She laughed. “What? Were you afraid I would go to pieces? After everything we’ve been through? When was that time going to be? ‘Right away’ would have been good.”
“I was working on it!” he protested. “I promise, it wasn’t going to be long.” Cho noticed Helen standing to one side, offering his abandoned crutch, and desperate for any distraction, took it gratefully. “Thank you so much.”
Kary nodded, and said briskly, “Good. Now that you’re mobile, let’s go somewhere and have a long talk, unless your leg’s too sore. We could just stay here.”
Levering himself up with his crutch, Cho said, “No, we can go.”
The two left at a measured pace, with Kary slowing her steps to match Cho’s progress with the crutch. She ignored the rising buzz of conversation behind her.
Even while one part of her mind automatically and calmly planned his convalescence, the rest boiled with a dozen questions she wanted to ask and another dozen things she was going to tell him.
If I don’t kill him first.
“This evening, Seoul and Beijing announced an agreement in principle for the rapid withdrawal of Chinese forces still in former DPRK territory. Citing vague ‘security concerns,’ the PRC had previously avoided discussing when their troops would leave, even though all former DPRK weapons of mass destruction had been located and turned over to the US Eighth Army for destruction.
“Acknowledging China’s concerns without addressing their exact nature, the Korean foreign minister, meeting with his counterpart from Beijing in Tokyo, said that, ‘building a relationship of trust with Korea’s northern neighbor will be an important part of the United Han Republic’s new foreign policy.’
“The former DPRK maintained the fifth-largest standing army in the world. Its sudden removal from the region means that the large and expensive US presence in Korea is no longer necessary. The first point of agreement is that while America will continue its alliance and serve as a guarantor of Korean sovereignty, the bulk of its combat forces will return to the United States. Medical and logistical units will remain for some time to assist in the massive humanitarian effort.
“With the removal of the US combat forces, and the expected partial demobilization of the Korean army, Chinese forces in the region will also be reduced.
“The economic benefits of this are far-reaching. In addition to the reduced military budgets, all three nations stand to gain, especially since China was providing the equivalent of over two billion dollars in direct aid annually to Pyongyang for decades. This represented half of China’s entire foreign aid budget each year. While it will lose an equal amount of trade income from goods it sold to the DPRK, China stands to gain many times that amount in trade with a united Korea.
“The one very large, very dark cloud on Korea’s economic horizon is the massive cost of repairing the damage in the north caused by the war, and of upgrading — indeed, almost rebuilding — the infrastructure of the entire former DPRK.
“Economists familiar with the integration of East and West Germany estimate that reconstruction will require seven to ten percent of Korea’s gross domestic product for the next ten to twenty years. This is a staggering amount, a lump sum of about half a trillion US dollars. These same experts note, however, that Germany faced a similar hurdle and overcame it. The determination of the Korean people is at least as great.
“In that economic context, as a second point of agreement, the United Han Republic has pledged the equivalent of ten billion US dollars in trade to China for at least the next ten years. This will include construction contracts, immediate purchases of foodstuffs and fuel for the relief effort, and even some ammunition and repair parts for the former DPRK’s military hardware. The details of the agreement will be worked out in Tokyo over the next few weeks, but social media reports some Chinese units are already moving north.
“An additional incentive for the PLA’s withdrawal is that it relieves their army of responsibility for the Korean civilians in the areas they occupied. Han army units, now engaged in a humanitarian effort instead of a combat mission, are following closely behind the Chinese troops. It is possible that all former DPRK territory will be clear of Chinese forces by the end of the month.”
Tony Christopher turned off the television and tossed the remains of his lunch into the trash. He wanted to know why, if the fighting was over, he was so busy? But he knew why. They’d flown the wings off their aircraft, and now all that deferred maintenance had to be dealt with. And the war really wasn’t over for the transports. They were still bringing in relief supplies, as well as replenishing stocks of parts and ammunition that had been seriously depleted in the few short weeks they’d been fighting.
But a lot of that matériel would have to be removed in the very near future. It was hard to imagine the Eighth Fighter Wing, the Wolf Pack, anywhere but Kunsan, but his boss, General Carter, was in Seoul right now with the rest of the Pacific Command, planning the biggest redeployment of the US armed forces since Desert Storm. Yet Carter had promised Tony that he would do a full tour in country. The Seventh Air Force wasn’t going away that quickly. In fact, he hinted that for his next tour, Tony might end up with Carter’s job, provided he didn’t fly any more unauthorized combat missions.
On top of everything else, the crisis had deferred his house-hunting. Ann was still waiting for him to find a place for them to live, and wasn’t being all that patient. If there was a drawdown, he might be able to pick up a nice place for less than they had planned.
And wait until she heard there was a chance for back-to-back tours.
It was the first visit to the territory of the former DPRK by the president of the newly united Korea. Lingering security concerns and the rapid-fire press of events had prevented President An Kye-nam from making even a short trip above the former DMZ. Besides, the occasion was historic, and needed to be properly choreographed.
An’s helicopter, Korea One, approached Taedong after a forty-five minute flight from the Blue House in Seoul. A wedge of Apache gunships escorted the aircraft, while fighters provided high cover for the flight.
The presidential helicopter flew a little past the landing pad, then turned into the wind to make its final approach. The commentators covering the landing used the time to discuss the political problems facing the Seoul government as it organized elections in the shattered north, and tried to cope with new political parties well to the left of traditional Korean politics.
As the helicopter’s wheels touched the pad, whistles blew and with all the pomp and circumstance it could muster, the victorious army welcomed its civilian leader. A band flown in from the capital played the “Aegukga” while the honor guard came to attention and presented arms.
In concession to the ongoing military operations, the soldiers welcoming President An wore battledress. This was not only more appropriate for a field headquarters; it allowed General Tae and other former KPA soldiers to avoid wearing their Kim-era dress uniforms. The idea was to blend in with their Southern colleagues, and camouflage served that purpose well.
President An Kye-nam emerged first, followed by a huddle of officials trying to stay close to the president while avoiding the rotor wash. They waited nearby, half-crouched, for a moment while the helicopter’s engines spooled up again and it flew off.