Perhaps my sharp reaction caught him off guard, because Choi Ryonghae’s face stiffened.
“Whether Kim Jongil lives or dies is Chairman Jang Songthaek’s matter to decide. It’s not sothing I should interfere in. And even if I could persuade him, there’s no reason for to kill Kim Jongil at the cost of turning Chairman Jang against myself. Yet you’re making this demand with remarkable confidence.”
Choi Ryonghae, who had been grinding his teeth, t my gaze head-on and spoke.
“......I’ve heard that you and Kim Jongil were never on good terms. If he remains alive, that won’t be good for you either, President Kim Muhyuk, will it?”
“Maybe. But I don’t think Chairman Jang Songthaek is the kind of man who’d be brought down by a toothless tiger like Kim Jongil. That’s why I have no desire to persuade him to kill Kim Jongil. When the food’s already cooked and placed right in soone’s mouth, if they still can’t swallow it, then that’s simply the limit of their ability, isn’t it?”
Jang Songthaek had decided to let Kim Jongil live.
Even if a coup sohow happened again and Jang Songthaek were toppled because of that decision, it would be entirely his own choice.
“......He is the Supre Dignity of our republic. Mind your manners when you speak.”
“He may be the Supre Dignity in the North, but he isn’t to . And if we’re talking about manners, isn’t your behavior more disrespectful than mine, Director of the General Political Bureau?”
“What do you an by—?”
I curled one corner of my mouth upward and smiled.
“Chairman Jang Songthaek decided to keep Kim Jongil alive. From what I hear, he’s already told you people that several tis. Does Chairman Jang know that you ca to see and said all this?”
Choi Ryonghae couldn’t answer. Of course he hadn’t told Jang Songthaek.
“Why is it that you, Director of the General Political Bureau, and the reactionary elents who agree with you, dare to speak so lightly about a decision made by the Supre Dignity? People who couldn’t even open their mouths back when Kim Jongil was in power.”
They spoke of Jang Songthaek as the Supre Dignity and brandished his authority, yet they themselves were openly disregarding that very authority.
“Should I call Chairman Jang right now and tell him exactly what you said? That Director of the General Political Bureau Choi Ryonghae ca to see and asked to persuade him to kill Kim Jongil?”
The sight of people who had done nothing when Kim Jongil was overthrown now insisting that he must be killed was laughable.
Cold words slipped out of naturally.
“What are you—”
“You say I wasn’t on good terms with Kim Jongil? Well, that’s not wrong. But that ended the mont he fell from power.”
Choi Ryonghae, who had co to after seeing only fragnts of the situation, was simply ridiculous.
Kim Jongil had already lost everything when he fell.
“If killing Kim Jongil had been the goal from the start, he’d already be standing behind a folding screen, breathing in incense. There was more than enough ti for that. So why didn’t Chairman Jang and I kill him? If you have a head on your shoulders, try thinking for once—why Kim Jongil is still alive, and why Chairman Jang is keeping soone whose usefulness is already exhausted alive.”
Kim Jongil had fulfilled his purpose the mont Jang Songthaek inherited the crown.
From now on, Kim Jongil’s existence would be thoroughly erased in North Korea. He would be alive, yet not a living presence.
Of course, at first I had thought he should be killed as well.
But now, I agreed with Jang Songthaek.
The political burden gained by killing Kim Jongil was far greater than the benefit of keeping him alive.
Unable to get the answer he wanted, Choi Ryonghae’s cheeks trembled with anger.
‘No matter how much Jang Songthaek tries to change things, those pig bastards at his side will keep stirring shit.’
Looking at Choi Ryonghae like that, I let out a small snort of laughter without realizing it.
Thinking I was laughing at him, Choi Ryonghae’s face flushed bright red.
For soone who claid to be a politician, he revealed his emotions far too easily. He was leagues below Jang Songthaek.
“President Kim Muhyuk. Watch your words. This could cause trouble for your business in North Korea.”
I burst out laughing at the empty threat.
“Director of the General Political Bureau. Do you have any idea how much effort I put into helping Chairman Jang Songthaek seize power in North Korea? To let this pass quietly, I even dragged China, Russia, and the United States into it and made them keep each other in check. And who do you think you are, daring to say sothing like that? You’re nothing more than one of Jang Songthaek’s chess pieces. If you’ve climbed onto the board, then act like a piece and move when your master tells you to move.”
“President Kim Muhyuk!!”
Choi Ryonghae raised his voice and slamd the table in front of him.
This won’t last long. Clicking my tongue, I continued.
“You might end up losing your head before Kim Jongil does. So focus on the role you’ve been given. The fact that Chairman Jang sent you to Singapore ans he’s serious about these preliminary negotiations.”
No matter what Choi Ryonghae was thinking, to the outside world he was a high-ranking figure in the power hierarchy.
Chairman Jang couldn’t co personally to the preliminary negotiations, and it would have been ridiculous to send Kim Youngnam, the symbolic head of state.
At the very least, to secure a voice in front of the United States, China, and Russia, Choi Ryonghae had been sent.
“Listen. I—”
“If you intend to keep testing strength with , then go on and keep talking. You know very well how I dealt with Kim Jongil.”
Choi Ryonghae shut his mouth.
I narrowed my brow and leaned closer toward him.
“I’m not soone who grants favors for free, and if you wanted a deal, you should’ve co with sothing worth the price. Barging in and throwing a tantrum like this is sothing children do. You know all this already, so why act like this?”
I stared straight into Choi Ryonghae’s eyes.
Born as the son of Choe Hyon, one of Kim Ilsung’s closest aides, he had walked an elite path his entire life.
He acted arrogantly and made many enemies, but no one dared touch him because of his father’s shadow.
In his youth, while serving as a secretary in the Socialist Youth League, Choi Ryonghae had turned it into his own little kingdom and lived a life of excess.
That earned him Kim Jongil’s wrath, and the league’s officials were all executed.
Choi Ryonghae himself was pushed to the brink of death.
But his background was impeccable, and thanks to Jang Songthaek personally stepping in and begging Kim Jongil to spare him, he was rely expelled from the party and sent to a remote rural area for hard labor.
They said he endured every kind of humiliation there, things he’d never experienced before, and shed tears.
Yes. That must have been when he started dreaming of revenge.
“Don’t even think about trying to move Chairman Jang Songthaek for the sake of your personal grudges. If you do, you’ll end up back in so hellish countryside again. No—this ti, the odds are you’ll die.”
I knew exactly why he was so obsessed with killing Kim Jongil.
Choi Ryonghae simply wanted to kill the man who had sent him to a provincial farm.
Humiliation and rage coexisted in his eyes.
Was there anyone who’d looked at like that and still walked away alive?
I let out a small laugh and leaned back against the sofa, crossing my legs and lightly wiggling my foot as I spoke casually.
“That’s enough. You should go now. I won’t report what you said to today to Chairman Jang. So do your job properly in these negotiations.”
Even after my clear dismissal, Choi Ryonghae didn’t stand up.
I shook my head and closed my eyes, making it clear I had no desire to continue the conversation.
A mont later, I opened my eyes again at the sound of him standing up.
“I’ll be on my way. But I will never forget today’s humiliation.”
I answered only with a deep smile.
Choi Ryonghae tried to say sothing in response to my mocking expression, then turned and left.
After he was gone, Manager Ma approached and asked,
“Will you be alright? You might have pushed him too hard.”
“It’s fine. People like him submit to strength more than anyone. If you show weakness or humility in front of them, they’ll try to exploit you by any ans necessary.”
He was probably grinding his teeth right now, looking for a way to get revenge for the humiliation he suffered.
“Won’t this cause problems for our business in North Korea?”
“How could Choi Ryonghae interfere with a business backed by Jang Songthaek? And even if he does try, that’s sothing we can deal with when it happens.”
Was Jang Songthaek’s grip on power still insufficient?
Considering he’d inherited every position Kim Jongil once held at the party congress, that didn’t seem to be the case......
Since coming to had failed, they might try so other sche to kill Kim Jongil.
Just because Jang Songthaek had seized power didn’t an everything was over.
Negotiation teams from each country gathered at a certain location and began talks.
The first day ended without finding any common ground.
Myungsoo ca to see late at night, after the talks had concluded.
“How was it?”
“How should it be? Everyone just said their piece and it ended.”
“The U.S. sent their Director for East Asia and the Pacific, right? Russia sent a deputy foreign minister, and China sent Li Zhaoxing himself?”
China must have been in a hurry too.
While the other countries sent vice-minister–level officials, China had sent a minister personally.
Well, from Hu Jintao’s perspective, he couldn’t accept North Korea falling completely under Arican managent.
— I’m disappointed, President Kim Muhyuk. I considered you a friend. But it seems you think of the United States before us.
Wen Jiabao hadn’t hidden his displeasure during our phone call after the announcent of the inter-Korean summit.
Even his tone had been noticeably colder than before.
Recalling that call, I asked,
“What does China want?”
“After this inter-Korean summit, there’ll be a trilateral eting in Korea between South Korea, North Korea, and the United States. China wants to participate in that as well.”
“And Russia too?”
“Yeah. There are other demands, but that’s the core of it. They don’t want just the three of you talking—they want in on the discussion.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable demand.
In my previous life, six-party talks had been held to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.
That was how important the North Korea problem was to East Asia.
This ti, it was a proposal for five-party talks, excluding Japan.
“What’s the South Korean governnt’s position?”
“We’re fine with all the relevant parties participating. But the U.S. is opposing it. They probably don’t want their influence reduced.”
“They can’t help it. North Korea has always prioritized China and Russia. If the U.S. doesn’t seize this opportunity, it’ll be hard for them to exert influence over North /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Korea. Once they’ve got the initiative, they’ll never want to let it go.”
Myungsoo nodded. The talks must have been draining—there was a shadow on his face.
“For now, we’re eting again in two days. I’ve got a eting scheduled with Choi Ryonghae tomorrow......”
The five-party talks were a separate issue.
The reason Myungsoo had co to Singapore was for the preliminary negotiations ahead of the inter-Korean summit.
“Really? Then I’ll et the U.S. representative and the Chinese and Russian representatives tomorrow. You focus on North Korea.”
Myungsoo’s face brightened. It seed he’d been waiting for to say that first.
“Would you? Thanks. I’m uneasy leaving this entirely to the Foreign Ministry. If I don’t step in myself, the level doesn’t match. But even if the working-level staff talk things out, nothing moves if the delegation heads refuse.”
Strength returned to his voice. Seeing him light up, I smiled.
“No need to thank . That’s why I ca to Singapore in the first place. It was also at the request of the United States. The five-party talks aren’t the real problem. The essence is that they all want sothing from North Korea. If we coordinate that, it’s done.”
And I already knew exactly what China and Russia wanted.
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