Chapter 701: It Seems It’s Not the Time to Get Angry

Koizumi’s eyes widened in disbelief at my suggestion, as if they were about to pop out of his head.

“You’re saying you’ll acknowledge the abductions and send back the living survivors? Is that for real?”

It was clear he didn’t expect things to go this far, and he looked genuinely shocked.

It made sense; Koizumi probably just brought up the abduction issue to negotiate a reduction in reparations.

“Everyone knows North Korea won’t admit it. Let’s stop pretending and move towards constructive conversation.”

However, Koizumi was pushing for Moon Kyung-duk’s response, not mine.

“Special envoy, please clarify. Is what Kim Mu-hyeok just said true? Did National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek openly acknowledge the abduction of our citizens and agree to send back the survivors?”

“…To be honest, I don’t know all the details. I think the National Defense Commission member only recently learned about this. He ordered a thorough investigation, and if the kidnapping of Japanese is true, they will admit it and offer an apology.”

A brief smile flashed across Koizumi’s face.

In contrast, Moon Kyung-duk continued to speak with a stiff expression.

“If survivors are found through this investigation, we will send them back to Japan. If they were married in our Republic, we’ll consider sending their families with them to Japan based on their free will.”

Whether any survivors still existed was uncertain.

But the thought of sending entire families back, should the abducted have built families, was astonishing even to me.

Even in my previous life, Kim Jong-il wouldn’t have gone that far.

Rather than actually sending survivors back, he sent them under the guise of temporary return. But once the victims had returned temporarily, they never came back.

Later, the Japanese government managed to engage in additional negotiations to bring back more victims’ families, but North Korea vehemently retaliated, halting those discussions.

They went so far as to condemn the Japanese government for the actions of those who did not return, saying they violated their promises.

“Is that…is it really true? Did National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek say that directly?”

“Yes. Those are the exact words of the National Defense Commission member. He ordered a thorough investigation, and we’re doing our best to find the survivors.”

“So there’s indeed an acknowledgment of the abductions.”

“…”

“Don’t hesitate, please continue to share, special envoy.”

Koizumi relentlessly pressed Moon Kyung-duk.

After a moment of hesitation, Moon Kyung-duk sighed and said,

“It did happen. Certain factions within the General Staff’s Intelligence Bureau, Operations Department, and Foreign Intelligence Investigation Department colluded with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan to abduct Japanese nationals into North Korea.”

Koizumi slammed his hand on the table.

“This is a crime! How dare you abduct your own citizens!”

I stepped in to calm Koizumi down.

“Prime Minister, now is not the time to be angry.”

Even as I urged him to calm down, Koizumi remained fixated on Moon Kyung-duk, not even turning his head.

With eyes full of venom, he glared at Moon Kyung-duk and spoke in a voice full of rage.

“Mr. Kim Mu-hyeok, this is a crime! How can you speak of abducting our Japanese citizens?”

“Isn’t this something you already knew about?”

“Yes, I knew. But there’s a difference between knowing and having it admitted directly from North Korea.”

“It hasn’t been officially acknowledged yet. Please calm down.”

“Listen, Mr. Kim Mu-hyeok.”

Koizumi turned from glaring at Moon Kyung-duk to stare at me.

Look at that? He’s giving me that kind of look too. I twisted my lips and raised one corner of my mouth.

“Prime Minister, you might be misunderstanding something. Should we ditch the negotiations? North Korea has nothing to lose right now. $20 billion? That amount of pocket change is something I could gather investors to cover easily.”

If I immediately offered to invest in North Korea, there would be plenty of people rushing to throw money at me.

With Dream High and my status, my position was that unrivaled.

I was simply too uninterested in sharing the fruits of labor with others, which is why I dealt with such annoying matters.

“Let’s be frank. It’s laughable to see you this angry over a few abducted Japanese. What’s the real story behind Japan’s historical actions towards Koreans? Forced conscription and comfort women are just the start, and they’ve committed acts that no human should ever do, right?”

“What did you just say?”

“You still deny the comfort women and forced labor? Aside from a vague apology about Japan’s colonial rule over Korea, you’re not addressing specific situations at all, are you? If you dig too deep into the past, it’ll be Japan that comes out worse. Should we test that? Does satisfying you mean South Korea and North Korea should team up to demand a proper apology?”

As I spoke coldly, Koizumi flinched.

“Haven’t I made it clear? I said we need to bury the past and move towards the future together. How can you get so angry over a few abducted Japanese? Aren’t you saying you’ll find survivors and send them back? Haven’t you also promised to acknowledge your faults and apologize?”

The issue of the abductions of Japanese couldn’t be considered trivial.

But North Korea’s attitude of moving on from the past while Japan reacted this strongly was also ridiculous.

“Prime Minister, just one thing. You can’t be greedy, or you’ll lose both hares. You can choose to normalize relations with North Korea, or you’ll cut ties and isolate yourself.”

With that, I fell silent, folding my arms and sinking deep into my chair as I waited for Koizumi’s response.

Koizumi continued to gaze at me, but he didn’t quickly open his mouth.

Moon Kyung-duk also stood rigidly, silently waiting for Koizumi’s answer.

I already knew that Koizumi was trying to play the coy diplomat, pretending to be furious in order to gain an upper hand in negotiations.

However, Koizumi had to maintain his position as a subordinate in this negotiation.

‘With a citizen’s group already formed, it must be frustrating. They persistently demand that the Japanese government reveals the truth, after all.’

Koizumi acted so well that he seemed genuinely furious.

The problem was that he was getting too angry even when it wasn’t warranted.

With all the evidence and testimonies pointing clearly to the abduction of Japanese nationals, it was unnecessary to overreact this much.

It wasn’t just a lack of an official stance; both the Japanese and South Korean governments, as well as the U.S., had already been calling for North Korea to clarify the kidnapping incidents.

“…If this goes south, you wouldn’t even get reparations.”

“Of course, for North Korea, $20 billion would be like rain during a drought. But if they make unreasonable demands, North Korea will walk out of the negotiations. I can guarantee that. North Korea is making a reasonable demand right now.”

I replied firmly to Koizumi’s words, then turned back to Moon Kyung-duk.

“Did National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek prepare anything extra as a gift?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you serious?”

“No. If we gain nothing today, you’ll never have to sit at the negotiation table with Japan again, he publicly stated.”

I couldn’t confirm if Jang Seong-taek really said that, but it was clear that Moon Kyung-duk’s quick thinking was impressive.

He caught on that I was pressuring Koizumi and was keeping pace with me.

No wonder he treasures his assets.

“It seems National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek hasn’t made any further preparations. What will you do?”

“…”

“Shall we just get up now? I have nothing to lose.”

Koizumi looked at me with shaky eyes.

It seemed he was trying to read something in my gaze but found nothing.

I was dead serious.

As I told him, I had nothing to lose, so I didn’t care how things unfolded.

We had already agreed on the Seven Islands issue, and the reparations from North Korea were just a bonus.

Slowly, Koizumi’s strength seemed to drain away.

“Ha. You’re really putting me under a lot of pressure.”

With a sigh, Koizumi pretended to swallow his anger and continued talking.

“It’s important for National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek to officially acknowledge the abductions and promise to send back the survivors first. If you can assure me of that, I’ll accept the $20 billion in reparations.”

Trying to engage in diplomacy, he was now presenting a problem. I shook my head firmly.

“That’s not possible.”

“Mr. Kim Mu-hyeok!”

Koizumi raised his voice yet again. Watching him, I spoke calmly.

“What do you think the reaction of the Japanese people would be if you admitted to abducting Japanese? Would they ask you to establish diplomatic relations and compensate for the events of the Japanese Occupation? Naturally, they wouldn’t respond well to that.”

“But the abduction incident didn’t occur while National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek was in charge, did it?”

“What does that matter to the people? What’s important is that North Korea has kidnapped its neighbor’s citizens. The one who strikes may forget over time, but the one who was struck never forgets—that’s human nature.”

The reason I said that was based on previous experiences.

When North Korea officially accepted the abductions of Japanese citizens and apologized, the Japanese media and public criticized North Korea vehemently.

In response, the North Korean government adopted several conciliatory gestures to ease Japan’s deteriorating attitudes, but it only led to harsher criticism.

The backlash was strong, landing not just on North Korea but also on the Japanese government.

The situation escalated to the point where threats were made against domestic officials engaging in negotiations with North Korea.

Ultimately, the Japanese government was pushed by public opinion to abandon all negotiations that came close to resolution.

There was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. No, the same situation was bound to occur.

Showing weakness would only invite further aggression from the Japanese.

“First, pay the reparations, and then the Prime Minister himself will enter Pyongyang. Ask for a formal apology from National Defense Commission member Jang Seong-taek for the abductions of Japanese citizens. After that, you can return with the victims to Japan.”

Of course, I had no interest in any issues following that.

“What if North Korea receives the compensation and ignores the issue? They’ve changed their stance more times than I can count.”

Both Japan and North Korea were deeply distrustful of each other.

However, this was a matter that could be simply resolved.

“If you lack trust in North Korea…”

I went back and forth between Moon Kyung-duk and Koizumi, continuing to speak.

“I’ll personally guarantee it. If North Korea accepts the reparations and then reverses its position, I’ll return that $20 billion to you myself.”

Koizumi was left speechless, his lips moving but no words coming out. He seemed genuinely shocked.

Moon Kyung-duk also dropped his stoic expression, staring at me with his mouth agape.

“If I provide those guarantees, would you trust me, Prime Minister? I’ll dispose of all my assets to repay the Japanese government the $20 billion.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Have I ever failed to keep my word to you, Prime Minister?”

“That’s true.”

Still in disbelief, Koizumi responded.

Seeing his expression made me chuckle lightly before I spoke again.

“Even if it means suffering a loss, I’ll guarantee it. Then there shouldn’t be any issues with you paying the reparations in advance, right? Plus, it gives you some time to come up with a scenario for how to bring the survivors back. Are you really going to let such a golden opportunity slip away?”

It seemed Koizumi hadn’t thought of that; he flinched a bit.

“Were you just planning to end things with a few surviving returnees? Surely there must be some deceased as well. If you don’t put on a show, harsh criticism will flood in.”

“Deceased?”

“Do you think everyone is still alive? Not in North Korea of all places? Some abductees have been gone for thirty years already. There must be some who died from natural causes or accidents.”

Moon Kyung-duk coughed uncomfortably, furrowing his brow.

However, I didn’t hold back.

“Of course, most people would blame North Korea, but the criticism will also come back on you, Prime Minister.”

“I see. I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Ultimately, finding survivors and retrieving the remains of the deceased after negotiating reparations will consume quite some time. Until then, share information with North Korea and devise strategies. Otherwise, how can you combat Hiroyuki, who’s rapidly advancing on the forefront?”

“You’re right. I hadn’t thought it through clearly.”

Koizumi nodded repeatedly, agreeing with me.

I had done all the planning while he just needed to follow along.

I sighed inwardly and concluded my remarks.

“So, what do you say? Will you accept this mediation proposal?”

“I will.”

I posed the same question to Moon Kyung-duk, receiving the anticipated answer.

“The Republic will do the same.”

I nodded and began drafting the negotiation agreement.