George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 43

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‘So, he’s finally taking it.’

Either way, it seemed like it would be interesting, but in the end, Kim Jong-il leaned towards cooperation. He kept wiping away his cold sweat with a handkerchief, and the increasing frequency of his stuttering proved that he was in a state of panic.

‘Come to think of it, he was famous for rambling when he got excited.’

Rambling is a basic function for politicians, but Kim Jong-il took it too far. He could go on for more than 200 characters when a single word, not even a sentence, would have sufficed.

But no matter how hard he racked his brains, could there be any other way to accept this proposal? At least, not if he wasn’t contemplating a war with the ROK-U.S. alliance [Republic of Korea – United States alliance].

‘Should I send workers first?’

If they sent the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors right away, there was a risk that North Korea would say, ‘Oh, we can’t trust this!’ and give them an excuse to kick everyone out. Since they had decided to approach peacefully, from here on out, it was essentially a battle of justifications. After sending the workers, they could gradually increase the troops guarding them and eventually seize land for the troops to be stationed.

Of course, it was true that North Korea was a country that would go wild regardless of justification, but they weren’t so ‘rage-uncontrolled’ that they couldn’t see the gun pointed right at their face. Rather, looking at their past actions, ‘rage-controlled’ was more like it.

“Well, I think this is enough for now.”

Absurd words had been exchanged, and especially because of Kim Jong-il’s rambling storm of words, the interpreters, who had been half-soullessly translating mechanically, finally breathed a sigh of relief, secretly inside.

In particular, some parts of Kim Jong-il’s speech didn’t even form a sentence, so the interpreter in charge of Bush had to feel a level of difficulty almost like solving a mathematical formula.

“I’ll leave the details to my subordinates.”

In other words, he was passing the buck. Of course, Bush would do the work of creating the framework, but the detailed paperwork or on-site work that would flesh out the framework was not Bush’s area.

“I look forward to the light-water reactor project.”

Could there be a situation more fitting for the term ‘double-dealing’? Kim Jong-il gnashed his teeth over and over again. But what could he do? He didn’t have the power to protect his dictatorship. No matter how much he sharpened his knife, a knife was still a knife. No matter how much he swung it, it only reached within his arm’s reach, and it couldn’t reach outside the Korean Peninsula.

And if he got angry and swung his knife at the U.S. forces in Korea, he was afraid of the nuclear punch that would come back.

‘I’ll get my revenge someday.’

They could make nuclear warheads soon enough, and they had a good excuse for the missiles to carry the warheads: space development. And if things went wrong, it didn’t have to be nuclear. All sorts of biochemical weapons, comparable to nuclear weapons in terms of damage, were lying dormant in underground armories.

‘Do you think I wouldn’t know that?’

The problem was that Bush had already figured out that thought. The ROK National Intelligence Service [Republic of Korea National Intelligence Service] and the CIA weren’t just sitting around. Furthermore, if the International Atomic Energy Agency kept intervening, other inspection agencies could eventually move in. As it gradually opened up, the North Korean regime would eventually be dismantled.

Optimistic? Not at all. If they tried to close the door once it was opened, would the United States stand still? Then it would be time to wield the iron fist. War, that is. Of course, considering the U.S. war expenses and the damage Korea would suffer as a result, it was also the choice to avoid the most.

‘That place is on a different level than Afghanistan or Iraq.’

A long and drawn-out battle would begin for the United States and Korea. Or the United States would have to spend so much war money that it would falter. Then wouldn’t avoiding the Iraq War be all for naught? For Bush, this was the best he could do.

In any case, this light-water reactor project might seem like North Korea was being taken advantage of on the surface, but in reality, the United States was holding a knife to North Korea’s throat.

Is this situation called ‘checkmate’?

‘I’ll thoroughly manipulate you within my term.’

* * *

‘Ah, I want to ride a fighter jet! F-15! F-18! F-22!’

But this was only fun once or twice, and he knew that if he kept doing this, he would be hit with so many curses that the people would go crazy, so he was even more disappointed. If he hadn’t known, he would have just ridden around without worry and gotten cursed at. No matter how reckless Bush was, he didn’t want to be impeached and step down from the presidency.

However, at the same time, it was proven that Bush’s way of thinking was something that a normal human being could not even imagine.

“Mr. President, you seem bored.”

The card secretary was standing next to Bush. Of course, he was bored. Of course, he wasn’t really asking, ‘Are you bored?’ but rather, ‘Thanks to whom am I not even bored, but you’re having such a good time?’ he was being sarcastic.

After all, it was entirely up to Bush’s subordinates to clean up what Bush had done. But Bush was even less likely to listen to that, so he decided to ignore the inner meaning and accept the sentence as it was.

“Secretary, you’ll soon be not bored when you get off.”

‘Because you’re so worried, I’m going to personally increase your workload so that you don’t even have time to worry!’ he meant.

“That’s… worrying. You’ll be getting off soon anyway.”

What power does the secretary have if he has power? If he’s told to do it, he has to do it.

‘Tsk, at this rate, he might refuse to resign in the next term. Should I follow the examples of King Sejong [Korean King who created the Korean alphabet] and Hwang Hee [Korean politician known for his integrity]?’

Instead of thinking about changing himself, he was thinking about keeping a dying person, Bush was truly a brutal and cruel person.

‘I will not allow resignation by any means.’

While he was thinking that, the airport in Japan began to come into view. Korea and Japan were really close. Before he could even take a nap, he was already flying over the Japanese archipelago when he got bored of looking at the sky.

Soon, Air Force One came to a complete stop, and when the door opened, Bush saw reporters and welcoming crowds. It was perfectly normal to have reporters or welcoming crowds, but there were so many that it was excessive.

“Waaaaah!!!”

“What the.”

Even Bush, who liked to be welcomed and stand out in everything, was taken aback. It was like a national hero’s triumphal arch. The crowd alone filled the airport.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the welcome, but for example, even if someone liked hamburgers, how would they feel if they were told to eat 10 or 100 right away? As the saying goes, too much is as bad as too little. Bush, who would normally say, ‘Too much is as bad as too little, screw it!’ but it was a little uncomfortable because it was so obvious.

‘But they must have done this to show as much sincerity as possible, right?’

Even if he asked, they would make up a story that the citizens voluntarily came out to see the President of America even once, but isn’t it the sincerity that the Japanese government is showing? It must have cost money to mobilize this crowd.

‘Then I should enjoy it.’

Bush changed his mind. I’m such a valuable person! Either way, isn’t it something that boosts Bush’s self-esteem, whether he likes it or not? Then he should respond to the welcome. Kim Kap-hwan was not Korean but American now.

Moreover, George Bush, or rather, the soul inside him, didn’t hate or dislike Japanese culture. Those who had lived in Korea could not be completely free from Japanese culture. Even the cartoons and animations they watched as children were localized with all sorts of edits by the government and broadcasters, but in the end, they were Japanese culture. Japan was right next door to Korea, so they were closely intertwined economically and culturally, whether they liked it or not.

In 2019, a large-scale boycott movement took place in Korea to break away from Japan’s influence, but Bush became Bush before he could see the end, so he was only curious about the result.

‘Come to think of it, the last time I went on a trip to Japan was probably right before the Fukushima nuclear power plant exploded, right?’

The last region he visited was Akita. The reason was that his relatives lived in Akita. After the Fukushima nuclear power plant exploded, even his relatives returned to Korea, so he only heard news through the Internet after that.

‘Wait, if I had come in 2019, I would have started with a mukbang [online eating broadcast] of Fukushima products.’

Bush, who recklessly used his body because it wasn’t his, would shout and scream about a presidential assassination plot if he was told to ‘take a shot of radiation?’ Bush, who thought it was very fortunate in a radioactive sense, suddenly had this thought.

‘Then, paradoxically, isn’t now the only chance to eat Japanese seafood that doesn’t have radiation?’

He didn’t know what the Japanese side would bring out for the dinner, but at least it wouldn’t be food soaked in radiation.

“I am the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi.”

‘I didn’t think the Prime Minister would come out barefoot, even so.’

Of course, he didn’t really run like a 100-meter dash like the future Prime Minister Abe, but wasn’t it a sign that Bush’s visit to Japan was of interest to the point that he came to the airport himself?

As Bush and Koizumi shook hands, the flashes that had been sporadically going off went off at the same time.

‘Did he get a sense of crisis after going to Korea first?’

He didn’t know the scale would be this big, but he could just enjoy it instead of worrying about the details. However, he could see why people who had eaten Japanese money would take Japan’s side with remarks that were obviously not true. Praise makes whales dance, but money makes people dance.

Unless they were idiots, there was no way they could make such remarks recklessly. All such remarks have a back and a script, so they can be said. There is no word without a reason in the world. It was an irrational remark made with rational capital.

‘That’s right, but it’s obvious what they want at this point.’

Wouldn’t the Japanese all die if the president of the world’s only superpower said ‘Great Japan!’? The number itself was too shallow, but what other method would be effective in a propaganda sense?

Bush had heard it unintentionally, but the Japanese media was criticizing Bush for going to Korea first. It wasn’t a direct curse, but something close to a roundabout criticism, but some were criticizing the current government. It was a fire close to a small spark, but they wanted to put it out before it evolved into a big fire.

Prime Minister Koizumi is a person who just started to seize power on April 26, 2001. In other words, this situation would not be desirable for Koizumi, whose system is shaking right now.

‘There’s a lot to rip off.’

Then how much should I rip off?