"That's how it has been so far."
If I remember the future memories which I know, after the defeat of the US in the Vietnam War, the invasion of Afghanistan also ended up in defeat, and the Iraq War was essentially a lost war.
"I think the reason America is still the world's superpower is because American citizens are confident."
"That is correct."
"But now, in the war, we are about to be defeated by North Vietnam, and economically, Japanese products are dominating the American mainland like an air raid."
A sprinkle of red pepper powder was dropped on Japan.
"Air raid? Did you say occupation again?"
"Because the Pearl Harbor attack wasn't the only war."
It reminded me of the history of the United States and Japan.
"Actually, isn't this situation more than an air raid?"
"Why do you say that?"
"It can be said for sure that American businesses have lost their competitiveness by now as products of Japanese businesses have conquered the American continent. Businesses that lost their competitiveness can do nothing else but go out of business and fire a tremendous amount of people. One of the reasons that the unemployment level in the United States is now increasing is because of Japan's incredible economic boom."
What I told the senator a while ago might later be the catalyst for the Plaza Accord.
"It might be an exaggeration, but it's not entirely without foundation."
"American citizens will want to rebuild their weakened nation."
Reagan, an actor by profession, became president, preaching a strong America.
"If you focus on a powerful America and focus on the connection with our blood brothers, you will gain the hearts of the American electoral college who will elect you. The President will wholeheartedly endorse you, and I will also endorse Smith, who is getting into politics.
Actually, South Korea is a significant nation to America.
'What if US-China relations deteriorate?'
The worth of South Korea in the eyes of the United States will increase further.
Of course, politicians and the U.S. government prioritize Japan over South Korea.
"I said I would help, but I ended up getting helped instead. Hahaha!"
He looked contented when I informed him that I would assist Smith into politics.
"Thank you so much for thinking that way."
"So how can I help you now?"
The senator gazed back and forth between the President and me and inquired,
"Allow the U.S. government to lend short-term loans to our blood ally, the Republic of Korea."
"Short-term loan?"
"It's fine if the interest rate is high."
The cost of oil, which stands at $2 now, will increase to $11.50 by 1974.
'Securing more oil than South Korea can use.'
Any excess oil can be sold to Japan or Taiwan to earn a profit on the price difference.
"Are you saying you want to buy oil in advance with that short-term loan?"
"Wars that are bound to happen will happen. The Korean War was like that, the Vietnam War was like that, and in the Middle East, there will be endless fights between Israel and Arab countries."
"I'll try my best."
This is what occurs when I insert the presidential wind into Senator Dae-jung's heart.
"Mr. President, you have a hidden card."
Hidden card?
"No matter what happens, Senator, I and the Republic of Korea will help you."
I know because the interpreter translated exactly what I said to the senator in English to the president.
"thank you."
I believe that it must be stated that this is the point at which an implicit agreement, not an implicit agreement, is inadvertently reached.
"I think South Korea will develop further if there are many capable young people like Seongsu."
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Lee Seong-su is the true hidden trump card of the Republic of Korea.
If I become the world's best capitalist, the trickle-down effect will be felt by South Korea and its citizens.
'Now that it's started,'
You simply need to keep going forward.
'How to create seed money?'
If you were to ask the president how many slush funds he has?
Will I really get naked and frostbitten?
* * *
December 27, 1971, in Senator Walker Smith of New York's study.
[Southeast Asia will surely become communist, beginning with Vietnam.]
Senator Walker Smith was thinking about what he had discussed with Lee Sung-soo after talking with the South Korean president at the Blue House on the 24th.
[Perhaps so.]
In front of Senator Walker Smith sat the unruffled-looking Lieutenant Smith.
[So it would be safe to say that the whole of Asia is now communist. China has already been red-colored.] [That's right.] [Father, we are now living in the Cold War period with the US and the Soviet Union in conflict. The US will now decide that its power in Asia will decline, and the Nixon administration will approach the Chinese Communist Party via ping-pong diplomacy.] [Seongsu, what are you saying?]
"Give wings to a tiger?"
Senator Walker Smith quoted what Lee Sung-soo had spoken. And Lee Sung-soo was having Senator Walker Smith execute two missions at the same time.
"Do you think so?"
"I think what Seongsu said is true."
"I asked you to explain what you are thinking, not what Seongsu is thinking."
"Father, China is as big as the United States. To that extent, it has a vast underground resource and five times more people. China, with cheap labor and low-cost raw materials, could turn out to be an even greater enemy than Japan, who is now stressing the U.S. economy."
"The Nixon administration was backing the Chinese Communist Party for the sake of competing with the Soviet Union."
"This is an absolute miscalculation on Nixon's part."
"A misjudgment?"
It looks like a calm environment today, but it will awaken the Asian dragon with immense potential. You must put a stop to it. The Soviet Union is vast in territory, but a majority of it is barren land. But China is not."
"It's certainly different?"
As an answer to his father's question, Smith remembered what Lee Seong-su had told him in the special room of the hospital.
[In a sense, the present communist status of China might have been a blessing for the United States.] [Seongsu, what are you saying?] [If the Republic of China had occupied that huge land and joined the UN, where would the agricultural produce and manufactured goods made on that land compete with? If the United States is capitalist and the Republic of China is capitalist, then who would it be?] [The competitor is the United States?] [Of course, and will the Asian nations depend on the faraway United States? Or will they depend on the expanded Republic of China? Smith, you must have heard of a regional hegemon.] [The Republic of China might have become a regional hegemon?] [And might have competed with the United States, but China has been closed and isolated for 20 years since becoming communist. It has not grown until now, and that has been a blessing for the United States. But the idiotic Nixon administration is awakening the sleeping dragon. It may not be immediately, but in 10 years, China will be a greater headache for the United States than the Soviet Union.]
'Seongsu is a genius, a genius!'
Smith cried out in awe, thinking of the holy water once again.
"I believe China should never open up. It will hurt the future of America. So, my father has to put a stop to it."
"Do I have the authority to stop it?"
"There is a Democratic Party. And if you begin getting ready now, your father could be president."
"I am the president?"
It was Senator Walker Smith whose eyes dramatically altered.
"Nobody has any idea what will happen tomorrow. And that this ping-pong diplomacy is taking place while there is no formal and sincere apology from the Chinese Communist Party is absurd."
"That's correct."
"There are a lot of Americans who still recall the Battle of Chosin Reservoir like my dad."
What is certain here is that Lee Sung-soo shook a spoonful of chili powder on the reconciliatory mood between the United States and China.
* * *
Security Command Personnel Staff Office.
"Sergeant Lee Seong-su, do you think you can persuade him well?"
We are on the brink of an unprecedented moment in the history of the Republic of Korea dictatorship.
"I will do my best."
I told the Security Command personnel officer.
You clearly have another explanation as to why Security Command and the CIA had no other option but to actively cooperate in this operation."
There has to be a reason, the President gave the command so we are executing it.
'wait for a sec.'
Next year will be 1972.
The Yushin Constitution will be proclaimed in October.
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'Could the President have thought that far?'
If that is the case, it sends shivers down my spine.
'Once the Yushin Constitution is proclaimed, the entire nation will be in an uproar with protests against Yushin.'
What is the protest for?
It's a student movement.
'Everyone gathered here!'
There is a conspiracy to label you a traitor.
'The President is scary!'
It's a collection of wishes to safeguard one's own power.
* * *
The Blue House Presidential Office.
"Perhaps sometime in October would be good?"
The president glanced at his chief of staff and said:
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Korea needs a constitution that can exercise stronger governance."
"You are right."
"After it is proclaimed, the entire nation will be set ablaze like a furnace by student protests, so we must turn the university student leaders who will serve as the fuse and the trigger into turncoats."
The chief of staff nodded in agreement with the words of the president.
"Sergeant Lee Seong-su is a big asset to me and the Republic of Korea. Hehehe!"