Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 202



Only Krnovel

#Episode 202 My request is this

“Can a nuclear bomb be clean? Doesn’t it produce a large amount of radioactivity? Well, it also appears in movies like ‘When the Day Comes’, right? After a nuclear war, people will suffer and die from radiation?”

“I mean, it’s much cleaner than an atomic bomb. Very little radioactivity is produced in the hydrogen fusion reaction. The problem is the atomic bomb exploded for the hydrogen fusion reaction. Atomic bombs produce large amounts of radioactivity through nuclear fission.”

“Then isn’t that what it is?”

“It’s not like that. Have you ever heard of Tsar Bomba?”

“Tsar Bomba? Oh, you mean the Soviet bomb that was said to have the most destructive power in human history?”

“ha ha ha! you’re right. It is the most powerful hydrogen bomb and nuclear bomb in human history, tested by the Soviet Union in 1961 on Novaya Zemlya Island, near the North Pole. The power is 50Mt, which when converted to TNT is 50,000,000 tons.”

“Is it that powerful?”

Since it was 50Mt, even if I said it was 50,000,000 tons of TNT, it didn’t make sense.

“of course. “You may not be getting the sense, but the Little Boy that fell on Hiroshima was 15 kilograms, which was only 15,000 tons of TNT.”

“her… … .”

15,000 tons of TNT created that hell, but 50 million tons of TNT?

It was so absurd that I couldn’t even speak.

“And modern strategic nuclear bombs are usually around 500 ㏏. Tsar Bomba went too far. A single bomb weighing 27 tons contained 10 times the energy of the gunpowder used during World War II. “They say it was like a third-degree burn even from 100km away.”

“Wow, you’re crazy… … .”

“That’s what I did with my senses. Originally, they tried to make it 100Mt, but ended up failing. No, with the technology at the time, it would have been a suicide experiment. “At that time, there was no way to launch a 27-ton missile, so it had to be dropped from the air by a large transport aircraft or bomber, and there would be no time for them to evacuate.”

“That’s scary.”

“Yes, it’s scary. However, 97% of the energy from Tsar Bomba came from hydrogen fusion. In other words, at 97% of its power, it produced almost no radiation.”

“Is that clean? How much is just 3% due to nuclear fission? 3% of 50 is 1.5Mt? Then, that alone is enough for Little Boy, who fell on Hiroshima… … .”

“Yes, the nuclear fission energy alone is 100 times that of Little Boy.”

“Well, is that clean?”

“It’s clean. “Compared to its power.”

“… … .”

Lee Kang-cheol was left with nothing to say.

“But even those hydrogen bombs can be dirty. Following nuclear fission and the resulting nuclear fusion, there are also bombs that increase the power by inducing a third nuclear fission of uranium-238. They are commonly referred to as ‘dirty bombs.’”

“Is there any need to do something like that?”

“It was the Cold War. “Whether it was the United States or the Soviet Union, there was nothing they couldn’t do as long as they were stronger and dirtier than the other side.”

“You’re really crazy.”

“Yes, I’m crazy.”

“But why are you suggesting that the United States develop a hydrogen bomb? “Are we going to repeat what we did during the Cold War?”

“ha ha ha! I hope you don’t misunderstand. That’s not the reason. “In fact, it’s the opposite.”

“I don’t quite understand?”

“There are many reasons. As I said at the beginning, once the atomic bomb was introduced, it was inevitable that we would move to the hydrogen bomb. This is because it is efficient for high power and can still be miniaturized. Nowadays, it weighs several tons, but even in the 1960s, the megaton warhead was reduced to 720 pounds, or 330 kg. Therefore, it is safe to view all modern things called atomic bombs as hydrogen bombs. The same goes for tactical nuclear bombs, and the ‘thing’ we brought with us.”

“Hum hum.”

When ‘that existence’ was mentioned, Lee Kang-cheol cleared his throat as if he was uncomfortable.

However, Dr. Hong Jeong-man is one of the few people who knows about ‘its existence’ in the first place.

“And the United States is also delaying development because there is no urgent need now, but it will eventually begin development. “This is what I heard directly while working with them.”

“Then you can just leave it alone, right? “We develop it our way?”

“It’s not like that. “Right now we are technologically superior.”

“you’re right. So we are cooperating with the United States in many ways.”

“So, we want to cooperate in the development of the hydrogen bomb. Although technologically superior with future knowledge, the United States is still ahead in terms of running infrastructure. And above all, we can control America with our superior knowledge. Even now, we are working together to ensure that nuclear reactor technology meets our standards, which are actually standards they created, but in any case, our standards. A hydrogen bomb can do that too, so there’s no reason not to do it, right?”

“Hoo? “Is that plausible?”

“Moreover, the United States also makes many mistakes during its development process. For example, there is the Castle Bravo incident.”

“Castle Bravo? “What is that again?”

“This is the American hydrogen bomb test in 1954. It’s called Operation Castle, and the first bomb in Operation Castle is Bravo. But then a disaster happens.”

“Is it a disaster?”

“Yes, it is. These guys misjudged the power and caused the worst radioactive disaster. Their original estimate was that the bomb’s power would be between 4 Mt and 8 Mt, but the result was 15 Mt. Thanks to this, a huge amount of radioactive fallout is created and the surrounding native people are exposed to radiation. Even nearby Japanese fishing boats were attacked. “It’s a shame because it was back then, but if it were modern times, it would have had a bigger impact than the Fukushima nuclear accident.”

“her! “So something like that happened?”

“Yes, so we will control it and prevent the Pacific Ocean from being polluted. “Also, if we take the lead, we can prevent the creation of unnecessary dirty bombs.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Yes, finally, if we develop jointly with the United States, we won’t have to pollute our land.”

“There is a lot of useless land stolen from the Soviet Union?”

“But it’s still our land.”

“… … .”

I had no idea that the person responsible for developing the hydrogen bomb would think so much about the pollution of our land.

“It also saves money. That is why we are suggesting that we expedite the development of the hydrogen bomb by proposing joint development with the United States. “We can’t just sit back and wait until the Americans develop it again.”

“Hmm, I understand.”

Lee Kang-cheol eventually accepted Dr. Hong Jeong-man’s proposal.

In any case, nuclear power and nuclear bombs are areas that the United States has promised to cooperate with since the days of Roosevelt.

This is because if South Korea, which has the knowledge and technology of the future, goes ahead unilaterally, it could put the United States on edge.

So, since the principle was to cooperate with the United States for ‘appropriate compensation’, whether it was commercial nuclear power or bombs, it would not be a problem to make the United States develop an appropriate excuse to let the United States begin development.

And Truman immediately accepted Lee Kang-cheol’s proposal, and South Korea and the United States jointly tested a hydrogen bomb.

September 22, 1952, 2 p.m.

Flash!

Gooooooo!

“Wow!”

“Three, my God…” … .”

All the observers watching the hydrogen bomb test on the aircraft carrier Coral City could not close their mouths.

A huge flash of light that seemed to blind them even though they were wearing safety glasses illuminated them, and then a huge mushroom cloud rose with a roar.

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

“Well, I see.”

The hydrogen bomb exploded today was 3 megatons, a significant reduction from the original test’s 10.4 megatons.

This is because the Republic of Korea argued that there was no need to test an unnecessarily high-yield bomb.

But still, it has that kind of power.

“… … General Go.”

MacArthur, who had been speechless for a while, spoke first.

“Yes, General.”

“Such bombs should never be used in combat. No matter who the opponent is. “If we are not careful, it could lead to the end of humanity.”

“That is correct. “This is something that should never be used.”

“… … .”

That evening.

MacArthur visited Go Seok-man’s room.

“Do you have a moment?”

“Ah, General. Please come in. “I was just going to read a book for a moment.”

“haha! “Then come have some tea with me.”

“haha! “You are welcome anytime.”

MacArthur and Go Seok-man were neighbors and became very close friends.

In particular, MacArthur frequently visited Korea, and it was because Go Seok was more comfortable than President Lee Kang-cheol.

“The Supreme Allied Command will probably be disbanded by the end of next year.”

“Oh, I also heard that GHQ (General Headquarters) will be disbanded soon.”

“That’s right. “Not long ago, there was an order from Washington to proceed with work accordingly, as this is a plan.”

“Well, it’s about time that happened.”

It has already been eight years since the war ended.

Originally, it would have been disbanded on April 28th of this year, but as history changed, it lasted an additional year and a half.

It seems that LeMay had been hit too hard and had a big impact as the Korean War did not break out and Japan no longer had to take advantage of the special war situation.

“If that happens, Japan’s sovereignty will be restored.”

“I guess so. But will the General be upset? “You were almost a god in Japan, right?”

MacArthur truly reigned almost as a god.

GHQ had such omnipotent power that it was called the shogunate.

Moreover, MacArthur himself had a great deal of affection for Japan, so he would have been very disappointed if GHQ was disbanded and he had to return to his home country.

“ha ha ha! I won’t say no. “The Japanese worshiped me as a conqueror to a suspicious degree.”

“ha ha ha! Although it is indeed a neighboring country, Japanese people are sometimes really hard to understand. “If it were in our country, we would have had double sex.”

“… … .”

As Ko Seok-man said, the racial characteristics of the Japanese were truly bizarre.

Although they struck first, the United States was an enemy country anyway.

It is also the country that delivered humanity’s first nuclear bomb and inflicted countless casualties when LeMay reduced all of Japan to ashes.

However, the Japanese were enthusiastic about MacArthur.

In fact, it was said that he was worshiped as a god.

And that too voluntarily.

As Ko Seok-man said, if it were like Korea, MacArthur, who was no different from the governor, would have been fed big shit every day.

“Hmm, Japanese characteristics are a bit strange.”

“It’s not a little bit, it’s very strange.”

“What a adventure! “Anyway, that’s not what I want to say. I came here because I have something I want to ask of your country.”

“Please? What is it? “I’m the former Minister of National Defense, so there’s not much I can do, right?”

“Why are you doing this when everyone knows? “Isn’t it a known fact all over the world that General Go is Korea’s second-in-command?”

“Oh my! “Are you saying something big will happen?”

“Are you really going to do this?”

“haha! Please just say something first. “I will at least deliver it to you.”

“Ugh! Anyway, my request is this. “Please stop forgiving Japan.”

“Hmm… … .”

Go Seok-man’s expression changed.

Because it is not something he can answer carelessly.