George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 40

“Respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il has graciously accepted the proposal of U.S. President George Bush and stated that he will go directly to Panmunjom [the Joint Security Area between North and South Korea] for the peace of our nation.”

The news from the North came less than an hour after the broadcast. Of course, the official statement itself came 10 minutes earlier than the news. North Korea certainly responds quickly, if nothing else.

The reason North Korea can make decisions faster than other countries is because it is an absolute monarchy. Of course, if they heard this, they would jump up and down, calling themselves the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but can a place that holds approval votes, not even votes for or against, be called a republic? Isn’t that an elective monarchy? Even elective monarchies had real votes for and against.

Therefore, paradoxically, it was a statement that could be dismissed with a ‘Screw it!’ if Kim Jong-il didn’t like it, no matter how much the aides coaxed and soothed him. So, this was a miracle. It was a miracle artificially created by threats of steel and bombs, but who cares? The guy with the gun says it’s a miracle. If it’s a miracle, it’s a miracle.

So, what was George W. Bush, who had achieved this miraculous three-way meeting, thinking? He was thinking:

‘Is this guy serious?’

The schedule in Korea was one night and two days, and in Japan, two nights and three days. Japan was originally one night and two days, but the Japanese side strongly insisted. The influence of Japanese lobbyists wasn’t exactly low, so after some back-and-forth, the schedule naturally became two nights and three days.

Thanks to that, he had to create an itinerary in Korea where there was none. Originally, he was scheduled to take Air Force One to Japan around 2 p.m. I’m talking about SAM 27000 [a specific Boeing 707 aircraft used as Air Force One], not fighter jets.

Since Bush brought it up first, he had no choice but to wait since they said they would come down tomorrow. The problem is that this will delay the schedule in Japan. Bush didn’t have good feelings toward Japan, but breaking a national promise was something that pricked his conscience, even for Bush. But what could he do? The few had to sacrifice for the greater good. Just achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula could save a lot of defense spending and administrative power.

Of course, China and Russia were still in East Asia, so they wouldn’t withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea or Japan. But at least they could worry less about North Korea, right? How many military satellites are they currently focusing on North Korea because of their nuclear program?

‘It would be even better if we could reunify, but that’s impossible.’

At least, reunification of North and South Korea wouldn’t happen in Bush’s lifetime. Unless one of the two systems was completely destroyed. As long as the two systems were running smoothly, peaceful reunification in Bush’s lifetime was a distant prospect.

“Then, shall we go visit my old unit today?”

His old unit. That is, the unit where Kim Kap-hwan was discharged. Kim Kap-hwan enlisted in 2002, so the people in that unit would be his seniors and company commanders who spent their youth with Kim Kap-hwan, and the platoon leader, right?

If there were no changes due to the butterfly effect, the unit would probably be the same as he remembered. The DMZ was where Kim Kap-hwan buried his early twenties.

So, you’re saying there’s a unit with that awful senior who force-fed him dumplings from the golden carriage like he was in ‘Oldboy’ [a South Korean neo-noir action thriller film], the company commander who made the entire company pull weeds in full gear with camouflage cream, and the platoon leader who constantly gave group punishments?

Of course, touching them one by one would be internal interference, but DMZ inspections are something every U.S. president does, right?

‘Right?’

Corporal Yang. No, Private Yang. I bet he’ll be scrubbing like crazy.

* * *

“Damn it. What the hell are they doing that makes them move so fast, kicking up so much dust?”

“If I knew, would I be standing here? The rations have been cut even more lately because of this talk about overall combat readiness.”

He swallowed the words, ‘Should I pretend to be crazy and run over there?’ The only advantage of being on the front lines was that the rations weren’t so bad that your stomach stuck to your back. But since the Arduous March [a period of widespread famine in North Korea during the 1990s], they’ve been decreasing, and now they’re telling us to eat only rice without any side dishes. And it’s not just rice, it’s half corn and half maize.

Are you saying that ‘gangnaengi’ means corn kernels? That’s right. So, we’re only eating corn. Still, this side is a bit better off, and they’ve created a potato field guarded by armed soldiers, but they can’t stop all the residents or wild animals from stealing.

Well, wild animals would be better. At least it’s meat, right? The officers eat it all, but it’s not like there’s nothing left. Even if it’s just a sliver of flesh attached to the bone, meat is meat. You can boil the bones to make broth and drink it.

Of course, there’s a reason why they only eat corn. There’s no rice on the front lines either. They were already mostly self-sufficient, but now they’ve really become self-sufficient. But the front lines are still ‘better off.’ To be clear, the front lines are always the top priority for supplies, except for Pyongyang.

So, if the front lines are just eating corn like crazy, that means you can’t know whether other places are eating corn or grass roots from weeds on the side of the road.

However, this was due to Kim Jong-il’s eyes rolling back, saying, ‘Nuclear weapons! Never nuclear weapons again!’ but they had no way of knowing.

“If they just gave us enough rice, standing here all day wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hey, you were fidgeting during duty even nine years ago when we got rice with white kimchi. Your whining will reach the heavens. Hey.”

The man who heard those words was about to get angry, but soon his strength drained away. You need to have eaten something to have the energy to get angry.

“Seriously, what are those guys doing?”

* * *

“Damn it, the president isn’t just a president, he’s a double-peak president [a Korean slang term for someone who is extremely demanding and powerful].”

In an era before advanced barracks, the fact that even a (soon-to-be) civilian who was being discharged tomorrow was dragged into the work meant that the unit was under an unprecedented emergency alert, not just an ordinary one.

The unit was given only 4 hours! They borrowed soldiers from the neighboring unit and swept away all the weeds and fallen leaves, and cut down all the branches they had been putting off because they were ambiguous. Of course, they polished their combat boots so that their faces were reflected, and new equipment that seemed like it would never be seen again for the next 20 years was supplied from the unit’s warehouse.

Since the DMZ is directly adjacent to North Korea, new equipment was being supplied quickly, but since it was still the Republic of Korea Army, there was no way there wouldn’t be any defects. It was good that even the A-grade items were replaced with completely new ones, but it was obvious that this inspection would pass and they would return to the supply warehouse where no light entered.

“Damn it! Damn it! Hey! Kim Ji-hoon! You son of a bitch! It’s all your fault!”

Thanks to that, an innocent upper-classman with the same name was cursed out terribly. Of course, in his heart, he wanted to argue, ‘No, damn it. Kim Snake! Why is it my fault!’ but seeing the head of someone who was about to be discharged tomorrow turned into a buzz cut that was worse than a new recruit’s, he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“Ah! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Kim Ji-hoon, you son of a bitch! Bush, you son of a bitch!”

Sergeant Shin’s shouts echoed far away, but no one thought of stopping him. It was partly because they were afraid of incurring the wrath of Sergeant Shin, who was consumed by madness and saw nothing, but it was also because they had to pull one more weed and shovel one more time in that time.

“Damn it, it’s so noisy. Hey! Why is that guy like that?”

“Sergeant Shin had leave today. Originally, he had a date with his girlfriend today. He was grumbling that he would break up if he couldn’t go out this time. So, he went down on rotation last time, but he’s back up now, isn’t he?”

Ah, I see. Kim, the soon-to-be discharged, shut his mouth.

“Damn it. Hey, has there ever been this many people in the GOP [General Outpost]?”

“Probably not since the Korean War.”

Soldiers drawn from all over were removing weeds, packed together like Chinese soldiers. The ranks ranged from privates to sergeants, and the branches ranged from military police to PX soldiers, but what was even more diverse was the condition of the soldiers.

It was clear that they were mobilizing even the guys who should have been lying in the infirmary. Of course, it wasn’t people with broken arms or legs, but soldiers with mild colds or indigestion. Of course, it was a three- or four-hour job, so they gathered as many people as possible.

Originally, there was no reason to make such a fuss. You could just do it thoroughly from the day before. GP [Guard Post] and GOP are so often visited by high-ranking officials that there was even a dedicated manual among the officers.

The problem was that a schedule that didn’t exist suddenly crawled up from purgatory.

“Wow, damn it, the military is a truly amazing place. How can the word ‘damn’ not leave your mouth!”

“Wow, look at Kim Snake. It’s the first time I’ve seen the battalion commander shoveling.”

“Heh, damn it. I’m seeing all sorts of things before I get discharged.”

The word ‘damn’ didn’t leave Kim’s mouth until the moment the last job was finished.

* * *

‘Memories.’

Memories like a flame that I want to burn all away.

The hill that was difficult to climb because of its steep slope and even more hellish because of the seniors. The barbed wire fence standing along the ridge of that damn hill. The patrol tags hanging on each barbed wire fence contained the spirit of the GOP soldiers.

The patrol tag is one side red and one side white, and it’s a tag that’s flipped to white at night and red during the day. Officially, it’s used to check if there are any problems with the barbed wire, but in reality, it’s used to check whether the soldiers are slacking off or not. It takes an eternity for a private to flip it, but a sergeant flips it as he passes by.

However, even if they slack off, it’s the battalion commander who gets angry, not the soldiers, so they turn a blind eye even though they’re watching everything on CCTV.

‘Really, nothing has changed!’

It would be a lie to say that nothing has changed, and there were differences in the details. Of course, the fact that it was ridiculously clean was noteworthy. Bush was very satisfied, saying that this was why he made them pull weeds.

‘There are so many stars today.’

Of course, the sun was in the middle of the sky, so how could you see stars? It was because there were stars [high-ranking military officers] revolving around him. Skipping one-star and two-star, they started with three-star. The pinnacle of them was the four-star general who could cut off not just a mountain but even the waist of a mountain range with just a point of his finger.

“Heh, it’s truly excellent.”

President Kim Ji-hoon opened his mouth. It was impossible to know what was excellent, but at least this clean GOP was excellent. The problem was the soldiers who had been ground down by this excellence. In fact, the expression ‘soldiers and officers’ was correct. It wasn’t just the soldiers who were ground down, but the officers as well.

“Indeed.”

On the other hand, Bush was indifferent. After being discharged from the military, he had firmly resolved not to look at the North again, but coming back in such an absurd form made him feel like he was reaching enlightenment. Even though he had come to find it himself, it was even more so because it was a place where he had been forced to dedicate a part of his youth.

The higher Bush went up the hill, the more he had to hold back the ‘damn’ that was about to come out of his mouth like Kim Kap-hwan during his active duty. Others say they’re too tired to curse, but some people will curse no matter what. Of course, he restrained himself in front of his superiors.

He raised his binoculars and looked at the North Korean side, and it couldn’t be. Now that he looked at it, the North was even more familiar. Why was the North, which he had never set foot in, familiar? It was because the people were the same.

‘Heh, that old man is still the same.’

He didn’t know his face, but he definitely knew his attitude. He was standing stiffly as if he knew the enemy’s leader was watching, but that unmistakable swaggering attitude was definitely that cocky North Korean old man. Kim Kap-hwan hadn’t seen him often either, and he had only seen him by chance when the platoon leader had binoculars in his hand and looked at him for fun. In fact, those binoculars were privately purchased by the platoon leader.

‘I used to make fun of him, saying that I would be discharged sooner than him. Already. Wait a minute. Damn it, the Kim Kap-hwan of this era hasn’t even enlisted yet?’

No, does Kim Kap-hwan even exist in the first place?

He could find out in an instant if he just gave the order. But he deliberately didn’t find out because he still lacked the determination or courage. But you can’t avoid it forever.

‘I can’t avoid it anymore. I have to find out.’

The time has come to face it.

He could hear the other stars and U.S. military officers saying something, but Bush ignored them all.

‘Hmph. I know best. What. If a war breaks out, this place will be the first to be blown up.’

He didn’t remember well, but there were many ominous rumors, such as how many shells would fall per square meter on which hill and how many people would be screwed if a war started. And there was a high probability that it would actually happen. He was sure about GP and GOP, if nothing else.

“Which way is Panmunjom?”

The soldiers who heard that looked at each other and then pointed to one side. Of course, Bush knew which way it was, but he confirmed it once again.

“That way.”

He was talking about the meeting place for the 21st-century blind date.