Chapter 12. I Gave Advice to South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development, and Now the Director Is Obsessed With Me
Chapter 12. I Gave Advice to South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development, and Now the Director Is Obsessed With Me
Japan Ministry of Defense, Defense Intelligence Headquarters.
Kuroda Genshin, Technical Inspector of the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency, was engaged in a serious discussion with Captain Sato Shinji, an officer dispatched from the Defense Intelligence Headquarters.
“Inspector Kuroda, Russia attempted to abduct Ryu Hyesung, but they failed.”
Sato gave Kuroda a crisp salute before delivering his report.
“They failed? How could Russia possibly fail? Did the United States intervene?”
Kuroda assumed that Russia could not possibly have made such a mistake and that the United States must have helped Hyesung.
If that were the case, it was a serious setback.
Japan was supposed to be the country that won Ryu Hyesung over.
“No. According to the report, Ryu Hyesung protected himself.”
“By himself? Against Russian soldiers?”
Kuroda’s mouth fell open.
“Yes. Apparently, he threatened to blow himself up.”
“Ryu Hyesung… As expected, he is no ordinary person. Had he lived during the Japanese colonial period, he might have become an independence activist.”
Hearing about Hyesung’s nerve only made Kuroda want him even more.
“We absolutely must bring Ryu Hyesung to a Japanese research institute…”
“He turned down ten billion yen. Do you really think that will be possible?”
“…We have to make it happen somehow. At this rate, South Korea’s military power will grow beyond control.”
“If that happens, Japan will find itself in a very difficult position.”
Japan could not afford for South Korea to become too militarily powerful.
The Dokdo sovereignty dispute, historical grievances, the discharge of Fukushima treated water, and numerous other issues had created constant friction between South Korea and Japan.
“Captain Sato. There are investment companies in South Korea backed by Japanese capital, correct?”
“Yes. There are several.”
“Contact them immediately.”
“What are you planning?”
“We must bring Ryu Hyesung over to Japan by any means necessary. Let us buy him with money.”
“But…”
“Giving the money directly to him is pointless. If we purchase shares in his company and acquire voting rights, will he not ultimately be working for Japan?”
Sato nodded.
Japan began another operation to acquire Ryu Hyesung.
Agency for Defense Development, ADD.
(Translator’s Note: Agency for Defense Development (ADD) — South Korea’s central government defense research institute, established on August 6, 1970, to strengthen domestic weapons research and support the country’s policy of greater self-reliance in national defense. Its work covers the research, development, and testing of defense technologies and weapon systems.)
“Who is this student?”
The director of the research institute looked puzzled.
It was probably the first time since the institute’s establishment that an ordinary high school student had been allowed to tour such a core research facility, where national secrets were handled.
“He is the VIP mentioned in the official notice we sent previously. Would you please allow him to tour the interior of the institute?”
“The VIP? This student?”
The director stared incredulously at the confident staff member from the Office of the President.
“What kind of nonsense is this at a Grade A national security facility? You did not even include any supporting documents or attachments with the official notice.”
I later heard that the official document the director had received instructed him to allow the VIP to tour the institute and view whatever internal data he requested.
The only explanation given for the reason was that it was “classified.”
Apparently, no such order had ever been issued before.
“Then please enjoy your tour.”
“Ah… Yes. Thank you.”
The presidential staff member who had brought me bowed and immediately left.
Even the reason he was not allowed to enter the facility with me was classified.
“Student, put all your electronic devices in here.”
The director clicked his tongue in irritation and held out a blue basket.
The institute had strict security regulations to prevent unauthorized photography or even possible eavesdropping through mobile phone microphones.
“Who the hell are you that they are letting you tour this place? Are you the President’s secret son or something?”
The director made no attempt to hide his displeasure toward the unwanted guest who had been forced upon him.
“No. I was firmly ordered to keep my mouth shut before coming here. The answer to your question is classified too.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. This is driving me insane.”
The reason I had come here really was nothing more than a genuine tour.
The President had asked me to personally inspect the weapons currently being developed by the Ministry of National Defense and prioritize the domestic development of products that could immediately benefit the South Korean military.
Of course, he had said it was not an order.
“Look around as much as you want. But I am staying right beside you. We do not have any researchers sitting around with nothing to do who can follow you everywhere and keep watch.”
“Yes.”
Looking around, everyone seemed unbelievably busy.
The director was probably just as overwhelmed with work.
Because of an unwelcome visitor like me, he might be forced to work overtime today.
However, my guilt did not last long.
As I walked around, weapons that made my mouth water were scattered everywhere.
For a weapons fanatic like me, this place was essentially an amusement park.
Among them, one enormous cylindrical monster immediately captured my attention.
“That is the Hyunmoo-5. It is the most powerful missile in our country.”
(Translator’s Note: Hyunmoo-5 — A member of South Korea’s Hyunmoo missile family. Public discussion commonly characterizes it as a very heavy conventional ballistic missile intended for deep-penetration and hardened-target missions.)
Among all the weapons possessed by our non-nuclear country, this insane missile unquestionably possessed the most overwhelming destructive power.
“You actually know something about it?”
“It has bunker-buster-level destructive power. It can penetrate one hundred meters into reinforced concrete before detonating. Honestly, it is powerful enough to make me feel sorry for the enemy leadership destined to die after being hit by it.”
As I enthusiastically recited the Hyunmoo-5’s specifications and expressed my genuine admiration, the director’s sour expression finally softened.
He had probably spent countless sleepless nights developing and refining it as though it were his own child.
After all, no engineer disliked someone who recognized and praised their work.
“Most conventional missiles have warheads weighing around one ton, but this one carries approximately nine tons.”
“That is correct.”
“It is a symbolic weapon that shows exactly how obsessed our country is with firepower.”
“For a country without nuclear weapons, greater firepower was the only path available to us.”
There was a trace of bitterness on the director’s face.
What was that about?
Did he actually want to develop nuclear weapons or something?
“Do you… want to develop nuclear weapons?”
I cautiously asked.
“…”
The director remained silent.
Why are you being so frightening?
I toured several other weapons afterward.
One of the systems that caught my attention was a long-range air-to-ground guided missile.
“This is…”
“The Cheonryong. It is intended for the KF-21 fighter jet.”
(Translator’s Note: KF-21 Boramae — A South Korean multirole fighter aircraft developed by Korea Aerospace Industries under a national fighter-development program. The first prototype was publicly rolled out in April 2021, and the aircraft completed its maiden flight in July 2022.)
The KF-21 was a 4.5-generation fighter aircraft being developed by South Korea.
For a country that had long depended heavily on foreign weapons, it was a symbol of hope.
However, the director’s expression remained gloomy as he spoke about the missile that would be carried by that aircraft.
“Is there some kind of problem?”
I asked while looking through the data.
Normally, digging through classified national security information would be enough to get someone shot, but I had already received official authorization.
“Would telling you even help? This thing has to process terrain data rapidly, but the CPU is the problem.”
“The CPU?”
I could not take my eyes off the data.
From what I could see, the CPU performance apparently could not keep up with the system’s requirements.
“That is right. The military-grade CPUs we currently use are highly reliable, but their processing speed is slow. On the other hand, installing a high-performance CPU reduces stability, and sometimes the entire system becomes unresponsive. It is a headache.”
I understood what he meant.
In other words, if they gave this thing a powerful brain, it would become fragile and break easily.
However, if they installed something rugged and reliable, the limited processing capability would make it stupid.
“…I think the problem may be that you are using an Extended Kalman Filter for error correction in nonlinear sections.”
(Translator’s Note: Extended Kalman Filter — A nonlinear extension of the Kalman filter, the original form of which was developed by Rudolf E. Kálmán and published in 1960. The Extended Kalman Filter linearizes nonlinear system behavior around a current estimate and is widely used in navigation, robotics, aerospace guidance, tracking, and sensor fusion.)
I casually commented while flipping through the data.
“What?”
The director stared at me in disbelief. He clearly had not expected an answer like that from me.
“How about trying attention-based visual odometry code?”
(Translator’s Note: Visual Odometry — A method of estimating the movement and position of a vehicle, robot, drone, or other platform by analyzing sequential camera images. The term became established in robotics research during the 1980s and is conceptually comparable to determining movement by continuously observing visual changes in the surrounding environment.)
Put simply, instead of driving by following the navigation system, it meant driving by looking directly at the road.
In the past, limited computing power would have made it impossible.
However, with the AI model I had written, visual recognition might be possible even with the military-grade CPU they were currently using.
Of course, we would not know until they tested it.
“Try using the AI I developed. The current version will not be perfect, but it should perform better than what you are using now.”
“What did you say?”
“Try it first. If the performance improvement is clear, why not continue your research in that direction?”
The director stared at me in disbelief.
“Did you not say you were a high school student?”
“Yes… I am.”
“No, listen. I just told you that even the current system lacks sufficient computing power. How are we supposed to run an attention model on a military-grade CPU?”
“Director, just assume I am trying to fool you and test what I made once.”
I handed him a USB drive.
“What is on this is top secret. It absolutely cannot be leaked. Understood?”
In truth, it was not actually a state secret.
At most, it was a company trade secret.
Still, it was better if other restaurants did not learn the recipe for our special secret sauce.
That was why I made sure to warn him.
These people protected classified information as part of their daily lives anyway.
There was probably nothing to worry about.
Science Facility Factory No. 1 Office.
I was completely absorbed in developing a new weapon that could protect me when Taeju approached.
“Hyesung, where did you go?”
It was Taeju.
I had even skipped school that day to visit the Agency for Defense Development.
“…I visited some research lab.”
I could not properly explain it even to Taeju.
It was top secret.
The Office of the President had repeatedly warned me to keep my mouth shut.
“A research lab? How was it?”
“Well… They were working really hard to squeeze more performance out of insufficient hardware specifications.”
That was basically true.
I had not lied, and I had protected the classified information.
“Really? That is exactly what you are best at.”
“Right. Well, their situation felt familiar, so I shared some Buldak sauce with them.”
“What are you going to do if they like the taste and come asking for more?”
Taeju chuckled.
“Well, I received these privileges so I could help with things like that. I should help them.”
The President had granted us special approval to operate as a defense company.
That was not an authorization granted to just anyone.
It would be best to repay the favor somehow.
“What are you making now?”
Taeju became interested in the weapon I was developing.
“This is… preparation in case something like the Russian incident happens again.”
When I smiled faintly, Taeju looked confused.
“Will that really be enough?”
“More than enough. Even if the same kind of situation happens again, I will feel safe with specifications like these.”
Whirrrr—
Tap. Tap.
I continued focusing on developing “this thing.”
After all, I was right.
I had to protect myself.
A long time later.
At the Agency for Defense Development, after Hyesung had swept through like a storm.
“This is impossible… Director, these specifications make no sense.”
The researcher could not hide his shock.
The director rushed over and checked the data himself.
“The loss value is practically scraping the bottom… and the accuracy is holding steady above 0.98? There is almost no error even in nonlinear sections with extreme terrain changes…”
The director stared at the other data in disbelief.
His hands were trembling.
“CPU utilization is seventy-eight percent… It is close to the limit, but it passes.”
“Director, inference speed is also holding steady at thirty-eight milliseconds. This meets our target specifications.”
“No. This genuinely makes no sense…”
The director was dumbfounded.
Something resembling magic had happened.
The greatest obstacle to the domestic development of the long-range air-to-ground guided missile had been resolved.
By a single boy.
“His name… Damn it, I did not ask his name.”
The director hurried out of the laboratory.
He needed to retrieve the mobile phone he had surrendered because of security regulations.
Ring, ring—
“Director? What is the matter?”
An official from the Office of the President answered.
“That… That boy who came here the other day.”
“Excuse me?”
“The boy who came here as a top-secret matter. The one they called a VIP.”
“Oh, really? I apologize, but that is not my area of responsibility… Would you like me to find someone who might know?”
The presidential official sounded troubled.
Their responsibilities were divided between departments, so suddenly asking him such a strange and unexpected question put him in an awkward position.
Still, he was the only person the director could think to call.
“No, there was a boy the presidential office brought here recently.”
“Yes. First of all, why are you asking about him?”
“Who is that kid?!”
The director’s voice was desperate.
Because of all the damn secrecy procedures entangled around the matter, finding him was proving difficult.
“Find him immediately! Hurry!”