by Dale Brown
As important as the national treasures are to all Koreans, even more important now were the military units at Kangnung Airport, located between Han-song-Sa temple and the Sea of Japan. In case of war with the North, it was the duty of the Fifth Air Division of the Republic of Korea Air Force to protect South Korea’s rear flank, while most of the other air and ground forces would assist in the defense of the capital. Fifth Division had three air wings located at Kangnung: the Fifteenth Attack Wing, with almost a hundred American surplus A-37B Dragonfly light close-air support fighters stationed there; the Twenty-first Attack Wing, with forty-eight British-made Hawk Mk60 light fighter-bombers; and the Seventeenth Fighter Wing, with American-made F-5E/F Talon fighters.
Located just thirty miles south of the DMZ, Kangnung had an important role in protecting Seoul from an attack from the rear and preventing any Communist forces from gaining a foothold in the Taebaek Mountains. Some of the bloodiest battlefields of the Korean War had been just northwest of Kangnung — Old Baldy, the Punchbowl, and Heartbreak Ridge, among others. The Koreans and their American allies created a massive air fighting force at Kangnung to assure complete domination in this vitally important northeast region.
All that was about to disappear.
Of one hundred and fifty-one operational nuclear-armed Nodong-1 and-2 ballistic missiles in North Korea, only twelve launched that morning. The missiles had a maximum range of over twelve hundred nautical miles, but no missile flew farther than four hundred miles. All the missiles aimed at Seoul were intercepted by American Patriot PAC-3 antiballistic missile systems, as were the missiles aimed at the American air base at Kunsan. One warhead exploded just a few miles west of Inchon, causing massive damage to that vitally important port city.
One Nodong-1 missile missed its intended target by over two miles, but with a fifty-kiloton-yield warhead onboard, accuracy was not that important. The warhead exploded over the Central Market District of Kangnung, flattening everything within three miles and creating an immense fire storm that engulfed the entire vicinity as far south as Kwandong University and as far north as Kyongpo Lake. Everything above ground level at Kangnung Airport was either swept out to sea or exploded into a ball of flame, and its ashes blown out into the Sea of Japan.
The Nodong-1 missile fired from Unit Twenty near Sunan flew only one hundred and fifty miles, barely far enough to exhaust its first-stage fuel supply before ejecting its warhead. It, too, missed its intended target, in fact by several kilometers — but it hit the edge of the city of Suwon, twenty miles south of Seoul, destroying one of South Korea’s largest industrial complexes, the immense Samsung Electric group in the southeast section of the city. The bulk of the blast missed the Republic of Korea Air Force base south of the city, but the blast’s overpressure destroyed or damaged several other key companies and universities. The fifty-kiloton-yield nuclear warhead detonated twenty thousand feet in the air, digging a thirty-story-deep crater in the earth and instantly incinerating anything within three miles of ground zero. Almost fifteen thousand persons died in the fireball, most of them at work at the Samsung complex; another thirty thousand died in the fire storm and overpressure. Although air raid and attack sirens had been activated throughout South Korea, few had a chance to reach an underground shelter.
Although the blast was more than ten miles away, it felt like a direct hit to the occupants of the Master Control and Reporting Center at Osan Air Base, located south of Suwon. The entire structure shook and rolled as if in the grip of a magnitude-eight earthquake. The lights snapped off, replaced immediately by emergency battery-powered lights. Several of the large computer monitors down below the observation area shattered and imploded. Technicians leaped from their chairs and took cover under desks and tables as pieces of debris fell from the ceiling.
Vice President Whiting had never been in an earthquake before. It was chilling. The room vibrated back and forth, then rolled underneath her feet as if the floor were a mat of rubber floating on the ocean. The vibration lasted for fifteen or twenty seconds before and after the roll. Whiting was paralyzed with fear. Where could she go? What could she do? She was trapped in the grip of a force so powerful that she could not comprehend it. Her right ankle twisted under her body in the violent shaking, and she cried out.
Special Agent Corrie Law did the thinking for her. She pulled the Vice President under a desk, then blocked the open side with her body. But the observation room was solidly built, and little fell to the floor. The emergency lighting worked well. The large angled windows overlooking the master command room below wavered and buckled like soap bubbles, but they did not break and send glass shattering down.
In a minute or so, the shaking subsided. The air now smelled musty and very dry, as if filled with a thin misting of dust. Agent Law’s face showed deep concern as she looked at the Vice President coughing. “Are you all right, ma’am?” she shouted.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Whiting replied. She looked into Law’s worried eyes. “You’re shouting, Corrie. Take it easy. Help me up.”
“Sorry,” said Law in a lower voice. Her strong, wiry arms pulled the Vice President to her feet.
“That Marine Corps training kicks in when something like this happens, eh?” Whiting asked with a wry smile.
“I guess so,” Law replied sheepishly. “I was in an earthquake once, in Turkey. A whole building collapsed on top of us.” She looked around. “This place looks spotless compared to that.”
She and Whiting looked out over the battle staff and support staff operating areas. The place was in surprisingly good shape. The computers and consoles were dark, but they were surprised to see that the phones were still in use. As they watched, Korean technicians were busily rolling out huge mounted charts and large transparent greaseboards, setting up for monitoring the emergency the old-fashioned way, before computerized maps and real-time data feeds.
General Park came over to them. “Are you all right, Madam Vice President?” he asked. He looked unfazed himself, as if his command center got jolts like that every morning.
“We’re fine,” Whiting replied. “Where’s President Kwon?”
“Down there, I am sure,” Park replied, motioning toward the observation windows. Sure enough, they saw the president of the Republic of Korea, with two armed guards nearby, walking in front of the general staff positions, checking on them; it was clear he was exhorting them to find out what had happened. They saw the startled looks on the staff officers’ faces as they realized their president was standing before them, and how quickly they scrambled back into their seats and picked up their telephones.
“I suggest we go downstairs, Madam Vice President. Communications are limited right now, and we will be able to hear the information as it comes in.”
Officers and technicians had a second shock at the sight of the Vice President joining them in the battle staff area moments later. Seats were quickly found for them. Whiting had Admiral Allen on one side and President Kwon on the other, with Corrie Law behind her and one of the marine guards in front of her. General Park was crouched on the floor, wearing a headset and listening to his senior officers and controllers as they reported in to him. When the briefing concluded, he turned down the volume and stood up.
“Here is the information as we know right now, Mr. President, Madam Vice President,” he began. “The Republic of Korea was attacked with perhaps as many as a dozen thermonuclear devices and several dozen chemical or biological warfare weapons, and several hundred shorter-range high-explosive missiles.”
“My God,” Whiting murmured. But when she turned to look at President Kwon… she actually saw him smiling!
“I must further report,” Park went on, “that the Republic of Korea has suffered staggering losses. The city of Kangnung, a city of over one hundred thousand on the east coast of the peninsula, may have been completely destroyed. The city is the home of our largest air division guarding the capital from the east. The city of Suwon, just ten miles north of us, was hit by
a single nuclear device. It was not a direct hit — the weapon exploded several miles to the east of the city, probably directly over the Samsung electronics manufacturing complex — but casualties are already estimated at over sixty thousand. Seoul was hit by three, possibly four, weapons dispersing unknown toxic substances. Inchon, Taejon, and Taegu were also hit by chemical or biological weapons. A single nuclear explosion was detected near Kunsan, thirty miles southwest of Taejon. Casualties are unknown at this time.”
Vice President Whiting looked at President Kwon and could not believe her eyes — the smile on his face had given way to sheer delight. “Excuse me, Mr. President,” she said. “I cannot understand what you’re so… so happy about. Your crazed stunt led to an attack that may have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians!”
“Believe me, Madam Vice President, I am not celebrating,” Kwon said. “But you must understand: the Communists had enough firepower on alert and ready to respond to kill every living thing in South Korea ten times over. If it is true and we were hit only with a few nuclear warheads out of possibly hundreds, or a few dozen chemical warheads out of literally thousands, it means our outreach program worked. The common man in the North, the conscripts, the everyday workingman and-woman, have decided to join us and throw off their Communist overlords. A few nuclear explosions, a few thousand martyred souls: this is a small price to pay when it could mean the end of Communist rule on the Korean peninsula and blessed reunification! A small price, indeed.”
THE WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM
THAT SAME TIME
We see it too, Mr. President,” President Kevin Martin-dale said. He was on a four-way conference call with three other international leaders: Minister of National Defense Chi Haotian of the People’s Republic of China, President Yevgeniy Maksimovich Primakov of the Russian Federation, and Prime Minister Kazumi Nagai of the Republic of Japan. All three world leaders called into the White House nearly simultaneously, and each call was taken immediately and merged without permission from any of them by the White House Communications Center.
“President Martindale, this is President Primakov,” came a translation. “I must have assurances that this is not a prelude to a full-scale attack against North Korea! I demand it! Respond, please!”
“I am telling you, Mr. President, and all of you: the United States has no idea what’s going on over Korea, and I promise you, we are in no way involved,” Martin-dale said. In the brief time since the four-way call was established, this had to be the second or third time he had made that statement. With Martindale in the Situation Room were Secretary of Defense Arthur Chastain, National Security Adviser Philip Freeman, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral George Balboa, along with backup aides and interpreters. They had all quickly moved to the Situation Room, an ordinary-looking room in the basement of the White House, when the call from Vice President Whiting was cut off.
“No American forces are involved, none!” Martindale insisted yet again. “We have radar surveillance planes over the peninsula and one carrier battle group in the Yellow Sea, but except for normal patrols, we have no aircraft whatsoever involved in this situation! I repeat, we have none!
“Listen very carefully, please, all of you: this situation appears to be an outbreak of hostilities between North and South Korea only. Our sources indicate that South Korean warplanes crossed the Demilitarized Zone first, and that North Korean rocket and artillery forces retaliated.”
“Then you admit the South is the aggressor!” Chinese Defense Minister Chi exploded. “You admit that this hateful act was an attempt to destroy the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea! You admit that this act of treachery is the fault of no one but your own allies, the South Koreans!”
“Mr. Minister, I admit nothing — I’m saying that our observations agree with all the others that have been reported, that it appears that South Korea started the conflict by crossing the Military Demarcation Line first,” Martindale said.
“Our information also says that the South Korean air attacks used only nonnuclear air defense suppression weapons, not nuclear or bio-chem weapons,” Prime Minister Nagai interjected. “North Korea has responded with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons launched by medium-range ballistic missiles. Their response was clearly far out of proportion to the threat—”
“What did you expect — that the North Koreans would use flyswatters and harsh words to scare the South Koreans away?” Minister Chi retorted. “The South Korean aircraft overflew the capital with attack aircraft. The North’s response was completely justified.”
“And what will be China’s reaction to this conflict?” President Primakov asked, his intense, rapid-fire tone muted by the translator’s monotone. “Will China continue to bomb its neighbors, as you did two years ago? Will you now continue your moves against Taiwan and the Philippines?”
“And what of Japan, Mr. Minister?” Prime Minister Nagai asked. “Is this just a feint to cover an attack upon our homeland?”
“If provoked, yes, we will retaliate!” Minister Chi shouted in English. “If Russia or the United States tries to advance into North Korea or if any Chinese territory is threatened in any way, yes! Yes, we will fight with every weapon and every last man.”
“Hold on! Everyone, hold on!” President Martindale shouted. “It’s clear to me that none of us is involved in this conflict—”
“It is not so clear to us,” Minister Chi interjected.
“I am telling you, the United States is not involved in this!” Martindale said sharply. “We are not involved. This fight is between North and South Korea. If any of us gets too trigger-happy, we’re bound to touch off a world war.”
“I find it hard to believe, President Martindale, that you have several thousand troops stationed in South Korea, plus several thousand more taking part in a large air combat exercise there, and you knew nothing about this sneak attack against North Korea,” Chi Haotian said angrily. “Do you really expect us to believe that?”
“It’s the truth, Mr. Minister,” Martindale said. “American forces are in just as great danger as the civilians on both sides. Do you think I’d keep them in harm’s way if I knew such an attack was going to take place? Don’t you think I’d have at least launched my aircraft to give them a better chance to survive? You confirmed our own air defense radar observations: only South Korean planes are airborne and crossing the DMZ, not American planes. Few of my ground units are reporting to me now, but my airborne surveillance commander assures me that no American forces at all launched with the South Koreans. In fact, I have lost contact with my American commanders in South Korea — apparently, all the command centers are being manned only by Koreans now. All American commanders are off the air.”
He took a deep breath, fought to calm his voice, and said evenly, “Listen very carefully, President Primakov, Prime Minister Nagai, Minister Chi. The United States is not going to invade North Korea or anyone else. I promise you this. It is very important that we all remain calm, remain neutral, and not mobilize any of our forces in response to this conflict. This appears to me to be a Korean squabble. Let the Koreans handle it.”
There was silence on the line for a very long time. Martindale was about to say something to make sure it was still open and clear when he heard President Primakov’s voice and then the Russian translator: “What is the disposition of your strategic forces now, Mr. President?”
“American nuclear forces are on normal peacetime alert — that’s DEFCON Four,” Martindale replied. Actually, “normal” alert was DEFCON Five. But after the Chinese nuclear attacks against Taiwan — and the fact that no one officially knew who detonated the nuclear device under the aircraft carrier USS Independence in Yokosuka Harbor — the United States went back to DEFCON Four, which was the readiness state it had maintained during most of the Cold War.
A year later, however, in order to defuse the tense international situation, the United States unilaterally decided to remove all of its land-based intercontin
ental ballistic nuclear missiles from their silos and put them in storage, and also remove the nuclear weapons delivery capability from all its combat aircraft. This effectively equalized the number of nuclear warheads among the major powers. Martindale had received much criticism at home for the move, but it did serve to calm the fear that a new Cold War was emerging. “The only nuclear-capable forces we have on alert at this moment are our sea-launched ballistic missile submarines — no land-based missiles, no aircraft,” President Martindale said. “Not even our stealth bombers. It’s the same force structure we’ve maintained for the last two years. I’ll tell you all again: the United States does not want war with anyone, of any kind, especially a nuclear war.”
“Then you must tell President Kwon to recall his air forces from North Korea and cease all hostilities,” Chinese Defense Minister Chi said. “The United States may not be directly involved, but such an attack could not have been possible without substantial assistance from the United States. It is therefore vital that the United States withdraws all such assistance and compels the South Koreans to withdraw their forces.”
“I can make that request, Mr. Minister,” Martindale said wearily, “but I’m telling you again, the United States is rendering no assistance to the South Koreans. None whatsoever. I’ve attempted to contact President Kwon but have been unsuccessful — no doubt communications have been disrupted by the North Korean nuclear detonations, and they’ll surely be down for quite some time. But you can monitor the status of American forces around the world, and you can see for yourself that we have not changed the readiness of any of our forces and have not activated the Reserves. I’m asking all of you to do the same.”
“Are you saying we should not defend ourselves?” Japanese Prime Minister Nagai asked angrily. “This we will never agree to, sir!”
“I’m not saying don’t defend yourselves — just don’t mobilize any counteroffensive or strategic units until all of us can analyze what’s happened on the Korean peninsula,” Martindale responded. “Don’t move any troops in response to a situation that does not exist.”
