Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 12.8 Military Coup (8)
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It was nearly 8:45 p.m. when we arrived at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jeongdong, Pyongyang.
As we pulled up to the intersection connected to the main gate, Colonel Kim Seongju and Major Yi Jedong snapped salutes.
"Any special developments?"
"We opened fire on a car trying to slip out. Looked like someone inside got hit, but we don't know who it was."
"Got it for now."
I ordered the mechanized infantry battalion commander to dismount.
"Everybody out."
In an instant, hundreds of armed troops flooded the area. With support from the military police and marines who had rushed in as reinforcements, they overwhelmed the 11th MP Battalion troops who had been pushing toward the residence entrance. Those MPs lost their momentum and fled back inside the grounds along the road.
The residence's support forces were in no better shape.
We outnumbered the MPs and marines by a wide margin, so we moved with full confidence.
I grabbed the megaphone and shouted.
"This is General Lee Sung-jun. As you all know, tanks are on the way. I don't want to force you into an unfair fight. Let's settle this like human beings through talk before we bring up the tank guns. Who's the commander in there?"
In response to my call, a young officer emerged from behind the main gate and shouted back.
"I'm Captain Baek Ha-jin, company commander of the 11th MP Battalion's 2nd Company. I'm the senior-most officer of the residence guard unit."
"Where's the Security Office chief?"
"No idea."
"Fine, then I'll treat you as the commander, Captain Baek. Things have come this far—do we really need more blood spilled between comrades?"
"General, sir. We received orders from the Provost Marshal to hold this position. We can't withdraw until those orders are rescinded."
"Listen closely, Captain Baek. The MPs at Daedong River Bridge couldn't stop us. Neither could the Guard Infantry Regiment. Even that vaunted Security Command knew we were moving and couldn't lay a finger on us. The tide is clear as day—why make your men bleed for it?"
"General, sir. I'm a soldier."
*This is trouble.*
From our exchange, I could tell.
Baek Ha-jin was cut from a different cloth than Park Jun.
Park Jun valued his men's lives above his convictions, but Baek Ha-jin was the exact opposite.
Duty outweighed life itself—a textbook conviction-driven man.
No choice, then.
We'd have to see blood.
We'd come this far; I couldn't just naively say, "Ah, I respect the captain's convictions. Guess we'll just standoff then," and pull back.
It was do or die.
"Colonel Kim."
"Yes, General."
"Start with the mortars."
We could wait for the tanks, but every minute counted right now.
I didn't hesitate to call in the heavy weapons.
"Yes, sir."
Kim Seongju, a member of the Council of One, understood that our lives hung on this coup.
Damn right. Lose, and we'd be branded traitors with our heads on the block—what did a few mortars matter?
We'd bring out even heavier stuff if needed.
One minute after the infantry set up the mortars.
*Thump. Thump.*
The cute little *ponk-ponk* sounds rang out, followed by explosions deep inside the residence.
Screams told us there were casualties.
I halted the shelling for a moment and picked up the megaphone again.
"Captain Baek. Listen up. Next time, the barrage won't stop. If you hold out through that, the tank guns come next. Think it over. You've had plenty of lessons already."
Silence fell over the residence side for a moment.
Should I fire a few more rounds?
Then an officer with a lieutenant's insignia stepped out from the residence and yelled at me.
"General, sir. We surrender."
"What happened to Captain Baek that you're the one talking surrender?"
"Captain Baek is KIA."
Hmm.
Already several had died under my orders in this coup, but this was the first time seeing it happen right in front of me.
Still, it was what I'd steeled myself for.
In the drama *Grand Strategist Sima Yi* that I loved, the protagonist Sima Yi says something like this:
"Leaving a name in history is the scholars' ambition. From the day I raised arms as a soldier, I decided not to care about empty fame, dead or alive."
Same for me.
The moment I launched this coup, expecting a spotless reputation or fame was just greed.
Steering this nation called Daehan to survival—that was my core goal. What more could I want?
"Colonel Kim. Go disarm them."
"Yes, sir."
I handed off securing the 11th MPs to Kim Seongju, then led Major Yi Jedong and a squad of military police into the main building of the Prime Minister's Residence.
*
Even with rebels closing in on the residence, the cabinet ministers figured it was still the nominal home of the nation's top official.
They believed the rebels wouldn't dare threaten the Prime Minister's safety.
Park Han-jin's precedent backed that up.
Back then, the PM had yielded his seat to Noh Jae-woo as Park Han-jin directed, but faced no personal threat.
It should have been the same this time—except these mad rebels started shelling the residence.
The sudden mortar blasts brought a terror leagues beyond mere gunfire.
The ministers, faces drained white with fear of the building collapsing any second, couldn't hide their pallor.
Even Noh Jae-woo, known for his icy calm, betrayed his shock.
Soon the clamor outside grew, and soldiers in combat boots barged into the Prime Minister's office.
The lead MP officer scanned the room, then stepped aside and bowed deeply with respect.
"No threats here, General, sir."
General?
Then this must be Major General Lee Sung-jun, the rebels' sole flag-rank officer.
Noh Jae-woo eyed the man who appeared before him—Lee Sung-jun—with a gaze mixing curiosity and dread.
Lee Sung-jun stood around 180 cm tall, solidly built, with rugged, masculine features.
On the surface, he fit the classic warrior archetype that drew instinctive liking—but he differed from frontline soldiers lacking ambition in one key way.
*His eyes.*
Having played politics, Noh Jae-woo read the undisguised ambition in Lee Sung-jun's gaze. The eyes of a man brimming with self-assurance, ready to do anything for his beliefs.
A monster's shadow lurked in Lee Sung-jun's eyes.
How had someone like this stayed quiet long enough to don a general's uniform? It defied understanding.
As Noh Jae-woo and the ministers fell under the mood's weight, Lee Sung-jun spoke.
"Prime Minister, and esteemed ministers. I apologize for the displeasure you've endured today."
The ministers wanted to snap, "Displeasure?"—but the guns on the MPs in the office shut them up.
People need street smarts.
Even the stubbornest had to bend in a moment like this.
Noh Jae-woo spoke for the terrified cabinet.
"Displeasure? Feels more like the whole country's been turned upside down."
Noh Jae-woo voiced his distaste for Lee Sung-jun plainly, dropping honorifics.
"Nothing changes, Prime Minister."
"So you're just going to turn around and leave?"
"No. Just one spot changes, and everywhere else stays quiet."
"Don't tell me you're taking the Army Minister's seat yourself?"
"How could I sit there?"
Lee Sung-jun had the sense for that much.
Instead, he'd carve out a real power seat like Chun Doo-hwan's, puppeteering a figurehead Army Minister.
Noh Jae-woo saw through Lee Sung-jun's game.
"You'll put your pick in as Army Minister."
"Who else could clean up this mess?"
Sophistry, but not wrong.
Only Lee Sung-jun held the authority to make the coup forces stand down.
Lee Sung-jun eyed the ministers—trapped in fear, resentment, anxiety—then thudded his boot on the floor.
Everyone flinched at the sound.
"Choose. Side with me, or your political life ends here, Prime Minister."
"Side with you, and it ends anyway, doesn't it?"
"Why assume I'd dismiss you?"
Lee Sung-jun had no such plan.
Firing the nominal head of state would just signal a major upheaval.
That wouldn't help Sung-jun rule the nation later.
"So you'll keep me on?"
"Why hunt for new blood when we have seasoned hands to run the country?"
Sung-jun subtly wooed the cabinet ministers too.
Side with him now, and their seats were safe.
Until when?
Until Sung-jun decided otherwise.
Noh Jae-woo didn't bite on Lee Sung-jun's sweet offer.
Rebel bosses didn't fool straight-talkers just once or twice.
Sung-jun gave Noh Jae-woo and his ministers time to mull it over.
"Sit here and think it through at leisure. I know it's tough, but close your eyes once and the seats are secure, right? I'll expect answers when I return from the Army Ministry. Major Yi, let's go."
Sung-jun beckoned to Yi Jedong, then strode out *thud-thud*.
Yi Jedong and the MPs flanked him protectively as he went.
Like escorting a king.