George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 41

< Episode 40 >

Panmunjom. The DMZ [Demilitarized Zone], a vestige of the Cold War, the only place where the Military Demarcation Line remains. This Panmunjom is the only passage that constantly connects South and North Korea. Its official name is the Joint Security Area, or JSA for short.

For a military officer, this place is a fast track to success. One can see almost all Western armies working here under the banner of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission. And the fact that all South and North Korean civilians can tour this place is particularly noteworthy.

But today, something must be added to that description: the instant meeting of the century was about to take place in this Panmunjom.

‘First time in Panmunjom, huh.’

I wouldn’t come here unless there was a good reason. After being discharged from the military, the only times I went up north were for work, traveling down to the provinces and then back up.

‘Living life again to see this.’

Truly. However, Bush was really living his life again.

“Haha, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Soon, President Kim Ji-hoon and Chairman of the National Defence Commission Kim Jong-il locked eyes in the middle of the North-South Korean border. Kim Jong-il’s face wore a disarming smile, but his eyes were as sharp as a well-honed dagger. But that intensity soon subsided, because today’s opponent in the battle of nerves was not President Kim Ji-hoon, but George Bush.

‘Stay away from me! You South Korean fool! I’m going to negotiate with the head of the American bastards today!’

‘If only that anachronistic dictator wasn’t here, we could have unification! How can I not lament this! I was a fool to trust that pig even for a moment!’

After a brief handshake, it was Kim Jong-il and Bush’s turn. Kim Jong-il finally faced his adversary: the leader of the American imperialists, whom he couldn’t even look up to until now.

“I heard you were looking for this Kim Jong-il.”

Kim Jong-il’s words carried a hint of political pressure, implying, ‘I didn’t come to find you; you came to find me.’ It was questionable whether the interpreter could even convey that nuance, but the important thing was the historical record. The record.

‘Huh, look at this guy?’

I’ve seen him often on the internet and in the news, but how many people have seen him in person up close? He was a man who minimized his public appearances anyway.

“Ah, of course. Actually, I thought it would be fortunate if I got a reply within this year, but I was a little surprised that you came running so quickly despite your busy schedule. It seems that peace has already come to this Korean peninsula! Hahaha!”

Of course, Bush wasn’t someone who couldn’t understand that childish bickering, and he wasn’t one to back down, so he immediately retorted. In short, he meant, ‘No. You came because you were scared.’

However, this was a point that Kim Jong-il could dispute. It wasn’t just an aircraft carrier fleet, but three aircraft carrier fleets led by the president who had just crushed Afghanistan were being deployed to the Korean peninsula. It would be stranger if he wasn’t scared.

“Well, I had a lot to say anyway because of the Geneva Accords [an agreement signed in 1994 between North Korea and the United States, aimed at freezing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for assistance with nuclear energy]. ”

“Ah, you mean the light-water reactor project?”

This part was painful for the United States, or perhaps not even a tickle. The North Korea-U.S. Geneva Agreed Framework was an agreement signed on September 23, 1994. In a nutshell, it said, ‘North Korea! We won’t use nuclear weapons! We won’t shoot! Instead, the United States will install a nuclear reactor! We’ll give you oil too! For free!’

Frankly speaking, it was a completely losing game for the United States, but 1994 was a time when the United States was calling itself the world’s police. There couldn’t have been a more attractive option. However, the problem was that North Korea continued to develop nuclear weapons behind the scenes.

That was only natural. The primary goal of the North Korean leadership was not a well-fed and prosperous North Korea, but the permanent rule of the Kim family, the great leader of the party and the people, and the future sun of the revolutionary Juche [North Korean ideology of self-reliance] ideology.

Kim Jong-il’s political base was, without exaggeration, North Korea itself.

North Korea was outwardly trying to rationalize itself, saying, ‘I’m okay,’ but it was collapsing from within. Of course, it was the people who were collapsing, and it was the leadership who were throwing parties with self-rationalization.

Whether it’s modern or ancient, isn’t it a big deal if the support base is shaken? But because the support base was concentrated in Pyongyang, the party, and military officials, it didn’t matter how many people died. However, that didn’t mean that the unshakable concrete was a support base. North Korea was a place where there were plenty of guys who would stab Kim Jong-il in the back if he took his eyes off them for a moment.

That’s why Kim Jong-il was very reluctant to go on overseas expeditions. What if a coup d’état occurred while he was abroad? This meeting was able to happen because Kim Jong-il’s influence was firmly in place in Panmunjom. If they had asked to meet in the United States or somewhere far away in Southeast Asia, he might have dropped his proud North Korean curse bomb.

In other words, Kim Jong-il was able to attend this meeting because of a combination of various political circumstances.

“Haha! Don’t worry. If you receive regular inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] as agreed, construction will resume immediately!”

‘You can’t get it, can you? You can never give up nuclear weapons. Haha, if you’re really going to get it, then get it? Then I’m happy!’

‘Ah, look at that son of a bitch talking; he’s so excited that he’s dancing the Arirang [a Korean folk song] in a frenzy, is he? Make sure to pay the heavy oil on time!’

“Hahaha! I’m so happy that a president who understands me has come out this time!”

“Hahaha! I’m glad that we understand each other better than I thought!”

The press will report something like 「George W. Bush and Kim Jong-il’s meeting! Is the dove of peace flying over the Korean Peninsula?」, but it was clear that North Korea analysts would dismantle and savor these men’s childish conversations one by one and create all sorts of slanders.

“The cooperation of South Korea is essential for the light-water reactor project, that is, the KEDO [Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization] operation. Please take good care of President Kim Ji-hoon as well.”

KEDO (Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization) was an international consortium in which the United States, South Korea, and Japan participated to carry out the light-water reactor project after the Geneva Agreement. A consortium refers to an international loan group, which is usually formed between developed countries to provide economic assistance to developing countries.

“Of course. If your country and North Korea work together, peace on the Korean Peninsula will be achieved as early as this year.”

It was a different kind of peace. The closest expression was a Rambo with crazy eyes grabbing a knife-wielding thug and a gun-wielding model student by the scruff of the neck and forcing them to reconcile. However, it wasn’t that President Kim Ji-hoon was denying peace through force. From the beginning, he was a person who was faithful to the saying, ‘If you want to prevent war, prepare for war.’ However, he was more interested in pens than swords.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard a North Korean song. I want to hear a North Korean song.”

“Ah, is that so?”

This part was such an unexpected remark for Kim Jong-il that he was honestly very embarrassed. Well, I can sing a song or two. Kim Jong-il was trying to figure out what he could sing in his head, choosing a song.

“I heard one once. Was it the Taehongdan Potato?”

Bush had never heard of it, but Kim Kap-hwan had heard of it. He happened to be flipping through TV channels and saw it, but it happened to be ‘Taehongdan Potato.’ There was nothing wrong with the lyrics of that song either. It was roughly a song about ‘I like potatoes so much!’ The problem was that it was a ‘children’s song’ that only 3-year-olds listened to.

‘Have you ever seen a bitch who scraped the common sense in that bonehead with a back scratcher? Is that old woman making fun of me now?’

“Well, then, I’ll send the Pyongyang Student and Children’s Art Troupe to South Korea sometime.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that he would send them to the United States, so he compromised with South Korea. He was on the verge of letting out steam due to the resentment that was accumulating in his chest, but now was the time to be patient.

Fire, because it is a fire, leaves scars in the form of burns somewhere in the heart, even if it is cooled down. This is because the mind is a concept that is transformed and grows due to stimuli from the external environment.

A person who uses this anger appropriately grows, and a person who cannot control it will one day be injured by their own anger. We are retreating now, but in the future, this growth will become a rebellion, and the relationship will turn upside down!

To sum it all up, the professional term is ‘Just you wait!’, and there was a mystery that was closely related to the sister product ‘Mental Victory’ [a coping mechanism involving self-deception and rationalization to maintain a sense of superiority or well-being in the face of defeat or adversity].

The meeting in front of the reporters ended so briefly. After that, a three-way meeting was held, but since there were two interpreters present, it was practically held with five people.

‘Hmm, that’s strange. It seems like it’s time to ask for something ridiculous.’

Bush didn’t come to this place without any thoughts. Everyone knew that the United States had gained nothing from the 2018 North Korea-U.S. summit. However, the reason why he bothered to meet despite knowing that was because the leader of North Korea now was Kim Jong-il. He wouldn’t have met if it was Kim Jong-un.

‘The optimism is still the trend, so the parliament won’t say anything, right?’

Since he was a human being who moved his emotions before reason, he always put off the aftermath. However, he wasn’t really making judgments based on emotions, and the rational part was putting a stronger brake on Bush than he thought.

For example, even right now, he didn’t declare war just because he was in a bad mood. If it were his original personality, it wouldn’t be strange if he smiled and said, ‘Earth Defense Force USA is dispatched! Bomber take off!’ Of course, what was putting the brakes on it was the loss of life and property that would result from it. And the conscience that makes people human.

Anyway, Bush’s actions were based on the calculation that ‘Congress will be quiet, and no one hates peace.’ Most of the orders Bush had given so far, except for 9/11, were peaceful administrative orders. However, the process was not peaceful. It wouldn’t be peaceful to fly a fighter jet to another country and swear in a speech, even if it was an exclamation.

Thanks to this, Bush thought that the parliament was supporting him, regardless of whether it was the Republican or Democratic Party. But he couldn’t maintain his ambiguous attitude forever. Isn’t building achievements what politicians care about most in their later years? No matter how successful a president is. No, because he is a successful president, he had to pay attention to public opinion.

But that was the situation for a ‘normal politician.’ If so, what about the abnormal ones?

“As far as I know, the completion of the light-water reactor project is scheduled for 2003. But you haven’t even broken ground yet, have you?”

“Guilty?”

Kim Jong-il’s expression was half rotten. It was because he realized that the situation was more unfavorable than he thought. He knew from the beginning that the seat would be unfavorable, but he was frustrated because he didn’t know what he would be asked for from now on. Originally, Kim Jong-il was not very close to the act of ‘enduring.’

“Let’s do this. I’ll solve all of that by 2003.”

Kim Jong-il was so dumbfounded by the idea that a criminal could not even dare to approach that he opened his mouth halfway.