The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 38

38. Here to Take the President’s Head! (1)

Chairman Inayama was quite different from the Japanese bureaucrats who always waved their hands dismissively.

“Public enterprises are not individual property but the property of society. We must cherish them and return them to society. Seeing President Park, I believe he is definitely the right person to do it well. I will help as much as I can.”

“Thank you, Chairman!”

“We will arrange for trainees from POSCO to directly operate the entire steel mill in Hokkaido.”

“Ah, such a great privilege! Thank you so much, Chairman.”

It was a golden opportunity to experience the entire integrated steelmaking process without having to build a steel mill themselves.

There was no greater gift than this.

The chairman asked.

“But when will the steel mill in Pohang be completed?”

He was at a loss for words.

Currently, funds were not readily available, and he was secretly diverting compensation from the Korea-Japan agreement to prepare the site.

If the Japanese government ultimately opposed the diversion, the unauthorized use would be exposed, and construction would inevitably be halted.

He couldn’t lie, but he had to this time.

“If funds are available as smoothly as they are now, we will be able to pour molten iron within two years.”

As President Park left Chairman Inayama’s villa, he was able to clearly establish the definition of what a ‘public enterprise’ should be.

* * *

The President’s office.

The President was flipping through the newly arrived 1968 calendar.

He looked closely at the dates.

“Hmm, the calendar doesn’t have the important events written on it.”

Lunar New Year’s Day, March 1st (Independence Movement Day), Dano (a traditional Korean festival), Memorial Day, and other national holidays were densely written, but the major events that would occur were not likely to be written.

“Was it ’68 or ’69?”

He was writing down the events that had occurred during Chairman Wang’s time, but he was confused about the timing of some events.

“Wait, President Park said he would be coming soon.”

* * *

Secret Garden of Changdeok Palace.

Juhapru [a royal library in Changdeok Palace], with its swift roof that seemed to ascend to the sky, was seen directly from the south pond pavilion.

The President walked through the Secret Garden with Park Dae-joon, who had returned from Japan.

The President looked at Juhapru from the pavilion and said.

“The machines made by the scholars of Juhapru during King Sejong’s reign were the best inventions of the time. It is a pity that the framework of a merit-based nation created by King Sejong was not inherited and developed, and we declined into a hermit kingdom [referring to Joseon’s isolationist policy]. Now we must change history.”

President Park reported on the results of his visit to Japan.

The President nodded as he listened.

During Chairman Wang’s time, POSCO first boiled molten iron in 1973, but now it was an attempt to advance it by three years, so the results could not be guaranteed.

The President said.

“Oh, it’s a great relief that Chairman Inayama is actively involved. I should send him a letter of appreciation.”

“That would be a really good gesture. But the problem is the Japanese bureaucrats. They are too rigid. There is no progress at all.”

Even during Chairman Wang’s time, the compensation money was not diverted, and he had to waste several years.

But this time it was different.

“President Park, don’t worry. Something will happen soon that will change the Japanese government’s mind.”

“…….”

“You can definitely build a masterpiece steel mill.”

President Park was encouraged by the President’s reassuring words, but he didn’t know why.

The President was determined to use the upcoming massive incident as an opportunity for national business.

* * *

– 3 months ago –

Pyongyang State Guest House.

Small North Korean and North Vietnamese flags were decorated on the marble table.

At the meeting hall with Kim Il-sung’s picture, Chairman Kim Il-sung and a special envoy dispatched by Ho Chi Minh from North Vietnam were holding a meeting.

The special envoy requested.

“South Korea is dispatching troops to Vietnam, causing enormous damage to our People’s Liberation Army operations. Under the banner of international solidarity, North Korea should also dispatch troops to our Vietnam to confirm that we are allies.”

Chairman Kim was in trouble.

South Korea’s dispatch of troops was entirely funded with money and weapons by the United States, but North Korea had to dispatch troops at its own expense.

Chairman Kim, wearing black horn-rimmed glasses, put a Cuban cigar in his mouth and replied.

“Yes, I really want to dispatch troops to Vietnam for the sake of the alliance. But North Korea is currently isolated.”

“…….”

“The Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance system was completed with the Korea-Japan Basic Treaty in 1965, and the number of U.S. troops stationed in Korea remains the same in return for the dispatch of Korean troops. If our main forces are withdrawn in this state, the enemies will definitely provoke us.”

“Our Liberation Army is preparing a major offensive at the end of January next year. We absolutely need support troops, Chairman!”

Until now, the war in Vietnam had been in the form of a civil war between the anti-government forces that had risen up in South Vietnam, with North Vietnam supplying weapons and special forces.

However, as the intervention of the U.S. military only dragged on, North Vietnam prepared a massive invasion of the South (Tet Offensive).

Chairman Kim, who was thinking while smoking a cigar, came up with a solution.

“Okay. Then how about a way to help the major offensive without dispatching troops?”

“Without dispatching troops? Is that possible?”

“There is a way to disperse the U.S. military’s power and return the dispatched Korean troops.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Chairman.”

“It’s about North Korea waging a local war across the armistice line [the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea].”

“An operation across the armistice line? Are you talking about an invasion?”

“No, it’s about plunging South Korea’s major strongholds, including the Blue House [the presidential residence], into chaos with guerrilla special forces.”

“The Blue House!”

Chairman Kim called the director of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces Reconnaissance Bureau.

North Korea had created the ‘124th Army Unit’, a special operations unit directly under the Reconnaissance Bureau that conducts local guerrilla warfare across the armistice line, breaking away from existing spy operations.

Already twice, North Korean special forces had attacked and succeeded against South Korean and U.S. troops.

Chairman Kim instructed the director of the Reconnaissance Bureau.

“Start the operation in the southern half in January next year. Infiltrate our agents into major strongholds, including the Blue House, to paralyze the entire country at once!”

By infiltrating large-scale special forces in several groups, the main force would surprise the Blue House and assassinate the President, and the rest would attack the U.S. Embassy and assassinate key figures, attack the Ministry of National Defense and assassinate key figures, attack prisons and release prisoners, etc., inducing total chaos in Seoul, and after the released prisoners and attack groups accompanied the defection to North Korea, they would scatter leaflets to make it seem like an uprising by anti-government forces in South Korea.

At this time, Kim Jong-il raised an objection.

“Supreme Leader! No matter what, we can’t erase the fact that it’s our doing. We must seize the initiative with justification.”

“Justification?”

“If there is no justification, we will face a big backlash.”

“What kind of trick do you have?”

“There is a way.”

* * *

October 17, 1968, 10 PM. Military Demarcation Line.

Whoosh~

On a pitch-black night, the freezing winter wind lashed across the frozen ground.

Tick-

A North Korean agent cut the barbed wire of the armistice line with a cutter.

However, instead of cutting it completely, they only cut and opened it enough to get out, and then bent it back to its original state after passing through.

It was not visible to the naked eye that it had been cut at all.

It was a surprise infiltration that took advantage of the hasty judgment that it would be difficult to infiltrate south due to footprints in the winter.

They were wearing khaki South Korean military uniforms with the 26th Division insignia of South Korea attached, and each was armed with a rifle with a foldable butt, 300 rounds of live ammunition, and grenades.

In this way, 31 agents quickly crossed the military demarcation line.

Initially, the troop size was about 150, but it was reduced to the Blue House assault group.

They crossed the frozen Imjin River all night, repeating sitting, crawling, stopping, and concealing themselves for 10 km from Gorangpo, Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province.

On the morning of the 18th, they arrived at Sambong Mountain (282m) and stayed for one night.

Until then, the ROK (Republic of Korea) troops on the armistice line had not discovered their traces of southward movement.

On the afternoon of the 19th, they ran into four brothers, the Woo family, who had come to cut down trees, and detained them.

The agents asked the North via radio what to do with them.

But strangely, they could not decipher the returned code. (Later, when the KCIA [Korean Central Intelligence Agency] deciphered the North’s code, it was ‘Return to base’.)

Originally, the operational principle was to kill any witnesses, regardless of civilians.

However, they judged that the poor proletariat people of South Korea supported the North Korean regime and released them.

The Woo brothers, who were even given a Japanese watch as a gift, reported to the police at 9 PM.

It took three hours for the report to be delivered to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Blue House assault team reached the Jahamun Pass, right in front of the Blue House, breaking through Nogosan, Bukhansan, Bibong, and Segeomjeong at a superhuman speed of 10 km/h while carrying 30 kg of military gear.

Tatatang-

Tang-Tang-

A shootout broke out with the military and police who had been notified and were waiting.

An emergency alert had already been issued in Seoul.

Tang-Tang-

Tatatang-

At the end of the shootout, Choi Gyu-sik, the Jongno Police Chief, fell from a bullet, and the agents scattered and ran away in several groups.

* * *

The Blue House.

The Blue House was surrounded by the Capital Defense Command troops and presidential bodyguards.

The Chief of the Security Service reported the current situation to the President in his office.

“Your Excellency! Dozens of armed spies are engaged in a shootout with our military and police. It would be better to leave the Blue House and hide.”

But the President, who knew the outcome, was relaxed.

The President picked up the phone.

“Get me the Minister of National Defense!”

In fact, on January 6, the President had issued a special alert order to thoroughly prepare for North Korea’s winter infiltration operation.

However, the Ministry of National Defense did not even know that the armistice line had been breached until today’s engagement, so the Minister of National Defense was doomed.

The commander of the Capital Defense Command, whose four main gates had been breached, was in the same situation.

– Your Excellency! I’m sorry!

“This is not the time to say that. We’re in the middle of a battle.”

– I understand, Your Excellency!

“Listen carefully to what I say from now on and do exactly as I say.”

– Yes, Your Excellency!

“Surround Segeomjeong Valley right now! And capture at least one alive!”

– Your Excellency, the spies are now retreating north and are located in Yangju and Paju.

“Are you disobeying me now!”

– Ah, no. I will surround Segeomjeong and capture them alive, Your Excellency!

And the President called the U.S. Forces Korea headquarters.

“I am the President of the Republic of Korea. I will provide you with some important information.”

The President told the U.S. military the future news.

* * *

In Seoul, the curfew siren rang before 8 PM.

Aeong~

The news was all about the appearance of armed spies.

– Armed spies are rioting, so citizens should refrain from going out and stay at home. If you find any suspicious people, please report them to the police station or counterintelligence unit immediately.

Seoul citizens, no, the entire nation, worried that another war had broken out and spent the night with their eyes open.

The entire military was put on alert, vacationers returned, and a 24-hour alert was put in place.

Weapons were issued to the police.

The U.S. Forces Korea headquarters in Yongsan also issued an emergency alert and entered full-scale armament.

U.S. Air Force bombers that took off flew near the armistice line.

Shoosh~