Kwon let out a short laugh. “Yes, of course, Mr. Gunn. You can’t give away state secrets.”
You could cut the tension with a knife. This was putting my buddy and me on the spot. Kwon is a sneaky son-of-a-bitch. I could tell he was a control freak who wanted power.
Lee changed the subject and we continued our conversation for another hour of small talk and discussions about world affairs. I found out that Kwon was educated in the United States. Most of his family, what was left of it, was trapped in North Korea.
Kwon commented, “Your President seems to be very weak. He has withdrawn troops from around the world. He has reduced the U.S. troop level in Korea to the lowest it has ever been. Currently, there are only ten thousand men based here. Sixty percent of those are support functions. So there are probably only four thousand actual combat troops.”
I said, “Yes, that’s true, but those four thousand are mostly Marines. They’re the best we have.”
Kwon laughed. “Maybe they are the best, but when the north comes across the DMZ with one million men, they don’t stand a chance. Do you think your President will back them up if that happens?”
“I don’t know what he’d do. But if he doesn’t do anything and those men get killed, there would be hell to pay. The American people would be pissed off. He would be pressured into doing something.”
“I see. So you think the American people would pressure him. That is interesting. I think the American people are tired of war. I don’t think any Americans want another big war.”
“It’s true the war in the Middle East has worn us out. But make no mistake, if our country is attacked, or our allies, the U.S. will respond.”
“Maybe you are right and maybe not.”
Kwon’s comments pissed me off.
“What about the South Korean troops? You have about four hundred thousand. If you include the reserves, it’s more than six hundred thousand,” I said.
“Yes, but by the time those troops are activated, the war will be over. Please remember that Seoul is only fifty miles from the DMZ. The north would overrun Seoul in two days. Then the capital is gone and possibly a few million people would be killed,” Kwon replied.
Lee commented, “The north don’t stand a chance of taking Seoul. For one thing, they don’t have a million combat troops. Secondly, everyone in Seoul would fight to the death, even if it was with knives and shovels.”
“I disagree, Lee-shi. I think the people will run for the hills. They are too soft from easy living.” Kwon said, with a smile on his face. “Our intelligence is very good and they have confirmed there are a million combat troops in the north. They confirm that Seoul would fall in two days. Remember, there are many North Korean agents operating here in the south. They would be activated to create problems in Seoul, making our troop response difficult. There are even spies in our ROK Army.”
“Are there spies in the NIS?” I asked.
“Perhaps there are. If so, we must weed them out,” Kwon advised, while giving an evil grin.
I said, “Maybe the north just wants to take Seoul and the surrounding area, which is rich compared to what they have.”
“You are exactly right, Mr. Gunn. All they want is to take Seoul. Without Seoul, the rest of South Korea is doomed.”
Kwon gently slapped the top of the table with his hand. “Gentlemen, thank you for the interesting discussion and dinner. I must leave now.”
“Ok, let’s go. We’ll walk you to the lobby,” I said. The tab went on my room.
Giving the usual secret handshake, we saw Mr. Kwon off, biding him a goodnight. Lee and I stood in the lobby for a minute watching him leave. When Kwon was gone, Lee said, “Let’s go to the Tiger House for a few drinks. We can discuss Mr. Kwon further there.”
“That sounds good. I could use a few drinks after talking to Kwon.” Lee laughed at the comment. We jumped into a taxi to take us to Itaewon, the wild part of the city.
You don’t want to drink and drive in Korea because they have checkpoints for blow tests at all most every stoplight. Stopped at a light, a police officer runs out in the street and makes the driver of the first car in line do a blow test. If you fail, it’s off to jail.
It was Saturday night and Itaewon was jumping. Neon signs were flashing up and down main street. Even late at night the streets were crowed with mostly men, bar hopping, searching for a drinking establishment they liked. There are many types of bars in Itaewon.
To start with there’s the normal type small American bars. They are nothing fancy but it’s a cheap place to get drunk, if that is your goal. Then there are the go-go bars with beautiful young dancing ladies, wearing hardly anything. After they dance you can entice them to sit with you for a drink and make some small talk, until their turn to dance comes up again. Room Salons are bars that have private rooms that you rent for the evening. The rooms are about the size of an average living room and have seating for about six to ten people. The Mama-San will bring you ladies to choose from for your private entertainment. Booze here is expensive and so are the women.
Then there are traditional style Korean bars which also have women to serve and entertain you. They serve snacks, like dried squid, and original Korean dishes. There is no hard liquor severed, only top-shelf soju, which is a mild type of Korean vodka, and bottled beer. These have small rooms with seating on the floor. The women wear traditional-type Korean clothing. It is a unique experience because they have singers and musicians who only play old fashion Korean music.
The taxi let us off at the front door of the Tiger House, which is located on a side street, on top of a small hill. As we stepped out of the cab I glanced around the area, like I always do, since I am security minded. I saw a black car parked half a block away, with two men sitting in it. They had just turned off their headlights. The odd thing was they were in a no parking zone.
I told Lee, “I think someone is following us. Don’t stare; just take a quick look down the street at the black car, half a block away.”
Lee took a glance, and replied as we walked to the door, “It looks like an NIS car.” The doorman/bouncer opened the main front door for us, as we walked inside. His name was Hwang and he is someone you don’t want to mess with. He greeted me with a nod of the head. It was 11 pm and a band was playing good old American Rock and Roll.
I shouted over the loud music, “It looks like your buddy Kwon is having us followed.”
Lee didn’t reply.
The place was packed with all kinds of people, mostly foreigners and military people. Most military people don’t wear their uniforms when off duty, but you can tell who they are just by their haircuts and age.
The reason the Tiger House is so popular is because it is a mixture of different types of bars. The Tiger House has a large open room with tables in the middle. A dance floor is at the other end of the 200-foot long room, where the band also plays. On the right side is a long bar with about thirty wooden chairs. On the left is a row of private rooms which have glass sliding doors and curtains that can be closed for privacy. The general décor is nothing fancy and reminds me of some bars in the states with the exception of the private rooms.
There was a line waiting to get in. It was standing room only. The hostess at the counter spotted us and waved us forward. “Your room is ready, Mr. Gunn.”
I was surprised, the hostess was Mi-young, and she looked more beautiful than I remembered. She had on a long tight-fitting black gown with a slit up the side of one leg. Her hair was hanging straight down covering her back. The front of her dress was cut-low to reveal that she filled it with real womanhood. Her lips were ruby red, like I remembered. Mi-young was truly a beautiful woman who oozed her sexuality from every pore of her perfect body.
She led us to a private room, far back in the corner. It was away from the band and the dance floor. Mi-young opened the glass door and we entered. The three of us sat down on a red leather couch. As she sat next to me, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
&nb
sp; Touching my leg just above the knee, she kissed me on the cheek and said, “Long time no see, yobo (lover). How you been?”
Now I knew I was in trouble. Mi-young had me captivated. I wanted her right then. Yes, she melted my heart like a flame melts a candle.
“Mi-young, you look more beautiful than ever. I missed you.”
“I see if you miss me later. I work now. I send girl to get you drink. Mi-young leave here two o’clock.” She walked out of the room and my eyes followed her swaying body.
I asked KY, “Did you tell her I was coming here?”
“Yes, of course. I had to reserve a room,” Lee replied, as he chuckled. Lee thought it was funny. He had setup this meeting.
“Man, I’m in trouble.”
“How’s that?” Lee asked.
“Because, I’m probably going to sleep with her tonight.”
Lee laughed. “Jack, that’s not trouble.”
In Korea most men cheat on their wives. When I say most men, I mean sixty percent or more. There is no doubt about that based on my experience. It is the way the society is. Young women don’t care if you are married or not. Sex is very open and accepted as a normal thing. Wives know or suspect that husbands cheat on them, but they more or less accept and live with it. There are many reasons for this, but it all stems from Confucianism, in my opinion.
Changing the subject, I said, “Your new boss is really strange.”
“Yeah. It’s almost like he wants a war, and the south to lose,” Lee replied.
“I agree with you. He had a stupid grin on his face when he talked about it.”
“Yes, he did. Why would he discuss that subject with us?”
“I don’t know. But what happened to your old boss?”
“As you know, my old boss, Mr. Yoon, was Supervisor of Presidential Security for fifteen years. I was assigned as the President’s up-close personal body guard for any events he attended, along with four other agents, whom I directed.”
A young woman brought in our drinks. It was bottle of JD along with two bottles of soda water. Then another girl followed her in. I sat on one couch and Lee on the other. The ladies were assigned to our room to provide us drinks, snacks, and entertainment if we wanted to dance or make small talk. Mi-young had sent them over to us.
While they poured our drinks, I pulled out a smoke and a young lady in a red dress, sitting at my side, lit me up. After blowing out a perfect smoke ring I said, “Ok, go ahead with your story.”
“Well, about two months ago Director Kim was forced to retire and was replaced with Suk. Suk appointed Kwon as the new Assistant Director. Kwon didn’t like Mr. Yoon, my boss, and thought he had too much power being around the Blue House all the time. So, Kwon fired Mr. Yoon and gave the job to himself, instead of promoting me. Then, Mr. Kim died of a sudden heart attack. All of the Presidents close bodyguards have been reassigned and have not been replaced.”
The Blue House is the executive office and residence of the South Korean President, similar to the White House. It is a huge complex of buildings covering sixty-two acres. All the buildings have blue roof tiles, hence its name.
“So what are you doing now?” I asked.
Lee replied, “I have a desk job doing surveillance and now I’m liaison to your group.”
“What do you make of Kwon having us followed?”
“Maybe they weren’t following us.”
“Come on KY, I know a tail when I see it.”
“Ok, maybe they are watching us,” he replied.
“Why did you bring him to dinner with us?”
“I am sorry about that. He asked me what I was doing tonight. When I told him I was meeting with you, he asked to come along for dinner. He wanted to meet you. I couldn’t say no to him.”
“KY, please don’t tell Kwon anything about me.”
“Jack, I know that. Don’t worry about it.”
“If the NIS guys are still there when we leave, let’s see who they tail, you or me. We’ll take different cabs home.”
“Good idea, Jack.”
Changing the subject, I asked, “Who has the power to fire the Director?”
Lee smiled and replied, “That is a good question.” Lee took a sip of his drink, while he was carefully thinking how to answer my question. “Normally the Director is nominated by the President. The Army Chief of Staff, along with Chairman of the National Assembly have to approve it. Then it is rubber stamped by a vote of the National Assembly.”
“Yeah, I got that. But who has the power to fire him?”
“I would assume the President, of course, along with the approval of the Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the National Assembly.”
“That means the normal legal process wasn’t followed,” I said.
“That’s correct. Something is wrong. As you know when the NIS was the ANSP (Agency for National Security Planning) it was very corrupt.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
The NIS is the most powerful government organization in South Korea. It has a long history of corruption, and it is dreaded by most of the Korean people.
Originally, there was the KCIA (Korean Central Intelligence Agency) which was started in 1961. The KCIA was started by the Army to help protect the country. It became very powerful and controlled other government agencies in Korea. Because communist North Korea is the greatest threat to the south, the KCIA grew in power and could do no wrong. The KCIA name was changed to the ANSP, and then to the NIS.
I studied Korean History when in the Army, and working for the DOD. The history of the KCIA and ANSP is very complicated and corrupt. I thought back, to what I had learned.
HISTORY OF THE KCIA
*****
The Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) was established by the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction in 1961, after an attempted military coup. Its mandate was to supervise and direct all intelligence activities for the Korean Government. It was able to conduct criminal investigations on all government agencies, including the military. The KCIA mission was about the same as the United States CIA and FBI combined.
The first Director of the KCIA was Kim Chong-pil. The Army Counterintelligence Corps were recruited to start the KCIA. In the beginning there were 3,000 employees. Currently there are more than 80,000. It slowly became the most powerful agency in the government by having control over any information about national security. The KCIA wove a web of agents throughout the Korean Government, which allowed them to spy on law makers and politicians.
The KCIA gained unlimited power, which enabled them to investigate and detain any person accused of anti-state actions. This created a lot of political tension and fear in Korea.
In 1962, Chung-hee Park became President. Park seized power through a military coup in 1961; which overthrew the Second Republic of South Korea. Park ruled with the support of the military. He was the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction and then he was elected President of the Third Republic in 1963. In 1972, Park declared martial law and changed the constitution making it a very restrictive document.
Park somehow managed to survive many assassination attempts; including two that were committed by North Korea. Under his direction the government used the KCIA and the military to enforce martial law when political unrest occurred. Between 1963 and 1979, martial law was declared nine times. Park’s regime strengthened its hold on the country. Any type of activity considered being antigovernment, or anti-Park, including speeches and printed articles, were deemed a criminal act. Arrests of those accused of anti-state activities became very common.
From here things only became worse. There were more widespread public demonstrations by working people. There were mass resignations of elected Assembly members to protest Park’s strict control. Terrible riots broke out in the cities of Masan, Changwon, and Pusan, and martial law was declared. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed by Korean Army Forces during these riots.
Park’s rule came to an end in 1979 when h
e was assassinated at the Blue House. This shocked the entire country because Park had been in power for 18 years. Because of the assassination, martial law was declared again to deal with the crisis.
The head of the Korea Defense Security Command, Major General Chun, took control of the country. He also took control of the KCIA and purged it putting in his own people to extend his power.
After all most a year under martial law, political unrest popped up again, and protesters took to the streets in 1980. General Chun banded all political activities, assemblies, and rallies to stop the unrest. Thousands of people were arrested as the government troops took control of the cities.
To help stop the riots and tension, the KCIA was renamed the Agency for National Security Planning or ANSP. This gave the impression that the hated KCIA was removed from power. Like the KCIA, the ANSP was a cabinet-level agency and was directly under the President’s control. Its powers were exactly the same as the KCIA. By 1983 the ANSP had gained more control than the KCIA.
Public assemblies were more or less controlled until 1987 by using new laws named, “The Act Concerning Assembly and Demonstration” and “The National Security Act.” The regime’s security forces, which were the Defense Security Command, and the National Combat Police, were used to prohibit mass assemblies. Under the new laws one was required to provide the police advance notice of all demonstrations. Violation of this law could mean a seven year prison sentence.
Non-political or peaceful demonstrations took place without much government interference. However, under President Chun, over five thousand investigations were made and thousands of people were arrested. Security was very tight in certain cities and university campuses. Any citizen was at risk of being questioned and held without due process.
The typical methods to deal with non-approved demonstrations were to surround the crowd using the Combat Police. The Combat Police would encircle the crowd and slowly move in on the group using clubs, water cannons, and tear gas to make mass arrests. Once in jail, questioning by the security services bordered on the line torture.
Critical Incidents: The ROK - Land of HAN (A Jack Gunn Mystery Thriller Book 1) Page 5
