Chapter 85: Suspicion Is a Disease Too

“Do you think Chairman Bongard was telling the truth?”

As soon as the limousine pulled away, Advisor Graff turned to Director Glenn Nevers.

“Chairman Bongard is the head of an investment group. He's an extraordinarily cautious man.”

“So you believe what he said?”

“I do.”

“But what is the real reason Governor Gordon Brant is protecting the Triad?”

“I believe there are two reasons.”

“And what are they?”

Burning with impatience, Advisor Graff leaned closer to Director Nevers, urging him to continue.

“First, Governor Brant most likely doesn't know Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui's true identity.”

“That does sound plausible. And the second reason?”

“An election campaign requires an enormous amount of money.”

“Ah, I see.”

Advisor Graff nodded in understanding and turned his gaze toward the window.

***

“Thank you for making time to come despite your busy schedule.”

Chief of Staff Lee Jihun greeted Advisor Graff as he stepped out of the limousine.

“How could I possibly decline President Cho's invitation to lunch?”

“Haha, exactly. President Cho is already waiting for you. Please, let's go inside.”

Lee Jihun led Advisor Graff, Director Glenn Nevers, and Ambassador Tony Goodwin into the building, where they were warmly welcomed by President Cho Seokchin of the Republic of Korea.

“Advisor Graff, Director Nevers, it's been a long time.”

“The pleasure is ours, Mr. President.”

“If you had informed us in advance that you were visiting our country, I would have personally welcomed you at the airport.”

Advisor Graff instantly caught the hidden meaning behind President Cho Seokchin's words. The president was gently but unmistakably reproaching them for entering Korea in secret. Since they were clearly at fault, there was nothing he could say in response.

“The next time we come to Korea, we'll be sure to notify you in advance.”

“I would appreciate that very much. Now then, shall we sit down and talk?”

Once everyone had taken their seats, a secretary served drinks to each guest. Advisor Graff emptied his glass in one gulp, set it down on the table, and immediately got to the point.

“President Cho, have you obtained irrefutable evidence that Governor Brant has been protecting those Triad bastards?”

Instead of answering himself, President Cho Seokchin turned toward Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong of the National Police Agency. As though he had read the president's mind, Choi spoke without hesitation.

“Chairman Bongard asked me that exact same question, Advisor Graff. And I provided him with all the evidence.”

As if he had been waiting for precisely that moment, Chairman Bongard launched into a harsh rebuke.

“Advisor Graff, suspicion is a disease too.”

“...”

Realizing he had nothing to say in his defense, Advisor Graff lowered his head in embarrassment. Chairman Bongard continued glaring at him with open contempt before speaking again.

“While Advisor Graff was on his way here, I had the list of politicians and public figures backing the Triad verified. Among them were quite a few senior officials from the current administration. If this information leaks to the press, President Douglas will suffer a devastating blow.”

“Without question.”

“And I don't believe this is the time for President Douglas to indulge his pride and stubbornness. What do you think, Advisor Graff?”

“I completely agree with you, Chairman Bongard.”

“Good. Chief of Staff Lee, please continue the negotiations with Advisor Graff.”

Having played his part flawlessly, Chairman Bongard quietly stepped back. Lee Jihun nodded gratefully before turning to the American guest.

“Advisor Graff, you acknowledge just how explosive the information we've gathered is, don't you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“In that case, in exchange for providing those materials to the United States, we'd like to revise the terms of our compensation.”

“...What exactly would you like to change?”

“First, the financial compensation will increase from one billion dollars to two billion dollars.”

“...Agreed.”

“I'm glad we reached an agreement so quickly. Our second condition is that the United States actively support our national nuclear weapons development program.”

“I apologize, but that is absolutely unacceptable.”

Lee Jihun had anticipated exactly that reaction from Advisor Graff. He already had a compromise prepared that was less demanding.

“In that case, provide us with an official document explicitly stating that if the Republic of Korea is subjected to a nuclear attack by North Korea or any other hostile force, the United States will retaliate with a nuclear strike against the aggressor.”

“But the United States already provides Korea with a nuclear umbrella.”

“That's true in principle, but there is no official agreement signed by the U.S. government.”

“Hm. To be honest, I wasn't aware of that.”

“That's perfectly fine. The important thing is that the document clearly states the commitment to the nuclear umbrella will remain unchanged even if a new president takes office in the United States.”

“Very well. I'll relay your proposal to President Douglas.”

“And our final condition. South Korea's contribution toward the cost of maintaining U.S. forces stationed here must be reduced by fifty percent compared to last year.”

“...What did you just say?!”

Advisor Graff nearly jumped out of his seat in utter shock, bordering on panic. Lee Jihun, however, remained perfectly expressionless. After all, every trump card was in his hands.

“The cost of maintaining American forces consists of one billion dollars in direct expenses and another billion in indirect expenses. Even if the direct expenses are cut in half, our country would still be paying one and a half billion dollars. If you present it to President Douglas the right way, he'll agree.”

“I understand your point.”

“Time is ticking, Advisor.”

The implication could not have been clearer—he needed to call President Douglas immediately. Advisor Graff searched for a way out, fully aware of the American president's daily routine.

“Chief of Staff Lee, but it's the middle of the night in the United States.”

“Oh, come now. It's only a little past ten-thirty in the evening.”

“Ha...”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Advisor Graff stood up with his phone in hand. After entering a separate room, he spent a minute collecting his thoughts before dialing President Douglas. Several long rings later, a sleepy, irritated voice answered.

“...You know I go to bed early.”

“I do, Mr. President, but the situation is critical. We can't afford to wait.”

“Go ahead. What's happened?”

Before dumping a pile of delicate problems onto the president's shoulders, Advisor Graff knew he first needed to lighten the mood with some good news.

“First, I'd like to report the outcome of our meeting with Chairman Bongard.”

“Well? Stop dragging it out.”

“He successfully secured the relocation of the joint venture to South Korea, which will guarantee your victory in the upcoming reelection.”

“Excellent. Convey my personal thanks to him.”

“I certainly will, Mr. President. However, he has one request in return. He would like you to publicly announce to the press that the White House will provide its full support to ensure the success of the joint venture.”

“I don't see any difficulty with that. It's a simple formality.”

The warm-up was over. It was time for the real issue.

“This morning, Director Glenn Nevers arrived in Korea on a secret visit.”

“Why? Was there a good reason?”

“Recently, the Korean police completely dismantled the local branch of the Triad. During the operation, they seized the organization's highly confidential internal archives. Those documents contain detailed information about the Triad's activities in the United States.”

“So Nevers flew there because of those archives?”

“Exactly, Mr. President.”

“And what's in them?”

“You'd better brace yourself. Governor Gordon Brant, who's always getting in your way, has been taking the Triad's side and protecting them.”

“What?!”

President Douglas roared so loudly that Graff's ear went numb. Rubbing it lightly, the advisor hurried on.

“To crush Brant once and for all, we have to obtain those archives from the Korean police by any means necessary.”

“Of course! What does the Korean government want in return?”

“They've presented three conditions.”

Advisor Graff carefully went through every demand from the Korean side. President Douglas reluctantly agreed to the first and second conditions, but when he heard the third, he exploded exactly as expected. He raged that he would never make such a concession. Having long since become familiar with his superior's explosive temper, Advisor Graff simply held the phone away from his ear and waited patiently. A couple of minutes later, the furious shouting gave way to heavy breathing. The anger had subsided.

He put the phone back to his ear.

“Mr. President, I don't think this is the time to let emotions take over.”

“So you think I should accept those ridiculous Korean demands?!”

“With those documents, we can destroy Governor Brant in a single blow.”

“I'll crush him in the election even without that evidence!”

Graff realized it was time to play his strongest card.

“There's a serious risk that Chairman Bongard and Chairman Gomez will turn their backs on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“They openly stated that you're prepared to risk everything over a petty matter of pride.”

“...”

A deathly silence followed. The words had evidently hit like a bucket of cold water. Advisor Graff patiently waited for the president to digest what he'd heard.

“So you're saying those two have sided with the Korean government?”

“That's my assessment. If both of them abandon us, Mr. President, you can forget about winning a second term.”

“I know that as well...”

“So will you accept the Korean government's conditions?”

“...I will. I don't have much of a choice.”

At last, President Douglas gave in. Graff let out a silent sigh of relief before pressing his advantage.

“I guarantee they'll give you their strongest possible support during the election.”

“Do it.”

Click.

President Douglas angrily slammed down the receiver, ending the call, but Advisor Graff took no offense. He understood exactly how the president felt.

Relieved, he returned to the reception room, where Director Glenn Nevers immediately approached him.

“Well? Did the president approve the Korean demands?”

Instead of answering verbally, Advisor Graff gave a meaningful nod before turning to Lee Jihun.

“President Douglas has made this difficult decision.”

“Excellent.”

“We'd like to receive the archives as soon as possible.”

“As for that matter, I have a proposal.”

“I'm listening. What would you like to discuss?”

“Fulfilling all of our conditions will require some time. To speed things up, how would you feel about our negotiating team traveling to the United States in person?”

“I fully support your proposal, Chief of Staff Lee.”

“Haha, wonderful. We'll assemble a delegation and depart for the United States as soon as possible.”

At that moment, the head chef entered the reception room and announced that lunch had been served. Everyone moved to the dining room, where they resumed their interrupted conversation over the meal.

Director Glenn Nevers casually turned to Commissioner General Choi Dongyeong.

“Commissioner Choi, how exactly do you intend to make use of the remaining confidential Triad archives?”

Choi Dongyeong instantly saw through the FBI director's intentions. It was obvious he wanted to get his hands on every last piece of information.

“We haven't given that any thought yet.”

“In that case, perhaps we could purchase those materials from you?”

“As you're undoubtedly aware, the sole owner of those archives is Korea Investment.”

At that very moment, every eye turned toward Chairman Park Yeongil. Fully aware of where the conversation was heading, the elderly man spoke unhurriedly.

“I've entrusted every matter concerning the Triad investigation to Managing Director Cha. I believe we should hear Mr. Cha's opinion.”

I paused for a moment, choosing my words carefully, before turning to Director Glenn Nevers.

“As far as I know, our police have not yet completed a thorough analysis of all the seized documents. I believe it would be wiser to wait until that analysis is finished before deciding the archives' ultimate disposition.”

“In that case, what if our FBI agents joined the analysis?”

“I think that's an excellent idea. However, you should discuss that directly with Commissioner Choi.”

Just like that, the ball landed squarely back in Choi Dongyeong's court.

“I'll allow FBI agents to participate in analyzing the archives, provided you meet two strict conditions.”

“What are they? Let's hear them.”

“First, every FBI agent assigned to the task will operate under my direct command and operational control for the duration of the investigation. Second, any information obtained during the analysis may not be disclosed to third parties or removed from the investigative team.”

“I accept your conditions in full, Commissioner Choi,” Director Glenn Nevers replied without the slightest hesitation, bringing the matter to a decisive close.