Chapter 3: If a Chaebol Returns, What Can't He Do?

The backlash of the Chaebol family's prodigal has been converted to a paid release.

The next day, in the interrogation room of a prisoner-of-war camp near Hanoi, North Vietnam.

"Is there anything else to investigate?"

The North Vietnamese army tortures prisoners under the pretext of interrogation.

It's abuse.

It's retaliation.

"Is it true that the South Korean army was about to massacre civilians?"

The interrogator seems to be here to find evidence of the South Korean army's massacre of Vietnamese civilians.

Or, it seems he has been torturing me harshly to fabricate it.

"It was a routine reconnaissance patrol."

"So?"

"Are you trying to cover up the massacre?"

"General Chae Myung-shin of the South Korean army ordered that even if a hundred Viet Cong were to be spared, not a single civilian should be sacrificed."

This is true.

'In a certain sense.'

During the Vietnam War, it was extremely difficult for the allied forces to distinguish between enemy and friend.

'The age of the Viet Cong who threw a bomb at General Chae Myung-shin.'

A 12-year-old girl.

Often, when they thought they were just children and smiled and turned away, they would shoot hidden guns or throw grenades.

"If you don't give the answer the Vietnamese people want, you will face a military tribunal and be executed."

They're going to execute prisoners?

"According to the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, captured prisoners cannot be killed."

"Has there ever been a war where such conventions were followed?"

Right.

There hasn't.

"Seong-su, do you think you can return to the Republic of Korea?"

Why is the interrogator suddenly asking such a question?

"American prisoners of war might be able to return, but you won't."

"Why, why not?"

My voice trembled involuntarily.

"You must be the evidence that the South Korean army massacred Vietnamese civilians, who were unrelated to the war."

My voice trembling, the interrogator seems to think he's getting his way.

'But it's going my way.'

I can still see the semi-transparent map in my eyes.

And on that map, the coordinates of this prisoner-of-war camp are marked.

'There might be a way to relay the location.'

If the Vietnamese Communist Party wants to use me as evidence of the South Korean army's massacre of Vietnamese civilians,

and if they video my testimony and send it to the United States or South Korea to pressure them to withdraw, the South Korean army might ignore and cover up the video sent by North Vietnam, but the U.S. army would never do that.

'An opportunity is coming.'

But I can't immediately accept the North Vietnamese interrogator's offer.

"There is no such thing. The South Korean army has never massacred Vietnamese civilians."

"If you don't become the evidence, you might be handed over to the comrades of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

This is a threat.

"Clearly, when you are deemed useless, you will be tortured to death here."

"Interrogator, please, spare my life."

When I collapse, I must collapse completely. I trembled, shed tears, and knelt down, pleading with the interrogator.

The interrogator, looking down at me, smiled.

"Survival is human nature."

"What should I do?"

"I will record your testimony on video."

"And then?"

Everything is going according to plan.

"Of course, it will be sent to the South Korean army headquarters."

"What does North Vietnam gain from this?"

"Ceasefire and withdrawal. And unconditional release of prisoners."

They are demanding something that cannot be allowed.

'Do you know why young men from the Republic of Korea come to a foreign country to shed blood?'

Because they are poor.

The country is poor, and its people are poor, so they have to risk their lives in the most despicable war.

So, no matter what happens, the South Korean army cannot withdraw without the permission of the United States.

* * *

Four days later, the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam.

I appeared as a criminal in the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, just as the North Vietnamese Labor Party wanted.

And I confessed and was filmed, just as the North Vietnamese military wanted.

"Do you acknowledge all the evidence of your confession?"

The Vietnamese judge asked me.

"Do you acknowledge it?"

The judge asked me again.

'Now I have to decide.'

I bit my lip tightly and looked at the judge.

"I acknowledge all the facts. Even if I am such a sinner, if the Vietnamese Labor Party shows me mercy, I will be reborn as a new force for the Labor Party."

This is what the Vietnamese Labor Party wants.

Clap, clap, clap!

As I falsely acknowledged everything, applause erupted from the audience.

'What will happen to me now?'

Will the Republic of Korea really plan a rescue operation to save me?

'Not for me alone.'

A rescue operation will be planned because Lieutenant Smith is also captured here.

I just need to hold on a little longer.

* * *

One week later, the President's office at the Blue House.

"This is a videotape sent by the North Vietnamese Labor Party."

The Chief of Staff reported to the President, watching his reaction.

"Those North Vietnamese communists sent this to me?"

The President asked the Chief of Staff with a puzzled look.

"Sir, you must watch the videotape first."

"Watch it?"

"You must watch it. The Vietnam War will definitely end in an American defeat, so you must watch this videotape."

"Play it."

Following the President's order, the videotape sent by the North Vietnamese Labor Party was played.

The President watched the video intently.

His eyes changed as he realized something, and his eyebrows began to twitch.

"Rewind it."

The President ordered the Secretary-General, who was watching the videotape.

-My name is Private Seong-su Lee of the Republic of Korea Army's Tiger Unit, and I testify without lying that the South Korean army massacred Vietnamese civilians. I reveal that the order for the massacre came from the U.S. Army headquarters.

The person in the videotape was Seong-su Lee.

"Secretary-General."

"Yes, sir."

Everyone's faces were dark because Seong-su was testifying about the South Korean army's massacre.

"Write it down."

"Yes, sir."

"Coordinate numbers..."

The Secretary-General wrote down the numbers as the President dictated.

"Lieutenant Smith, the son of a New York State senator, is also a prisoner."

The President smiled as he spoke.

The President had recognized Morse code in Seong-su's blinking eyelids.

"Is that all, sir?"

"Turn it off."

After the President spoke, he closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.

When he spread his fingers, the Secretary-General put a cigarette in the President's fingers.

"Has this videotape reached the U.S. side?"

"There has been no notification."

The Chief of Staff stepped forward, watching the President's reaction.

"Have the Yankees ever given me important information?"

"I apologize."

"The son of a New York senator has been captured."

"Yes, that's correct."

The commander of the Special Forces Unit answered immediately.

"If you approve, sir, I will lead the elite of the 1st Special Forces Unit and deploy to Vietnam immediately."

"If he's the son of a New York senator?"

"One of the U.S. presidential candidates."

The Foreign Minister, who had been silent, stepped forward.

"Saving the son of such a figure will be a significant act for the Republic of Korea."

At this moment, no one mentioned Seong-su. There was no need to.

"We can expect a lot of help in future diplomatic issues with the United States."

The President nodded at the Foreign Minister's words.

"Who is the hero who worries about the future of his country in the worst-case scenario?"

Seong-su was mentioned for the first time by the President.

"Confirmed as Private Seong-su Lee."

The commander of the Special Forces Unit said eagerly.

"Bring the brave Korean soldier Seong-su and Lieutenant Smith, who can be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States, to me."

A special operation that had never existed in the history of the Republic of Korea was about to begin on the President's order.

* * *

Inside a secret North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.

Here, my position was completely changed.

After testifying as a South Korean prisoner of war as the North Vietnamese Communist Party wanted, I became the guard of this secret prisoner-of-war camp.

Wearing the black top and bottom of the Viet Cong and the red armband that communists are obsessed with, I was supervising and persuading American and Australian prisoners of war.

"Traitor, spit!"

When I passed the cell where the Americans were imprisoned, Smith, who had considered me a friend, despised me.

'Smith is a deep blue!'

And the dot representing Private Johnson, who was taken away by the guards this morning, has turned a deeper purple.

"Bring that Yankee out."

I will live as a traitor who has completely turned to Vietnamese communism until the Republic of Korea Army comes to rescue me and Smith.

"How much are you going to beat him this time?"

The North Vietnamese guard said to me with a look of amusement, as if I, the traitor, would treat the prisoners more harshly than they do.

"Can I kill him?"

The North Vietnamese guard shook his head at my words.

"Then I'll leave him half-dead."

So, Lieutenant Smith was dragged out of the cell.

I beat Lieutenant Smith to near death in front of the North Vietnamese guard.

-You have to endure, Smith.

I transmitted Morse code by blinking my eyelids while beating Lieutenant Smith. I had to find a way to keep Smith always by my side.

This is the answer.

'Johnson was taken away.'

And it was from this morning.

'Was he taken away?'

Or?

My thoughts keep drifting to Johnson.

And I keep having ominous thoughts.

"Ugh, aah!"

Lieutenant Smith screamed and answered in Morse code, just like me.

-Will we really be saved?

-I wouldn't be, but they'll come for you.

Why?

Because the poor Republic of Korea cannot abandon the son of a U.S. senator to receive more support from the United States.

'If I escape from this hell!'

I reaffirmed my resolve to turn the still-poor Republic of Korea into a wealthy nation.

Why?

To ensure that no young man like me will ever have to go through this again.

* * *