George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 143

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North Korea was also receiving benefits similar to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. This meant that North Korea was completely under the influence of the United States, essentially reduced to a puppet state.

In any case, the level and quality of information received by North Korea was certainly lower than that of South Korea, which had been an ally for about 50 years since the Korean War. However, there was one condition that was exactly the same as the National Intelligence Service: ‘fragmentary wordplay.’

“This is the analysis of the information from the United States! It seems ‘He’ is coming!”

Among the general public, the impression of George W. Bush within the Communist Party had changed from an irreconcilable enemy to almost a superior. The reason was that he could relinquish power and step down depending on his mood if anything went wrong, even if it was Kim Jong-il, the center of the Party Central Committee.

In any case, since the supreme leader was Kim Jong-il, Bush was mainly referred to as ‘He,’ and Kim Jong-il couldn’t say much about it because there was no suitable title. One might think he could just use the name, but he didn’t even want to hear the ‘B’ in ‘Bush.’

Kim Jong-il had yielded because he lacked power, but he was determined to escape the clutches of the United States somehow once the reorganization was complete. The probability was extremely low, but he felt like he would collapse if he admitted that it was difficult to do anything about it.

However, there was one reassuring fact: as long as he was under the protection of the United States, he no longer had to worry about assassination. Kim Jong-il, who had always been on edge, spending every day worrying about assassination, couldn’t have been happier. It might seem like a bit of a logical leap to say that the risk of assassination disappeared because he was under the influence of the United States, but Kim Jong-il was certain that ‘He’ would not kill him.

‘If I die now, there will be no way to control the masses who seem ready to rise up.’

“Alright. Recite it in detail.”

“First of all, the information received was, ‘He will visit China.’ It’s absurd to walk directly into a country with a risk of assassination, but isn’t he an absurd person to begin with? According to information from our Republic’s excellent intelligence agents, ‘He’ actually stopped by China and England. Furthermore, he is officially scheduled to visit Afghanistan tomorrow.”

“Is that so?”

“An interesting fact is that as a result of closely spying on and investigating the families of the Air Force One crew members, Air Force One is expected to be in motion for at least a week. Therefore, it is possible to predict that he will somehow make a surprise visit to our Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

There were some flaws in the defensive interpretation, but it was good enough to pass. Of course, Kim Jong-il’s thoughts were slightly different.

“You did well and you didn’t do well.”

He tilted his head without realizing it. If he did well, he did well, and if he didn’t, he didn’t. What on earth does ‘did well and didn’t do well’ mean?

“Pardon?”

“Combine them.”

‘Did well.’ ‘Didn’t do well.’

“Did wrong?”

Kim Jong-il, hearing the answer, pounded his chest repeatedly as if frustrated and vented his anger.

“Does the eyeball on my face look like a knot hole? I could do better than that!”

His bipolar disorder flared up again, and a scolding fell on the analyst’s head. The analyst felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck from a clear sky.

In the old days, he would have immediately purged such a foolish person, but that was no longer possible. Through thorough interference in internal affairs, the constitution, that is, the ‘Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,’ was being completely revised. In many ways, it was gradually becoming more democratic, or rather, Americanized.

Still, he had managed to safeguard some laws for exercising power so far. He didn’t know how long this would last, but the constitution was like the last remaining bastion for Kim Jong-il because he was losing everything. The wealth he had accumulated, the honor of being the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and even women.

Here, women referred to the pleasure squads. The term ‘pleasure squad’ itself was virtually nonexistent in North Korea, but it was true that there were women who could be called that. The Great American President seemed to disapprove of this, so he recommended that these organizations be disbanded.

Again, again, again. Kim Jong-il suddenly became calm as his bipolar disorder returned. This had been happening a lot lately. However, it was true that he found the analyst very annoying. In the past, he wouldn’t have even tilted his head or talked back, and a loud shout of ‘I was wrong!’ would have been the norm.

‘Those who should preserve and carry on the Juche [self-reliance] ideology that our father achieved are all tainted by capitalism! Tsk tsk!’

Since becoming a puppet state of the United States, it had been a while since he had heard words symbolizing the Republic, such as revolutionary armament, independence, and combativeness.

“So, you’re saying that that human is touring the world? Is that what you mean?”

The analyst quickly replied as if taking the opportunity when Kim Jong-il’s anger had subsided. In times like these, it was best to quickly finish the task and get out of this office, which felt like walking on thin ice.

“Y-yes, that’s right! Judging from his movements, it seems he is visiting countries where he has directly exerted influence since taking office as president…”

“Hmm.”

Kim Jong-il tapped the desk with his finger and fell into his own world. He decided to think not about the fact that ‘He’ was coming to North Korea, but about the impact of ‘Him’ coming to North Korea and what he might do if he came.

Because he was like a nuclear missile that you never knew where it would go, it was not easy to grasp, but he could predict a few things. These were things that Kim Jong-il could think of because he was not an analyst.

First, he would definitely make demands that Kim Jong-il would find difficult to comply with, although he didn’t know what they would be, because that’s always been the case. It was truly frustrating, but what could he do? The weak must quietly swallow their resentment and sharpen a sharp blade with that swallowed resentment. A dagger that can stab the nape of the neck when he is off guard.

Second, there was the impact. Even if you knew what was going to happen, it was difficult to grasp the impact, but if you limited the scope to Kim Jong-il himself, it was easy to grasp. This time again, he would have to forcibly invest the wealth he had accumulated through blood and sweat into the North Korean economy, have his favorite liquor in the liquor warehouse taken away, and then spend money to hold a grand send-off party.

And the more that happened, the weaker Kim Jong-il’s support base became. It was truly terrible. Above all, Kim Jong-il was so anxious because he strongly felt that he himself did not have much time left to live.

The longevity research institute always flattered him, but Kim Jong-il knew. He knew that he would never see the third year, even if he could last for one or two more years.

It is said that even young people experience rapid aging when they are stressed. Then, what about Kim Jong-il, who was already old?

‘Shouldn’t I somehow retaliate before I leave this world?’

Having thought that far, Kim Jong-il picked up the receiver on the desk in his office.

Meanwhile, at the U.S. Embassy in Nampo, a CIA agent was working hard.

In Nampo, the noise never stopped because the U.S. Embassy’s guard force was building a military port day and night.

“It’s not enough…”

The senior agent ran away to Sudan in Africa. He was incredibly unique in personality, but he was extremely good at his job, and he took all the opportunities to bully. Looking at the current situation, the working environment might be better in Africa.

Because it was full of people who were determined to kill any American. Thanks to the brainwashing, even though the North Korean Communist Party advertised, ‘America is our friend!’ they desperately denied it, saying that they were being threatened by cunning jackals. In return, South Koreans were praised as compatriots.

This was also the reason why the United States entrusted most of the North Korean infrastructure redevelopment project to South Korea. Thanks to this, South Korea benefited greatly. Anyway, the important thing was that there was an absolute shortage of cigarettes right now. He couldn’t go to the market, and he couldn’t go to the convenience store on the aircraft carrier, so he felt like he was going crazy.

However, when he tried to get some, none of the cigarettes he could get in North Korea were worth smoking. He could tolerate the construction noise that rang out without a moment’s rest. He could tolerate living among people who were trying to assassinate him.

But he couldn’t even imagine a life without cigarettes!

“There’s only one left? Oh my god.”

Originally, he would have smoked it leisurely over three months, but due to more stress than he could have imagined, he became a heavy smoker who smoked three packs a day. As he checked the dwindling cigarette stock day by day, he tried to soothe the emptiness of cigarettes with alcohol, but he couldn’t drink alcohol during work hours, could he?

In a few more months, all sorts of facilities would be set up in Nampo Port, but that was a few months away. Right now, there were only bars and restaurants. But there was still no convenience store. Because all those things could be satisfied on the aircraft carrier! The fastest way was to have a package sent from the U.S. mainland and wait a few months.

‘Should I smoke this? Or should I wait until I can’t stand it anymore?’

A camel printed on the cigarette pack was intensely tempting him. The camel became the incarnation of Joe Camel and was asking if he could really stand it. Could he endure this terrible stress in this outdated workplace where only the building was new?

‘This is a test.’

Think about it. If you endure like in the ‘Marshmallow Story,’ it’s not like this one cigarette will turn into two or return to a pack, is it? He might as well give a North Korean employee hired by the embassy some extra money and have them go to the market and buy any cigarette. He had sworn that he would never smoke anything other than this camel-drawn cigarette after that day, but was pride the problem? He felt like he was going to twist and die if he didn’t smoke right now.

‘No! I can’t stand it anymore!’

The noisy phone rang just as he was about to light a cheap disposable lighter made in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. It was a bell that had been modified with an amplifier because he couldn’t hear it well due to the construction noise. Fortunately, it was lunchtime, so there was no construction noise right now.

Even though he was working at the embassy, he was still in the CIA. Since the CIA is an agency that collects and analyzes information, most of them use other phones that connect to the home country, but the one that rang now was an internal phone. Even though it was an internal line, it was a line used throughout North Korea, but anyway, it wasn’t an overseas call.

Because he was still clumsy in Korean, he tried to clear his throat so as not to stammer as much as possible. He learned Korean in South Korea, and for some reason, he couldn’t get used to North Korea’s cultural language. In particular, he couldn’t understand how the words could be so different.

“This is the U.S. Embassy office in North Korea. How can I help you?”

「American comrade, please help me.」

“What?”

He was so embarrassed by the unexpected story that he spoke in English.

「I’m Kim Jong-il.」