“I am well aware of how we defeated the Communists, sir,” Kim said, his voice a low monotone.
“Then under what delusions of grandeur are you suffering, General Kim?” Kwon asked. “Did you think that just because we captured some jets and artillery pieces and nuclear weapons we can scare China? The smallest military district in China has twice as many men, planes, and tanks as our entire country!
“We are a nation of peace, Kim, not because we are small and defenseless, but because we are Koreans, bred for peace,” Kwon went on. “We do not have an offensive striking force because we never wanted one! We should have given those special weapons away. We never should have kept them!”
“And let China overrun us again?” Kim asked. “Did we fight to win reunification, only to roll over and die just a few short weeks later?”
“This is a different world than that of 1895 or 1945,” Kwon said. “Don’t you realize this? The conquest of land is less important than technological and economic competition. China never wanted our land. But you — we — acted as if the Ming dynasty ruled China, or the Imperial Japanese warlords wanted to annex us again. The Chinese would have been perfectly happy to wait and watch to see if stability and peace would take over the Korean peninsula — as long as they were not threatened by nuclear weapons. When we kept those weapons, we became a threat to them.”
“Sir, we kept those weapons because they were to secure our borders and guarantee our security against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army,” Kim retorted. “We knew we could not defend ourselves against China’s overwhelming numerical advantage. China is stupid enough to risk the lives of millions of its citizens and soldiers just to take Chagang Do province — well, that was their mistake. We have no choice now, sir.
“We have to back up our threat to use weapons of mass destruction to stop the Chinese. I am requesting your launch codes for our nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons force.”
“You… you are insane, Kim…”
“I am realistic, sir!” Kim exploded. “I am trying to save Korea, not watch it destroyed! I am in the command center directing our troops to try to drive the invaders out, not sitting in my cozy office or in some underground secret bunker wringing my hands and hoping for peace. I have ordered twelve Scud-B and six Nodong-1 ballistic missiles targeted against the Chinese brigades in Chagang Do province and inside Jilin province in China. I have also targeted air bases in Dandong, Fushun, and Shenyang, the tank base at Linjiang, and the naval bases at Luda and Qingdao. In addition, I have targeted two Nodong-2 missiles at the People’s Liberation Army command center…”
“Beijing?” Kwon said in horror. “You… you have targeted Beijing with nuclear weapons?”
“I know this seems a drastic and inconceivable act, sir,” Kim said with amazing calmness, “but if we have any hope of stopping the Chinese war machine from sweeping across Korea, we must do this. I need your execution codes, sir, and I need them now. You must read them off to me over the phone — I can send someone over there immediately to help you compute the codes if you wish. The senior controller here will copy them down and authenticate them. Combined with my codes, we can proceed with the attack.”
“I will never agree to give you those codes, Kim!” Kwon shouted. “Do you honestly believe I would authorize an attack that could kill hundreds of millions of persons? You are insane! I order you to leave that command center immediately, or I will have you placed under arrest! I am dismissing you from your post.”
“You cannot do that!”
“It is done already,” Kwon said. “You are no longer minister of defense. I will issue the order immediately.” And the line went dead.
Kim Kun-mo’s head was spinning as he hung up the telephone. The bastard, he thought angrily, he actually fired me? We are in the middle of a war with Communist China, and he fired me? “He can’t do that!” he shouted. “I can’t let that happen.” He picked up the telephone to the senior controller.
“Sir?”
“Seal up the command center, General,” Kim said. “Go to full nuclear-chemical-biological protection mode. Full EMP protective measures. Hard-wired analog communications only.”
“Yes, sir,” the senior controller responded. “Switching to internal power, canceling digital and high-gain communications inlets.”
Moments after an announcement was made, the lights flickered, then died except for a handful of battery-powered safety lights. The air also smelled different — mustier, dry like the inside of a coffin. They were on the air recirculators now, completely cut off from outside air; they were also on internal batteries that would be recharged as long as outside power was still available, but would instantly switch over to internal-only power if a nuclear blast erupted outside.
Kim got up from his desk and looked down below to the floor of the command center — it was almost completely dark, with only a few consoles illuminated. But the activity did not cease. Technicians started carrying out sound-powered communications systems, simple Korean War-era field telephones, and old-style greaseboards to replace the now-dark digital information screens. Using hard-wired analog communications systems instead of digital or broad-bandwidth systems reduced the likelihood of total destruction in case of a nearby nuclear blast…
… but it also isolated them from President Kwon Ki-chae, at least for a short time. The question is, would it be long enough?
Vice President Pak Chung-chu trotted into the president’s office then. “I was just notified!” he shouted excitedly. “General Kim and General An attempted a counterattack and were swept aside, and now Chinese troops are swarming across the border!”
“General Kim seems to have gone insane,” Kwon shouted. “He requested — no, he demanded—I give him the execution codes so he can launch a special weapons attack against China. He has already targeted several Chinese cities, including Beijing! Can you believe this? He wants to drop two three-hundred-and-fifty-kiloton nuclear warheads on Beijing! He must be crazy!”
“What did you order him to do instead, sir?” Pak asked.
“I ordered him to get out of the command center because I have removed him from his office!” Kwon shouted. “I don’t want that madman in my military command center! I will find a replacement for him right away.”
“But what about the Chinese, sir?” Pak asked, the panic rising in his throat. “The report said that three brigades of tanks are on the highway from Kanggye heading south toward Anju — they say Anju could be captured in three days! They have total air superiority above the fortieth parallel. What are we going to do?”
“We negotiate with President Jiang,” Kwon said. “Trying to fight the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will only result in more casualties on our side. Besides, reports from the Americans say that China only wants to destroy the nuclear weapons labs in Chagang Do province, and they will withdraw once that mission is accomplished. To tell the truth, I am not unhappy about that plan.”
“Mr. President, you cannot allow this to happen — you cannot simply let the Chinese march into Korea unopposed,” Pak said. “It is an act of war already for China to step across the border, no matter what we’ve done to them. But for us to do nothing and simply let them destroy our military facilities and labs and take whatever they please is not right! They must be stopped!”