Exile (1)
“Spies, you say!”
Seo Seong-guk bellowed as soon as he heard the report.
“Daniel Kim was a cover identity created by the Information Command’s North America team,” said Hong Gyeong-pyo, the NIS’s third deputy director, who was delivering the briefing.
“So the NIS couldn’t even identify a cover identity created by the Information Command?!”
“It was a recently created alias. Because it wasn’t registered in the database shared with the Information Command, it was difficult to trace.”
“Then what about the account?! They say Argon Air Systems wired three hundred thousand dollars!”
“That account, too, is operated by the Information Command.”
“Then why would Argon Air Systems send three hundred thousand dollars to an Information Command account?”
“They say it was at the request of Director Ko Jeong-un of the National Security Office.”
“What?! A request?!”
“Yes.”
“……”
Seo Seong-guk fell silent for a moment, thinking it over, then spoke.
“Third Deputy Director.”
“Yes, sir.”
“In any case, the money was transferred. That much is true, isn’t it?”
“So what you’re saying is, a defense contractor wired three hundred thousand U.S. dollars to a Canadian national.”
It was a transparent line of argument. Since the transfer itself was real, he intended to twist the facts by force if necessary and drag Ko Jeong-un in on bribery charges. And to do that, there would surely have to be some fabrication along the way.
“Director.”
“What is it.”
“Things won’t go the way you want.”
“What…?”
Seo Seong-guk glared at Hong Gyeong-pyo, but the third deputy director didn’t flinch. He was a man who, after joining the NIS, had served as a black operative and later at overseas consulates, devoting thirty years of his life to national security. He had risen to deputy director on merit alone, living a life entirely removed from politics.
“This incident began with allegations of corruption against the National Security Office, but it isn’t about that anymore. From here on out, it’s become a matter of investigating the Chinese Ministry of State Security agents who infiltrated South Korea.”
“What…?!”
“I’ll conduct the investigation thoroughly.”
With that, Hong Gyeong-pyo gave a slight bow and left the director’s office.
As soon as he came out, he headed straight for the interrogation room where Ko Jeong-un was waiting. The moment Hong Gyeong-pyo appeared, the investigators rose to their feet.
“You can leave us,” Hong Gyeong-pyo said.
At that single order, everyone filed out of the room.
“It’s been a while,” Hong Gyeong-pyo said first.
The two men were seeing each other again for the first time in twenty years. Back when Ko Jeong-un had served as a team leader in the Information Command operations unit, Hong Gyeong-pyo had been working as a black operative in Dandong, China, and the two had carried out missions together.
Now, looking at each other as middle-aged men, they could see just how much time had passed.
“The questioning will be over soon,” Hong Gyeong-pyo said again.
“Is there any problem?”
“Whether the orders the director gave were procedurally improper is not for the NIS to decide.”
They exchanged a long look in silence before Hong Gyeong-pyo spoke again.
“The things you were doing, Director.”
“……?”
“Was it because of the Information Command personnel being detained in China?”
“…….”
Ko Jeong-un hesitated briefly, weighing whether Hong Gyeong-pyo was someone he could trust.
“Back in our day, the NIS and the Information Command worked together on all sorts of things.”
“That’s right.”
Memories of operations they had carried out together passed through both men’s minds.
“But these days, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“Times have changed.”
“No matter how much time changes, there are still things that must not change.”
“What exactly are you saying?”
“The Information Command’s overseas team believes it was the NIS that leaked our intelligence to China.”
“That can’t be true.”
Hong Gyeong-pyo didn’t so much as blink.
“I hope that rumor isn’t true either.”
“If it turns out we were the ones who leaked the information…”
“……?”
“What would you do?”
“If a crime has been committed, then paying the price is only right.”
“…….”
“Then let me ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“What does the NIS intend to do if it finds the person who leaked the information?”
“The same thing you would do, Director.”
Though they belonged to different organizations, both men believed there were things they absolutely had to protect.
“Third Deputy Director.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What matters most are the Information Command personnel who were captured in China. You must uncover, without fail, that the people arrested there are members of China’s Ministry of State Security.”
“Understood.”
Finding the person who leaked the intelligence was less important than rescuing the Information Command operatives arrested in China.
At that same time, prosecutors and NIS personnel descended on the South Korean branch office of BestRich Investment on Teheran-ro in Gangnam, Seoul. Sun Wei, who was in charge of the Korean branch, was also arrested at the luxury villa in Cheongdam-dong where he lived.
As they had done with Mei Xin, the detained Sun Wei invoked his right to remain silent. Lawyers from the major firm partnered with BestRich Investment soon arrived, but they had not known that Mei Xin and Sun Wei had been arrested on espionage charges. Once they learned the truth, they looked visibly rattled and began checking the clauses in the contract they had signed with BestRich in order to terminate the partnership.
* * *
The executive office at the Yongsan Presidential Office.
Kim Jin-cheol received real-time updates on the investigation being conducted at NIS headquarters, and he sank into thought.
Just last night, Seo Seong-guk had come to see him in a hurry and said he wanted to work with the prosecution to arrest Ko Jeong-un immediately.
Kim Jin-cheol had been reluctant, but after Seo Seong-guk’s persistent persuasion, he had finally approved it. Now, hearing the words he’d spoken, he regretted it.
“Chief of Staff.”
After receiving the report, Kim Jin-cheol called in Chief Presidential Secretary Jeong Seong-woo.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“So what’s happening with the National Security Office director’s investigation?”
“It seems he’ll be converted to a reference witness.”
“Is the investigation over?”
“Yes. They say it ended a little while ago.”
“Then tell him to come in right away.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Jeong Seong-woo immediately summoned Ko Jeong-un, and once the questioning was over, Ko Jeong-un came straight to the Presidential Office.
“Hahaha. Director, did you think you had to fool even me?” Kim Jin-cheol said with a laugh the moment he saw him, speaking as though he himself had done nothing wrong at all.
Ko Jeong-un knew, of course, that to have him arrested on an emergency basis required the president’s approval.
“The matter was urgent, Your Excellency.”
He didn’t show even a hint of resentment or complaint.
“When I looked at the materials the NIS director brought yesterday, they were so convincing I ended up being fooled myself.”
“I’ll be more careful from here on.”
“Good. Then let’s speak frankly. Why did you stage that little charade?”
“Because of the Information Command personnel who were arrested in China not long ago.”
“Don’t tell me… this was about an exchange?”
“That’s right, Your Excellency.”
“I see. Go ahead and proceed.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency.”
After bowing, Ko Jeong-un left the presidential office, and Kim Jin-cheol turned to Jeong Seong-woo beside him.
“Chief of Staff.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Get me the NIS director’s resignation.”
“……?!”
Jeong Seong-woo’s eyes widened in shock. He knew how much trust Kim Jin-cheol had placed in Seo Seong-guk, so he could hardly believe what he was hearing.
But Kim Jin-cheol now believed it was time to put an end to the fight between Ko Jeong-un and Seo Seong-guk.
He had long known that the National Security Office and the NIS were grinding against each other, and he had let it go on deliberately. He believed competition like that was what drove progress.
But with the enormous South-North railway project looming ahead, he judged that this kind of infighting was nothing but wasteful.
And now that he felt Ko Jeong-un had beaten Seo Seong-guk, it was time to side with the winner.
* * *
Negotiations between South Korea and China proceeded behind the scenes.
An NIS officer dispatched to the embassy in Beijing met secretly with officials from China’s Ministry of State Security. Both countries agreed to expel the detained personnel, but China added one more condition.
South Korea had frozen BestRich Investment’s Korean bank accounts, and China requested that the freeze be lifted.
BestRich was already known to be a shell company, and China wanted to preserve at least its assets.
Officials from the relevant ministries reacted with discomfort when they learned this, but Ko Jeong-un insisted to the end that the hostages had to be exchanged. In the end, the two countries agreed to swap the arrested operatives in Malaysia.
A week later, the members of the Information Command’s Tianjin Team One were handed over to NIS personnel in Malaysia, and all three of them were in terrible shape.
Because of the aftereffects of torture, none of them could walk properly, and after returning home they were taken to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital for examination.
The MRI results were even more horrific.
Internal abdominal hemorrhage
Damage to the right femoral nerve
Achilles tendon rupture
Knee joint instability
All three underwent surgery and follow-up treatment, but they were left with permanent disabilities.
Another week passed.
The Tianjin Team One operatives were moved to a secret Information Command facility near Pangyo, and there the special investigation team began its work.
The team was made up of personnel from the National Security Office, the Information Command, the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and the NIS.
It had been Ko Jeong-un’s order.
And Ko Jeong-un gave one more directive: an inspection of the NIS.
But rather than an inspection, it was closer to an investigation.
Presidential aides working in the National Security Office requested materials on the NIS’s overseas systems, and naturally the NIS pushed back. But the director who would have shielded them had already submitted his resignation.
More than that, the president was throwing his weight behind the National Security Office.
Meanwhile, the prosecution formed an internal investigation team and began looking into former NIS director Seo Seong-guk.
Of course, Seo Seong-guk learned of it as well.
He understood that Ko Jeong-un’s blade was aimed at his throat.
And the moment he learned that the NIS officers dispatched to China were being repatriated to South Korea for questioning, he made up his mind.
It was time to change horses.
* * *
The National Assembly’s press briefing room.
Lawmakers from the opposition Future Korea Party stood beside the podium with resolute expressions, waiting for Seo Seong-guk to appear.
When the appointed time arrived, Seo Seong-guk emerged in an Army uniform, and cameras exploded in a rapid staccato of flashes.
He stepped up to the podium and began reading the prepared statement.
“Honored citizens, I stand before you today with a heavy sense of responsibility and a heart full of anguish, because I wish to tell you the truth. I served in the Republic of Korea Army for more than thirty years, and after that I devoted myself to the nation as the head of an intelligence agency. But recently, I cannot help but be deeply concerned about the reckless policy this government is pursuing toward the North.
Peace is not won with words; it is maintained through uncompromising deterrence and cold-eyed military strength!
Yet this administration is leaning on unverified promises from North Korea and forcing through one-sided concessions and reckless policies. That is a path to undermining our own security system!”
Seo Seong-guk’s voice rose higher and higher, and the sound of reporters typing grew faster and faster.
He went on.
“When I was director of the NIS, I investigated the inter-Korean railway connection project recently proposed by North Korea. And during that investigation, I reported the suspicious aspects to the president, but the president and his aides ignored the strategic judgment of the Ministry of National Defense and the intelligence agencies and pushed ahead with a one-sided peace process!
I reported to the president on several occasions, but my reports were brushed aside, and his aides pressured me to resign!
In addition, the prosecution is conducting an internal investigation into me. I take this opportunity to earnestly ask you: please stop that investigation into me!
And please conduct a thorough verification of North Korea, which continues to threaten South Korea!
I will no longer stand by while forces that threaten the Republic of Korea are left unchecked!
I will not stand by and watch reckless policy endanger our future!
I will protect the Republic of Korea together with the people!”
And when the press conference ended, the political landscape began to shake.