The drive took more than twenty minutes, and after another ten minutes walking through darkened corridors and climbing seven flights of stairs, Hwang Min-ho was hunched over a laptop on his desk with the day’s first cup of tea in his hand.
By the noon hour Hwang felt like this day would turn out like most every other — much work with little definite to show for it. Also like every other day he was getting nowhere in his attempts to advance the situation at Chongju. This morning he had suffered through a meeting with representatives of Korea General Machinery Trading Company, the state-owned manufacturer and importer of hydroelectric generators, and he had spent the better part of an hour both berating them for not fulfilling their promises from their last meeting and begging them to do a better job this time in their pledge to increase the electrical output to the mine. He’d received platitudes from the contingent, but little else.
Now he was prepping for an afternoon visit to Amroggang Development Banking Corporation a few blocks away. Hwang and his vice ministers were desperately trying to secure financing from abroad to purchase those few goods not enveloped by sanctions, and perhaps even find an overseas benefactor who would bankroll them outright. Hwang’s resources in country were limited, thanks to both the nation’s inefficiencies and the sanctions regime put upon them by the West, and he saw Amroggang Development as the thinnest and most fragile lifeline imaginable, but a lifeline nonetheless.
As he reached for the cup containing the dregs of his third tea of the day, his secretary’s slightly agitated voice squawked over the intercom.
“Director Hwang. Apologies, but there is a General Ri here to see you.”
Hwang cocked his head. He had no idea who this man was. He knew dozens of men named Ri, many of whom were military officers, but he wasn’t planning on talking to any of them today. “Does he have an appointment?” Unannounced visits among government executives were unheard of. Even at the lowest levels preparations would need to be made, and Hwang was director of the state-owned company that ran the largest industrial sector in the nation, so any meeting should have been on the agenda for days.
There was a pause, then almost a shriek from his secretary. “I am very sorry, sir, he is coming in!”
Hwang rose hurriedly as the door opened. There before him was a general in the green uniform of the Korean People’s Army, with an impressive chest full of medals. Hwang thought he remembered seeing him the week before, during his visit to Residence No. 55.
Hwang’s heart skipped a beat. He said, “Jeoneun chepodoemnikka?” Am I under arrest?
“Aniyo, dongmu.” No, comrade. “Apologies for coming unannounced.” He stepped up to Hwang’s desk and bowed. “General Ri Tae-jin of the RGB.”
Hwang bowed. “Foreign intelligence? What can I do for you?” He shrugged. “I’ve never even been out of the country.”
Ri smiled a little, but Hwang thought the man looked either tired or sad. “I am not here to hire you on as an agent. May I sit down?”
“I will call for some tea.”
“No. Let us just talk.” Ri took the chair in front of the desk, and Hwang sat slowly in his own chair. This brash general with the sad face seemed to have taken charge here in Hwang’s office. This was not the way meetings were held, and Hwang was utterly confused.
When both men were seated General Ri said, “I congratulate you on your recent appointment. I, too, only took the reins at RGB two weeks ago.”
“I extend to you my congratulations and best wishes, comrade. May you bring honor to the Dae Wonsu.”
“I am aware of your predicament,” Ri said abruptly.
Hwang looked around the room. “My predicament?”
“Yes. You have been given eighteen months to turn a slag pit in the mountains north of Chongju into the largest high-tech mineral mine in the world. The Chinese, the only business partner with the ability to make this happen, have been thrown out of the mine because the Dae Wonsu’s demand that they provide us with ICBMs was rejected out of hand. You cannot work with Western businesses in this endeavor in any legal sense because the nations with the technology and expertise we need have restrictions imposed on business travel and high-tech exports, and there is great risk that the crippling sanctions against our nation will only squeeze you tighter.”
Hwang just looked back at the man. It was all true, but it was not the Juche way to complain or to even bring up the hardships.
Ri continued, “You will not succeed, and you saw what happened to your predecessor, so you are aware of the ramifications of failure.”
Hwang puffed his chest out a little. “I am working diligently to ensure the mine reaches full output in the required time.”
“Work all you want. In fact, work up until the minute they drag you from behind that desk in chains. It will not happen without a lot of help.”
“What is it I can do for you, General?”
Somehow, the already stiff and stern-looking general managed to sit up even more erect. “You and I have something in common, Hwang. We both have a countdown clock in our heads. I have been ordered to secure for the DPRK both the hardware and the know-how to produce a successful and working ICBM. I have been given three years, so… twice as long as you. I would feel lucky if my task were not even more difficult than yours.”
Hwang was both confused and nervous now. “What you are telling me is not in my normal purview. There are security concerns in telling this to—”
“I don’t care about that. You aren’t going to violate security. I’ve read every word of your personnel and intelligence file. You are no risk to anyone.”
“Yes. Of course not. Go on, please, General Ri.”
“We have something else in common. A wife who is good, and two children who rely on us. If the only result of my failure would be my own demise, it would be a small worry.”
Hwang said, “My own life is not important. I live to bring strength and prosperity to the Dae Wonsu.” It was official party doctrine. Communist ideology and personality cult.
And General Ri did not disagree with it, but he did deflect it. “Well, Hwang, if we succeed, we will both bring strength and prosperity to the Dae Wonsu and save our families. Certainly you agree that would be a suitable outcome.”
Hwang just nodded.
“You have a year and a half to produce, process, and market rare earth metal. I have three years to acquire an operational ICBM.” He smiled thinly. “As it stands now, we will both fail. Which means I will live exactly one and a half years longer than you.”
Hwang shrugged. “If I fail, I fail. There are things worse than being shot by firing squad.”
Ri leapt to his feet, a wild look in his eyes. “You are right about that! And I have seen those worse things. They fed my predecessor, General Gang, to starving dogs. It took him two minutes and forty seconds before he stopped resisting and they ripped out his throat. Which means that for two minutes and thirty-nine seconds he saw and felt and knew his fate. I have executed hundreds of men in my career. I will oversee an execution tomorrow morning, in fact. But what happened to General Gang was truly a horror no man should ever endure.”