George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 90

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A declaration usually marks the end of an opening ceremony, like, ‘I declare the opening of the Xth Olympic Games!’ But this time, things were a bit different. Bush had openly warned that it might run a little long.

So, the broadcasting stations had to fight fiercely to secure the best spot to film Bush. The honor of filming from the best spot went to FOX, backed by the Republican Party, but that didn’t mean there was only one prime location.

Anyway, Bush finally stepped onto the podium.

Holding hands with ‘Jang Sung-taek’ in a friendly manner!

Of course, the ‘friendly’ part was only from an outsider’s perspective. Jang Sung-taek, who had been dragged onto the podium, was on the verge of collapsing.

The Jang Sung-taek who had vowed to protect himself no matter what had vanished into some dreamland, leaving only Jang Sung-taek wandering at a crossroads with signs pointing only to purges or death.

The audience was in an uproar at the sight they had never imagined. Most of them didn’t even know who Jang Sung-taek was, which was understandable. Even if they did know who he was, it wouldn’t have changed much.

The difference between those who didn’t know Jang Sung-taek and those who did was that the former simply wondered who he was, while the latter were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out.

“Before I declare the opening of the 19th Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, I have something to say.”

“As you know, there have been a series of events in North Korea last year and this year. There have been good things like the three-party talks, but also unfortunate incidents like the light-water reactor explosion.”

At these words, everyone looked perplexed. To be honest, the light-water reactor explosion had been determined to be a self-inflicted act by North Korea, but suspicions still remained. In other words, the very mention of it in front of Bush was not politically wise.

But now, the incident was being mentioned by the person they least wanted to hear it from. What on earth was going on?

Especially Jang Sung-taek, who was hearing it live, not from a speaker, was in a state. Recalling the hardships North Korea was going through because of the explosion, a dark impulse to strangle that shameless bastard crept up.

He had never felt such intense emotions even towards Kim Jong-il or Kim Il-sung.

“At first, I was very worried that North Korea was outwardly seeking reconciliation but secretly preparing for war. They keep increasing the size of their military even as they proclaim peace.”

This was later known as the ‘two-faced strategy,’ North Korea’s basic diplomatic tactic towards South Korea. It was a tactic that would never change as long as the Kim family ruled North Korea. Hearing this, Jang Sung-taek licked his lips nervously. The cold February wind touched the tongue that slipped out between his lips, as if mirroring his unease.

“However, after talking with Mr. Jang, the First Deputy Director of North Korea, I am convinced. The leadership and the people of North Korea may have slightly different directions, but they all want peace. Isn’t that right?”

The audience, as well as Jang Sung-taek, were taken aback by this absurd statement.

Peace, yes, peace is good. Frankly, what North Korea was desperately pursuing was peace. To be precise, it was North Korea’s peace, where the whole world was unified under the Kim dynasty. It wasn’t the peace that the Western world was talking about!

Honestly, couldn’t he just offer a bit of lip service after coming all the way up here? He could say, ‘Yes! Our North Korea wants peace!’ He could even change his words later, as always, saying that it wasn’t their intention.

But the problem was what would happen after that. The problem was what would happen to Jang Sung-taek after saying this.

He could imagine what would happen when he returned to North Korea. Why beat around the bush? A purge! A purge! A purge that everyone from the people to the leadership, except for Kim Jong-il, feared!

It wouldn’t have mattered if it were Kim Yong-nam instead of Jang Sung-taek. Kim Yong-nam was the Chairman of the Standing Committee and had the right to make such statements. But Jang Sung-taek was not. Jang Sung-taek was only the Deputy Director of the Youth and Three Revolutions Squads Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea. He was at the core of power and in a top position, but he could not represent the country.

But if he refused here, he couldn’t even imagine what that madman would do. He could imagine what would happen when he returned to North Korea, but he couldn’t imagine what would happen in this foreign land!

He should have screamed and run away when he was being dragged by the hand!

Everyone in this stadium. No, every human in the world. Every ‘humanity’ on Earth watching TV was focused on Jang Sung-taek’s lips.

“Now, tell us.”

That North Korea wants Western-style ‘peace’ more than anyone else.

* * *

Mankind has made many inventions to move on snowfields and slippery ice where you sink with every step. There are many means of transportation developed, such as skates, snowshoes, skis, snowboards, and endless tracks, but the pinnacle of them all would be the snowmobile with skis and endless tracks.

However, when it comes to simple sports, there is no competition for ‘skiing.’ Skiing can be called the king of the Winter Olympics. There were seven events using skis alone, including the side event of biathlon. Among them, freestyle skiing, which is just one event, had as many as 10 sub-events.

Considering that the next most popular sport, which Bush called the flower of the Winter Olympics, skating, has only three events: ‘short track speed skating, speed skating, and figure skating,’ this was a huge number.

And now, that king of all sports was powerfully cutting through the snow and running upwards. Soon, it discussed artistry on the jump, and then safely landed, eliciting cheers from the audience.

However, Bush couldn’t purely enjoy it because he remembered that today was not supposed to be a snowy day. You might ask why he remembers such things, but that day was particularly special for Kim Kap-hwan.

But for some reason, it was snowing heavily from the sky. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the competition, so every time freestyle skiers performed aerial acrobatics, the cameras captured a tragic beauty that made people exclaim.

‘Yes, this must be the butterfly effect [the idea that small actions can have large consequences].’

Except for this, Bush was enjoying the Olympics to the fullest, having taken care of as much work as possible in advance. Of course, new things would pile up in the meantime, but the chief of staff filtered them out, so it was manageable.

It was a truly peaceful day, with everyone holding hope that their country would win. At least in sports, no one risks their lives on victory or defeat except for the athletes, right? Even if they lose, the audience only gains a sense of deprivation from the opponent.

“It’s a thousand times better than a war where life and death are decided. Isn’t that right?”

Everyone here was enjoying the Olympics.

“…That’s right.”

Except for Jang Sung-taek, whose soul was shaken to the core!

Isn’t fear about surrendering to the more terrifying side? Jang Sung-taek decided to be friends with the more powerful fear. At first, he was uncomfortable with Kim Yong-nam coming with him, but it almost caused an accident if Kim Yong-nam hadn’t been there.

If Kim Yong-nam hadn’t noticed what was going on and quickly called Kim Jong-il to cover for him, saying that Bush had forced him to do it, the only place he could have gone when he returned to North Korea would have been a political prison camp or an execution ground. Kim Yong-nam became a lifesaver.

In fact, he might have been killed anyway for being an old man who surrendered to the Americans, but if you ask which is better, having a slight chance of survival or having no chance of survival at all, the former is overwhelmingly better, right?

The problem was that this person, who was like the embodiment of the theory of innate depravity, was holding onto Jang Sung-taek and wouldn’t let go. At the word ‘I’m tired,’ all sorts of people stuck to Jang Sung-taek and gave him luxuries. Even at the words ‘I want to be alone,’ they removed everyone around him except himself.

There was only one word he hadn’t uttered yet, and that was ‘Save me.’ Kim Yong-nam had spoken for him, but he was still uneasy.

If someone asked, ‘No, even if North Korea is a dictatorship, there is still an administration and politics, so how often do purges happen?’ Jang Sung-taek would answer like this.

In North Korea, purges were like drinking water. Water is an essential substance for human survival, so you drink it every day whether you like it or not. But do people decide exactly when to drink water? You drink it when you feel you need it.

Purges were the same. If Kim Jong-il felt he needed it, you were on your way to heaven. This was not an empty word. Once, Kim Jong-il wanted to see a different way of dying, so he tied a death row inmate to a real missile and launched it into the sky.

Kim Jong-il, who inherited the iron curtain and bamboo curtain [metaphorical barriers isolating a country] and continued to isolate the country in the 21st century while single-handedly mastering all kinds of foreign cultures, called this ‘dirty fireworks’.

Anyway, Jang Sung-taek, whose soul had left his body, was now nothing more than a scarecrow.

“Do you feel like I’m driving you to your death?”

But that didn’t last long, and as soon as these words came out of Bush’s mouth, the soul that had left sprinted back and jumped into his body. He felt his cold heart pounding violently like the combustion reaction of a car engine. In just a few seconds, his eyes became bloodshot and all the blood rushed to his face. He could feel white steam rising from his face, not just a feeling.

“Are you even asking?”

‘You goddamn American bastard!’

“What if I could definitely save you?”

“I won’t naturalize to your country.”

This was like telling Koreans to take Japanese money and change their nationality to Japan. Of course, humans or companies faithful to capitalism might do so, but usually, they would be considered crazy. Of course, in Jang Sung-taek’s case, it wasn’t just money but his life at stake, but he wasn’t about to go over to the Americans.

In fact, if the person discussing this wasn’t Bush, who had created this situation, he wouldn’t have had such a strong aversion, but the person bringing up this topic was Bush.

“If the First Deputy Director, who surrendered to the Americans, returns like this, he won’t be in good shape, will he?”

“Even if I can no longer be in the Party, my head will be fine.”

Jang Sung-taek pointed to his neck with his finger and frowned. Usually, as you get older, you gain experience, and experience becomes stubbornness. But it wasn’t stubbornness without reason, but stubbornness with a reason. It wasn’t just ‘I don’t like it!’ but something that he absolutely couldn’t do based on his life experience, no matter what others said.

Therefore, Jang Sung-taek would never naturalize, even if all his glory disappeared and he had to eat millet instead of rice.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. I’m not talking about naturalization, but about your life.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“I’m saying that I’ll make you immortal so that you can live out your natural lifespan, not Kim Yong-nam’s mirage-like guarantee.”

‘What is this? Did they develop immortality after doing Super Soldier projects and whatnot? Or has that American bomber finally gone crazy?’

Jang Sung-taek wiped his face. He felt the hot heat that had been dominating his face going down again thanks to the absurd sound. He felt the snow melting on his damp gloves mixing with his cold sweat and turning into translucent ice.

“Haven’t you watched too many science fiction movies?”

“Hmm, it seems the meaning was not conveyed correctly due to the interpretation. To put it bluntly, I’m saying that I’ll let you enjoy your natural lifespan.”

Jang Sung-taek distorted his face at that sound. That distorted face must have been the most bizarre face he had ever made since he was born.

Of course, these words came out of his mouth.

“What?!”