21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 364

November 17th, 2023, 11:40,

A building near the North State, Pyeong-yang, Hyungje Mountain-ku, Shinmi-dong (the ex-Reconnaissance Bureau’s hideout)

Creeeeak! Creeeeak!

The old 3-story building at Shinmi-dong was full of gunshots. The two cars and three counter-terrorism vehicles stopped and agents under the 707th counter-terrorism special forces battalion all jumped out of the rear door.

Assistant Manager Lee Ja-sung, Chief Oh Suk-jin, and the rest of the agents all got off the vehicle armed with laser rifles.

The NIS counter-terrorism unit had started analyzing the torn map they got from Assistant Manager Lee Ja-sung sent in last morning, and the results came in after four hours of analysis. The map was that of Pyeong-yang’s Hyungje Mountain-ku, and the location marked on the map was Shinmi-dong. After getting the results, Assistant Manager Lee Ja-sung rushed to Pyeong-yang with support from the counter-terrorism unit at Pyeong-yang.

Dadadadadadada!

The agents under the 707th counter-terrorism unit started to disperse and surround the old building so no one could get in or out of the area.

Gunshots could be heard from inside the building at times.

“Are those Chinese nuts? How dare they fire guns in our territory?” Chief Oh Suk-jin, who had been taking cover behind a car with his laser rifle aimed at the building, shouted.

“Yeah. I suppose those bastards have lost their minds. I think they didn’t learn their lesson after losing the East Asian War,” Assistant Manager Lee Ja-sung answered while checking the building’s interior with the VR-M binoculars.

The captain of the 707th unit came up and spoke to him, “Assistant Manager Lee! Should we begin?”

“Yes, let’s go. I’ve confirmed there are five men so far.”

“Yes, understood. I’ll get going.”

Unit 707’s captain returned after saluting him and signaled to the unit leaders. The two units attempted to enter the building through the window, and one of the units approached the main door.

Woosh! Woosh!

They threw flash-bang-like sonar bombs into the building. Soon, small explosions occurred, and the agents rushed into the building. The agents standing by at the roof were all equipped with sound-blocking devices and rappelled into the 3rd and 2nd-floor windows.

-Takeover complete! Takeover complete!

All five men were subdued by the special agents under a minute of them attempting the takeover. Jo Myung-rok, who attempted to escape from the second floor, was also caught.

The AHD sonar bombs which were used in Iran last time emitted high-frequency sound waves to make people unconscious.

“Whoa! The sonar bombs are really effective. It makes things too easy. Ha ha ha.” When the situation was over within a minute, Chief Oh Suk-jin pulled out the small device from his ears and smiled.

“I’ve got to see who is causing all this chaos here today.” Assistant Manager Lee Ja-sung handed his laser rifle to Chief Oh Suk-jin and rushed to the scene.

“Oh! Sir, wait for me.”

The PLA (People’s Liberation Army)’s special forces wearing gas masks were all over the floor.

“Four dead on the 3rd floor, five dead on the second floor, and five more are dead on the 1st floor. Three are unconscious on the first floor and one more on the second, sir.” When Assistant Manager Lee Ja-sung and Chief Oh Suk-jin walked into the building, the counter-terrorism unit’s captain reported the information they had confirmed.

“So that means the second floor was engaged with the first floor, right?”

“Yes, it seems to be that way, sir.”

“I need to check with the unconscious one from the second floor, then.” Lee Ja-sung saluted to express his gratitude and walked up the stairs leading to the second floor.

A man was leaning on the wall of the stairway wearing a dirtied suit with a loose tie and his hands were tied behind his back.

Whirrrrrl!

Chief Oh Suk-jin pulled out a smartphone-like device and scanned the middle-aged man’s face.

“Did you get the results?”

Chief Oh Suk-jin gasped after seeing the information showing up upon scanning the man’s face, “Whoa...”

“What is it?” Assistant manager Lee Ja-sung snatched the face scanner from his hands and checked for himself.

“No wonder you said ‘whoa.'”

The face reader showed the name Jo Myung-rok and his profile. The secret ACS department under the NIS had been looking for him.

“We’ve got a winner! A winner!”

<hr />

November 17th, 2023, 11:20

The South State, Seoul, Jung-ku, the Federal Investigation Bureau (deputy director’s office)

Kim Hyung-chul was in complete shock after hearing the news on the TV that major members of the Labor Party including Kim Jong-un and Kim Hyung-won had died from the Pyeong-yang terrorist bombing. Now his face was red from fury and he tossed the remote to the wall while shouting, “What the hell happened? This wasn’t the plan!”

Woo Byung-hoo, who was seated on the sofa, had to answer him, “I, I don’t know how this happened, sir...”

Woo Byung-hoo also must not have fully understood the situation and slurred his words while sweating.

“How can you just say ‘I don’t know’? Our plan has gone completely awry!”

“Then, what should we do, sir?”

Kim Hyung-chul bit his lower lip and must have made up his mind. He sat down on the sofa and called Woo Byung-hoo over.

“Woo Byung-hoo!”

“Yes, deputy director!”

“Do you know the leader of the anti-treason organization that Governor Kim Choon-won prepared in secret?”

“Yes, I’ve seen him two times or so, sir.”

“Is that so? Can you contact him?”

“Yes, I can, sir.”

“Great! Contact him now and tell them to continue as we’ve planned.”

“Governor Kim Choon-won is dead. Do you think they’ll still go through with the plan, sir?”

When Woo Byung-hoo expressed his hesitation, he glared at him and shouted, “It’s all we’ve got, isn’t it? If we stop now, nothing will get done, won’t it? We must take over the party now. But that doesn’t mean we should take action and be in the spotlight ourselves, so shouldn’t we use them instead?”

“I see. Understood, sir.”

“That’s that. So, how’s the assassination of Jo Myung-rok going?”

Woo Byung-hoo checked his watch and answered, “They should have infiltrated Jo Myung-rok’s hideout by now.”

“We must take Jo Myung-rok out. He knows every single person involved in our Typhoon 16 plan. He’s the loose end that we have to take care of today. When the Chinese soldiers make contact, make sure to let me know.”

“Yes, sir.”

Two months ago, Kim Hyung-won had received a covert offer from Russia’s SVR (Foreign Intelligence Agency). When he first heard the offer, Kim Hyung-won did not respond very well to it. The suggestion was a complete farce.

Russia planned to use Kim Jong-un to shake up the central government with his support from the North State’s organizations and stir chaos within Corea. If that could be done, then Russia would give astronomical money to Kim Hyung-won and also provide military aid, if necessary.

Kim Hyung-won had high political ambitions and finally accepted after thinking it over for a few days. Then, he came up with the name of ‘Operation Typhoon 16’ and started setting up even bolder and dangerous plans than Russia.

The plan was to assassinate Kim Jong-un instead of using him as a political pawn. If the assassination was a success, then the North State’s citizens would be in complete shock. Kim Hyung-won would use this chance to start a political rumor about how the central government was behind the assassination. Then, the chaos would lead to a riot within the North State.

If everything went according to plan, then Kim Hyung-won would have been able to create an independent state government free from the Corean central government with astronomical financial support and military aid from Russia.

However, that ship had sailed. Due to unknown reasons, Jo Myung-rok had betrayed Kim Hyung-won and his men, and they were all assassinated as well. The plan had completely failed on their part.

The entire plan of Typhoon 16 was as follows: Part 1 was to use Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 under Jo Myung-rok’s guidance and assassinate Kim Jong-un. Then kill the agents under the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 by using Jo Myung-rok after the job was done to tie up any loose ends. That was the official plan for Operation Typhoon 16.

Kim Hyung-won came up with one more discrete and sly plan. He had planned to assassinate Jo Myung-rok once the job was done.

Kim Hyung-won had continued to have close ties with the Russian SVR (Foreign Intelligence Agency) and the Intelligence departments of the new Chinese Republic. He had used close ties with China to make contact with the PLA (People’s Liberation Army special forces) and smuggle them into Corean territory. Kim Hyung-won had intended to use them to assassinate Jo Myung-rok and his men.

<hr />

November 17th, 2023, 12:00

Seoul Jongro-ku, the Blue House national emergency situation center, underground bunker

President Choo Un-hee, who heard the news about Kim Jong-un’s assassination via bombing during Memorial Day, returned to the Blue House immediately after the ceremony was over. Then, she called for an NSC (National Security Council) meeting.

The person who was on the hot seat had to be Director Lee Young-jin of the NIS. He had activated the ACS organization and hadn’t gathered any significant results so far, and the incident at Pyeong-yang had happened.

“What is it that the NIS does, exactly?” Prime Minister Lee Youn-yeon scolded Director Lee Young-jin.

“Sir! Let’s assess the situation first.”

“Yes, Madam President!”

“Brief us on what you have confirmed so far,” President Choo Un-hee spoke in a calm tone.

“So far, ex-supreme leader Kim Jong-un, party chairman Kim Hyung-won, and 31 senators and congressmen have died. Also, 51 civilians were killed in the blast as well. 80 have been severely wounded and 200 suffered minor injuries, but we are still assessing the numbers.”

There were too many people dead despite it being a single bombing incident. The IED (Improvised Explosive Device) was powerful enough to kill over 80 people.

“Was it a terrorist attack or an accident?” National Security Director Kang Hyun-soo asked.

“It’s most likely a terrorist attack. The source of the explosion was not near any gas lines or fuel tanks. The investigation is still ongoing, so we’ll give you an additional report once we find the source, ma’am.”

“So, that means it could be a terrorist attack.”

Director Lee Young-jin from the NIS nodded at National Security Director Kang Hyun-soo and answered his question, “Yes, based on our current investigation, it seems that way.”

“That’s not good. Two terrorist bombings at the same spot. How are the citizens of the North State reacting? Are they being swayed by the chaos?”

Minister Kim Yi-gyeom from the Ministry of Bureaucracy answered the president’s question, “We have deployed 10 police companies within the Peace Park to maintain security within the area. So far, there haven’t been any reports about security issues.”

“That’s a relief. The citizens of Pyeong-yang or the North State must not be swayed by this incident.”

“Yes, Madam President!”

At that moment, Director Lee Young-jin’s smartphone started to ring.

Director Lee Young-jin urgently picked up the phone since it was an emergency. “Really? Yes, I understand, bring him back to HQ as quickly as possible!”