TL: EKID
The real estate office owner brought up the main point.
“Have you heard of HUMINT?”
“Gathering intelligence through people?”
“That’s right. It means obtaining information through human networks.”
“So Old-man Choi was also a HUMINT target.”
The real estate office owner nodded.
“How many national intelligence agencies do you think are in China?”
“USA, Russia, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan would obviously be there, and maybe a few more countries.”
“More than thirty countries.”
“Whew~ China sure is creating a lot of jobs for the world.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Anyway, once China opened up and adopted a market economy, it became impossible to stop them from operating undercover.”
“So you decided to unofficially manage them instead.”
“Exactly. That’s my role here in Dandong. Managing the foreign intelligence agencies in Dandong.”
I had a rough idea of what this old man wanted from me.
It seemed like he wanted me to become a HUMINT target in place of Old-man Choi.
“So the deal you’re proposing is…”
“You just need to tell me about the work you’re doing. Just like Old-man Choi did. That way, I can report to my superiors, and everyone stays comfortable.”
“I’m just a grunt, so what I do isn’t of much value.”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re under my management.”
“What benefit do I get?”
“Safety.”
The deal proposed by the real estate office owner was simple.
I would report my activities to China’s MSS in exchange for guaranteed safety.
Although the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of State Security of the People’s Republic of China likely had dealings at the top level, even field agents made deals according to their needs.
Because those working at the bottom want to do their jobs comfortably, too.
“Well, let’s do it that way.”
“Then starting now, send me the edited surveillance footage of the Yalu River bridge.”
“Surveillance footage of the bridge wouldn’t be necessary for the MSS, would it? Chinese customs officers guard the bridge.”
“Of course it’s unnecessary data. But the edited footage will be proof that you’re dealing with me. That alone makes it worthwhile.”
It’s not a difficult task.
Anyway, China handles customs duties inspecting North Korean people and cargo crossing the bridge. Giving them video of vehicles crossing won’t be an issue.
“There’s one more favor I need.”
“What is it?”
“Old-man Choi used to support me with 10,000 yuan a month.”
He was asking for money to maintain the guanxi. (TL Note: Read here about guanxi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanxi)
10,000 yuan is roughly 1.98 million won.
“I’m just a grunt, so I don’t have much operating budget.”
“Try to come up with it. I don’t keep it all for myself. I need to pay up to my superiors too.”
“Ugh.”
“Aren’t I the real estate office owner? Think of it as a brokerage fee. I’ve heard the National Intelligence Service of South Korea has plenty of budget.”
10,000 yuan a month is not impossible to come up with.
Even if I don’t get support from headquarters, I can just use my own money. If MSS guarantees my safety, then that alone is worth the 10,000 yuan.
“Alright. I’ll try to make it work.”
“I’ll take the video weekly, and the money at the end of each month.”
“Don’t forget the promise to ensure my safety.”
The deal between the real estate office owner and me was concluded.
“Seems like a lot of people have been coming to see you lately?”
“Since Old-man Choi died, flies have started to gather.”
“Are you sure you’re not the one attracting the flies?”
“… No way.”
The real estate office owner gave a sly smile and stood up.
“Since you accepted the deal, I’ll give you a gift. Your motorcycle is parked in front of the warehouse.”
“!”
On the day the Black Dragon Society attacked the North Korean safehouse, I had left the motorcycle at the hill rest area. If he brought back that motorcycle, it means the real estate office owner knew I went to the safehouse that day.
‘Is that why he said I’m attracting the flies?’
I couldn’t give any reply.
“Every Tuesday at 1 PM, let’s meet at the alley restaurant.”
The real estate office owner didn’t press me any further and left.
‘Is he pretending not to know? Does this count as part of the safety guarantee?’
My mind was getting tangled.
Just how much does the Ministry of State Security of China know? Surely, they don’t know I went to the Black Dragon Society’s headquarters, right? Of course, they wouldn’t know that far.
The shooting incident at the North Korean safehouse was probably learned through the dispatched public security officers.
Anyway, I no longer needed to go to the hill rest area to retrieve the motorcycle.
All that’s left is to move tonight.
***
Office of the 1st Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service of the South Korea.
Today, Deputy Director Nam Won-bong, who oversees the overseas division of the NIS, wore a noticeably bright expression. He was having tea in his office with Team Leader Moon Dong-ryul of Foreign Team 3.
“The CIA was very satisfied with the footage we sent of the Office 39 Director incharge of Drugs. The CIA’s Korea desk head even called the Director of the NIS directly to express their gratitude.”
“Of course. Intelligence on the upper levels of Office 39 is premium information even spy satellites can’t capture.”
“Hahaha, good job, Team Leader Moon. Thanks to you, I received praise from the NIS Director.”
Thanks to the footage recorded by the Black Agents in Dandong, they were able to identify the Director incharge of Drugs of Office 39. In the world of intelligence, identifying a single high-ranking figure carries tremendous value.
By tracking that individual, it’s possible to identify many associated figures. In other words, it’s like finding the end of a tangled thread, an extraordinary achievement.
“The drugs that entered through Incheon Port were also completely seized by customs.”
Team Leader Moon Dong-ryul of Foreign Team 3 reported that the drugs the Black Dragon Society attempted to smuggle into the country were fully confiscated by Incheon Customs.
“It’ll probably be a front-page exclusive in tomorrow’s newspapers.”
“The drug control task force will take all the credit again. What have they even done? We in the overseas division basically spoon-fed everything to them.”
“You’re right.”
“I don’t like it. Our overseas division should have been part of that drug control task force.”
Deputy Director Nam Won-bong felt sick at the thought of the 2nd Deputy Director of the NIS, who heads the drug control task force, reaping the benefits.
While the work of the overseas division rarely makes the news, the seizure of large-scale drug shipments entering the country gets extensive media coverage, and that made it all the more frustrating.
“I’d like to recommend reward leave for the agents who played a major role in this operation.”
“Go ahead. I’ll provide special activity funds. Distribute them to the agents who contributed.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s another reason I called you, Team Leader Moon. The CIA has asked us for assistance.”
“The CIA?”
“Yes.”
Deputy Director Nam Won-bong got to the point.
“The United States believes that North Korea is selling weapons to terrorist organizations through Middle Eastern arms brokers. Yesterday, Hamas, which had no proper weapons due to prolonged blockades, launched a surprise attack on Israel, and debris suspected to be a North Korean F-7 rocket was found at the scene.”
“Given that North Korea has supported Palestinian independence for decades, it’s not surprising.”
“I, too, don’t like what Israel does. But since the CIA is asking, shouldn’t we help?”
“What exactly do they want us to do?”
“We need to find evidence that North Korea is trading weapons with Middle Eastern arms brokers.”
“That won’t be easy.”
“The CIA will inform us of the movements of the arms brokers in the Middle East. All our agents need to do is cover the actual transaction sites.”
“Where are the sites?”
“The port of Dalian in China.”
“That’s near Dandong, where the previous operation took place. I’ll assign the team that identified the Director incharge of Drugs of Office 39.”
“Good idea. The operation begins in ten days, so let them take their reward leave before that.”
The second operation was assigned to Dove No. 1, who had played an active role in Dandong.
This time, the operation area is Dalian, China.
***
Past midnight, I began the move.
I loaded the thermal surveillance equipment in the motorcycle trunk. The camera bag and clothing bag were strapped to the back seat. The new house was in the neighboring village, so it would only take two or three trips on the motorcycle to move everything.
Preparations were complete. I departed for the new ops room located at the very top of the hillside village.
Jenny 13-150
Just as No. 1 hyung had told me, there was a key inside the milk pouch hanging on the front gate. I opened the gate and entered to find a narrow yard and a front entrance.
Gravel was spread across the yard. To reach the front door, one had to walk across the gravel-covered yard.
Crunch, crunch
The sound of my footsteps on the gravel echoed.
“There’s no need for a separate alarm.”
If someone tried to approach the front door, the sound of stepping on gravel would give them away.
The front door was made of steel. I entered the password on the keypad.
I liked the house. It was a small place, less than 66 square meters, but the view was absolutely stunning. The Yalu River stretched out clearly in front of the house.
What I liked the most was that there was an empty lot next to the house. Not having to deal with a next-door neighbor was a huge advantage.
I felt grateful once again to No. 1 hyung for finding me this house at the top of the hillside village.
The second floor was a rooftop room. It was perfect for setting up the thermal surveillance equipment and cameras. Indoor setups are generally better for electronic devices than outdoor ones.
“Looks like I won’t have to clean up pigeon poop anymore.”
There was a work desk in the rooftop room. It seemed No. 1 hyung had prepared it in advance.
I started by setting up the thermal surveillance equipment and the camera. All that was left to bring was the editing PC and monitor.
On the first floor were the bedroom and kitchen.
The kitchen was attached to the living room, with a small sink and a two-burner gas stove next to it.
Tick tick tick tick. Click
I turned the gas knob, and the flame lit up nicely.
“Good.”
The bedroom was right below the rooftop room. From there too, I could see the Yalu River through the window.
I lay down on the bed.
Turning my head, I could see the dark Yalu River through the window. At night, lights only turned on at the bridge. Due to power shortages, the North Korean side was pitch-black at night.
The Yalu River flowing in the dark of night felt sorrowful. I lay on the bed for a long time, staring at the river.
“Repetitive, boring routines aren’t so bad.”
I went down through the door leading to the basement. The basement had a lingering smell of spices. It seemed the previous owner had used it as a storage room for food. Since I didn’t have much to store, it looked like I wouldn’t be using the storage room.
I headed back to the old ops room to fetch the rest of my stuff.
Two more trips back and forth and the move would be complete.
The food I had at the ops room was all gone after feeding the storage friends. Thanks to that, the amount of stuff to move was greatly reduced.
Morning came, and I edited the footage recorded overnight. The newly installed thermal surveillance equipment and cameras were operating normally.
To upload the footage, I logged into <Yellow Rudbeckia>.
There was a new message in the inbox.
– You are ordered to take a four-day leave
Since coming to Dandong, it was my first vacation in a year and six months.
***
I arrived at <Along the Forest Path Bar>.
Before leaving on vacation, I had arranged to have lunch with No. 1 hyung.
I parked my motorcycle at the entrance and walked down the stairs.
Cling clang.
As I opened the door, the bell rang.
“Welcome. You’re right on time.”
No. 1 hyung and Samsun were bringing food to the table.
Today’s menu was squid soup and stir-fried pork.
“Sit down. Samsun’s cooking is good. You’ll enjoy it.”
I took a spoonful of the soup first. It was just right.
“Ahh, this squid soup is nicely spicy. I like it.”
As I ate the food heartily, Samsun smiled.
“Do you like the new house?”
“I like it a lot. Thank you, hyung.”
“I bought that house to live in myself. I’ll lend it to you, so use it comfortably.”
“What about you, hyung?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
I had wondered why they found a house so quickly.
It was a house No. 1 hyung had originally prepared for himself.
After the meal, I drank freshly brewed coffee made by No. 1 hyung.
“Don’t bring all your money to South Korea. Park half of it in Hong Kong.”
While drinking coffee, I discussed the issue of transferring money back to Korea with No. 1 hyung.
During this vacation, I planned to send slush funds back to Korea through the overseas remittance agent introduced by No. 1 hyung.
“Is there really a need to keep money in Hong Kong?”
“There is. Definitely. Do as this hyung says. The fee is cheap, too, just 10%.”
No. 1 hyung recommended parking half of the slush funds overseas.
“Guys like us need to dig multiple escape tunnels. One day, if you have to flee abroad empty-handed, you’ll be thankful you listened to me.”
“Understood.”
I decided to take the advice of experienced No. 1 hyung.
I would bring only half of the slush funds into the country.