The Blue House

Love Story

Three hours passes inside the Command Center in a blur of agitated phone calls and meaningless debate, and Bin is five seconds away from exploding. His wife is at the hospital to deliver their baby and here he is, listening to his subordinates arguing whether the Kill Chain strategy is worth to consider as the counter action to the North's threat.

He stands up and walks closer to the big screen showing the whole area of Korean Peninsula as he calms himself down and listens to the continuing discussion behind him. Every president before him had different view on how to communicate with their long-lost brother in the Peninsula, but every one of them had the same dream of reuniting two parts of Korea back into one. That dream lives in him, despite the impossibility.

And Kill Chain— feels like a step back.

"It goes against the vision of this administration to keep peace in Korean Peninsula." Prime Minister Gong gives his opinion.

Damn right!

Kill Chain strategy is something very aggressive and at the opposite of the spectrum with the peace talks he is endorsing since last year. It calls for preemptive strikes against the North's missiles and their leaders if imminent attack is detected.

"But if we are to defer to their request to cancel the joint operation drill, we will jeopardize South Korea's alliance with the United States." Minister Ji of Ministry of Defense adds his perspective as the one who proposes the strategy.

A valid point from his minister. This is why Bin refrains from immediately following his instinct to scratch this strategy out. US has been the country's biggest support in terms of military warfare, not to mention, any preemptive and retaliatory actions will be under their order because of their control over the allied forces. And while Kill Chain is a logical step, it brings a great risk of another war at the Peninsula.

It is something to be avoided at all cost. War will only cost them money and the most important— lives. And this time, it will involve nuclear, what a disaster.

Bin turns around and seeks his Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff who is following the conversation silently, seemingly passive, but he knows him as a man of action rather than getting involved in this table top discussion.

"General Dae-sik, any chance you have given a heads up of this situation to our counterpart in the US Pacific Command?"

The General stands up from his seat and nods to him. "Yes, Sir. It may sound premature to some, but I think letting them in on the situation early will be beneficial for us."

"And their initial reaction?"

"They expect us to keep the schedule for the joint operation drill."

"They have their own war with the North that put us in the middle. And they want us to choose." The President reads the situation correctly.

"They don't want us to entertain the North's request and put theirs as our priority."

"Damn it! I won't accept they use us as a pawn in their own war games!"

"Agree to that notion, Mr. President. But unfortunately, we are in the thick of things. The North was clearly agitated with our decision to move forward with the drill. As the North's leader said in the call, they were as far as accusing us of betraying the Panmujeom Declaration."

"We can't have that. We need to show them we are still honoring that agreement. That puts an end to the talk of Kill Chain strategy." Bin looks pointedly at Minister Ji. "So, we need another plan."

"Captain, what's the status from the intelligence? Is there any movement on their ballistic missiles?" General Dae-sik turns to his deputy who is tasked with gathering information from their intel.