Chapter 36 “There’s No Way South Korea Made Something Like This.” Why the North Korean Chief of the General Staff Was Flustered After Insisting It Was Impossible
Chapter 36 “There’s No Way South Korea Made Something Like This.” Why the North Korean Chief of the General Staff Was Flustered After Insisting It Was Impossible
Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, Tokyo, Japan.
“Did you confirm it?”
The Director of Cabinet Intelligence asked calmly.
“Yes. This is footage of the next version of the R-Type drone being tested in secret.”
The intelligence analyst pushed forward a laptop with a USB drive inserted into it.
“It was filmed at a secret outdoor testing ground belonging to South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development.”
“The image quality is terrible.”
“We used an ultra-high-performance camera owned by Japan, but the distance was too great.”
In the video, a missile flew toward the drone being escorted, and an R2-Type drone threw itself into its path to block it.
“What in the…?”
“As you can see, it has a function that causes it to sacrifice itself whenever an interceptor missile approaches.”
“The performance keeps becoming more monstrous.”
A sigh escaped the Director of Cabinet Intelligence.
“Even if one drone fails to protect the target, the logic that makes the next aircraft immediately throw itself in is absurdly advanced.”
“What kind of AI is installed for them to move like that?”
“We still do not know. It does not appear to be American, so it seems they developed it themselves.”
“Could Japan reach that level if we devoted five or six years entirely to development?”
The intelligence analyst could not bring himself to answer.
For a long time, Japan had preferred purchasing weapons from other countries over developing them independently.
Secret Outdoor Testing Ground, Agency for Defense Development, Republic of Korea.
Quite a large crowd had gathered, including the Director of the Agency for Defense Development and working-level officials from Poland, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
“CEO Ryu, preparations are complete.”
When the staff informed me that the demonstration was ready, I nodded.
“That enormous drone in front of you is the supply drone we recently completed.”
Snap.
When I snapped my fingers, the supply drone slowly rose into the air.
Vroooom.
Because it was as large as a compact car, the sound of its takeoff was tremendous.
“The green military crate in front of you weighs four hundred kilograms.”
The drone picked up the crate on its own.
“It can lift something that large automatically….”
“It can carry four hundred kilograms?”
The observers exclaimed in amazement.
The supply drone rapidly moved to Point B and released the crate.
Thud.
It was so heavy that the dull impact of the falling crate could be heard from where we stood.
“For fifty thousand won per hour, this can transport cargo through the air.”
“How many kilometers can it travel?”
“More than four hundred kilometers one way.”
“Oh….”
“Wait. What are those people doing?”
The soldiers assisting with the demonstration tied a training dummy dressed as a wounded soldier to the drone.
“The drone carries an internal casualty-transport kit.”
Vroooom.
The supply drone returned to its original position, and the waiting personnel removed the dummy attached to it.
“In an emergency, a wounded soldier can also dismount alone without assistance from anyone nearby.”
At that moment, Poland’s Minister of National Defence spoke.
“Now we will no longer have to abandon or kill soldiers wounded during an operation.”
During the Russia–Ukraine war, it was common for soldiers to kill wounded comrades and leave them behind.
“This may also resolve part of the manpower-loss problem.”
A British official spoke.
“That is not all.”
At my words, everyone focused again.
Personnel in military uniforms attached something resembling the large sacks used by firefighting helicopters to the supply drone.
“There are currently forty small suicide drones inside that sack.”
Vroooom.
The supply drone rose into the air again.
By the time the compact-car-sized aircraft looked no larger than a speck—
“Watch carefully.”
The sack opened, and the drones poured out.
Using gravitational acceleration, each drone flew toward a different target.
Whirrrrr.
“The sound of these drones flying will feel like terror to the enemy.”
The drones that had seemed to fall through the air stopped in midair.
They examined the mock building, then slipped through open windows and entrances as though seeping inside.
Bang.
They exploded inside the building.
“What in the…?”
“Yes. Unlike conventional bombing, we can now carry out precision strikes inside buildings.”
“This is truly chilling.”
“As long as reconnaissance drones properly assess the situation beforehand, the AI will create the most effective bombing scenario.”
The observers stared at me with unsettled expressions.
It felt as though even stranger rumors about me were about to emerge.
“Wouldn’t the supply drone be relatively easy to shoot down?”
“Yes, that is correct. That is why, if we send R-Types as escorts….”
“The probability of mission success would increase dramatically.”
It was Poland’s Minister of National Defence.
“The R-Type’s performance has already been proven. It is playing a major role in the Russia–Ukraine war.”
He explained what I should have said in my place.
“Yes. Also, even if the supply drone is shot down, the suicide drones inside can escape safely. The mission will not be compromised.”
The moment I finished speaking, a British official asked,
“Then let us begin by signing a contract with us immediately….”
“What nonsense! Poland has priority. We will purchase the entire production run!”
When Poland’s Minister of National Defence urgently interrupted, the previously silent American delegation also stepped forward with gleaming eyes.
“The United States Department of Defense also needs this drone immediately.”
“You were the ones ordering every country to defend itself, and now you say that?”
The observation area instantly descended into chaos.
“Are none of you going to ask the price?”
They apparently could not even hear me as they raised their voices, each insisting that I sell to them first.
“I will handle the rest.”
Secretary Seo, who had been quietly observing the situation from behind us, stepped forward.
From this point onward, it entered the realm of ruthless diplomacy.
Presidential Office, Blue House.
“He must have earned a great deal of money by now, yet he still lives in a neighborhood that looks like a hillside slum?”
The President stared at Second Deputy Director Jang Seokjin of the National Intelligence Service in surprise.
“Yes. He has been spending everything he earns on weapons development.”
Before allowing him to participate in Project Gyeryong, the President had ordered the NIS to investigate him once more, just to make absolutely certain there were no problems.
“He seemed to believe that a house was only somewhere to sleep.”
However, the President could not hide his confusion upon hearing that Ryu Hyesung, who should now possess a great deal of money, still lived in a poor hillside neighborhood.
“It might be good for him to spend some of it on himself…. What about his family?”
A shadow fell across Second Deputy Director Jang’s expression.
“Both of his parents died in an accident when he was young. He currently lives alone with his maternal grandmother.”
“Both of them died?”
The President looked saddened upon hearing the unexpected details of Ryu Hyesung’s family.
“Did he attend an ordinary school because his family was struggling financially?”
“It was difficult to determine that much.”
“I had wondered why he did not attend a science high school or somewhere similar….”
“However, regarding the maternal grandmother who lives with him….”
Second Deputy Director Jang handed him a separately prepared report.
“We discovered that she was once a key researcher at NASA.”
(Translator’s Note:NASA — The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was created under the National Aeronautics and Space Act signed on July 29, 1958, and officially began operations on October 1, 1958.)
“Is that so?”
The President sensed that there was nothing ordinary about Ryu Hyesung’s family history.
“Could you investigate Hyesung’s background further?”
“Mr. President, anything beyond this point would constitute unnecessary surveillance of a civilian.”
“That is true…. But was there anything else unusual?”
“If there was one unusual point…. Something about the deaths of Ryu Hyesung’s parents does not seem right.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“We are not yet certain, but…. It does not appear to have been an ordinary accident.”
Second Deputy Director Jang’s words made the President feel that something was suspicious.
Office at Science Facility’s Factory No. 2.
I was checking the final condition of the R2-Type drone, the successor to the R-Type, on the workbench.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh? When did you get here?”
It was Taeju.
I had been so focused that I had not even noticed him approaching.
“I just came back from a meeting with the government about the semiconductor factory.”
Taeju rolled his neck from side to side, looking exhausted.
“Look at this.”
Rattle.
I took several sheets of paper from a drawer and handed them to Taeju.
“What’s this?”
“The equipment layout for our semiconductor factory.”
“You already made it? I can’t understand it even when I look at it.”
He turned the papers this way and that.
“Taeju, instead of building a factory, let’s buy one.”
“Why? Wouldn’t it be better to build a new one?”
“It would take too long. We don’t know whether it would take five years or ten.”
A huge advanced factory would likely revitalize the local economy, but residents still opposed such projects for various reasons.
“…Then we’ll have to find out whether any factories are available.”
Taeju rested his chin on one hand and thought.
“Then a large portion of the government support package would remain unused….”
“Actually, I found somewhere to spend it.”
When I spoke seriously, Taeju seemed to notice the change in atmosphere, and the smile vanished from his face.
“Where?”
I pointed to a vast blanked-out section of the semiconductor-factory design he was holding.
“Here. There’s a facility we need to construct secretly inside our semiconductor plant.”
I explained to Taeju the OmegaFlow Project that Hermes intended to carry out.
“So…. According to Hermes, something that normally takes ten years can be completed in three months?”
When I nodded, Taeju could not close his mouth.
“No, Hermes. What kind of medicine are you trying to create?”
[I am planning twenty-four drugs by the end of this year. One of them is an age-reversal drug.]
“Age reversal?”
[Aging is the root of all disease. The drug will return human somatic cells to the state of their youth and restore the body to health.]
“That’s possible?”
Taeju asked in disbelief.
[It is possible. Organisms already exist on Earth that become young again through similar mechanisms.]
Taeju thought for a moment, then asked me,
“Hyesung, if Hermes ever does something worthy of a Nobel Prize, who would receive it?”
Conference Room, Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces, Pyongyang, North Korea.
“This… was made in South Korea?”
The Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army glared viciously at the drones piled before him like garbage.
“Yes. The Russian soldiers who captured them said so.”
“That’s impossible. South Korea couldn’t even respond to the unmanned aircraft we sent for reconnaissance.”
North Korea had previously sent unmanned aircraft into South Korea.
It had been a kind of experiment to determine whether South Korea could respond.
At the time, South Korea had failed to respond at all.
“How could they make something like this in only a few years? The Russians said these were the best in the world.”
“They were probably talking nonsense. From what we have learned, there is a high probability that they were made in either the United States or Russia.”
“Is that so? I knew it. All those claims that the South Koreans live well must be lies too.”
Only then did the Chief of the General Staff nod in relief.
At that moment—
“Comrade Chief of the General Staff!”
The Director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau hurriedly opened the door and called for him.
(Translator’s Note:Reconnaissance General Bureau — North Korea’s principal organization for foreign intelligence, cyber operations, espionage, and covert military activity. It was formed in 2009 by consolidating several intelligence and special-operations bodies.)
“What is it?”
“China has contacted us.”
He caught his breath before continuing.
“What the hell is so urgent that you came running in here like that?”
“They say they will provide enough rice and oil to feed the entire population for ten years if we kill one South Korean student.”
“What? Just how important is this bastard for them to offer that much?”
“They say he created the drones you are looking at now.”
“What? Are you saying these really were made in South Korea?”
The Chief of the General Staff was more shocked by the revelation that the drones had truly been made in South Korea than by China’s extraordinary offer.
“Yes…. They also said that killing the young bastard would benefit us as well.”