Chapter 359: Is There a Reasonable Solution?

Chairman Zhen Weiliang successfully purchased thirty tons of gold from Chairman Xi Jinping for $24 billion. On top of that, his company received a three-year tax exemption. Minister He Lifen, who had successfully brought the gold deal to a close, naturally received lavish praise from Chairman Xi Jinping.

President Lin Jialun had been gradually selling off the gold futures so as not to attract the attention of other investors. However, KBH Investment and Bongard Investment Group, which had been watching his every move closely, forced him to lock in an investment loss of $300 million. As a result, Chairman Xi Jinping found himself $7 billion short of the amount needed to repay the eleven banks. He shifted all responsibility onto President Lin Jialun and demanded that he make up the missing $7 billion by any means necessary.

Several days later.

Vice President Jeong Sunho, who had returned from a business trip to the Czech Republic, came to see me.

“Vice President Jeong, how is the Czech government reacting?”

The Czech government had announced an international tender for the construction of two nuclear power plant units in the Dukovany region. South Korea entered the tender by forming the Team Korea consortium, led by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

Naturally, other major powers with considerable expertise in nuclear power plant construction, including France, also entered the competition. Team Korea, which proposed South Korea’s APR-1000 reactor to the Czech government, successfully won the tender after a fierce contest with the other countries.

However, when Westinghouse began throwing obstacles in their path, the contract negotiations eventually reached a deadlock.

Unable to tolerate Westinghouse’s high-handed behavior any longer, Director Cha Jiham decided to acquire the company outright. Vice President Jeong Sunho quickly assembled an acquisition team and left on a business trip to the United States.

In the middle of the prolonged acquisition negotiations with Westinghouse representatives, Chairman Bongard stepped in. Thanks to his involvement, the negotiations to acquire Westinghouse were concluded with surprising ease and speed.

Afterward, Jeong Sunho visited the Czech Republic together with senior officials and informed them that KBH Investment had acquired Westinghouse.

“President Jan Koller was so delighted, it was as though a tooth that had been tormenting him had finally stopped aching.”

“Hahaha. Is that so? Then all that’s left now is to sign the contract?”

“Well... One variable has come up, and it looks like the contract signing may be delayed because of it.”

“Tell me what this variable is.”

“The Czech government originally planned to build four nuclear power plant units in the Dukovany region. However, due to budget shortages, they decided to postpone construction of the other two units until later.”

I thought I understood what this variable was.

President Jan Koller must have asked Team Korea to build the additional two units as well.

To confirm my guess, I asked Vice President Jeong Sunho directly.

“You’re absolutely right, Director Cha.”

“Then why not build them?”

“President Jan Koller cited the budget shortage and asked our country for financial assistance.”

“Hmm... So that’s the problem. By the way, how much is construction of the additional two units expected to cost?”

“According to representatives of the Czech government, they estimated it at around $150 billion.”

“And what is our side’s position on President Jan Koller’s proposal?”

“They told him that the proposal would be reviewed carefully, but overall, the response has been negative.”

“I’m curious. What’s the reason for that?”

“He proposed repaying the principal and interest in installments over thirty years, with a five-year grace period.”

In other words, thirty years was far too long.

“Hmm... I see.”

“Director Cha, do you happen to have any reasonable solution to this problem?”

“Before I answer, I want to clarify something. Who is in charge of Team Korea?”

“Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Hong Seonggeun.”

“I see. Give me one minute.”

Pausing my conversation with Vice President Jeong Sunho, I called Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Jihun.

After several rings, his cheerful voice came through the phone.

[Director Cha, it’s been a while.]

“Lee Jihun, it hasn’t even been ten days since we last drank together.”

[These days, ten days is quite a long time. Tell me, what are you calling about?]

“I’d like to invite you to lunch. When would be convenient?”

[If I let you pay for my lunch, Mr. President will eat me alive.]

“Haha. Really?”

[I happen to have no plans for lunch today. How about we eat at an NIS safe house?]

“Sounds good. I’d also like you to invite Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Hong Seonggeun.”

[Do you have something you want to discuss with Minister Hong?]

“I won’t deny it.”

[Understood. I’ll see you at lunch.]

***

“Lee Jihun, why did Director Cha call?”

The moment Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Jihun hung up, President Cho Seokchin asked him with curiosity on his face.

“It seems he has something important to discuss with Minister Hong.”

“Is there some connection between Director Cha and Minister Hong?”

“Not that I’m aware of...”

As though something had suddenly occurred to him, Lee Jihun stopped mid-sentence.

President Cho Seokchin stared at him, unable to understand what was going on.

Noticing his gaze, Lee Jihun immediately continued.

“Mr. President, Minister Hong is in charge of Team Korea. And KBH Investment is also a member of that consortium.”

“But KBH Investment is only an investment company, isn’t it?”

“KBH Investment joined Team Korea after acquiring Westinghouse.”

“Ah, right. I completely overlooked that. So why does Director Cha want to meet Minister Hong?”

“I don’t know yet. °• N ?? v ?? l i g h t •° I’ll meet Director Cha first and report back to you afterward.”

President Cho Seokchin nodded in agreement and turned to National Intelligence Service Director Om Giyeon.

“Director Om, tell me what brought you here.”

“Rumors concerning Chairman Xi Jinping are beginning to spread little by little.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Rumors that someone stole an astronomical sum from Chairman Xi’s secret funds. There are also rumors that he borrowed money from eleven banks, invested it in gold futures, and suffered enormous losses.”

“And who is spreading those rumors?”

“I asked Vice Chairman Tang Guochang, but he said he had nothing to do with it.”

“Does Director Cha know about this?”

President Cho Seokchin’s question carried an unmistakable implication:

Call Cha Jiham and ask him.

“I already asked Director Cha, but he didn’t know anything about it.”

“Hmm... Then who is behind it?”

“The rumors began spreading three or four days ago, so we should be able to identify the source fairly soon.”

“I see. By the way, how is the matter of having China’s Ministry of State Security destroy North Korea’s secret nuclear weapons storage facility progressing?”

Just thinking about that problem made NIS Director Om Giyeon’s heart sink.

Several days earlier, he had given Vice Chairman Tang Guochang the coordinates of North Korea’s nuclear weapons storage facility.

China’s MSS used reconnaissance satellites to verify the information and confirmed that it was accurate. Minister He Lifen then went to Chairman Xi Jinping and reported the verification results in detail.

Everything had been proceeding exactly according to plan until Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat Zhang Hui ruined everything.

He argued that, to be absolutely certain, MSS operatives had to be sent directly into the nuclear weapons storage facility itself.

Minister He Lifen could not refute his argument and decided to dispatch MSS operatives.

“Things are moving more slowly than we expected.”

NIS Director Om Giyeon reported everything that had happened so far to President Cho Seokchin without hiding anything.

“...MSS field operatives infiltrated North Korean territory to verify the information on-site.”

“At this rate, won’t we still be unable to destroy the nuclear weapons storage facility by the end of the year?”

“It appears we may have to take that possibility into account.”

“What if we pressure Vice Chairman Tang to hurry things along?”

“He trusts Director Cha so completely that he would believe him even if Director Cha said you could make soybean paste by boiling beans.”

In other words, he would simply dump the task onto Cha Jiham.

“Director Om, aren’t you exploiting Director Cha a little too much?”

“I have no excuse for that, even if I had a hundred mouths. But there simply isn’t anyone better suited for the job than Director Cha.”

“Then at least treat Director Cha to an extravagant lunch.”

“Haha. I’ll do that.”

***

“Bastard!”

Chairman Xi Jinping cursed viciously and sprang up from the sofa.

Breathing heavily, he strode to the corner of the office, grabbed the iron pipe he had used several days earlier, and began smashing everything in sight.

Bang! Bang!

Crash!

Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat Zhang Hui and Minister He Lifen simply sat silently on the sofa, watching.

After a while, when there was nothing left to smash, Xi Jinping threw aside the iron pipe and collapsed heavily onto the sofa.

“Water!”

At Chairman Xi Jinping’s furious shout, a secretary instantly brought him a glass of ice water.

Xi Jinping drained it in a single gulp and, without a second thought, hurled the glass straight at the window.

Crash!

The glass shattered against the window, sending shards flying in every direction.

Barely suppressing his anger, Xi Jinping took a deep breath and asked Minister He Lifen,

“Shouldn’t we stop these rumors from spreading?”

“The moment we learned about the rumors, we immediately brought the entire internet under control.”

“At least that’s something. So which bastard is spreading them?”

“I believe there’s a high probability that the Americans are behind it.”

At that moment, Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat Zhang Hui, who clearly had something to say, cut into the conversation.

“Minister He, but the Americans don’t know that Politburo member Liu embezzled Chairman Xi’s money, do they?”

“Just in case, I called Director Jean-Philippe and asked him. According to him, CIA operatives spent several days stationed at UBS.”

“Are you saying the Americans obtained the information directly from UBS?”

“Otherwise, there’s no way to explain how the rumors spread on such a massive scale.”

“Now I understand what you meant. Continue your discussion with the Chairman.”

Having satisfied his curiosity, Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat Zhang Hui stepped back from the conversation.

“Chairman Xi, perhaps we should strike back at the Americans?”

“Wouldn’t striking back merely because they’re spreading rumors be going too far?”

Minister He Lifen sighed inwardly in relief.

If Chairman Xi Jinping had firmly decided to retaliate against the United States, the situation would have become hopelessly tangled.

“I understand your position. Last night, I heard something strange from Director Jean-Philippe.”

“What was it? Speak quickly.”

“They traced where the $75.6 billion deposited into Politburo member Liu’s UBS account went. It turns out that the $75.6 billion didn’t go to North Korea at all. It was transferred to offshore jurisdictions all over the world.”

“Hmm... And what’s strange about that?”

“Kim Jonghun was left without dollars because the gold bars he had hidden in Switzerland were stolen. And yet he supposedly hid $75.6 billion in offshore accounts?”

“Hmm...”

Chairman Xi Jinping fell silent, clearly thinking something over.

Fortunately, his contemplation did not last long.

“Minister He, is it possible that Politburo member Liu colluded not with North Korea, but with some other criminal organization?”

“That point made me suspicious as well, so I asked Director Jean-Philippe again.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said there is no criminal organization in the world capable of moving such an enormous amount of money in such a short period of time.”

“Then what’s your assessment?”

“I believe Politburo member Liu used both North Korea and a criminal organization.”

“Now I understand. Report to me immediately as soon as you obtain any new information.”

Brrr—

At that moment, the phone lying on the table in front of Minister He Lifen vibrated.

Glancing at the screen, he reported to Chairman Xi Jinping that the caller was the second-ranking figure in the MSS, Deputy Minister Huang Xuan.

After receiving Chairman Xi Jinping’s permission, he immediately answered.

“Deputy Minister Huang, what happened?”

[Minister He, an operative who infiltrated North Korea to reconnoiter the nuclear weapons storage facility contacted me.]

“Yes? And what were the reconnaissance results?”

[The operative recorded video of the location where the nuclear warheads are stored. We carefully analyzed the footage he sent and confirmed that it really is a nuclear weapons storage facility.]

“Send me that video immediately.”

Click.

The instant Minister He Lifen ended the call, Chairman Xi Jinping impatiently asked,

“Minister He, what’s the situation? Tell me quickly.”

“An MSS operative successfully infiltrated the interior of North Korea’s nuclear weapons storage facility.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Chairman Xi Jinping burst into hearty, thunderous laughter.

After laughing for a while, he finally stopped and spoke again.

“Minister He, have we obtained proof that it really is a nuclear weapons storage facility?”

Bzzzt—

At that exact moment, the phone in Minister He Lifen’s hand vibrated briefly.

After checking the sender’s name, he immediately reported to Chairman Xi Jinping,

“Chairman Xi, Deputy Minister Huang has sent the video.”

“Really? Let’s watch it at once.”

Minister He Lifen glanced briefly at the enormous television with its badly dented screen and continued,

“Chairman Xi, perhaps we should watch the video in the reception room?”

“Ahem! Ahem!”

Embarrassed, Chairman Xi Jinping gave an affected cough and rose from the sofa.