21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 240

February 14th, 2021, 01:30

The skies above Okinawa, Japan (the U.S State Department’s jet)

Ambassador Willy Gold was staring at the laptop’s screen intently onboard the American government jet headed towards Guam.

“Corea is thoroughly prepared.”

When Ambassador Gold had heard about America unofficially waging war against Corea, he destroyed all confidential documents at the embassy with his staff and prepared to leave the country aboard a plane headed to Guam from Incheon. He had only packed his bare necessities when Minister Kim Jae-hak from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited him.

Ambassador Gold could not speak for long due to the plane leaving. He was handed a USB from the minister. The footage he was watching on the laptop was from the USB that Minister Kim had given him.

It was the footage of the encounter and battle between the two Corean submarines and two American nuclear submarines. It had all the sonar activities, conversations, radio communications, and submarine operations as well. The information on the USB was too accurate to make a denial. Ambassador Gold began to think about Corea’s intent for delivering him this information.

There was only one answer. As America and Corea were about to enter into war with each other, Corea wanted to ensure and alert the world that the initial attack was not made by them. It also held the message of “We know your nation’s nuclear submarines started this affair, and we have proof. So, don’t try to sweep this under the rug.”

When he had gathered his thoughts, Ambassador Gold checked his watch.

“It’s 01:30, so it would be 12:30 in Washington,” he muttered to himself.

Ambassador Gold then closed the laptop and stood up. He pulled out his cellphone and moved to an area where none of the embassy staff were present. Then, he made a phone call.

“This is Willy Gold.”

-Are you aboard the plane?

“Yes, we are headed to Guam. However, that’s not the issue. Is it true that both of our nuclear submarines were sunk after engaging with the Corean submarines first?”

-Ambassador Gold, how did you...?

“Mr. Secretary! I had just received footage about the submarine battle from the Corean Minister of Foreign Affairs before boarding the plane.”

-Send the footage over the secure line. Immediately.

“Yes, sir.”

“Ambassador Gold! Dispose of the USB after sending over the information and keep confidentiality at all costs.”

“Yes, sir. Understood. I will make sure it gets done.”

Ambassador Gold finished his phone call and then sent over the contents of the USB through a secure network. The receiver was to be Rex Tillerson, the U.S State Secretary.

“Did our nuclear submarines get taken down by the Coreans? It sure seemed like it from Secretary Tillerson’s reaction...”

Ambassador Gold, who did not believe the contents of the USB, began to think it could be true after Secretary Rex Tillerson requested for the contents to be sent over.

* * *

February 14th, 2021, 01:30 (U.S.T the 13th, 12:30)

The Harry S. Truman Building, the State Secretary’s office at Washington D.C.

Secretary Rex Tillerson checked over the contents of the USB after speaking with Ambassador Gold.

“Damn it! We were 30 minutes away from the approval meeting with the Senate, and now we have to deal with this? I guess we need to change the reason to wage war.”

Secretary Rex Tillerson, who had been leading the U.S government by President Trump’s side since 2017, stroked his forehead and sighed from this information.

The 100 senators from the U.S Senate had gathered to start the council about approving the war against Corea in 30 minutes. The reason for the war was obviously the illegal attack made by the Corean submarines, causing the deaths of U.S soldiers. Thus, considering the nation as an enemy instead of an ally.

However, they could no longer use that as a cause to wage war. No matter what the reason was, the senators were being pressured by the USSC, and they would unanimously approve the war. The issue was the official statement they would have to make internationally after approving the war against Corea.

With a poor excuse, America would be unable to receive the support of its allies and western nations after waging war against its ally of 70 years. Also, the war could face opposition since it could be seen as a threat to world peace and the start of a third world war.

Secretary Tillerson knew they had been dealt a blow before the war even began. He sat on his chair and tried to think of a solution.

“After the Senate approves the war against Corea, then it would officially announce the war starting from our nuclear submarines attacking first. If we ignore all the intel that Corea has sent and go through with our previous plan, then we would face a severe backlash. We must go with a plan that minimizes that,” he thought.

After gathering his thoughts, Secretary Tillerson reported the facts to Vice President Mike Pence and asked for an amendment to the reason to wage war.

The Senate hearing that started at 1:00 pm had approved the war against Corea within an hour, and at 3:00 pm the White House made an official statement with President Trump.

The contents of the statement were as follow:

America had worked hard for the past 70 years to maintain peace within the Northeast Asia area. It had continuously requested Corea to cease the war against China, Russia, and Japan, which threatened the safety and peace within the region. However, Corea refused and their air-strikes against Japan had caused damages and casualties to the U.S military bases stationed in Japan. This continued aggression could lead to a third world war, therefore the U.S had decided that their intervention was necessary. Starting at 16:00 on February 13th of 2021, America is officially declaring war against Corea.

The nation had only announced facts that would put itself in a better light compared to others.

With President Trump’s declaration of war, America had entered into a national draft that hadn’t been in place since 70 years ago during the Second World War. The national guard and the reserve forces were all called in as well to enlist all of its manpower.

* * *

February 14th, 2021, 04:20

Seoul Jongro-ku, the Blue House national emergency situation underground bunker, the president’s office

It was early morning. President Suh Hyun-woo and his chief secretary were watching President Trump’s declaration of war on TV. It was disheartening to see the two nations that had been allies for 70 years go into war with each other, but the president accepted the fact in a composed manner.

“Doesn’t he look more despicable the more you look at him, sir?” The chief secretary made a disgusted look on his face while sarcastically making fun of President Trump.

“Haha, you’re right, chief secretary. I also did not like his boastful behavior when I visited America.” The president also expressed the emotions that he had felt the whole time.

“Mr. President! Wouldn’t it be better for you to take a cat nap before the national address, sir? If you make the address in a fatigued state, then the press may say you had a grim look on your face from being pressured by the U.S..” The chief secretary expressed his concern about the press hounding the president. The president only waved his hands and answered the chief secretary.

“No need to worry. There are soldiers at the Manchurian state and Japan risking their lives. I will look much better than our men fighting the enemy. How bad could it be? I will make sure to have a stern look on my face while making the address.”

“Yes, sir. Mr. President, I will head over to the press room to see if everything is prepared.”

* * *

February 14th, 2021, 08:00,

Seoul Jongro-ku, the Blue House’s Press Center

Four hours ago, when President Trump had announced the war starting between Corea and America, the international community was in chaos. Now, all eyes of the world press were focused on the Corean president’s national address.

“Here comes the president.”

About 200 domestic and international reporters started to press their camera shutters towards President Suh Hyun-woo.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

The president had a similar expression on his face as the previous addresses he made and glanced at the 200 reporters.

“I apologize for making an address early in the morning. However, since the times are urgent, I had to decide to have this press release at this hour. I would like to apologize to the citizens of Corea and the press agents here.” The president opened his speech with a greeting and started his address.

“Dearly beloved citizens, four hours ago, America, our ally, has declared war against us. The reason is that we have caused damages and casualties to the U.S military stationed in Japan during our air-strikes. Also, they claim we are endangering the peace in Northeast Asia and they had no choice but to intervene. However, I would like to ask, is Corea truly destroying the peace in the region?”

The president had anger in his eyes which contrasted with his composed expression from before.

“In 1945, our nation had finally found half-formed independence from the battle against two political ideologies. In 1950, our nation had a civil war that had been caused by this ideological conflict, and thanks to the UN and America’s support, we were able to keep our democracy.

For the past 70 years, our nation had continued to keep that alliance and did everything it could to maintain the peace in Northeast Asia. However, now the blood alliance is no more. I would like to now show the evidence about America that is now calling our nation an enemy for their own benefits.”

The atmosphere of the national address was different than before. A large screen installed behind the president lit up. The TV screen was split into two, showing the president on the left side while footage began to play on the right.

“I would first like to show how the war against Japan started while the war with China was taking place.”

The contents of Japan’s activities during the war against China started to show up on the TV by date. While the contents were showing, a red square popped up and the president pointed at it with his laser pointer.

“I would like to explain about this first.”

The screen showed the Sarin gas attacks that happened at Jirin during the war against China and the evidence behind the attack in detail. The Corean citizens, who believed that the chemical attacks were committed by China, were all in shock.

The Sarin gas attacks were done by Japan’s Prime Minister’s Cabinet, and the man who ordered the attack had been Prime Minister Abe, who had recently been assassinated.

“That is not all. Japan had made a secret pact with China and attempted to take Dok-do Island with the 3rd escorting fleet and the 1st carrier strike group on December 13th, 2021. On January 2nd 2021, it had attempted to assassinate Vice President Kim Yeo-jung. This was also confirmed to be the actions of the Japanese Prime Minister’s Cabinet. Up next are more evidence.”

The screen shifted along with the president’s speech.

“What do you think? Our nation was fighting for its survival against China when Japan had used weapons of mass destruction and attempted to fan the flames of war by disguising their own forces as the Chinese military. They had also attempted to assassinate a nation’s vice-president. Not only that, but they also attempted to take over another nation’s territory to fulfill their greed. Everyone! How can we forgive a nation that has committed such evil deeds?”

The mass release of secrets had made the entire room fall silent. The silence was only broken from the reporters typing away on their laptops and shutters of cameras clicking.

“Based on these reasons, our nation had waged war against Japan.”

The president had revealed the truth about Japan and took a moment to gather his breath.

“Up next, I would like to discuss America’s declaration of war against our nation. Four hours ago, America had claimed that it had done its best to stop the war between Corea and Japan to keep the peace in Northeast Asia. As stated before, Japan had invaded our territory and also attacked our fleet while our main fleets were battling against China on December 15th. While our forces were fighting against China, Japan continued to take military actions based on their military pact. Japan had continued its military activities against our nation. Therefore, our government had alerted the U.S government about their actions. When notified, the U.S had claimed to stay neutral based on both nations being its allies. I would like to show the contents of the meeting here.”