Chapter 219
Chapter 219
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: CIA's Korean Surveillance
-----------------------------------------------------------------
During the Cold War era, the KGB—which commanded Schrödinger's communists, those reds who were everywhere and nowhere all at once—had even stretched its tentacles into the heart of American intelligence agencies.
To counter this, the United States had no choice but to devote considerable effort to periodically purging its own intelligence apparatus from within.
As a result, in terms of operational efficiency, America's agencies were forced to perform at a level below their weight class.
This was a major factor in how Korea had toyed with the U.S. in the realm of information warfare.
Of course, America didn't just leave its second-rate intelligence agencies to fester.
After the CIA's failures in Iran and Cuba, Goldwater replaced the director.
John Alexander McCone, the new appointee, wasted no time upon arriving at Langley. He immediately began tightening up the lax organization.
"There's only one reason we've been losing the intelligence war all this time: outdated thinking. Complacency. Throw that bureaucratic inertia out the window. This is the CIA—the front line defending the security of the United States."
With McCone's arrival, the CIA sprang into action like it had been struck by lightning.
"If intelligence is lacking, use your imagination."
Inferring the enemy's intentions from scant information was also a core skill for any intelligence agency.
McCone applied this mindset to probing the stubbornly high gold prices as well.
The intel was thin, but one thing was certain: there had been suspicious activity in Asia.
On the basis of this deduction, McCone submitted a report to the president suggesting that Korea might be behind the unrelenting gold prices.
"We're in a situation where we need Pyongyang's cooperation right now. In these circumstances, do we really need to stir up friction with the Koreans over something like this? It's not even solidly evidenced, so let's quietly let this one slide."
McCone felt disappointment at the president's response, but without hard proof, he had no choice but to bow his head.
"I'll file it away in the cabinet as you say, sir."
McCone said as much, but he had no intention of letting Korea's suspicious moves slide.
First, the CIA requested cooperation from the FBI.
"You're talking about surveilling Korean-Americans?"
"It's a matter of national interest. Once it's done, we'll share the intelligence."
"If it's national security, we'll cooperate, of course."
With the FBI's help, the CIA relentlessly monitored and tailed Korean-American figures.
They didn't hesitate to tap phones, either.
For an agency that orchestrated coups, wiretapping was child's play.
In the course of these illegal wiretaps on Koreans, one unsettling snippet snagged on the CIA's antennae.
"Koreans lobbying politicians? What does that mean?"
"Under the banner of strengthening U.S.-Korea friendship, they're distributing donations far and wide. We've confirmed they're hedging their bets on both Democrats and Republicans."
"What's the aim of the lobbying?"
"Looks like they're trying to block the Commerce Department from drafting any tariff-related regulations."
The CIA took this report straight to Goldwater as well.
Korean political lobbying could be interpreted as highly dangerous, depending on one's perspective.
But the president was nonchalant about this one too.
"Isn't that just what the British have been doing forever?"
Goldwater instructed them not to escalate the issue.
"Korea's our biggest buyer of Treasury bonds, son. Don't go poking around and stirring up trouble. Just catch the communists."
In the original timeline, this would have blown up into Koreagate overnight, but the Korea of today wasn't some lightweight the U.S. could manhandle.
Economically and politically, Pyongyang was a counterpart Washington had to handle with care.
In that context, Goldwater's political judgment wasn't wrong.
But McCone had no intention of backing down at the president's order.
If the government was passive about checking Korea, the CIA would act independently.
"Keep surveilling the Koreans."
CIA insiders were baffled by McCone's directive to continue monitoring Korea.
'The commie threat is urgent enough— is this the right move?'
But McCone saw it differently. He couldn't afford to slack on Korea.
'A rival that's about to surge past the commies into second place. We can't ignore their shady moves forever.'
Richard Helms, the CIA's deputy director for plans, voiced agreement with McCone's stance.
"We should have been watching Korea more closely from the start. We got sloppy. Better late than never."
It didn't take long for the KGB to pick up on the CIA's moves.
Through spies embedded in the agency, the KGB regularly read Langley's mind.
"The Yankees are marking Korea as a threat?"
The Soviets could barely contain their glee upon confirming the intel.
A rift between Korea and America was nothing but good news for Moscow.
"Transmit the message to Kumsusan."
Moscow decided to sow discord between Korea and the U.S. with this intelligence.
They might not score an immediate win, but planting seeds of doubt between the two would be a huge payoff for the USSR.
"Thank you for sharing the intelligence."
Korea thanked them politely, but dismissed the CIA's internal leaks from Moscow as no big deal.
'So what?'
Pyongyang had anticipated Langley would react this way from the start.
What hegemon wouldn't extend even a feeler toward a contender for supremacy?
America's response was almost tardy, if anything.
In any case, with CIA pressure ramping up, the KCIA couldn't operate as freely as before.
Even subcontracting out work was tricky now—their movements themselves were under watch, limiting their options.
Korea decided to punch through the U.S. pressure differently.
"Just use more whites, duh? Hire guys with pale faces, and what can those clowns do about it?"
Korea dispatched a flood of white agents with laundered identities to the U.S.
Whites loyal to Korea.
On the face of it, with racial stereotypes, such a thing seemed improbable.
But Korea had more whites who embraced it as their homeland than one might think.
Not just as a place to live, but some had sworn to lay down their lives for the Republic.
Most of them were hardcore Korean-style democrats.
"Nazism's empty delusions turned Germany to rubble. But His Excellency Yi Seong-jun's Korean-style democracy has led the Republic to prosperity. The Republic of 50 million middle-class citizens versus the West, which ignores wealth gaps—which is superior?"
Korea redeployed these Korean-style democrats to weave back through American society.
Of course, for safety, these agents also relied heavily on subcontractors.
Before long, the CIA realized the Koreans were slipping through their net.
But they couldn't pinpoint how Korea was evading surveillance.
"Are we really watching the Koreans thoroughly?"
"We even have FBI cooperation. It doesn't get more thorough than this."
Then what the hell was going on?
Even the KGB wasn't this elusive.
The commies left some traces when they moved.
But the Koreans? They were ghosts.
McCone was stunned by the Korean intelligence apparatus, which had demonstrated far greater prowess than he'd vaguely imagined.
'The Korea we were seeing was just the tip of the iceberg.'
The clumsy espionage they'd shown in the Heydrich assassination? That was merely the face Pyongyang wanted to project.
'Korea is a truly dangerous adversary. If we don't get them under surveillance, who knows when they'll stab us in the back.'
There was only one countermeasure.
Expand the CIA's budget and personnel.
Nothing else would do.
McCone decided to meet the president and make a serious pitch.
But Goldwater was cold to McCone's persuasion.
"The federal deficit is already astronomical. And now you want more CIA funding?"
"Sir, this is national security spending. You yourself said security is paramount."
"Then deliver results."
The CIA had no rebuttal.
Until now, they'd done little for the nation beyond getting played by the KGB.
Sure, they'd pulled off coups like Guatemala, but toppling a few banana republics hardly counted as a legacy.
The CIA couldn't sway Goldwater.
While the CIA stalled at the budget wall, Korea gave its intelligence agency whatever funding it requested.
"In the fog of the Cold War, where survival is uncertain, a nation's lifeblood is intelligence."
This divergence in investment priorities meant the KCIA boasted a massive scale rivaling the CIA.
Korea could pit this heavyweight mainly against U.S. agencies, but America couldn't.
U.S. agencies had to contend with KGB, GRU, Stasi, and the rest of the Eastern Bloc's outfits.
Only then did they have scraps left to spare on Korea.
Under those conditions, overwhelming Pyongyang was impossible from the outset.
The CIA dimly sensed this reality.
"This year's KCIA budget—note: the CIA still calls it that—is estimated at 80% of ours."
"They're already that big?"
And that was just this year's estimate.
As Korea grew, the KCIA would swell further.
At least in the intelligence domain, time was not on America's side.
McCone aimed to catch Korea in the act before the gap widened, drawing the president's attention.
But the Koreans showed few openings.
"These guys have Social Security numbers, driver's licenses—and yet they don't exist?"
Even when they tailed one hard, the Koreans vanished, leaving only ghost identities behind.
The CIA learned much from tag with the Koreans, but it didn't help their current bind.
Watching the situation unfold, McCone concluded he had no choice but to play his last card.
"No helping it. Pull the Korean lobbying dossier."
"Sir, if you leak that file, it'll cost you your position."
McCone was prepared.
He'd never been one to cling to his chair anyway.
"If it's to protect the great homeland, I'll gladly sacrifice my post. I'm ready."
Even if it enraged the president, this was the only way to instill vigilance against Pyongyang in American society.
McCone pulled the cabinet-stashed dossier.
The mega-bomb that would rock U.S. politics thus surfaced.