The Western Front Artillery Incident (Part 2)
"Then, we will identify the North Korean submarines and await further instructions from the government."
Taesik immediately relayed the information he had received from Section Chief Choi to Park In-tak, the CEO of Starlink Defense. Park, seemingly uneasy, insisted that he would head to the field himself. While they were addressing the issues regarding the operational mode of the unmanned underwater vehicles, CEO Cha Youngjin called out to Taesik, shouting in excitement.
"Representative! The supercomputer analysis is complete."
Taesik and Section Chief Choi approached CEO Cha.
"For starters, out of the 50 North Korean submarines, 10 have not departed. And as for the fighter jets... the only things captured on satellite imagery are AN-2 aircraft. There are 12 of them out at the Sondok Airfield."
Section Chief Choi immediately picked up the phone and transmitted the information about the submarines and the identified aircraft to his superiors.
Meanwhile, at Panmunjom, National Security Office Director Kim Jin-gwan, who had been dispatched for emergency negotiations, shouted at Hwang Seo-byung, the Director of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean Army.
"Are you truly intending to go to war?"
"I have already told you! The DMZ wooden box mine incident was not our doing. If it was us, bring us the evidence. If you do not withdraw the anti-North Korean loudspeakers from the armistice line immediately, we will not sit idly by."
"If North Korea acts this way, we will not sit idly by either. If North Korea launches even a single fighter jet, we will shoot it down immediately. We will forward-deploy our rear units and the U.S. military to the armistice line."
"Hmph...! Do you think we will just sit still? We will immediately forward-deploy our rear units and launch an immediate attack on the South."
"Are you relying on your submarines and AN-2 planes?"
"Do you think our Democratic People's Republic of Korea will bow to the pressure of the American imperialists? Our submarines and AN-2 planes are currently waiting to attack."
"I don't know what kind of problems your submarines have, but if you are talking about the 40 submarines and the 12 AN-2 planes waiting for takeoff at Sondok Airfield, that is out of the question. Currently, our F-15K and F-16 jets are on standby at Osan Air Base, and if you launch those AN-2s, we will shoot them down immediately."
Hwang Seo-byung, the Director of the General Political Bureau, was startled by the words of Director Kim Jin-gwan, who had a clear grasp of the North Korean military's weapon deployment status.
"Even so, isn't it impossible to find the locations of our submarines? South Korea only has 16 anti-submarine patrol aircraft; do you really think you can find our submarines?"
Director Kim Jin-gwan sighed at the unyielding response from Hwang Seo-byung.
"It has already been six hours since the talks began. Let's take a break and meet again in two hours."
Hwang Seo-byung agreed, and both the North and South sides sought out secure offices to receive further instructions.
At that moment, the Navy Operations Command was consolidating information coming in from anti-submarine patrol aircraft and submarines deployed to the East and West Seas.
"How many North Korean submarines have been identified so far?"
"The locations of 12 out of the 40 have been identified. The locations of the remaining 28 are unconfirmed."
Colonel Choi Seong-min, who was in charge of the operations room, looked at the operational map showing the submarine locations.
"How about deploying the newly commissioned destroyers to the coastal waters?"
To Colonel Choi's question, a staff officer replied:
"That is not possible. If they approach the coastal waters, they could be attacked by anti-ship missiles, so deployment there is impossible. We must maintain the minimum distance required for our air defense weapon systems to react."
"Haa! This is driving me crazy. To think it would be this hard to find North Korea's junk submarines..."
"It appears that no submarines have crossed the NLL yet."
"The other submarines aren't much of a problem, but the Romeo-class is the issue. How many Romeo-class submarines have had their locations identified?"
"Out of 19, 8 have been identified."
Colonel Choi pointed to the operational map.
"North Korea is likely circling through the open sea or hiding in the coastal waters. For now, send the surface ships equipped with anti-submarine capabilities to the open sea, and have the anti-submarine patrol aircraft search the coastal waters."
"Understood. And we have been informed that the unmanned underwater vehicles supported by Starlink Defense are ready and have departed."
"Is that so? Then let's deploy the unmanned underwater vehicles to the coastal waters. How many are ready?"
"A total of 8."
"6 in the West Sea and 2 in the East Sea, right?"
"Yes."
Colonel Choi began to reposition naval assets to areas suspected of infiltration to locate the North Korean submarines.
The Air Force launched its recently introduced airborne early warning and control aircraft to observe the movements of North Korean fighter jets, while simultaneously launching medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor activity near the armistice line.
"Are there any updated movements from North Korea?"
"Fortunately, there are currently no identified North Korean fighter jets."
"What about the unmanned aerial vehicles...?"
"Even with the early warning aircraft, there is no way to detect small unmanned aerial vehicles if they lower their altitude."
"Let's leave that to the Army..."
At that moment, information came in from the early warning aircraft.
"Section Chief! An object suspected to be an unmanned aerial vehicle has been identified on the central front. The altitude is too low to be certain, but it is flying in a straight line along the armistice line, and judging by the trajectory, it is suspected to be an unmanned aerial vehicle."
"Contact the Ministry of National Defense and the Army immediately!"
At that time, the Army, which had gone on emergency alert, was observing North Korean movements from guard posts. Soldiers deployed on the central front reported to their superiors when they saw a flying object moving along the armistice line.
The battalion commander, having received the report, immediately observed the skies over the armistice line. After confirming that an object suspected to be an unmanned aerial vehicle was flying in a straight line near the armistice line, he immediately made a radio call.
"Loyalty! This is Lieutenant Colonel Lee Min-hyeok. A flying object, appearing to be a Banghyeon-class unmanned aerial vehicle, is flying along the armistice line on the central front."
[Does it appear to have crossed the armistice line when viewed with the naked eye?]
"No. It is flying inside the North Korean side."
[Strengthen air defense for now! I will give separate instructions to the air defense units regarding the unmanned aerial vehicle.]
As the North and South continued their standoff, the United States moved its MLRS units, which had been deployed in the rear, to the front. They launched F-16 aircraft to demonstrate force alongside the South Korean Air Force, but fortunately, the North Korean side did not launch any fighter jets. Since they only moved Army assets to the armistice line, the U.S. military also forward-deployed some of its ground troops along with the MLRS units.
CEO Park In-tak, who was operating the unmanned underwater vehicles with Starlink Defense staff at the 2nd Fleet in the West Sea, maintained his tension as he watched all the ships deployed to the 2nd Fleet depart, and asked his staff a question.
"There's still no submarine information being picked up, right?"
"Yes. They are in autonomous search mode, but there is no special information coming in. Most of it is just merchant ships and fishing boats."
"Where are the unmanned underwater vehicles currently located?"
"They are searching near Yeonpyeong Island and Baengnyeong Island."
"There's no chance a Navy submarine will attack us, right?"
"No. Since we divided the operational areas, there is no such possibility. Although it is a security matter and they didn't tell us the submarine operational areas, there is no chance that a South Korean submarine will enter the zone we are responsible for."
"Phew! That's a relief. It seems that once unmanned underwater vehicles are deployed in the future, they will mostly be placed in dangerous areas."
"Wouldn't they be deployed mainly in areas where destroyers cannot enter?"
Just then, communication began to come in from unmanned underwater vehicle #3.
"CEO! An object suspected to be a submarine has appeared 50km west of Baengnyeong Island."
At the staff member's shout, Navy Lieutenant Commander Jo Woo-rae ran over and immediately confirmed the information.
"The acoustic signature confirms it is a Romeo-class."
Lieutenant Commander Jo Woo-rae confirmed the location information of the submarine and immediately made a call to report the suspected submarine location.
"Victory! One submarine, appearing to be a Romeo-class, has been identified 50km west of Baengnyeong Island at a depth of 120m."
[Has it crossed the NLL?]
"Yes. It is inside the NLL."
[Wait a moment!]
Lieutenant Commander Jo requested the identified submarine location and acoustic signature data from the Defense staff, and the staff member, with trembling hands, put the information on a USB drive.
Lieutenant Commander Jo said to the soldier waiting next to him:
"Take this directly to the headquarters situation room!"
A moment later, Lieutenant Commander Jo's phone rang.
[Is it true that the unmanned underwater vehicle is equipped with two Blue Shark torpedoes?]
"Yes. It is currently armed with the Blue Shark torpedoes we possess."
[The identified submarine is not friendly! An order to sink it has been issued from above, so proceed with the attack immediately!]
"Order received. I will begin the attack immediately."
Lieutenant Commander Jo immediately checked with the Starlink staff member if an attack was possible, and the staff member replied:
"The underwater vehicle is currently near the surface for communication. I will check the North Korean submarine's position and let you know."
The staff member checked the passive sonar information via data link and said:
"It is moving at a speed of 2 knots, and an attack is possible immediately. But do I press the launch switch?"
The staff member asked Lieutenant Commander Jo, seemingly burdened by pressing the launch switch, and Lieutenant Commander Jo answered:
"If you are burdened by it, I will press it."
Lieutenant Commander Jo pressed the launch switch instead of the staff member, and a message appeared stating that the Blue Shark had been launched. A moment later, the submarine was no longer visible on the sonar, and the staff member activated the active sonar to confirm the submarine's position. Information from the location where the submarine had been came in through data communication, and since nothing was captured:
"Looking at the acoustic signature, it seems the North Korean submarine has been sunk."
Lieutenant Commander Jo immediately reported this fact to the command, and the command decided to send a high-speed boat to that location. The high-speed boat, which had been on emergency standby in the waters off Baengnyeong Island, was dispatched to the location and began a search, reporting that oil slicks and floating debris from the submarine had surfaced.
The news that the submarine that had violated the NLL had been sunk was delivered to National Security Office Director Kim Jin-gwan, who looked at Hwang Seo-byung, the Director of the General Political Bureau, with a rigid expression.
"A North Korean Romeo-class submarine violated our waters and has been sunk. Is North Korea trying to go to war with us now?"
Hwang Seo-byung, having heard no news, immediately declared a suspension of the meeting and sent a radio message to the Navy through a military officer at the Panmunjom office. When the North Korean Navy also failed to grasp the information, they returned to the meeting room with frustrated expressions.
"Isn't this just South Korea's bluff? We have received no news that a submarine has been sunk."
After Hwang Seo-byung left, Director Kim Jin-gwan presented photos of the sea where it was sunk, which he had secured through the Ministry of National Defense, along with a photo of a life jacket labeled 'Ship 633'.
"Isn't Ship 633 the codename for the Romeo-class?"
Hwang Seo-byung, not knowing the Navy's codenames, looked at the military officer waiting next to him, and the officer hurried outside. While the officer was out, Director Kim Jin-gwan said:
"Now! Let's do this. Removing the anti-North Korean loudspeakers is impossible. I will stop the anti-North Korean broadcasts for now, so let's end this dangerous confrontation here."
"..."
Hwang Seo-byung maintained his silence for a moment before saying:
"I cannot decide this alone. I must go to Pyongyang and receive orders from the Supreme Commander."
"Can't you contact them from here via phone or radio?"
Just then, the military officer who had left earlier returned and whispered something to Hwang Seo-byung, who nodded with a flustered expression.
"Ship 633 is not our North Korean submarine."
"Are you saying it's not a North Korean submarine even though it has Korean characters on it?"
"...It is not our submarine, but I have fully understood South Korea's position. I will go to Pyongyang, convey the South's position, and confirm the Supreme Commander's will. Let's take a break for now."