Chapter 291
Chapter 291
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: New Cold War (1)
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In the 1968 presidential election, the Republicans secured 360 electoral votes, achieving an overwhelming victory.
With the election win confirmed, Richard Nixon had no time to rest.
Nixon sat down with the staff who would join him in the White House to discuss post-inauguration foreign and security strategies.
Leading the discussion was Henry Kissinger, tapped as national security advisor for the incoming administration.
Kissinger repeatedly argued for checking Korea during the talks.
“Your Excellency. America’s greatest rival right now is Korea.”
“You think there’s anyone who doesn’t know that?”
Whether by economic power or scale of influence, Korea was the dominant force overwhelming the Second World.
Even Americans acknowledged that fact.
“But our own strategy doesn’t reflect it. In terms of security, our main enemy is still the Soviet Union. The military and the Republicans see it that way too.”
Nixon didn’t deny the point.
But wasn’t there a reason for that?
The Soviet Union was the only superpower capable of mutual destruction with the United States in a literal sense.
No one could sell the idea of checking Korea first while such an enemy existed.
“That’s why we need to change that framework.”
“Reconcile with the Soviets, you mean?”
“We need to go one step further: make the reds our allies and isolate Korea in Eurasia.”
1+3.
If the number one and the number threes joined hands, they could thoroughly isolate the number two.
To Nixon, who had been thinking only of economic warfare against Korea, this was absurd.
“Reconciliation with communists? You’re saying ally with them outright?”
It was a radical proposition through and through.
“If it serves the national interest, isn’t politics about shaking hands with the devil if need be?”
From a realpolitik perspective, it was sound logic.
Nixon listened silently to Kissinger’s argument before pointing out the risks of checking Korea.
“If Korea catches on that we’re advancing ties with the reds, they won’t sit idle. What’s your countermeasure?”
In the past, Korea had thrown a fit the moment it spotted the Democrats’ grand reconciliation strategy.
This was exactly what worried Nixon.
“We’d have to be prepared to drop options like COCOM export restrictions. If we succeed in allying with the Soviets, what meaning would those restraints have anyway?”
To check Korea, they could even allow Soviet growth.
Kissinger’s view was extreme, but not entirely wrong.
Korea’s economic power was so threatening that such ideas were even surfacing.
A single nation at 60% of America’s size, over 80% when combining EA.
Korea was the worst rival, dangerous by its mere existence.
The call to check Korea wasn’t Kissinger’s alone.
Other staffers agreed that bolstering efforts against Korea was necessary.
The difference among them was how far they were willing to sacrifice to do it.
‘Ally with the Soviets to check Korea.’
European history alone showed alliances flipping countless times.
Just look at the French-Austrian alliance (note: the Bourbon kings of France and Habsburgs of Austria, who had snarled at each other for centuries, turned from mortal enemies to allies through royal marriage)—no relationship was too hostile to join hands.
Nixon, hiding a cold realist’s perspective beneath an anti-communist mask, found Kissinger’s alliance reversal pitch appealing.
After much deliberation, Nixon adopted Kissinger’s idea as America’s foreign strategy.
Some staffers objected, finding Kissinger’s thinking too extreme.
“Isn’t Professor Kissinger’s proposal going too far?”
“If not that, then how do we check Korea?”
Seeing the president-elect’s resolve firm, the staffers held their tongues.
Nixon’s spokesman, Ron Ziegler, called the press and touted the new administration’s fresh foreign policy.
“The new government will build new great-power relations with Korea and the Soviet Union.”
“What do you mean by ‘new great-power relations’?”
“The candidate wants to sit as equals with them and candidly discuss the world’s issues.”
America, Korea, and the Soviets sitting as equals to reduce global conflicts and lower the nuclear threat.
If it could be done, it would be ideal.
Koreans couldn’t hide their expectations at the Nixon administration’s remarks.
“G2—no, G3 era.”
“To think he knows to respect us Koreans. Nixon’s way better than Johnson.”
In this way, Nixon showed a conciliatory stance toward rival nations.
In his post-inauguration speeches, he emphasized a new ‘age of peace.’
“The tide of the times is starting to turn in the direction all humanity desires. What is humanity’s ultimate wish? Peace.”
Nixon stated he could even meet the Soviet leader, long an adversary, for the sake of peace.
Yi Seongjun read Nixon’s true intent right at that point.
‘Publicly pushing grand reconciliation.’
‘So this is Nixon’s gambit.’
There was a reason for flaunting peace in the media.
“You trying to build a peaceful world, and Korea, you gonna get in the way?”
Nixon had framed it as peace to block Korean interference.
Even bringing up COCOM restrictions wouldn’t gain traction in that setup.
‘Simple but effective.’
If Nixon truly wanted peace, there’d be no reason not to play along, but no American leader bought into such lukewarm ideals.
What Washington truly believed in wasn’t peace, but power.
How many nations on Earth sincerely bought into such naive talk of peace anyway?
‘At least not us.’
Yi Seongjun put no stock in the word peace.
If humanity truly wanted peace, they’d disband their armies first—who could do that?
America? The Soviets? Korea?
No one would dismantle their military.
So peace was just an empty word.
‘Peace’ was better replaced by ‘order by force.’
‘But to the masses, “peace” sounds far nicer.’
Nixon’s word choice wasn’t bad.
In that case, they had no choice but to counter with their own frame.
Yi Seongjun devised a new frame to counter Nixon’s peace offensive.
‘What else? Rise, climax, turn, red-baiting.’
Red-baiting was an effective weapon anytime, anywhere.
Yi Seongjun ordered the KCIA to launch a red-baiting offensive.
“Red-baiting at this point?”
“Of course we can’t land a knockout blow. But it’ll put the brakes on their momentum, won’t it?”
Even if Cold War logic was on its deathbed, it wasn’t fully dead yet.
The Korean KCIA dredged up all the major spy cases and red incidents from the past.
“Don’t forget the Cambridge Five. Reds are the kind who’ll stab you in the back the moment you show goodwill.”
The reds had stolen secrets even while allied with America.
The sudden red-baiting offensive drew reactions from America’s Republicans too.
“True enough. Dialogue with reds? Since when did the Republicans start spouting such Democratic nonsense?”
Heavyweight conservative politicians, led by Governor Ronald Reagan representing the Republican right wing, joined the red-baiting.
“Nixon, preaching conciliation to reds—apologize to the party.”
Of course, they weren’t joining because they truly believed red-baiting was right.
“We’re the ones who know how to bash reds—that makes us the true Republicans. Not those fake Democrats; back us real conservatives.”
It was just them raising their voices to gain political ground among Republicans.
Anyway, with backlash rising within the party, the Nixon administration responded.
Unlike past White House occupants, Nixon and his staff had no qualms about manipulating public opinion.
“The U.S. and Soviets weren’t always enemies. When the world faced a common foe in the Nazis, we called Soviet General Secretary Stalin ‘Uncle Joe’ affectionately.”
Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman reminded them of the days America and the Soviets had shed blood together.
“After the Great Depression, the growing Soviet market opened paths for our companies. Without the Soviets as our opportunity, overcoming the Depression would’ve taken much longer.”
He even evoked shared memories of surviving the grim Depression.
Haldeman subtly planted friendly feelings toward Moscow with clever wording.
For a moment, it seemed the board had flipped, but Yi Seongjun had more weapons ready.
“In memory of those who fell in the Italian War.”
A spotlight on the fallen from the long-forgotten ‘Italian War’ deep in history’s shadows.
By recalling soldiers who died fighting for the Free World, Yi Seongjun elevated red-baiting to its extreme.
“The reds were the ‘real enemy’ who killed our soldiers on the battlefield.”
Americans’ eyes widened at the fresh reminder.
Reds had indeed been the ‘enemy’ directly aiming guns at America.
“Th-this is a problem.”
The moment the Italian War fallen gained prominence, the Nixon administration lost room to maneuver.
“S-strategically, to deal with Korea, we need reconciliation with the reds—cut us some slack?”
“A president sitting down for chummy chats with the enemy who killed our people? You a commie sympathizer?”
Squeezed by the red-baiting offensive, the Nixon administration had no choice but to declare retreat.
Even the ‘peace frame’ they’d pulled out for grand reconciliation vanished from the media.
But this didn’t mean Nixon’s full retreat.
Yi Seongjun held no hope on that score.
‘The moment Nixon pushed grand reconciliation, a new Cold War clash between Korea and America became inevitable.’
So, before being dragged into the ring by America’s hand, they’d prepare the war themselves first.
Better to seize the initiative than let the enemy dictate.
‘A new Cold War starting from a position like original China’s.’
The prime minister’s eyes, facing a tough war ahead, sank heavier than ever.