Chapter 149: People Reunited

I had expected NIS Director Om Giyeon to politely decline Chairman Park Yeongil's request.

After all, Chairman Park was here as a private citizen, and it would also be his first time meeting CIA Director Griffin.

Contrary to my expectations, however, Om Giyeon readily agreed and said he was welcome to come.

Thinking I'd misheard him, I asked again, but the answer remained the same.

"Chairman, Director Om has agreed."

"Wait a second."

At that moment, the sound of an argument came through the phone's speaker. Chairman Park Yeongil was bickering with someone.

Listening carefully, I realized his counterpart was none other than Chairman Yoon Jongu.

Covering the microphone with my hand, I turned to the NIS Director.

"It sounds like Chairman Yoon may be coming here as well."

"Chairman Yoon was planning to come here from the beginning."

"...What?"

"I'll explain in a little while."

After waiting for a moment, Chairman Park Yeongil's puzzled voice came through the receiver.

"Director Cha, ask Director Om whether I can bring Chairman Yoon with me."

"I already asked. He said he already knows Chairman Yoon is coming."

"Understood. See you shortly."

Click.

The moment I lowered the phone from my ear, Director Om Giyeon spoke first.

"Director Cha, let me explain what happened this morning."

"I'm listening."

"I called Chairman Yoon and explained why you wouldn't be able to go to work today. In response, he said he wanted to attend the breakfast meeting himself. I contacted Director Nevers to ask his opinion, and he said he had no objection."

"Director Nevers knows Chairman Yoon, but this is Director Griffin's first time meeting him, isn't it?"

"He agreed as well."

"In that case, there's no problem."

"It seems Chairman Yoon stopped by Chairman Park's company on his way here."

At that moment, Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong interrupted, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Director Om, Chairman Yoon is an extremely prudent man. Why would he risk appearing impolite by insisting on coming here?"

"I explained to Chairman Yoon why those two gentlemen had come to our country and what concessions they would demand in return."

"What did you say?! You revealed something that important to him?"

Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong asked in astonishment, clearly not expecting such an answer.

Nevertheless, Director Om Giyeon remained perfectly calm, as though he had a winning card in hand.

"We aren't experts when it comes to nuclear power plants."

"Are you saying Chairman Yoon came because of the nuclear power plant issue?"

"Exactly right, Commissioner Choi."

"I understand Chairman Yoon's reason, but why does Chairman Park want to be here?"

"He must be curious about what happened last night. Director Cha, am I right?"

"I can't deny it."

About thirty minutes later, Chairman Yoon Jongu and Chairman Park Yeongil arrived with their respective entourages.

Among them, however, was a man I had never seen before.

I was curious who he was, but I suppressed my curiosity. I'd find out soon enough.

As if reading my mind, Chief Secretary Song Dosok spoke first.

"Director Om, Commissioner Choi, this is President An Jeongguk, CEO of Hangang Engineering."

"President An, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm the Director of the National Intelligence Service..."

Director Om Giyeon and Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong greeted President An Jeongguk in turn.

As soon as everyone had been introduced and barely settled onto the sofas, Chairman Yoon Jongu spoke decisively.

"President An, you do understand what will happen if anything discussed here reaches my ears from someone else, don't you?"

"I'll take this secret to my grave!"

President An Jeongguk's tense voice echoed throughout the living room.

Looking satisfied, Chairman Yoon turned toward Director Om Giyeon.

"When are our American guests expected to arrive?"

"I spoke with them ten minutes ago. They were just entering Hannam Bridge."

"Considering rush hour, they'll need another thirty or forty minutes."

"That's our estimate as well."

"Shall we discuss our countermeasures before they arrive?"

"An excellent idea. They're visiting our country because they hope to obtain information from Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol of the Reconnaissance General Bureau. Director Cha proposed that, in exchange for providing that information, they help stop Westinghouse's high-handed behavior."

After hearing Director Om's explanation, Chairman Yoon turned to me.

"The information they want from Deputy Director Jo may not actually be that important."

"I doubt the Directors of the CIA and the FBI flew all the way here because they had nothing better to do..."

"What did you say?!"

President An Jeongguk shouted in genuine astonishment, cutting me off.

I completely understood his reaction.

Anyone would be shocked if the Directors of both the CIA and the FBI arrived in Korea at the same time.

Chairman Yoon Jongu, however, saw things differently.

"President An, I did not give you permission to interrupt."

"I was simply too shocked... Please accept my deepest apologies."

"This is your final warning."

"I'll remember your words for the rest of my life, Chairman."

President An instinctively touched his neck as he answered loudly.

"Director Cha, continue."

"The answer lies in the very fact that they rushed here."

"Hmm... I see. So what information do they want from Deputy Director Jo?"

Instead of answering directly, I turned toward Director Om Giyeon.

As though he had anticipated it, he immediately spoke.

"It appears Director Griffin and Director Nevers want information about the elite members of North Korea's ruling leadership."

"Even with American intelligence capabilities, don't they already know enough?"

"They certainly know a great deal, but they can't possibly know more than Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol."

"When you put it that way, it makes sense. But will Deputy Director Jo actually agree to give them what they want?"

"I was concerned about that as well, so I asked him directly. He replied that he was willing to provide as much information as they wanted."

"Then there's no problem. Now let's discuss something else. Can they really stop Westinghouse's bullying?"

"To be honest, I have greater expectations for Chairman Bongard than I do for those two."

"What makes you say that?"

It was finally my turn to join the discussion.

"The largest shareholder of Westinghouse is the Canadian company Cameco. Cameco's largest shareholder is the Royal Bank of Canada, whose largest shareholder is, in turn, the Bongard Investment Group."

Chairman Yoon Jongu's concerns vanished instantly.

The Bongard Investment Group had earned an astronomical amount of money thanks to Cha Jiham.

Moreover, Chairman Bongard was doing everything in his power to make Cha Jiham part of his family.

If Cha Jiham asked him for a favor, he would probably jump out of bed in the middle of the night to fulfill it.

If he got involved, Westinghouse's arrogance would disappear in an instant.

"Then there's nothing to worry about."

"If possible, I'd rather not use Chairman Bongard as a trump card."

"Why take the back roads when there's a highway?"

"He's a businessman who strictly believes in equal exchange."

"Hmm... I hadn't considered that."

At that moment, Chairman Park Yeongil clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I honestly don't know how someone so shortsighted manages to run the Hangang Group."

"What did you say?!"

Just as expected, Chairman Yoon Jongu immediately flared up.

"You've lived nearly sixty years longer than Director Cha, and you have thousands of advisers. Yet you still can't see as far ahead as he can."

"...Kgh."

Chairman Yoon had no comeback and could only let out a frustrated grunt.

After glancing at him briefly, Chairman Park turned to Director Om Giyeon.

"North Korea must already know Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol has disappeared."

"Without a doubt."

"Shouldn't we keep it an absolute secret that he defected to our country?"

"We're already keeping it under the strictest secrecy."

"But Choi Cheolgyeo knows he defected to the South."

Director Om Giyeon seemed to immediately understand what Chairman Park meant.

The plan was to process Choi Cheolgyeo as someone arrested during the operation against the Scorpion Gang.

Giving him special treatment would raise suspicion, so it had been decided he would be treated exactly the same as the ordinary Scorpion Gang members.

Sharing the same detention cell with them, he could easily let something slip about Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol.

That was exactly the issue Chairman Park had raised.

"So what should we do with Choi Cheolgyeo?"

"I'm sure Director Cha already has an answer."

At once, every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me.

Damn it... They're going to drive me insane!

After thinking it over quickly, I spoke calmly.

"Eliminating Choi Cheolgyeo would certainly be the cleanest option, but it isn't the best one."

"So you have an alternative?"

"Yes. When he's arrested, it should be announced that he resisted violently, forcing officers to use firearms. To prevent the press from becoming suspicious, he should be beaten to within an inch of his life—but kept alive—and then sent to the hospital."

"Commissioner Choi, you heard Director Cha's proposal?"

"Hahaha! Of course."

At that moment, Kang Inhan cleared his throat and spoke.

"Commissioner Choi, Choi Cheolgyeo was arrested while drinking with Lee Jeongsu."

"In that case, that bastard should be beaten half to death too—but not killed."

"Would you allow us to handle that unpleasant task?"

"Excellent. Go ahead. And while you're at it, empty his pockets completely."

"I assume there's a reason for that?"

"Lee Jeongsu has to cough up half of the money the Scorpion Gang extorted from the victims of the fraudulent gambling dens."

"I understand that, but what about the other half?"

"Whatever the circumstances, Choi Cheolgyeo effectively handed fifteen spies over to us."

At that very moment, Chairman Yoon Jongu abruptly interrupted.

"Commissioner Choi, what spies are you talking about?"

"Oh, that? Choi Cheolgyeo's true identity has been confirmed. He's a North Korean spy posing as a defector."

Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong openly recounted everything that had happened the previous night.

Director Om Giyeon and I filled in the details he had left out.

"...And Director Cha proved that Choi Cheolgyeo was a spy."

"Based on the information he provided, an operation to capture the remaining spies is currently underway."

"Hahaha! Director Cha is a true patriot!"

Knock, knock, knock.

Just as Chairman Yoon Jongu burst into booming laughter, an NIS officer opened the front door and announced the arrival of Director Griffin and Director Nevers.

We quickly stepped outside and found them in the garden, accompanied by their security detail.

As the host, Director Om Giyeon welcomed them.

"Director Griffin, Director Nevers, it seems we're seeing each other quite often."

"Hahaha! You're right about that."

Gesturing toward Chairman Yoon Jongu and the others, Director Om continued,

"I believe Director Nevers already knows this gentleman, so we can skip the introductions."

"Let's do that."

"Director Griffin, this is a representative from Hangang Group..."

After the rather lengthy introductions were finally over, we all moved into the living room.

Clearly thirsty, Director Griffin emptied the drink placed before him in one gulp. Setting down the empty glass, he turned to Director Om Giyeon.

"You look very tired. Did something happen last night?"

Strictly speaking, Director Om Giyeon had no obligation to tell Director Griffin about the previous night's events.

Nevertheless, with a specific objective in mind, he chose to reveal everything.

"Something extremely important happened last night."

"And what exactly happened?"

"We uncovered no fewer than sixteen North Korean spies operating in our country."

"What...?"

As though remembering something, Director Griffin abruptly stopped himself.

Reading his thoughts, Director Om wasted no time.

"The information didn't come from Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol."

"Then how did you manage to identify the spies?"

"Director Griffin, you know Director Cha traveled to Macau to dismantle the fraudulent casino syndicate, don't you?"

"Of course. How could I forget what happened just last week?"

"It seems I asked a foolish question. Among Major General Jeong Sanhak's subordinates was a man named Choi Cheolgyeo. Five years ago, he defected from North Korea and..."