Critical Incidents: The ROK - Land of HAN (A Jack Gunn Mystery Thriller Book 1) (6 page)

Kwon asked, “Mr. Gunn, can you obtain a Glock for me? I need a good backup gun.”

“Sure, I can get you one, next time I go back to the United States.”

“When will that be?” he asked.

“I don’t know exactly, but probably in a month. Maybe I can get one sooner. I’ll have to check. ”

KY said, “What I like about the Glock is the hammer is enclosed and it can take a lot of punishment. There is no safety other than the trigger itself. Our Lionheart LH9’s are good guns, but they’re too heavy and jam easy.”

The nice thing about being a Diplomatic Security Agent is that we can carry handguns no matter where we go, in most countries. South Korea is one of the countries that permit us to carry firearms outside of the embassy. Gun control here is very strict. Only special Korean Police Units can carry firearms, and of course undercover agents. The CIA can also carry sidearms while in Korea, as well as a few other United States agencies, like the FBI.

Kwon said, “I agree with Lee-shi. The LH9 is not the best gun in the world, even if it is Korean made.”

Lee poured us all a beer and we toasted to Korea and United States team spirit.

“Mr. Gunn, I hear you have been promoted to Agent in Charge for Korea. Congratulations.” He raised his glass and toasted to my promotion. We touched our glasses.

“Thank you.” I said. “Congratulations, to you also.”

The sushi was brought in and we started to partake in the morsels. Kwon had first choice, of course. The server poured us all a small cup of hot sake.

Kwon said, “I have appointed Mr. Lee to be Liaison Officer between the NIS and your embassy security. Do you think that is ok?”

I glanced at my friend’s face. He didn’t look happy about it.  I said, “I think it will work out fine.”

“Yes, that’s what I thought, since you are close friends.” Kwon raised his cup of sake. “Here’s to friendship.”

Once again we toasted. Lee and I repeated, “To friendship.”

Kwon spoke again. “Mr. Lee will report everything related to the American Embassy each week to me. So please stay in touch with him.”

I replied, “Mr. Kwon, I don’t report to you or the NIS. Mr. Lee is my friend, but I will not tell him any confidential information related to the United States.”

Kwon let out a short laugh. “Yes, of course, Mr. Gunn. You can’t give away state secrets.”

You could cut the tension with a knife. This was putting my buddy and me on the spot. Kwon is a sneaky son-of-a-bitch. I could tell he was a control freak who wanted power.

Lee changed the subject and we continued our conversation for another hour of small talk and discussions about world affairs. I found out that Kwon was educated in the United States. Most of his family, what was left of it, was trapped in North Korea.

Kwon commented, “Your President seems to be very weak. He has withdrawn troops from around the world. He has reduced the U.S. troop level in Korea to the lowest it has ever been. Currently, there are only ten thousand men based here. Sixty percent of those are support functions. So there are probably only four thousand actual combat troops.”

I said, “Yes, that’s true, but those four thousand are mostly Marines. They’re the best we have.”

Kwon laughed. “Maybe they are the best, but when the north comes across the DMZ with one million men, they don’t stand a chance. Do you think your President will back them up if that happens?”

“I don’t know what he’d do. But if he doesn’t do anything and those men get killed, there would be hell to pay. The American people would be pissed off. He would be pressured into doing something.”

“I see. So you think the American people would pressure him. That is interesting. I think the American people are tired of war. I don’t think any Americans want another big war.”

“It’s true the war in the Middle East has worn us out. But make no mistake, if our country is attacked, or our allies, the U.S. will respond.”

“Maybe you are right and maybe not.”

Kwon’s comments pissed me off.

“What about the South Korean troops? You have about four hundred thousand. If you include the reserves, it’s more than six hundred thousand,” I said.

“Yes, but by the time those troops are activated, the war will be over. Please remember that Seoul is only fifty miles from the DMZ. The north would overrun Seoul in two days. Then the capital is gone and possibly a few million people would be killed,” Kwon replied.

Lee commented, “The north don’t stand a chance of taking Seoul. For one thing, they don’t have a million combat troops. Secondly, everyone in Seoul would fight to the death, even if it was with knives and shovels.”

“I disagree, Lee-shi. I think the people will run for the hills. They are too soft from easy living.” Kwon said, with a smile on his face. “Our intelligence is very good and they have confirmed there are a million combat troops in the north. They confirm that Seoul would fall in two days. Remember, there are many North Korean agents operating here in the south. They would be activated to create problems in Seoul, making our troop response difficult. There are even spies in our ROK Army.”

“Are there spies in the NIS?” I asked.

“Perhaps there are. If so, we must weed them out,” Kwon advised, while giving an evil grin. 

I said, “Maybe the north just wants to take Seoul and the surrounding area, which is rich compared to what they have.”

“You are exactly right, Mr. Gunn. All they want is to take Seoul. Without Seoul, the rest of South Korea is doomed.”

Kwon gently slapped the top of the table with his hand. “Gentlemen, thank you for the interesting discussion and dinner. I must leave now.”

“Ok, let’s go. We’ll walk you to the lobby,” I said. The tab went on my room.

Giving the usual secret handshake, we saw Mr. Kwon off, biding him a goodnight. Lee and I stood in the lobby for a minute watching him leave. When Kwon was gone, Lee said, “Let’s go to the Tiger House for a few drinks. We can discuss Mr. Kwon further there.”

“That sounds good. I could use a few drinks after talking to Kwon.” Lee laughed at the comment. We jumped into a taxi to take us to Itaewon, the wild part of the city.

You don’t want to drink and drive in Korea because they have checkpoints for blow tests at all most every stoplight. Stopped at a light, a police officer runs out in the street and makes the driver of the first car in line do a blow test. If you fail, it’s off to jail.

It was Saturday night and Itaewon was jumping. Neon signs were flashing up and down main street. Even late at night the streets were crowed with mostly men, bar hopping, searching for a drinking establishment they liked. There are many types of bars in Itaewon.

To start with there’s the normal type small American bars. They are nothing fancy but it’s a cheap place to get drunk, if that is your goal. Then there are the go-go bars with beautiful young dancing ladies, wearing hardly anything. After they dance you can entice them to sit with you for a drink and make some small talk, until their turn to dance comes up again. Room Salons are bars that have private rooms that you rent for the evening. The rooms are about the size of an average living room and have seating for about six to ten people. The Mama-San will bring you ladies to choose from for your private entertainment. Booze here is expensive and so are the women.

Then there are traditional style Korean bars which also have women to serve and entertain you. They serve snacks, like dried squid, and original Korean dishes. There is no hard liquor severed, only top-shelf soju, which is a mild type of Korean vodka, and bottled beer. These have small rooms with seating on the floor. The women wear traditional-type Korean clothing. It is a unique experience because they have singers and musicians who only play old fashion Korean music.       

The taxi let us off at the front door of the Tiger House, which is located on a side street, on top of a small hill. As we stepped out of the cab I glanced around the area, like I always do, since I am security minded. I saw a black car parked half a block away, with two men sitting in it. They had just turned off their headlights. The odd thing was they were in a no parking zone.

I told Lee, “I think someone is following us. Don’t stare; just take a quick look down the street at the black car, half a block away.”

Lee took a glance, and replied as we walked to the door, “It looks like an NIS car.” The doorman/bouncer opened the main front door for us, as we walked inside. His name was Hwang and he is someone you don’t want to mess with. He greeted me with a nod of the head. It was 11 pm and a band was playing good old American Rock and Roll.

I shouted over the loud music, “It looks like your buddy Kwon is having us followed.”

Lee didn’t reply.

The place was packed with all kinds of people, mostly foreigners and military people. Most military people don’t wear their uniforms when off duty, but you can tell who they are just by their haircuts and age.

The reason the Tiger House is so popular is because it is a mixture of different types of bars. The Tiger House has a large open room with tables in the middle. A dance floor is at the other end of the 200-foot long room, where the band also plays. On the right side is a long bar with about thirty wooden chairs. On the left is a row of private rooms which have glass sliding doors and curtains that can be closed for privacy. The general décor is nothing fancy and reminds me of some bars in the states with the exception of the private rooms.

There was a line waiting to get in. It was standing room only. The hostess at the counter spotted us and waved us forward. “Your room is ready, Mr. Gunn.”

I was surprised, the hostess was Mi-young, and she looked more beautiful than I remembered. She had on a long tight-fitting black gown with a slit up the side of one leg. Her hair was hanging straight down covering her back. The front of her dress was cut-low to reveal that she filled it with real womanhood. Her lips were ruby red, like I remembered. Mi-young was truly a beautiful woman who oozed her sexuality from every pore of her perfect body.   

She led us to a private room, far back in the corner. It was away from the band and the dance floor. Mi-young opened the glass door and we entered. The three of us sat down on a red leather couch. As she sat next to me, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

Touching my leg just above the knee, she kissed me on the cheek and said, “Long time no see, yobo (lover). How you been?”

Now I knew I was in trouble. Mi-young had me captivated. I wanted her right then. Yes, she melted my heart like a flame melts a candle.

“Mi-young, you look more beautiful than ever. I missed you.”

“I see if you miss me later. I work now. I send girl to get you drink. Mi-young leave here two o’clock.” She walked out of the room and my eyes followed her swaying body.

I asked KY, “Did you tell her I was coming here?”

“Yes, of course. I had to reserve a room,” Lee replied, as he chuckled. Lee thought it was funny. He had setup this meeting.

“Man, I’m in trouble.”

“How’s that?” Lee asked.

“Because, I’m probably going to sleep with her tonight.”

Lee laughed. “Jack, that’s not trouble.”

In Korea most men cheat on their wives. When I say most men, I mean sixty percent or more. There is no doubt about that based on my experience. It is the way the society is. Young women don’t care if you are married or not. Sex is very open and accepted as a normal thing. Wives know or suspect that husbands cheat on them, but they more or less accept and live with it. There are many reasons for this, but it all stems from Confucianism, in my opinion.

Changing the subject, I said, “Your new boss is really strange.”

“Yeah. It’s almost like he wants a war, and the south to lose,” Lee replied.

“I agree with you. He had a stupid grin on his face when he talked about it.”

“Yes, he did. Why would he discuss that subject with us?”

“I don’t know. But what happened to your old boss?”

“As you know, my old boss, Mr. Yoon, was Supervisor of Presidential Security for fifteen years. I was assigned as the President’s up-close personal body guard for any events he attended, along with four other agents, whom I directed.”

A young woman brought in our drinks. It was bottle of JD along with two bottles of soda water. Then another girl followed her in. I sat on one couch and Lee on the other. The ladies were assigned to our room to provide us drinks, snacks, and entertainment if we wanted to dance or make small talk. Mi-young had sent them over to us.

While they poured our drinks, I pulled out a smoke and a young lady in a red dress, sitting at my side, lit me up. After blowing out a perfect smoke ring I said, “Ok, go ahead with your story.”

“Well, about two months ago Director Kim was forced to retire and was replaced with Suk. Suk appointed Kwon as the new Assistant Director. Kwon didn’t like Mr. Yoon, my boss, and thought he had too much power being around the Blue House all the time. So, Kwon fired Mr. Yoon and gave the job to himself, instead of promoting me. Then, Mr. Kim died of a sudden heart attack. All of the Presidents close bodyguards have been reassigned and have not been replaced.”

The Blue House is the executive office and residence of the South Korean President, similar to the White House. It is a huge complex of buildings covering sixty-two acres. All the buildings have blue roof tiles, hence its name.