Chapter 148
Chapter 148
148.
The Stolen Trash Can (1)
As the economic and social landscape bustled, the Ministry of National Defense was far from quiet.
Minister of National Defense Go Seung-won let out a sigh as he looked at a name appearing in recent economic news articles on his computer.
“…Baek Shin-woo.”
He couldn't help but recall the incident from about a year ago when MH Group Chairman Myung Joong-hwan had demanded the service records of his grandson.
However, those records had all been disposed of by then. Even if they hadn't been, they were things he couldn't have handed over.
“I never imagined codename Muakjae would grow this much…”
Honestly, at first, he had doubted what a former soldier, whose only specialty was fighting well, could do in a large corporation.
But not only did he generate immense profits, he went on to swallow up MH Future Security and then MH Distribution.
Furthermore, voluntary accounting audits and prosecutorial investigations via Search and Seizure Warrants. He accomplished tasks that a typical businessman would find difficult to execute even after steeling themselves multiple times.
“Is he truly the grandson of that grandfather?”
His doubts and curiosity deepened with each passing day.
Then, the internal phone rang, and the voice of his military aide, who worked closely by his side, came through.
[Minister. Lieutenant General Yoon Tae-in from the Army Special Warfare Command is here to see you.]
It was an unscheduled visit, so Go Seung-won tilted his head in confusion.
“…Have him come in.”
Not long after he replied, Lieutenant General Yoon Tae-in entered.
“I apologize for visiting without prior notice.”
“Not at all. But what brings you here?”
To that question, Yoon Tae-in replied in the quietest voice possible, speaking with caution.
“It’s about… the recent Ministry of National Defense server hacking incident, you know.”
Go Seung-won’s expression instantly hardened. There had been an incident recently where the Ministry of National Defense’s system security was breached, and hackers had wreaked havoc.
“I thought that matter was being quietly concluded with an investigation behind the scenes. Why are you bringing it up again?”
Fortunately, the hackers’ traces only led to the trash bin space where all data had been completely purged, and they disappeared. Other than that, there were no records of data being copied, so they had enforced silence to prevent the situation from leaking.
Of course, internally, they were doing their utmost to trace the culprits to find the hacker.
“Among the recycle bin servers that the hackers had ransacked at the time, there was one that processed those records.”
“Those… records? What records are you referring to?”
Yoon Tae-in, slightly frustrated, spoke in an even smaller voice.
“…The UAD Project operation records.”
At that moment, Go Seung-won’s face turned ashen.
“Weren’t those completely processed?”
“I thought so too. But while reviewing the secret dispatches sent from the Ministry of National Defense to the heads of each department for confirmation due to this hacking incident, I noticed that location. And just in case, I checked, and…”
“Tell me in detail. Why would those deleted records have fallen into the hands of those hackers?”
Yoon Tae-in hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“It seems they weren’t fully deleted because they were initially created with a specialized program.”
“But weren’t they locked to prevent copying? I understood they were absolutely inaccessible from the outside.”
“They certainly were… but perhaps an error occurred during the deletion process, making them accessible.”
“So, you’re saying those records were actually leaked?!”
Go Seung-won, agitated, couldn't help but raise his voice.
“Sir, Minister!”
“Hoo—! Are you certain of the leak?”
“Based on the circumstances, we cannot rule out that possibility entirely.”
Yoon Tae-in’s voice trailed off.
Go Seung-won let out a long sigh.
“How is the hacking investigation progressing? Is there any headway?”
“I checked just now, but it seems difficult to track them, likely because they are professional hackers.”
“…This is an extremely difficult situation. By any chance, were all the records intact?”
This was the most crucial question. Depending on the outcome, decisions would be made at the government level, rather than just the Ministry of National Defense.
Yoon Tae-in pondered for a moment before handing his tablet, which he had been holding from the start, to Go Seung-won.
“As you can see, parts of the UAD operation log remained. And…”
“And what else?”
“Some of the operatives’ personal information… is also included.”
Bang—!
Go Seung-won slammed his fist on the desk, nearly breaking it. He then continued to scroll through the remaining pages of records on the tablet, discovering personal information distorted by noise in parts.
“Was this image the extent of the leak?”
“That’s what it seems like for now.”
“Should I consider it fortunate… that the soldiers’ photos and most of their information are damaged?”
“We inquired with ADD (Agency for Defense Development), who developed the program, and they said it would be impossible to recover due to the specialized program scrambling it.”
Go Seung-won pondered again before speaking.
“Where are codenames Wirye and Namyeong currently assigned?”
“After the operation concluded, Wirye was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and is now the commander of the 302nd Aviation Battalion. Namyeong was promoted to Major and is a company commander in the Capital Mechanized Infantry Division.”
Yoon Tae-in had already investigated this, anticipating Go Seung-won’s question.
Go Seung-won slowly tapped his finger on the desk.
Tap— Tap— Tap—
“Should I inform Muakjae to be cautious of this situation?”
For others, they were still military personnel, and as long as the information was managed properly, there would be no leaks to the outside.
However, Baek Shin-woo, who used the codename Muakjae, was now a civilian. He didn't know what kind of situation might arise if the information stolen by the hackers fell into the hands of those connected to operations.
“We don’t know how Muakjae will react, but if Chairman Myung Joong-hwan gets wind of this, it will become quite noisy.”
“It’s inevitable to worry about what he might demand using this incident as leverage. Sigh… especially since I already have so much to discuss with MH Tech.”
The Ministry of National Defense had been in the process of negotiating a production and supply contract for the R2ED (Radar Radiation Expansion Device) developed by MH Tech for some time.
It offered the potential to upgrade existing military radar systems as a supplement rather than a replacement, promising enhanced military capabilities and cost savings for national defense.
However, with the Ministry of National Defense having to cover up an incident, and Baek Shin-woo, the representative of MH Future Security and the grandson of Myung Joong-hwan, being involved as a victim, the problem was bound to be serious.
“Or, perhaps I could meet with CEO Baek Shin-woo privately and explain the situation?”
“Is that possible?”
Yoon Tae-in was the Commander of the Army Special Warfare Command. While it wasn't impossible for him to go out discreetly, there were concerns given that the other party was Baek Shin-woo of MH Future Security.
“I will ensure there are no issues.”
“I’m counting on you. And please ensure that the relevant data is handled thoroughly so that no traces remain. Also, reinforce the investigation team to catch the hackers. If secrecy can be maintained, you may receive external support.”
“Understood.”
With his reply, Yoon Tae-in left his office.
On the outskirts of Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province, stood an old detached house.
The surroundings were vast fields and two derelict houses left unattended.
Inside the living room of such a house, three people who had been recently fleeced by a creator-level hacker named Black Hole at a PC bang were lounging around.
“This is damn boring.”
Nam Min-joon, the second of the hacker trio, stretched out on the sofa.
Kim Seok-hwan, on the adjacent sofa, nodded vigorously at his gesture.
“Hyung Min-joon. Me too… How long do we have to stay here?”
“I don’t know. The boss said to stay quiet until the next project is assigned.”
“Even so, this is too much. If they’re not going to let us use our equipment, they should at least let us stay somewhere we can go out for drinks.”
Kim Seok-hwan’s gaze drifted towards a room that was locked shut.
Inside that room were computers and mechanical equipment that the three could have used to fully display their skills as hackers.
While they had each been provided with laptops and mobile phones for convenience, their specifications were severely lacking, making it difficult to find enjoyment.
“If you’re bored, play some games.”
“What am I supposed to do with this piece of junk laptop?”
“Or just breathe like me. A walk is nice too.”
“Just a walk around this yard?”
Even the yard was guarded by men in black suits, so they couldn't go outside.
“Then just die.”
“What did you say?”
While grumbling to himself, Kim Seok-hwan’s gaze fell upon Yoo Dong-shik, who was using a laptop opposite him.
“Hey, Dong-shik hyung, what are you doing? What can you do with that laptop?”
“……”
Yoo Dong-shik was so engrossed that he didn't hear Kim Seok-hwan’s voice.
Kim Seok-hwan tilted his head and approached him.
“Huh? Hyung! That!”
Only then did Yoo Dong-shik look back, startled.
“Be quiet, it’s noisy.”
“Hyung! Isn’t that the file you took from the Ministry of National Defense’s recycle bin server last time?”
“…It is.”
“Didn’t the boss confiscate all of it?”
The boss Kim Seok-hwan referred to was Oh Han-sung, the person in charge of the PC bang plan.
“I made a copy in the backup folder.”
“What if the boss finds out?”
“There was something strange about it.”
Nam Min-joon, who had been lounging on the sofa, also grew curious and joined their conversation.
“This was created with a security program like the NIS uses. But it seems to have survived because it conflicted with the Ministry of National Defense’s complete deletion program. However, it’s barely hanging on.”
“Right. It’s completely messed up.”
“But even if it’s alive, you can’t view it without a dedicated program, right?”
“That’s why I’m running a conversion program.”
On the laptop screen, the program was running.
“Is it possible?”
“We have to try.”
The current laptop specifications couldn't keep up with the file’s characteristics and the program’s source code, and the progress bar filled up at a slow pace.
“How long have you been working on it?”
“Two days.”
“That’s taking damn long.”
“But there isn’t much left.”
After a while, the program gauge filled up completely, and a new window popped up.
“Done.”
At Yoo Dong-shik’s exclamation, the other two gathered around.
“What is this? U…AD PROJECT? Isn’t this some kind of military operation document?”
“I don’t know either. But if they went to the trouble of deleting it with a special program, there must be something to it, right?”
“Ah! But it’s damaged by the deletion program, so there’s nothing intact.”
The pages were all broken in the middle, making only parts of them legible.
“Is it some kind of special operation?”
Yoo Dong-shik examined the documents one by one, then began looking at the pages with personal information.
“This… isn’t military data, it’s like a kill list. Why are there so many records of people being killed?”
Much of it was also damaged, making it difficult to grasp everything.
“Was the military conducting some kind of special operation?”
“Nah, the military isn’t the NIS. And if it were a special operation, would they have done it like this? They would have listed it as combat support.”
The three continued to look at the contents together.
Then, a name on the personal information page, not affected by the noise, caught their eye.
“…Baek Shin-woo? Isn’t this person… the famous one these days?”
However, the photo was erased by noise, so he spoke with uncertainty.
“Who? Ah, perhaps MH Group’s Baek Shin-woo? But only the name and the operation participated in remain, and the rest is all deleted…”
“They said that person was also a former soldier.”
“Come on! Most Korean men go to the military. How many people named Baek Shin-woo would there be there?”
Nam Min-joon, who was fiddling with his phone, mumbled.
“There are about 38,000 people with the surname Baek in Korea. And about 3,000 people named Shin-woo.”
Yoo Dong-shik smirked at that answer, looking bewildered.
“Stop with the useless research. Anyway, this seems like a serious record. If what’s written here is true, it’s a big problem, isn’t it?”
“Should we try cross-referencing them one by one?”
As opinions were exchanged, the sound of a password being entered was heard from the entrance.
Tiriric—
Oh Han-sung entered.