Chapter 548: 71

April 27, 2020, 16:20

Panmungak in Paju, Gyeonggi-do.

President Suh Hyun-woo and First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung had a short tea break after the first part of the summit. Twenty minutes later, they sat down at the conference room table in Panmungak for the second part of the summit.

“Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung, now I will openly tell you everything.”

“Go ahead, President Suh Hyun-woo.”

Sitting in a comfortable position with a relaxed smile on his face, President Suh Hyun-woo talked to First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung without hesitation. “In 2019, Korea’s economy ranked 4th in the world with a GDP of 4,900 trillion won, and this year, our economy will soon catch up to Japan’s. We are already caught up to Japan in terms of population rate.”

“I see,” Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung said. “As a Korean, I congratulate you on South Korea’s growth.”

“Thank you, but I’m not saying this just to show off. What I’m trying to say is this—federal unification of the South and the North.”

Kim Yo-jung couldn’t hide her shock at the mention of reunification. The South and the North had only been on friendly terms for less than a year, so it was surprising to hear the word “unification” come from President Suh Hyun-woo.

“Did you say unification? Isn’t it too early to talk about that? We the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea are stable under Chairman Kim Jung-un’s leadership.” Kim Yo-jung changed her expression to hide how uncomfortable she was. She spoke firmly, her eyes flashing.

“I’m well aware,” President Suh Hyun-woo said. “I’m not saying we should be unified right now. As we discussed in the first part of the summit, I would like a political and military unification—just like our policy to support North Korea’s streets, railroads, and industrial buildings, along with hospitals and schools for North Koreans. Therefore, I would like to officially make a request of unification to you, Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung.”

“President Suh Hyun-woo, please don’t rush this. As I mentioned before, we the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea are not in need of such an offer right now.”

Expecting this reaction, President Suh Hyun-woo said more strongly, “Then let me ask you a question, Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung. Do you think the North Korean government is stable right now?”

First Vice President Kim Yo-jung was unable to respond to President Suh Hyun-woo. What he said was the truth. Since the bombing in 2015, which sent Chairman Kim Jung-un into a coma, she had led the country as the First Vice Chairman, becoming the alpha in the government. Although she thought she had been dong well in the government for the past four years, the country was actually ran by people like Lee Byung-chul.

In addition, although Lee Byung-chul’s rebellion was successfully suppressed with the help of South Korea, that didn’t mean someone like Lee Byung-chul wouldn’t appear again. As a mere lady in her early thirties in a crowd full of old politicians, it was obvious that things would only get tougher for her, as she would have to worry about another rebellion taking place.

Not to mention, it was unknown when Chairman Kim Jung-un would wake up, and Kim Yo-jung was getting anxious. What President Suh Hyun-woo told her matched her own thoughts and pointed out the truth.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I’m just temporarily leading the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea until Chairman Kim Jung-un is able to return. Questions like that are degrading. Please refrain from asking such questions.”

It’s only natural for someone to strongly deny their weaknesses in order to hide them. This was true of Kim Yo-jung, who had replied to President Suh Hyun-woo’s questions in an aggressive tone.

“I apologize if I offended you, Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung.”

Just like any experienced Korean politician in his fifties, President Suh Hyun-woo expertly pointed out her weakness, giving himself the upper hand. He had figured out her weakness before the summit had even begun.

“I’m glad that you, Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung, have a firm hold over the North Korean government. Since that’s the case, shouldn’t we be able to talk about federal unification for the people in North Korea without worrying about anything?”

Seeing that Kim Yo-jung was unable to speak, President Suh Hyun-woo thought that he had taken control of this summit. He used stronger bait. “I can guarantee the positions of most North Korean politicians in the federal unification of the South and the North. This means that I will accept the existence of the Labor Party. But I have one stipulation, which is that the current political system should be changed into a democracy. I would also like to say that South Korea’s economic power has the potential to develop North Korea like South Korea within ten years. These are the specifics of federal unification. I hope you can go over them once you return to your country.”

President Suh Hyun-woo took out a set of documents from his briefcase and handed them to First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung.

The South-North one-on-one private summit ended after eight p.m. Media from all over the world were curious about what the leaders of the South and North had talked about during the four-hour meeting, leading to countless assumptions and rumors based on nonsensical evidence.

* * *

April 27th, 2020, 22:30

Pyung-yang Gaeseong Highway, South Pyungan, North Korea.

In the official state car, First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung was looking out the windows at the dark scenery, organizing her thoughts. She wished she could hide her inner anxiety. Lee Byung-chul’s rebellion had ruined her faith in other politicians. She couldn’t tell who was friend and who was foe. Lee Byung-chul’s betrayal had stirred these doubts in her—she had trusted him.

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While she was having these complicated thoughts, the official car that she was in and the numerous cars escorting it entered the city of Pyung-yang.

* * *

April 30th, 2020, 17:00

Completion of the plasma super photon powerhouse in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do.

Construction on the plasma super photon powerhouse began in November 2018 and was completed in a year and six months. The planned installed capacity was 8GW, but this was changed to 12GW, making the Ansan Powerhouse a massive installed capacity powerhouse, but also delaying its completion. The installed capacity of 12GW in the Ansan Plasma Super Photon Powerhouse was powerful enough to provide electricity to most western cities, including Incheon and Ansan.

The long-term project was to build ten 12GW plasma super photon powerhouses all over South Korea by 2024, providing free electricity to every house and reducing the industrial electricity bill by 80%. This was the beginning of the project. However, only a small number of politicians related to the project was invited to the completion ceremony, and the ceremony was closed to the public. The security was also strong, like most military security.

* * *

May 3, 2020, 09:00

Conference room in the Presidential Palace, Pyung-yang, North Korea.

At the conference room in the Presidential Palace, a busy meeting was going on. The most influential politicians in North Korea were seated around a large table covered in documents. These documents were from President Suh Hyun-woo, and they contained the details related to the federal unification.

“Please share your opinions once you’re done looking at the documents,” First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung said in a more serious tone than usual.

Following her instructions, Chairperson of National People’s Congress Kim Gi-nam raised his hand.

“Chairperson Kim Gi-nam, please speak.”

Chairperson Kim Gi-nam, who thought he was being neutral, strongly voiced against the federal unification. “Isn’t this unification by absorption? As the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, it’s not the right time to accept unification by absorption. We shouldn’t allow it, especially when Chairman Kim Jung-un is still in a coma.”

Party Secretary Kim Young-chul, who was close with Kim Yo-jung, spoke in favor of it. “I think differently. South Korea is different from what it was in the past. First, economically, they’re almost fifth in the world, and their military budget was eighty trillion dollars this year alone. That’s 2.5 times more than it was in 2016. And how is North Korea doing? Rather than getting better, things are getting worse there day by day. Isn’t everyone aware of this? The only thing we can rely on is our nuclear weapons, but other than that, people’s lives continue to become more difficult.” Kim Young-chul, who was both the Labor Party secretary and head of the Unified Front Department, pointed out the uncomfortable truth about how things really were in North Korea.

Chairman Kim Gi-nam pointed at Kim Young-chul and raised his voice. “So what are you saying?” he asked. “That we should agree to unification by absorption? You’ve met with South Koreans so many times that you seem like one of them now.”

“Chairperson Kim Gi-nam, we should think about the people. Take a look at the unification financial support that South Korea is willing to give us—it’s a huge amount. We won’t ever have that kind of financial support on our own, no matter how hard we try.”

“Who doesn’t think about the people? Don’t pretend like you’re the only one who’s worrying about them.”

“Chairperson Kim Gi-nam, we have to accept the fact that the world is changing before it’s too late, and we should go with the flow.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

“Chairperson Kim Gi-nam, please calm down,” Kim Yo-jung said. “We’re just sharing our opinions right now, so let’s listen to others first, then we’ll discuss.”

“I understand, Kim Yo-jung,” he said. As the oldest in the group, Chairperson Kim Gi-nam was conservative and didn’t seem to like the idea of unification by absorption.

“Let me say one thing too.”

“We have to do something about South Korea, whether that’s a war or unification. However, just like Party Secretary Kim Young-chul said, it’s hard to compete with South Korea when our power is so limited. They’re guaranteeing us the Labor Party System. With all the support they’re offering, I would agree in favor of unification for our people.”

Minister Park Bong-ju, who usually stated his opinion first, listened to the other politicians’ opinions before jumped into the conversation. “Let me say one thing too, First Vice Chairman Kim Yo-jung,” he said.

“Please do so, Minister Park Bong-ju.”

“I want to talk realistically first. Chairman Kim Jung-un is currently in a coma, and I don’t think it’s right to proceed with the unification without him. We also have to consider the compromise we made with China. Whether it’s federal unification or unification by absorption, we have to talk to China first. And we also have to see if South Korea can keep all the clauses they came up with for federal unification.” Minister Park Bong-ju simplified the issues that had to be resolved first, and the issues others hadn’t brought up, rather than standing for or against the topic of unification.

The conference started at nine in the morning and ended at five in the evening, with an hour-long lunch break in the afternoon. The politicians talked about the unification of South and North Korea for the first time in this seven-hour discussion, and although nothing was settled, the fact that the topic of unification had been discussed in the Presidential Palace showed that North Korea was also going along with the flow of change in the Korean Peninsula.

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