. If you take a piece out of the pizza and move another piece to connect them, wouldn’t it be obvious?

The American economy is similar. If one thing is missing, that much liquidity is created. The United States has invested a considerable amount in North Korean land, so if the Korean War breaks out, the graph that the stock market will draw would be no exaggeration to say that it would be like a tsunami, not just a wave.

Anyway, Korea and the United States have become more economically close, but thanks to that, if Korea explodes, the United States will also get hurt.

“Still, we’ll have to move our troops in case of an emergency.”

Even so, he was confident that ‘war’ would not break out. Fighter planes and tanks had completely turned into scrap metal, and most of the guns had been confiscated and destroyed. Most of the obstacles, such as *bangsapo*s [rocket artillery] and anti-aircraft guns, were dismantled except for the minimum for self-defense.

The only things left were those deployed in Pyongyang. Even the munitions factories were either converted into civilian factories for North Korean development or destroyed. All high-speed boats became fishing boats, and anything that could be called a warship was being dismantled. According to the latest report, about half had been dismantled. The only thing that was still relatively intact was the bunker that North Korea was so obsessed with. Originally, Bush wanted to demolish the bunker as well, but he couldn’t find a suitable excuse.

A bunker is just a bunker. In other words, it’s for defense, not offense. If they argued that it was for the defense and security of the country, the United States would have no justification.

And even if a new government was established in North Korea and waged war on South Korea, it would feel more like an adult fighting a baby than a war. Most of the North Korean army’s weapons were from the previous generation. Even if they were current generation items, their quality was significantly lower.

Of course, that baby wasn’t just a simple baby, and it was enough to wield a kitchen knife, but even so, a baby is still a baby. If an adult is determined, no matter how much the baby wields a knife, it will be easily subdued.

“That’s obvious. Should we instruct them to watch and wait for the right time? It might be a good idea to change the deployment a bit so that we can move at any time.”

Right now, they were all waiting in Nampo Port, but for a quick response, it would be good to launch the aircraft carrier and quickly occupy key bases with the cooperation of South Korea. What was the purpose of the joint ROK-U.S. [Republic of Korea-United States] exercises all this time? Wasn’t it for times like this?

“Let’s put the Korean Peninsula issue aside and hear about the progress of Super SARS.”

It was so chaotic, but Super SARS was also a formidable opponent.

“It seems we need to increase the quarantine budget.”

“Is it a problem with not wearing masks?”

It wasn’t just an American problem, but most European countries thought that if you wore a mask, you were a Super SARS carrier. I understand how they feel, but if you treat these people who have a proper concept as carriers, how can quarantine be easy?

The treatment of carriers here did not simply stop at avoiding mask wearers. In severe cases, they were treated as biological terrorists who deliberately spread the disease and were subjected to collective violence. Of course, it was an absurd discrimination and witch hunt, but because it happened in ‘Eastern Europe,’ this witch hunt was able to gain enough power.

“Damn it. I should have intervened more deeply in the Middle East and killed all those al-Qaeda bastards.”

It was not common for the word ‘kill’ to come out of Bush’s mouth. Bush had said that he deserved to die only three times during his term, including this time. He said it when punishing some officials and public officials who held parties with blatant corruption. The other time was Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea and, on the surface, a really close friend.

“What about the treatment?”

“A total of forty-five types of treatments have been developed, and they are now in the clinical trial stage. There is room for future improvement.”

Since the scale was large, there were quite a few treatment samples. They had already seen the possibility, and the researchers were planning to choose the best one among them. But what Bush wanted to hear was not this treatment.

“No, not that one. I’m talking about the Chinese treatment.”

“We have already obtained and are analyzing it. The results will probably be out in a day or two.”

They had already invested hundreds of millions of dollars to create a treatment, so if there was something that might be a treatment, it was natural for the researchers’ eyes to turn. The research team was currently prioritizing the analysis of this treatment.

“But the acquisition route is a bit suspicious.”

“Suspicious?”

“The thing is, the quantity came from Turkey, not China. I thought it was a similar product or a fake, but after checking it directly, it seems to be stolen goods from China.”

“Is there enough production for stolen goods to come out?”

“It’s being released sequentially in Beijing and Hong Kong. According to the report, it seems to be determined by the size of the property or social status.”

To be exact, people who did well in *?? City* [likely refers to a specific economic zone or area known for wealth] were the first to receive it, but people who had a well-formed *?? City* had high social status and were so rich that their eyes widened, so it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Allocate more protective clothing, budget, and manpower to the quarantine team.”

Bush signed his signature on the document, and it was settled.