Brilliant New Light (Chance Lyon military adventure series Book 3)
Page 61
After Johnson retrieved the envelope he handed it to Raymond Rollins who opened the sealed envelope and read it aloud.
TO: SECSTATE
CC: DNI
FROM: J.BLEDSOE
CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET
TIME: 1715 GMT
1.SEE NEWSWIRES FROM NEW CHINA NEWS
AGENCY
AND INTERNET WWW.NCNA.PRC. RE. ZUAN AND
FHANG.
2.KOREAN DOCTORS TREATING FHANG BEING
HELD INCOMMUNICADO BY PRC SECRET POLICE, AS
IS HIS FEMALE COMPANION.
3. FHANG DEAD FROM RUPTURED ANEURYSM.
4.YANG SAYS I AM TO ADVISE YOU TO EXECUTE
‘PAGODA’.
PLEASE ADVISEFURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.
J.BLEDSOE
TOP SECRET
“Well, the die is cast,” remarked President Hunter. “Undoubtedly I’ll be getting a call from Randolph asking what our reaction to this is. I didn’t want him to know about this until Premier Zuan signed off on it, but the code word PAGODA is what we agreed on if he approved. Now we have to execute. Can someone get Gamma to meet with us quickly so we can break it to him that he’s about to become the new leader of the DPRK?”
In a moment Director Mitchell was on the phone to Doug Chambers to bring Gamma to the CIA Operations Center in Langley where the Presidential party would meet them.
Meanwhile the large TV screen in the Situation Room was connected to the New China News Agency web site which was playing a story about General Fhang and Chinese Premier Zuan meeting yesterday in Beijing, complete with photos of the two sitting at a conference table together. Along-side was another story displaying an image of General Kim saying that General Fhang had just promoted him to Field Marshall and Supreme Commander of all North Korean military forces.
*
Doug Chambers escorted Gamma from the helipad into the CIA Building in Langley. They hurried to an isolated meeting room in one of the underground floors where they passed through two levels of security and into a large conference room. There Gamma was again face-to-face with President Hunter and CIA Director Mitchell. Marilyn Mitchell started out by introducing Gamma to the other two men, for security and containment purposes, as ‘Mr. Raymond and Mr. Philips,’ National Security Advisors to the President.
President Hunter began the meeting with, “Hello again, General Kim. We have news for you today which will be of great interest. Do you remember telling me in Seattle last week that you had no affection or respect for General Fhang? And do you also recall telling me that hoped you could continue to work with us for the benefit of your fellow citizens of North Korea?”
“Yes, Madam President, I do remember and continue to have those feelings,” Gamma answered.
“Well, we’re going to put those feelings to the test. I am going to ask Director Mitchell to make you aware of some news we have received today and tell you of a plan we have to make things better for your fellow countrymen. Director Mitchell?”
“Hello General Kim...or should I say Field Marshall Kim?” said Marilyn Mitchell with a hint of mystery. “General Fhang Jhai died yesterday in a hospital in Beijing of a cerebral aneurysm that was a complication from a fall he suffered in his residence recently. He was flown to Beijing by two doctors and your, sister, Miss Kim. They are safe, but incommunicado, in Beijing. Before he died, General Fhang promoted you to the rank of Field Marshall and Supreme Commander of all Armed Forces of the DPRK. You are now a five-star general in your country. Congratulations.”
After a silent moment, Gamma replied, “I hardly know what to say. I am both shocked and dismayed. Why would he appoint me over so many other senior officers?”
“Well, general, it was not General Fhang who promoted you, it was Premier Zuan of the Peoples Republic of China and President Hunter.”
“I don’t understand,” Gamma said in confusion.
Marilyn Mitchell went on to carefully explain to Gamma the grand plan that President Hunter had agreed to with Premier Zuan, and the mechanism to execute it, should Gamma agree. During the hour plus meeting Gamma had many questions, some of which were answered, some of which were and would remain a work in progress as the process of engineered regime change in North Korea moved forward. In the end, Marilyn Mitchell summed it all up by saying to Gamma, “We are asking you to have the courage and faith in your people to take on the role of President of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea...with General Fhang dead, there is no Plan B except political chaos.”
*
Twelve hours after the meeting at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Gamma, now in a quickly cobbled up Uniform of Field Marshall of the People’s Army, designed and prepared by the experts of such things at the CIA, was on his way to Beijing in a government Gulfstream G-Five. After fuel stops in Seattle and Hawaii, he landed in Beijing and was met by a small group of Chinese officials from the Foreign Ministry who knew him only as Field Marshall Kim of the DPRK, slated for an early morning meeting with Foreign Minister Yang Lu Tho.
General Kim, at the suggestion of President Hunter, now referring to himself officially as Marshall Kim, met with Minister Yang in his private office in the Foreign Ministry with Jeremiah Bledsoe as the interpreter. “So we meet again comrade,” remarked Yang lightly. “We have to keep up the pretense of being Communists even though Comrade Lenin and Chairman Mao would disapprove greatly of the capitalist ways we have adopted, or should I say, that you will be adopting?”
“I’m afraid it will be a long time before our economy gets on a par with that of the People’s Republic of China or our Korean brothers to the south,” answered Kim. “I may not live to see another sunrise once I am back in the DPRK,” Kim continued darkly.
“Have confidence, my friend,” continued Yang. “Once you are in control the United States and China will begin flooding your country with material and financial aid that will soon be matched with the same from South Korea and Japan. These plans are already secretly in motion and tangible results will begin immediately to show upon your return to the DPRK in your role as the new President. Your biggest challenge will be to manage the control and distribution of this assistance. The first things will be the repair of the port facilities at Wonsan and the Pyongyang airport so those supplies can be delivered efficiently. The money will come from the United States, at first clandestinely through South Korea, and the contractors will come from South Korea and the PRC. None of those things could be possible if General Fhang was still in charge. Continuing this aid from the Americans and the Chinese will be totally dependent on you seizing and remaining in power.”
“I am humbled and honored by the confidence that is being placed in me, Minister. To be honest, I am sorry for my sister who has endured much emotional suffering from General Fhang and is probably now very much at sea wondering what her fate will be, now that he is gone.”
“Actually, your sister has done well, and bought us some valuable time, by sending cables to certain authorities in Pyongyang in the name of General Fhang relative to his health condition and diplomatic activities here in Beijing. I have arranged for you to see her tonight, Marshall. Since your embassy has closed, you and your sister may stay here in the ministry tonight and tomorrow. Later today and tomorrow we will plan for your return to Pyongyang.”
“How will I explain this sudden influx of material aid from those countries from whom the DPRK has been so disconnected for so long? Some of my colleagues will be very suspicious of this dramatic turn of events,” asked a mildly bewildered Marshall Kim.
“Perhaps you have seen the news releases coming out of Beijing over the past week showing General Fhang meeting frequently with Premier Zuan, Marshall,” explained Minister Yang. “These images and stories have been manufactured by my ministry in order to make your peers back in the DPRK think General Fhang is actively engaged in negotiations with the PRC leadership here in Beijing. The accompanying story is one of a new Treaty of Friendship being negotiated between the People’s Republic o
f China and the DPRK. The terms of the treaty include substantial economic aid for the DPRK towards the goal of achieving economic independence within a specific time frame of approximately ten years. The treaty also clearly states that South Korea, Japan, and the PRC are embracing General Fhang’s vision of the Brilliant New Light as a vehicle for renewed peace and prosperity for the region. The pledges of economic support from these Asian neighbors are designed to expedite the Brilliant New Light becoming a reality sooner rather than later. In a few days it will be announced that due to the untimely death of General Fhang this will have to be done under new leadership,” Minister Yang concluded.
After a moment of thought, Marshall Kim Don-sun began to marvel at the simplicity and genius of the plan. General Fhang’s distorted vision of the Brilliant New Light was not being extinguished but, rather, simply placed under new and more enlightened management by men who had a broader vision of what all of Asia should seek to be in the future. In summary, it was, “Good bye, General Fhang; long live the Brilliant New Light!”
*
Late in the day Marshall Kim sent a cable from the Chinese Foreign Ministry to the North Korean Foreign Minister in Pyongyang.
TO: FOREIGN MINISTER HWANG
FROM: GENERAL FHANG JHAI
SUBJECT: RETURNING TO PYONGYANG/ORDERS
TIME: 1650 LOCAL
1.I AM ORDERING MARSHALL KIM DONG-SUN BACK TO DPRK TOMORROW AFTERNOON TO TAKE CONTROL OF PEOPLE’S ARMED FORCES AND PREPARE FOR MY RETURN LATER THIS WEEK.
2.YOU AND THE COMMANDERS OF THE ARMY, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE ARE TO MEET THE MARSHALL AT THE AIRPORT AND SHOW APPROPRIATE RESPECT FOR HIS NEW COMMAND POSITION.
3.MARSHALL KIM WILL EXPLAIN HOW THE NEW TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE PRC AND THE DPRK WE HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATING WITH OUR CHINESE BROTHERS WILL ACCELERATE THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRILLIANT NEW LIGHT.
END.
GENERAL FHANG JHAI
Marshall Kim and Minister Yang spent the afternoon war-gaming the dynamic of Kim making his return to Pyongyang. The strategy they selected was to have Marshall Kim call a meeting for all the military service branches and inform them the meetings Fhang had participated in with Premier Zuan were to execute a formal Treaty of Friendship with the People’s Republic of China. Such an agreement would benefit the DPRK by beginning an immediate influx of material, supplies, equipment, fuel and food to their struggling economy. Such aid would accelerate General Fhang’s vision of a Brilliant New Light and improve the status of the DPRK among her Asian brothers.
For several days there would be continued media stories out of China showing General Fhang meeting with various Chinese dignitaries while extolling the virtues of the dynamic new partnership between the PRC and the DPRK. All of this, of course, was a ruse to allow Marshall Kim to consolidate his power over the military, the only possible source of organized resistance to the planned takeover. Once the military chiefs had been brought to heel, Marshall Kim could systematically go through the DPRK bureaucracy and weed out those who were not loyal to the cause - the enlightened cause of a new and progressive North Korea for the citizens of North Korea, not for the sole benefit of a cruel, despotic ruler.
*
Marshall Kim’s Boeing 747, secretly on loan from the People’s Republic of China, with DPRK flag markings emblazoned on the tail and along the horizontal plane of the fuselage, made an impressive landing at Pyongyang International Airport’s single runway that had been repaired barely enough to accommodate jet traffic. It pulled up to the terminal and taxied so the setting sun would reflect off the exit side of the aircraft. Kim looked out the cabin window and took mental inventory of the dignitaries who were standing in a group to meet him. The only commander he did not see was General Jang Woo-so, the commander of the DPRK Air Force. All the other commanders were present as well as Foreign Minister Hwang and the Head of the Korean Communist Party. A full house, except for General Jang. I will have to do something about that, mused Kim.
Kim had the pilot open the front cabin door and the ground crew scurried to roll the steps up to the aircraft so the passengers could depart. Kim was pleased that the ground crew also brought out a red carpet and rolled it up to the bottom of the steps in anticipation of his exit. Kim waited a few more minutes for dramatic effect, took a deep breath and walked out onto the steps. He stood in the bright sun for a long minute surveying the crowd, and walked confidently down the steps to the tarmac below.
Kim was met by Foreign Minister Hwang at the head of the receiving line and, in order, the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and the Deputy Commander of the Air Force.
“Where is General Jang,” Kim asked the Deputy.
“He asked me to stand in for him, Marshall Kim. He had other duties to attend to,” the Deputy answered evenly.
“What is your name, General, and how long have you been Jang’s Deputy?” asked Kim so that everyone else could hear.
“My name is Yee Rung-dai, Marshall. I have been General Jang’s deputy for three years now,” he answered.
“General Yee, you are now Commander of the Air Force. General Jang will be found immediately and placed under arrest. All of the commanders will meet with me in the National Military Headquarters in one hour. That is all.”
*
When General Fhang rose to power he had assumed supreme command of all the military forces of the DPRK but remained a four-star general, equal to the ranks of the individual service chiefs. By appointing Kim as Field Marshall, and in effect making him North Korea’s first five-star general, this reinforced the solid link between the North Korean military and the Supreme Leader’s office, a continuity that would help Marshall Kim gracefully take control of the government when Fhang’s death was announced within days. Marshall Kim knew he had a brief window of opportunity to exploit that to his advantage.
For days Kim held non-stop meetings with his military commanders and the top bureaucrats of such influential activities as the Reconnaissance Bureau and the Ministry of People’s Security to gain their confidence and make them aware of the urgent assistance they were about to receive from China and their brothers to the south and across the Sea of Japan. Almost immediately construction crews from the PRC were coming into Nampo, the North Korean port closest to Pyongyang, with construction crews and heavy equipment slated to expedite repairing and expanding the airport infrastructure severely damaged by the American cruise missiles. North Korean workers were being hired and trained by the Chinese contractor to provide labor for this vital infrastructure project. On the other side of the country a South Korean construction management group had set up offices in Wonsan to begin rehabilitating the container offload facilities, hiring hundreds of North Korean workers for a project that would eventually employ thousands and last several years.
Marshall Kim immediately charged his Foreign Ministry to revive the family reunification programs that had been halted by General Fhang, allowing thousands of families divided by the Korean War in the early 1950s to meet, visit, enjoy meals, and rebuild ties that had been severed by this unresolved conflict.
For ten days Marshall Kim was seen everywhere in North Korea holding meetings with local officials making them aware of the good things that were starting to happen because of the Treaty of Friendship being negotiated by (the non-existent) General Fhang. Another major news story, among the many that were circulating among a startled population, was that the North Korean telephone infrastructure was to be significantly expanded. Access to the Internet would gradually become available to all citizens, and additional cellular infrastructure would be added throughout the country. Cell phones would be made available at low prices to much of the population.
Marshall Kim immediately ordered a thorough review of all of the infamous People’s Labor Camps located throughout the country. He directed that food supplies be dramatically increased to the camps, adequate clothing be distributed, and those who had been sent to the camps have their sentences reviewed for cause. When he received resistance from the Chief of the Mi
nistry for People’s Security to implementing the order, Marshall Kim went to the ministry himself and personally arrested the man, placing one of his former Army commanders, whom he knew well, in charge.
In yet another development, foreign-flagged freighters began to appear in Nampo harbor carrying hundreds of tons of food, fertilizer, agricultural supplies, and heavy farm equipment to assist in revitalizing the country’s flagging agricultural infrastructure, all this paid for clandestinely by the United States.
Marshall Kim made sure all these developments were covered by the State-controlled news media and the planted stories out of Beijing continued to show General Fhang meeting with the Chinese leadership.
Meanwhile diplomats from the United States, still considered to be the great enemy to the North Korean people, were working nonstop behind the scenes with the Japanese and the South Korean governments to manufacture ways those governments could contribute to the positive changes occurring in North Korea. At the end of two weeks, Marshall Kim knew his window to get the attention of the North Korean military and bureaucratic infrastructure was beginning to close. He chose this time to make a blockbuster announcement.
Marshall Kim Dong-sun, at the order of General Fhang Jhai, announced today that after nearly a month of close consultations with the People’s Republic of China and others, diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China will be reestablished immediately. Also, after nearly seventy years, the governments of North and South Korea will reopen diplomatic ties that were severed at the beginning of the Korean War in 1951. The goal of these new ties will be to make the armistice of 1953 into a permanent peace agreement among all parties to that conflict.
People in Pyongyang and the other major cities in North Korea could speak of little else than the surprise developments and positive announcements of the past two weeks. It was if a veil had been lifted from the secretive government of Pyongyang and the feelings of mistrust and fear were gradually vanishing from the culture. The idolic structures and ubiquitous images of the Chong regime had been removed by General Fhang and there had not been time to replace them with those of him, so many citizens began to slowly look at their government as an intangible inanimate thing, rather than a single infallible person and a cult figure to be feared and blindly obeyed as much as being respected.