Chapter 117: There Is Only One Way Out

Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol of North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau stroked his chin once again and sank into deep thought.

We knew perfectly well what decision he would make, so we waited patiently and calmly. After quite some time, he finally broke the silence, as though one question had been tormenting him.

"Director Om, how exactly do you plan to take us to the South?"

For the first time, Jo Ilcheol's question contained the long-awaited agreement to defect.

NIS Director Om Giyeon let out a sigh of relief and answered,

"A submarine is already on its way here to pick you up, Deputy Director."

"...What?!"

"Using a submarine is the only way to transport you to our country without leaving even the slightest trace, while also avoiding the military's strict surveillance."

"Still... Now that I think about it, you're right. When do we leave?"

"We're aiming for tomorrow night or the night after, but it depends on the situation. The plan may change."

At that moment, underground syndicate leader Jeong Sanhak cautiously spoke up, deciding to clarify an important detail.

"Director Om, if we defect to the South, how much resettlement money will we receive?"

"The amount will be determined individually, depending on the value of the information you possess."

"I see..." Jeong Sanhak drawled in disappointment, his voice immediately losing its earlier confidence, as though his information were worthless.

Realizing I needed to encourage him, I spoke.

"The value of your information is practically limitless, Director Jeong, so there's no need to feel disappointed."

"Mine?" Jeong Sanhak asked doubtfully, pointing at himself.

To turn his doubts into absolute certainty, I played my trump card.

"How much do you think the combination to the small safe in your room is worth?"

"You know what's inside?"

"For a safe to weigh over a hundred kilograms, it must contain gold bars. Am I right?"

Jeong Sanhak silently nodded.

"The gold in that safe should go into our country's treasury. However, depending on how you and Deputy Director Jo conduct yourselves, its owner could very well change."

"That sounds as though you're prepared to give the gold to us. Is that true?"

"Of course. But on one condition. You must provide us with all the information we want."

"Tell me exactly what you want to know," Jeong Sanhak said, impatience clearly creeping into his voice.

"As you know perfectly well, no one involved in drug trafficking is shown mercy. And yet, despite risking your life, you supplied goods to Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui. I want to know why."

"We weren't supplying drugs to the entire Triad. We supplied them directly to Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui."

'What? What kind of new development is this?'

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"Several years ago, Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui came to me personally and asked whether we could supply him with drugs."

"And you didn't ask why?"

"I did, but he refused to answer."

At that moment, a possibility flashed through my mind.

"Wait. Didn't Vice Chairman Chen come to you around the same time Supreme Leader Gui Tao named Vice Chairman Wei Chen as his successor?"

"Now that I think about it... Yes, I believe it was around then."

NIS Director Om Giyeon immediately cut in, as though he had been waiting for that exact moment.

"Agent Cha, explain what's going on right now!"

"Supreme Leader Gui Tao suffers from dementia, so he chose Wei Chen. Naturally, Chen Zhihui couldn't accept that. To oppose his rival, he needed to expand his influence, and to raise an enormous amount of money, he decided to establish his own drug distribution network."

"So Supreme Leader Gui Tao and Vice Chairman Wei Chen don't even know Chen Zhihui is involved in this?"

I turned toward Jeong Sanhak, silently demanding an answer. He immediately understood my gaze and responded without delay.

"I once asked Qin Hao about it in passing. He confirmed that neither of them knows anything."

"I see. Agent Cha, continue the interrogation."

His curiosity satisfied, Director Om Giyeon stepped back once more.

"Director Jeong, how did you manage to secretly bring drugs into the country despite the authorities' severe controls?"

"But we didn't smuggle anything in."

"Once again, I don't understand."

"Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui has a front company called Golden Trading. That company officially purchased the drugs directly from our country."

"Then what were the drugs found in your house?"

"Vice Chairman Chen complained that he had nowhere to store the shipment and asked us to keep it for him. We merely stored the goods in exchange for a fee, like renting out a safe."

"So you personally weren't involved in distributing them. Is that what you're saying?"

"Exactly, Agent Cha."

"Well, that's at least some good news. By the way, do you know the combination to the large safe?"

"We have no idea. Only Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui himself and Qin Hao know it."

At that moment, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan abruptly rose from his seat and headed straight for the basement. I immediately understood his intention. He planned to interrogate Qin Hao and force the combination to the large safe out of him.

Of course, not everyone present was as quick to understand. Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol tilted his head in confusion and asked,

"Agent Cha, where is Chief Secretary Kang going?"

"Qin Hao is locked in the basement."

"Ah, now I understand."

"Do you know exactly how many drugs Golden Trading purchased from the North?"

"Approximately one hundred kilograms every two months."

That meant the company was importing enough drugs to intoxicate three million people at once.

"That's an enormous amount. Did Golden Trading also purchase raw materials for manufacturing amphetamines?"

"I won't deny it."

"But won't the North suffer severe financial losses now that those supplies have stopped?"

"The country is already under such harsh sanctions that things can't get much worse."

I silently noted how shortsighted Jo Ilcheol was being. Golden Trading purchased goods from the North and distributed them. Did he really think the authorities would simply let the matter go if they learned the truth?

However, when I voiced my thoughts and asked his opinion, he cut me off.

"I've already decided to turn my back on my homeland, so I no longer care what happens to that country."

"If that's how you feel, I have nothing more to add. Let's change the subject."

"Wait a moment."

Jo Ilcheol turned toward Director Om Giyeon and asked,

"Who exactly is this Agent Cha?"

Om Giyeon had anticipated the question. An ordinary agent had completely taken control of the conversation and was leading the negotiations, so Jo Ilcheol's suspicions were perfectly reasonable.

Even so, Cha Jiham's true status couldn't be revealed.

"Agent Cha is here under the direct personal orders of President Cho Seokchin of the Republic of Korea."

"Ah... I see."

"Agent Cha's identity is highly classified, so let's leave it at that."

"You're probably right," Jo Ilcheol replied briefly before turning back to me. "What did you want to ask?"

"I'm curious where the dozens of assault rifles and tens of thousands of live rounds in Director Jeong's house came from."

"Agent Cha, I'll answer that question," Jeong Sanhak hurriedly said, just as I had expected.

"I'm listening."

"About a year ago, Vice Chairman Chen mentioned that he wanted to purchase a shipment of assault rifles and ammunition. When I asked why he needed weapons, he only said they would prove useful in the future."

Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui's plan became perfectly clear. To seize control of the Triad, he would have to eliminate everyone who opposed him, including Supreme Leader Gui Tao. In preparation for a future coup, he had purchased weapons and hidden them at Jeong Sanhak's base.

Since it had been a single secret transaction, even the CIA had failed to detect it.

"I see. Now I understand. Was there anything else we should know?"

"Six months ago, Vice Chairman Chen requested another weapons shipment."

"And what did you say?"

"Naturally, I agreed. He demanded enough to fill a forty-foot container. After two months of preparation, we successfully shipped the cargo."

The North was under close surveillance by the UN and international organizations, making arms exports extraordinarily difficult. Yet they had still managed to deliver the shipment to Golden Trading without any trouble.

I asked Jeong Sanhak directly how they had bypassed international controls.

"We loaded the container onto a freight train and sent it to Vladivostok. From there, Golden Trading's people picked it up on a cargo ship."

"Were the weapons Golden Trading received intended for the gang?"

"No. I heard rumors that they were going to be sent to rebels in the Philippines."

"I see. Were there any other shipments?"

"Three months ago, they requested another five forty-foot containers of weapons."

"And what happened?"

"The cargo left for Vladivostok ten days ago. I don't know what happened after that."

"Thank you for the valuable information."

"Considering everything I've told you, can we expect the gold from the safe to remain ours?"

I shook my head, cooling Jeong Sanhak's enthusiasm.

"There's still one unresolved matter. Do you remember a businessman named Jang Seokcho who came here at the end of January?"

"Ah, yes. I vaguely remember him."

"I'd like to know in exact detail what happened at that time."

"Do I really have to tell you?" Jeong Sanhak's face twisted with obvious unease and uncertainty.

"Mr. Jang Seokcho is a close acquaintance of mine. Because of your scheme, he lost everything and was driven into ruin."

"But I thought he was incredibly wealthy! Besides, I only won one hundred thousand dollars from him."

"Are you saying you don't know what happened afterward?"

"I took back the one hundred thousand dollars I had lent him and simply forgot all about him."

"Then you should have destroyed the promissory note."

"Of course I destr—"

Jeong Sanhak suddenly stopped, as though a thought had struck him.

We waited in silence while he gathered himself. After finally organizing his thoughts, he slowly said,

"Seven years ago, one of my subordinates named Choi Dongcheol defected to the South."

Jeong Sanhak was clearly talking about Choi Dongcheol, who had joined the Scorpion Gang in Incheon.

"In mid-February, Choi Dongcheol showed up here, claiming he'd come for a vacation. I was pleased to see him, so we drank together, and during the conversation, he casually asked what I did for a living."

"What did you tell him?"

"I needed to hide the fact that I ran a trading company, so I lied and said I made a living scamming people in underground casinos. I should have stopped there, but it was all because of that damned alcohol."

"Tell me what happened next."

"I started boasting about handling enormous sums of money, but admitted that debtors sometimes failed to pay the interest. Choi Dongcheol offered to help collect the debts and suggested splitting the money in half. I decided to be generous, told him he could keep all the interest, and simply made copies of the promissory notes for him."

At last, every piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Among the documents Choi Dongcheol copied, there must have been Jang Seokcho's promissory note as well. The Scorpion Gang used those copies as an excuse for extortion and began hounding the debtors, demanding outrageous interest.

Then another frightening thought occurred to me.

"Director Jeong, exactly how many promissory notes did you copy for Choi Dongcheol?"

"I didn't count precisely, but probably around twenty."

That meant nearly twenty people were currently suffering at the hands of those Scorpion Gang thugs. It was entirely possible that some of them, like Jang Seokcho, had already been pushed to the brink.

There was only one way to save them from the gang's tyranny.

I couldn't turn a blind eye to it, so I immediately called Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong. After several rings, his voice came through the receiver.

"I'm listening, Director Cha."

"Commissioner, we have no time at all, so I'll be brief and get straight to the point."

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

Realizing from my tone that the situation had become serious, Choi Dongyeong immediately straightened, and his voice turned hard as steel.

"Contact Chairman Park immediately and place every member of the Scorpion Gang under the tightest possible round-the-clock surveillance."

"It will be done. Now tell me why."

"Those bastards are currently terrorizing and extorting money from nearly twenty people."

"Those filthy sons of bitches!.. All right, we'll talk later!"

The situation was escalating by the second, dragging us into a swift and unpredictable whirlpool of events.