The Upheaval in North Korea
As 2011 drew to a close, urgent news arrived from North Korea. With the announcement of Kim Jong-il’s death—the man who had been overseeing the second generation of the hereditary regime—Section Chief Choi Jae-ho of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) rushed to Starlink.
"CEO Kim! We urgently need to utilize Starlink’s satellites. I request your full cooperation."
Chief Choi had arrived at Starlink with a team of NIS agents to monitor the movements of the North Korean military following the dictator's death. They spread out the maps they had brought and began observing the activities of the North Korean military by coordinate.
"First, check the armistice line!"
Following Chief Choi’s orders, an agent received the most recently captured satellite imagery from Starlink staff and began monitoring the area. "There is no movement along the armistice line," the agent reported.
"Then, check Pyongyang and the naval movements!"
The agent, who had been verifying the number of ships and submarines at North Korean naval bases, suddenly shouted, "One submarine is missing!"
"Damn it! Where did it go? Contact the Navy and Air Force. See if there’s any movement in the East or West Seas... What about Pyongyang?"
"Pyongyang city is crawling with tanks. Can you identify the unit? Isn't that the Guard Command?"
"I can't confirm the unit insignia."
Chief Choi picked up the phone to report that the whereabouts of one submarine were unknown and that soldiers and tanks, presumed to be from the Guard Command, were flooding Pyongyang. He then immediately placed a call to China.
"It's me! Do you have any confirmed results from China?"
"So, has Jang Song-thaek seized power?"
"For now, gather detailed information on how the power structure is shifting! And since one submarine is unaccounted for, contact our naval informants as well!"
Seeing Chief Choi moving with such urgency, Taesik entered the ground control station with Department Head Park Kyung-hoon. An agent tried to stop them, but Choi intervened. "No! We need their help!"
"It seems to be a more urgent matter than I thought," Taesik remarked.
"Yes. The security of the Republic of Korea depends entirely on where North Korean power lands."
Taesik looked at the satellite photos the agents were examining. "Why are you using satellites to watch the armistice line? The electro-optical cameras on the medium-altitude UAVs we supplied are more than enough for monitoring."
"Oh...!" Chief Choi apologized to Taesik and immediately called the Air Force to request the deployment of the medium-altitude UAVs for real-time observation of North Korean military movements. "Thank you. I was so frantic that I overlooked the information assets available to us."
"Is there anything else I can help with?"
"Is it possible to perform facial recognition with satellite image resolution?"
Since the satellites Starlink had launched could only identify objects down to 30cm, Taesik shook his head. "Facial recognition is impossible. What kind of information do you need?"
"I want to know the movements of the North Korean power structure, but there is no way to get information other than HUMINT."
"Do you happen to have North Korean IP information?"
Since this was outside his expertise, Chief Choi called over a nearby agent. "Seunghwan! Do we have the North Korean IP data?"
"There are about 1,500 of them. The addresses have to be received from the company."
Chief Choi turned to Taesik. "CEO Cha! It’s me. I’m at the Starlink ground control station right now. Can you come here with your personal laptop?"
Taesik remembered that CEO Cha Youngjin had extracted North Korean information during a hack via vulnerabilities in network modems in the past, so he had called him. Once Cha arrived, they explained the situation and asked if the requested North Korean IP information had arrived.
"Has the North Korean IP information arrived?"
"It just arrived via email. Please wait a moment. I will print it immediately."
"No. Please send it in file format right away."
CEO Cha opened his laptop and executed a program. "CEO, I updated the program after the last North Korean DDoS attack just in case, but I never thought I’d be using it like this. I’ve linked it to the supercomputer so that if you input specific words, it will search the data transmitted through those IPs."
"Is that so?" Taesik immediately looked at Chief Choi. "Please tell us the words related to the information you want to obtain from the IP data provided."
Chief Choi recited the words that came to mind and called the agents over. "Directives, orders, Chairman, comrade... everyone, come here! If there are words related to the information we want, speak up!"
As the agents suggested several keywords, CEO Cha Youngjin entered them and scanned for the desired information. "Hmm... nothing is being transmitted between those IPs; only information being sent to Chinese IPs is appearing."
He pulled the cable connected to the Starlink ground control station’s large monitor, plugged it into his laptop, and displayed the information the supercomputer had captured.
"It’s a document written in both Chinese and Korean. It announces that China’s help is needed due to the passing of the North Korean supreme leader..."
The NIS agents hurriedly read the document on the screen, searching for the information they needed. "Chief! I found it. If you look at the back... it includes content asking for support for Kim Jong-un, who is being appointed as the new supreme leader."
"Really? Check who the sender is."
"It’s a joint name. It includes Ri Yong-ho, Chief of the General Staff; Kim Yong-chun, Minister of the People's Armed Forces; and Kim Yong-chol, Director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau."
CEO Cha Youngjin placed another document on the screen simultaneously. "This is a document sent to Beijing."
"They have gathered North Korea's strength to carry out the 'bequeathed teachings' policy, and they declare that they have China's support. And..."
After reading the contents of the document, Chief Choi immediately requested a printout from CEO Cha Youngjin. When an NIS agent brought the printed paper, Chief Choi began to read the details.
"That’s right. The heads of each of these organizations have all gathered. But Jang Song-thaek’s name isn't here..."
Not seeing Jang Song-thaek’s name in the document sent to China, Chief Choi asked CEO Cha Youngjin to search by inputting the name 'Jang Song-thaek'.
"Please search for the word 'Jang Song-thaek'."
"...There is nothing."
"Then, please search for 'Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission'."
When the term 'Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission' was entered, additional documents were found, and CEO Cha immediately displayed them on the screen.
"Requesting condolences from Chinese authorities... preparing for mass defections... requesting reinforcement of the North Korean border..."
"Jang Song-thaek is in contact with China separately..."
"Is there any data transmitted from the Chinese IP to North Korea?"
CEO Cha Youngjin immediately uploaded the data. "China... expresses condolences and says they will immediately send Ding Guangen and Wang Ruilin as special envoys."
Chief Choi immediately picked up the phone, having obtained the information he wanted. "Director! It appears that the leaders of North Korea’s various agencies have joined forces. Also, Jang Song-thaek is in contact with China separately from the committee of leaders. They are requesting reinforcement of the North Korean border, and China says they are sending Ding Guangen and Wang Ruilin as special envoys."
"Ding Guangen is a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Wang Ruilin is Hu Jintao’s chief of security."
"Yes. Based on the information gathered so far, it appears they will assume Kim Jong-un as the supreme leader in the form of a committee."
Once the call ended, Chief Choi immediately requested the Starlink staff to take more satellite photos. "This time, please photograph the North Korean border adjacent to China."
Chief Choi began analyzing the newly captured satellite photos, and Taesik asked if there was any further help he could provide. "Chief Choi, is there any additional help you need?"
"Not at the moment... but could you search for new documents emerging from North Korean IPs by tomorrow?"
CEO Cha Youngjin nodded, and Taesik excused himself and left the ground control station. Upon returning to his office, Taesik turned on the TV. The news was reporting that the Blue House was holding an emergency response meeting due to Kim Jong-il’s death, and the stock market was plummeting in real-time.
[Foreign institutions, in particular, are showing movements to exit the South Korean stock market in a hurry through mass selling.]
[The exchange rate is soaring, and financial authorities are watching closely.]
Watching the news that the KOSPI index had fallen by more than 3% as institutions and foreigners sold off stocks in bulk, Taesik ran to his computer. He immediately executed his stock trading program, moved the funds Luke had sent, and began buying up blue-chip stocks. As foreigners dumped their holdings in massive quantities, Taesik was able to easily sweep up shares of major corporations. For two hours, he mechanically bought over 1 trillion won worth of stock.
When Taesik didn't come out of his office for a while, Miso knocked on the door and entered, looking curious. "CEO, would you like a cold drink? You seem to have urgent business."
"The stock market is crashing due to Kim Jong-il’s death, so I’m buying up blue-chip stocks."
At Taesik’s words, Miso asked, "Can I see, too?"
It wasn't something to hide, so Taesik showed Miso the computer screen, and she began to laugh. "The stock windows are all blue. Didn't you lose money today?"
"It’s a small loss for now, but it will rebound in a few days. North Korea will stabilize soon."
"Really...? Can I invest too?"
"You probably won't see huge returns, but you’ll have some fun with it."
Miso gave Taesik a glass of cold water and left. Taesik closed the stock window and called each subsidiary to check if there was anything special going on. Fortunately, Starlink Defense and Aerospace had no issues, so Taesik felt relieved and finished his day.
The next day, Chief Choi, with the cooperation of CEO Cha Youngjin, began collecting information related to North Korea again. Finding no significant new information, he withdrew from the Starlink ground control station, leaving only a few NIS agents behind.
Taesik executed the stock program to observe the movement of the stocks he had bought yesterday. Seeing that the stocks were still on a downward trend today, he began buying more. There was a knock on the office door, and Miso entered, asking with a smile, "CEO, I ordered some stocks with the information you gave me yesterday, but they’re still blue."
"They should rebound by this afternoon or tomorrow. How much did you buy?"
"Ho ho ho. I bought about 100 billion won worth, using the stocks my father gifted me as collateral."
Taesik was curious about how many stocks Chairman Lee Hyundo had gifted Miso, but he held back and asked, "Has the review result regarding secondary batteries from Misung SDI come in yet?"
"No. It will probably be around next week."
After Miso left, Taesik bought more of the still-falling stocks, stopping only after about 2 trillion won had been invested. "It’s about time for a rebound..." Taesik muttered to himself, praying that his money-making scheme using the North Korean situation would succeed.