Chapter 232
Chapter 232
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Cheonan
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The legislative war with the automobile conglomerates was nothing less than a prelude to the trade wars that lay ahead.
Instead of getting drunk on this brief victory in the preliminaries, I ordered intensified surveillance of the U.S. political sphere.
'We're not in such an advantageous position that we can afford to let our guard down.'
Korea was still very much the challenger.
Strutting around like we'd already won wouldn't suit us.
We needed to diligently prepare for what was coming.
A prime example was building a surveillance system aimed at communications interception and signals intelligence.
The targets encompassed all the major powers, including the United States and the Soviet Union.
Its functions were identical to those of America's Echelon system in the original timeline.
Of course, 'Cheonan' still fell short of playing Big Brother like the NSA-led Echelon.
Cheonan could only flex its muscles within EA's sphere; outside that, it couldn't yet scrape together information.
Still, it wasn't meaningless.
"Gather more detailed intelligence on the Korean government's economic policy trends?"
"Looks like Washington isn't completely deaf to our movements."
Just by intercepting communications from major EA diplomatic missions, we gleaned a wealth of information.
It was illegal, of course—but when did that stop the Americans from wiretapping everywhere?
As long as you didn't get caught—or could handle the fallout afterward—wiretapping was as good as legal.
With that in mind, we set a long-term goal of deploying similar surveillance systems in the major powers to expand our sources.
That said, establishing a proper surveillance network in those countries required cooperating nations.
Friends like the Five Eyes alliance led by the United States.
America's NSA-led Echelon leveraged the so-called Anglo-Saxon alliance of the Five Eyes to cast its net across the globe.
If we wanted to emulate the NSA with a worldwide surveillance network, we'd need partners too.
But how many countries could we realistically extend a hand to?
To share our intelligence, we needed faith that the other side wouldn't betray us.
The Five Eyes worked because of their shared British heritage, but did we have allies like that?
Excluding EA, which was practically an extension of ourselves, we had no reliable partners to speak of.
I gave it some thought.
Could Korea build an alliance on the level of the Five Eyes?
With a century of investment, sure, why not?
But that was too far off.
Time to change tactics, then.
'We don't need an alliance that shares everything.'
An alliance with tiered, selective intelligence sharing would do.
Just like America did in the original timeline.
The U.S. kept 1.5-tier nations like Korea, Japan, West Germany, and Israel outside the Five Eyes, sharing intel on a limited basis.
No reason we couldn't mimic that.
"What about an alliance for selective intelligence sharing?"
"Would an alliance with restrictions even be worthwhile?"
"If we use it for regional alliances, I'd say it has merit."
I laid out the criteria for allies who could stand up to the Five Eyes like this.
First, faithful Korean-style democracies.
Korean influence had to reach them somehow for us to expect even minimal control.
Second, Third World candidates.
Only long-term, solidly aligned nations would minimize the risks of intel sharing.
Otherwise, our intentions would just get exposed.
Third, nations with the economic power to invest in intelligence.
Any country freeloading on Korea's 'Cheonan Project' wasn't worth bringing on board.
To receive intel, they needed the capacity to help us in return—at minimum.
Running those conditions through my head brought exactly three countries to mind.
India, Thailand, Indonesia.
Iraq met all the criteria but was fenced in by the Arab Federation.
I decided to reach out to these candidates.
All three responded immediately.
India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru signaled his willingness to accept Korea's proposal.
"I gladly accept Your Excellency's offer."
He even asked if this wasn't the blueprint for the Third World.
"If it's for our common interests, we could consider forming an alliance."
It wasn't a firm commitment.
But it was hint enough.
Following Nehru, Thailand's coup-installed Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat also voiced agreement.
"I don't even know how to thank Your Excellency for this generous proposal. Bangkok will never waver in its loyalty to Pyongyang going forward."
Indonesia's dictator Sukarno likewise agreed to join the intelligence alliance.
"Thank you for placing your trust in Jakarta."
I didn't take the heads of state's promises at face value.
I dispatched the Agency of National Security and Foreign Ministry teams to check with the real power holders in their militaries.
Their thinking wasn't much different.
"Even if regimes change, these countries don't seem likely to bolt from an intelligence alliance we lead."
That secured a baseline of credibility, at least.
I invited high-level officials from these nations, along with Nanjing and the Japan Federation, to launch the intelligence alliance.
We named it the Six Star Alliance.
We didn't advertise the alliance's creation publicly.
To the outside world, it was just an event to strengthen existing economic, political, and military cooperation.
"Our intentions must never be exposed."
"Of course."
This required ironclad secrecy.
The Six Star Alliance was taking shape nicely, but it was nowhere near enough to challenge America.
To build a proper surveillance apparatus, we needed to launch far more communications satellites.
'Looks like we'll have to pour money into space whether we like it or not.'
State budgets alone couldn't cover ramping up satellites; the funds were tight.
National bonds were our only reliable bet.
"Issue $1 billion in bonds."
The costs were enormous, but the project was essential.
For Korea to win, we needed intelligence that overwhelmed our rivals.
'Intelligence guarantees victory.'
At least in the Cold War era—that was the rule.
In the original timeline, Khrushchev lost the Cuban Missile Crisis chicken game to Kennedy because his fear of nuclear war got exposed.
To avoid Khrushchev's fate, we had to read our opponents' minds first.
Cheonan was the tool for that.
Of course, Cheonan's purpose wasn't limited to national strategy.
'Steal every thought, intent, technology from rival companies that we can lay hands on.'
Then use it as fertilizer for Korean firms.
In practice, we were already feeding stolen intel from state agencies to our companies.
"Bechtel's bid for the Republic of China dam project came in at $6.8 million."
"Thank you."
This was straight out of the original-timeline China's playbook.
Without these tactics, how could China have rocketed to second place in the world so fast?
Korea needed to copy their successful methods.
To lock in second place and fiercely chase America, we had no choice.
"Ten years. Achieve comprehensive major-power surveillance within ten years."
Korean companies' competitiveness was already world-class, but that wasn't enough.
Our current edge could be threatened anytime by rising wages.
For Korean firms to keep dominating, we needed to see our rivals as clearly as our own palms.
"Your Excellency, that's a tough target with our current tech."
It wasn't an unreasonable goal.
America built its global Echelon surveillance in the late 1960s.
With enough geostationary satellites, we could do it too.
"If it's tough, request more budget and develop the tech. That's your job."
I pushed the Cheonan Project hard.
Cost be damned.
We needed a spear rivaling Echelon to contend with America.
We shared hardly any details of the Cheonan Project's outline even with the Six Star allies.
Only the absolute top echelons of Chen Gongbo's regime and the Japan Federation knew.
"To share even this—our gratitude knows no bounds."
"We're family now. It's only natural."
Pleasing words, but true all the same.
Without their help, a real sword fight with America was impossible.
"Once this Cheonan is complete, EA will truly surpass the Soviets as a great power."
"It'll give us that in intelligence."
Sure, outdoing the Soviets in intel didn't mean matching their insane military might.
"Your Excellency, just to be sure—no chance this Cheonan gets used to spy on fellow allies, right?"
"No need between family. Rest easy."
We wouldn't use Cheonan on politically, economically, and militarily bound EA.
But against regular allies like India, Indonesia, or Thailand? Fair game.
I had no qualms about the double standard.
If you can't fully trust people, how could you 140% trust the nations they form?
Even EA, bound as tightly as family, didn't get my full trust.
The only nation I trusted on this earth was one.
The Republic of Korea, led by Lee Seong-jun.