Damn the World, Ride a Submarine - Chapter 129



Only Krnovel

Episode 129 – Rare Earth

North Korea’s entry into ESSO meant it was part of the same federation as South Korea.

I advised Kim Jong-un that he needed to take steps to ease tensions between the allies. He said he would withdraw a significant number of troops from the DMZ.

The justification was to resolve the standoff with South Korea, a fellow ally. However, North Korea also had reasons to reduce its military spending, and in fact, it needed to rely more on ESSO after failing to walk the tightrope between China and ESSO.

There was also a need to strengthen the defense of the Chinese border along the Yalu River.

Given that attempts by China and Russia to overthrow the North Korean regime have been exposed, it was recognized that China was a greater threat than South Korea or the United States.

China, which has fallen into isolationism and expansionism, has invaded Taiwan, so there is no reason it wouldn’t invade North Korea.

In return for North Korea’s apparent show of goodwill, I promised to supply ample amounts of coal, food and some oil.

The talks were coming to a successful conclusion. All the conditions I had proposed were accepted, and North Korea was brought within the ESSO framework.

At the end of the meeting, Kim Jong-un opened his mouth again.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Did you know that North Korea has a lot of rare earth elements?”

“That’s right. Isn’t it more than twice that of Russia?”

“But. I can’t mine this or turn it into money. How about you help me?”

“Yes. We can provide capital and technology. Please suggest some conditions.”

“It’s a guilt. At first, you’ll have to spend money without earning anything…”

“…”

“How about you take 70% until the invested business gets its money back, and then split it 50%?”

“As expected, you have a big heart. That’s good.”

This secured the right to mine rare earth minerals in North Korea, which has the second largest reserves in the world.

Rare earth elements are essential raw materials for stealth aircraft and ships such as the F-22 and F-35, and are minerals that play an important role as cutting-edge technology materials, especially those used in the production of stealth paint.

Some viewed the F-35 stealth fighter as a strategic material, as it requires over 400 kg of rare earth minerals per plane.

When China’s relationship with the United States worsened, it started cutting off this, and after the Taiwan War, China stopped exporting rare earth elements to the United States.

The United States has less than 30 percent of North Korea’s rare earth reserves.

– Rare earth elements: A general term for 15 rare elements classified as scandium, yttrium, and lanthanum.

– According to the U.S. Geological Survey, North Korea has over 1 billion tons of rare earth mineral reserves. Of these, the rare earth oxides alone amount to 48 million tons, the second largest reserve after China.

With North Korea’s accession to ESSO, all countries bordering the East Sea have joined ESSO.

After finishing the meeting, before returning, I boarded the MV-22 and set foot on the Cheongjin Port land.

It was a response to Kim Jong-un’s sincerity in rising to the top in a situation where everything was uncertain.

Kim Jong-un also came out to Cheongjin Port to see him off for the final greeting. However, a large crowd of people had gathered to welcome him. It was clear that they had mobilized the crowd.

– Long live the leader!

– Long live the enemy!

‘Kim Jong-un still hasn’t kicked his habit.’

The crowds waving colorful flowers and North Korean flags and their shouts were a dazzling sight and ears.

When I saw that sight, it felt too unfamiliar and alien to understand that it was their culture.

Kim Jong-un, who came out to see him off, spoke first.

“Your Majesty! On behalf of the Republic, I offer my thanks.”

“Everything went smoothly thanks to the chairman’s decision.”

“Your Majesty!”

“yes?”

Kim Jong-un took a step closer and continued speaking.

“Your Majesty! Can I call you sometimes?”

“…”

‘What is this slimy stuff?’

I responded reflexively to Kim Jong-un’s unexpected remark.

“Haha. Yes, feel free to contact me anytime.”

I wanted to get out of here quickly. I finished my ceremonial greetings and boarded the MV-22.

…

I thought it was important to loosen North Korea’s locks, even just a little, in some way.

Until the consciousness of the North Korean people awakens, Kim Jong-un was a useful conduit of power for me.

After finishing the meeting, I looked into the domestic and international media trends on the returning fleet.

[ North Korea joins ESSO ]

[ North Korea abandons China and Russia ]

[ OSS that takes care of all the benefits of security and economy ]

[ Kim Jong-un calls Chairman Lee Si-eon ‘Marshal’ ]

[ Lee Si-eon, who opened up North Korea ]

[ OSL acquires North Korea’s rare earth mining rights ]

[OSS Rajin, even the Seonbong Special Economic Zone]

[ North Korea joins ESSO, forming East Sea security belt ]

North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun published extensive photos of me and Kim Jong-un shaking hands and discussing things at the meeting room.

And in the editorial explaining North Korea’s accession to ESSO, the commentary on me was quite admirable.

‘The unparalleled hero who broke Russia and China and brought the United States and Japan to their knees’

It was a really embarrassing adjective.

I understand that they are giving him a lot of credit since he is Kim Jong-un’s opponent, but I couldn’t help but feel jealous.

In South Korea, people seemed relieved only after confirming that North Korea had withdrawn its military units deployed along the Military Demarcation Line.

In the Korean media, articles gradually began to appear that recognized the reality and achievements of ESSO.

There is still a sharp divide in opinion between those who believe that the main enemy is North Korea and those who believe that the main enemy should be expanded to include China and Russia.

However, it seemed that they neither believed nor doubted that the visit of the ESSO delegation had achieved in one fell swoop what the government had failed to achieve despite decades of effort.

While observing the domestic and international situation, I became curious about the operation carried out by China and Russia. It just so happened that Director Lee was the first to request a secure communication.

“Manager, I was going to contact you anyway.”

“Yes, sir. First of all, there was a slight mistake on our side.”

“yes?”

“It seems that our work influenced China’s recent plan to assassinate Kim Jong-un.”

“ah ···.”

“It was meant to prevent North Korea from joining China. But things got worse because our intelligence assets were overloaded.”

“That may be true. But it ended up working out better. Don’t worry about it. Just be sure to keep security tight.”

“Yes. Thank you for understanding.”

“But what was the true nature of the assassination plot planned by China and Russia?”

“That was to blow up the entire train carrying Kim Jong-un when it entered the Far Eastern Republic.”

“Ah… what were your plans next?”

“China was pushing for a pro-China military in preparation for a sudden change in North Korea. The scenario was that one of those pro-China generals would seize power.”

“So what’s next?”

“It seems that the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau and the Escort General Bureau already had a list of targets for surveillance.”

“Ah, now I understand a little better.”

“Yes, North Korea tried to draw more support from China while weighing its options with China over joining ESSO.”

“…”

“It has been confirmed that China was trying to replace the North Korean regime itself, considering North Korea’s past history of excluding China and cooperating with Russia.”

“I see. What happened next?”

“When the incident broke out, it seems that almost all high-ranking North Korean officials were arrested. Only a few people in Dandong defected to China.”

“then ···.”

“I think they will probably shoot those involved within a few days.”

North Korea was North Korea.

The director explained the power struggles between factions within North Korea, including pro-China, pro-Russia, and pro-independence factions.

“I see. By the way, Manager. We need to hire some employees from Hanawon.”

“Oh, is it because of the people who will be led from the North?”

“Yes. I think they will need someone with experience to help them adapt to society.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Oh, and they are not criminals. Most of them were punished in the North for watching a South Korean movie…”

“Yes, yes. I know. I will look into it carefully to see what our representative meant by making this happen.”

“Even so, there will definitely be Reconnaissance General Bureau personnel mixed in with the crowd.”

“Yes, that is a very difficult problem.”

“Don’t try to pick them out.”

“Huh? What is that?”

“Anyway, they are people who will migrate to the Pacific Islands via Mindanao. Even if there are spies, it will be difficult to access high-level information.”

“…”

“Removing a few cells would do more harm than good for security. They could be used to spread disinformation or for other operations. So, let them just observe.”

“Open~”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Our representative! I’ve felt this way for a long time, but it seems like you were born with it.”

“?”

“What can I say? It’s always amazing how you instinctively know how to do espionage and operations without having to learn them. Haha.”

“By the way, what are the trends in Russia?”

“It certainly seems clear that they are going to do it again.”

“How? Half of the Federation was blown away?”

“Yes, that’s true. It seems that there is some kind of collusion with the African warlords that Prigogine established in the past, as well as the expansion of internal military facilities.”

“Well… there are so many resources here, and even in Africa.”

“This is a minority opinion even among our intelligence analysts, but…”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“If Russia starts a third war, it means that it will try to start at least three conflicts simultaneously on other continents or in the Third World.”

“Oh, learning from the last war?”

“Yes, that’s true. But I doubt that Russia has the ability to manipulate the complex international situation as it pleases.”

“No, it is possible.”

“Sir! I would like to hear an explanation.”

“Russia’s soft power in Eurasia and the Third World remains intact.”

“ah…”

“The situation is so uncertain that even intelligence operations, excluding political and military power, could be enough to trigger the trigger. Russia just needs to get the timing right.”

“Now that I hear it, you’re right, sir. The question is when and where…”

“ESSO and the US are the only ones who have barely secured a safety pin… Well, Mr. Manager, if you were to pick the most dangerous region, what would it be?”

“Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kosovo, Chechnya, North Africa… even the independent Kurds. Oh, come to think of it, there are powder kegs everywhere.”

“…”

“It’s like they’re looking at each other with hand grenades.”

“Winter is what keeps you from pulling out the safety pin.”

“…”

“I think the moment that safety pin is pulled is the difference between next winter or another year of shrinking.”

“Understood, sir. I will strengthen information gathering and strategic analysis on simultaneous conflict situations.”

…