My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 163

“Then why is Korea considered a safe country from terrorism?”

“As I mentioned before, terrorism is a form of political expression, albeit a very extreme one. However, from the perspective of major terrorist groups, there’s little to be gained by targeting Korea.”

Korea doesn’t engage in large-scale overseas military deployments, nor does it treat Islamic countries with hostility. Korea is quite skilled in what’s known as ‘balancing diplomacy,’ so few countries harbor strong animosity towards it.

“Most Koreans harbor some level of animosity towards China, but that doesn’t influence policy, does it?”

“That’s true.”

“So, there’s no practical benefit for them.”

Terrorism in Korea is possible. Korea has a significant number of foreign workers, and there have been instances where a foreign worker in Korea was found to be a wanted terrorist by the United States.

“But there’s no real advantage for them in carrying out terrorism in Korea. They can more effectively showcase their presence by focusing their efforts on the United States or Europe.”

“So, that’s why it’s not taught in schools.”

“That’s right. Of course, it will be taught later.”

“When?”

“When you reach a level where you can work with the National Intelligence Service [NIS, South Korea’s primary intelligence agency].”

Park Do-joon had a similar experience. If his skills were recognized, the NIS would conduct a background check and then send him abroad to study terrorists, specifically targeting individuals for profiling.

That was when Park Do-joon significantly improved his skills. He learned a great deal about terrorism during that time.

“I’m getting really nervous.”

“Don’t be afraid. They don’t eat people, though they might make them disappear.”

“Senior, don’t make jokes like that.”

“The problem is, it’s not a joke.”

If someone is deemed dangerous but there’s no legal recourse, the U.S. government might capture and detain them indefinitely.

“But that won’t happen to us, since our identities are confirmed.”

As they talked, they arrived near the university where the graduation ceremony was being held. The vehicle smoothly entered the underground parking lot of a nearby building.

“Let’s go in. As you know…”

“Yes, I won’t leave your sight.”

Even though he came at their request for cooperation, the nature of the American intelligence community meant they wouldn’t trust him completely. Their idea of cooperation included not only assisting with the case but also refraining from any behavior that might raise suspicion.

“I apologize, but we don’t have a spare room. You’ll have to sleep on a cot.”

“Understood.”

“Finally…!”

Lee Ji-soo sighed in relief at the mention of sleep. She had come to the United States with Park Do-joon, unable to sleep on the plane, and then couldn’t sleep due to the tension after the incident.

“I’m going to sleep as soon as I get there.”

“You should.”

However, contrary to Lee Ji-soo’s expectations, the atmosphere inside was not conducive to sleep.

“No, we need to catch that Professor Salco!”

“Salco has been a tenured professor at that school for 13 years!”

“That bastard is an Islamic!”

“Don’t automatically suspect someone just because they’re Muslim!”

“Then who leaked this information! Who could have known about the VIP’s [Very Important Person, referring to the Vice President] movements?”

“That’s…”

“Salco is the culprit!”

Some people were shouting at the top of their lungs, while others were arguing against them.

“The atmosphere is…”

“Isn’t it great?”

Park Do-joon stretched and said,

“Haaah! Let’s see. The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], Homeland Security, and the Secret Service are all here.”

“How did you know?”

Roy McCoy asked, amazed by Park Do-joon’s words, as he hadn’t seen any IDs but simply glanced around and spoke.

“It seems like they’re sharing office space inside, but they’re divided into three groups. The FBI is here because of you, Roy McCoy, and Homeland Security would naturally be involved in a terrorist incident, and the Secret Service would be involved because it’s suspected to be related to the Vice President.”

Of course, there may be other organizations present, but these three are the ones most directly connected to the situation.

“The other organizations might have set up shop elsewhere.”

“You’re very perceptive. Most people wouldn’t notice that in this chaos.”

“Well, it’s just what I see.”

Park Do-joon shrugged and said.

“I’d like to get some sleep. Where’s the sleeping room?”

When Park Do-joon woke up, Lee Ji-soo was drinking coffee like a sick chicken.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Could you sleep, Senior? I was too nervous to sleep.”

“Ah, you should still try to get some sleep. Leave the coffee brewing.”

“But…”

“A profiler needs to maintain their condition. If you’re not in good condition, your judgment will be impaired.”

The sleeping room was just a spare room divided into male and female sections with cots. It wasn’t comfortable, as it was just a cot made of fabric without even a Korean Ra×Ra-kku [a type of heated mattress pad], but it was enough to alleviate some of the fatigue from the journey.

“Yes, I’ll try later.”

It seemed Lee Ji-soo was too nervous to sleep.

“That’s normal. It’s your first case, right?”

“Well, something like that.”

Park Do-joon shrugged, and Roy McCoy handed him a phone.

“Your phone has been ringing off the hook while you were sleeping.”

“Ah, right.”

Park Do-joon picked up the phone and called the team leader. As expected, there was chaos on the other end.

-Yamma! What are you doing in America?

“It’s classified.”

-What? No, what did you do that made the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] come to our police station!

“It’s classified.”

-Are you kidding me?

“I’m not kidding. It’s really classified. If I tell you, both you and I will be arrested.”

-What the hell did you do?

“I didn’t do anything, I just got caught up in it.”

-Ugh!

“Is everything okay?”

-Is it? The CIA came and went, and the audit office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even visited. They’re asking why you went to America.

“Well, I already left.”

-But the atmosphere is that you went all the way to America with a cold case. The higher-ups seem to be thinking of cutting you off this time.

Indeed, if it was a mistake that could cause a dispute between countries, it would be enough to get him fired.

“Don’t worry. I’m not causing problems, I’m trying to solve them.”

-What?

“If I solve the problem, they probably won’t be able to fire me.”

-Please do.

After the short call, Roy McCoy handed Park Do-joon a cup of coffee.

“It seems you’re not treated very well in Korea.”

“Well, you know?”

Would they not know that in America?

Roy McCoy smiled as if he knew.

“Korea is a country where jealousy towards talented people is quite severe.”

“You know that well?”

“I worked on Korean affairs for a while. The tendencies of Koreans were quite unique and interesting.”

Park Do-joon just smiled at that. From Roy McCoy’s perspective, it would seem that way.

“By the way, what happened to the person who was shouting earlier? Was he caught?”

“Professor Alam Salco?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, he was caught.”

“Can I see him for a moment?”

“I’m sorry, but conversation is not allowed.”

“I can just look through the glass. You know? 70% of communication is…”

“…from the body. Let’s go.”

“You come too.”

Park Do-joon took the staggering Lee Ji-soo and headed somewhere with Roy McCoy.

They arrived at a mirror room that seemed to have been hastily converted. A large room with a partition in the middle and a large window in the center.

“If this were Korea, they’d complain about the budget, but this is the spirit of the land of a trillion dollars.”

Park Do-joon said as he looked through the window. There, a Middle Eastern-looking man was anxiously looking around.

“This is Professor Alam Salco. He is a professor of hydrology at the university and a Muslim. He is an Iraqi-American.”

That’s why he was the first suspect when this incident occurred. The people Park Do-joon found were Islamic terrorists.

“How is the tracking of them going?”

“They all went into one hotel. They’re probably planning their next operation there.”

Although the rooms are different, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to meet and make plans since they’re in the same hotel.

“No other contacts?”

“No, there aren’t. That’s the problem.”

If there were other contacts, it would be easier to monitor them, but it’s not easy.

“If they’re communicating through apps that can’t be tracked, it’s really hard to track them.”

As technology advances, so does terrorism. In the old days, they would meet, unite, share weapons, shout Allah [Arabic for ‘God’], and then commit terrorism, but now they leave weapons in a specific location, notify the location through an untraceable app, and then take them to commit terrorism.

Movies and dramas leave out those scenes, but terrorists are now using technology to commit terrorism.

Wasn’t the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields carried out by drones, causing a huge uproar?

Saudi Arabia only considered the possibility of attacking oil fields with infantry or missiles, but suddenly drones appeared, and it was difficult to stop them with existing firepower. Infantry can’t stop drones, and surface-to-air missiles are too small to track.

‘Come to think of it, the orders for anti-aircraft guns suddenly increased because of that incident.’

Anti-aircraft guns were virtually obsolete weapon systems in modern society. It’s impossible to catch low-speed aircraft from World War II or aircraft that exceed Mach speed [speed of sound].

In the first place, anti-aircraft guns can’t even reach the altitude of those aircraft.

But with the appearance of drones, anti-aircraft guns became the only thing that could catch them.

And one of the countries with the best anti-aircraft gun technology in the world is Korea. The United States and other major developed countries treated it as obsolete equipment and didn’t invest in it, but Korea developed and operated an anti-aircraft gun system called ‘Biho’ [Flying Tiger].

“I think this case will be the same.”

They go into the room and don’t come out. If they were businessmen, they would have had a meeting, and if they were tourists, they would have come out to see the sights, but they are just waiting endlessly.

“It’s ironic.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t Middle Eastern terrorist groups demanding the rejection of Western civilization? But they’re using Western civilization to commit terrorism.”

Roy McCoy smiled bitterly at that. It wasn’t wrong.

“By the way, what about the search?”

“We don’t have enough people to do it properly. And it’s too difficult to search the area because there’s too much debris.”

“I see.”

Since the area was devastated by the tornado, the search couldn’t proceed properly.

“We did find a few guns…”

“But you can’t determine if they’re really for terrorism.”

“America is a country with freedom of guns.”

There’s no way to know if they were brought in for terrorism or if they were blown in from somewhere by the tornado.

“That’s why I’m worried.”

Even if they miss just one, the Vice President will be in danger.

“By the way, what do you think?”

Roy McCoy asked Park Do-joon. Even while talking, Park Do-joon’s gaze did not leave Professor Alam Salco beyond the window. He was trying to figure out if he was the real culprit by examining his actions and reactions.

“I probably have the same opinion as you, McCoy.”

“I see. Professor Alam Salco is not involved.”

The emotions shown in his actions were fear, terror, and confusion.