Chapter 171
January 1, 2021, 10:00; Gwanghwamoon, Jongro-ku, Seoul
Above the Gwanghwamoon skies, 4 Black Phoenix bombers were flying in a flight wing formation, and 16 FAH-91SP Peregrin falcon choppers were hovering at the center, guarding the area.
At that moment in Gwanhwamoon, citizens from across the country had gathered and the crowd stretched all the way to Seoul City Hall. There were at least one million people gathered, and the numbers showed how historic this moment was for Korea and how much the people have yearned for this event to occur.
High-ranking government officials from the South and North were seated in front of the stage set up at Gwanhwamoon, while 10,000 Northern state’s citizens and politicians were seated below the stage. Also, numerous press agencies from across the world had gathered just like when the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. They were keen on recording and broadcasting another historical event of unifying the only divided nation in the world.
A moment later, the President’s sedan pulled up to the stage. The master of ceremonies (MC) continued his announcement while spraying spittle at the microphone.
“President Suh Hyun-woo and Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong are now entering the stage.”
With the MC’s words, an anthem to announce the President’s arrival rang across the entire area. When it did, everyone who was seated at the stage and below it stood up and cheered while clapping.
President Suh Hyun-woo and Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong stood next to each other on the stage. They raised both their arms to greet the crowd. Then they sat down on the seats placed at the center of the stage.
“Please be seated, everyone.”
The ceremony was followed by a salute to the flag and singing of the national anthem. There was a moment of silence for the veterans who passed away in the recent battle. Finally, the ceremony’s highlight of the event was about to begin.
“Up next, the President and the Vice President will be reading the South and North unification statement.”
When the MC finished speaking, President Suh and Vice President Kim went up to the podium and began to speak at once.
“For 75 years, our nation was divided into South and North, North and South. Korea and Democratic People’s Korea will now be united as one nation on this day, January 1, 2021, instead of two, as ‘Korea.’ As the representatives of South and North, we announce this to the world.”
The two leaders that read the announcement held their hands together and raised it to the sky.
The shouts of a million citizens rang across the entire Gwanghwamoon area; confetti began to fall from the buildings on both sides of the plaza. Six T-50 black eagle jets flew acrobatically and made the crowd gasp before they started to cheer again.
“Up next, President Suh Hyun-woo will make a commemorative address.”
When the MC’s announcement was over, President Suh stepped up to the podium and bowed deeply. Then he started to deliver his keynote address given his gift of gab.
* * *
January 1, 2021, 10:30, in an office building in Gwanghwamoon, Jongro-ku, Seoul
The temporary command headquarters of the NIS Anti-terrorism Unit had set up over 100 monitors connected to the cameras placed on rooftops and other terror-prone areas in Gwanghwamoon.
Since these cameras have motion sensors, they would immediately film as soon as any movement was detected, along with sounding an alarm so the operator could be alerted immediately. Some of the monitors sounded the alarm and showed footage of pigeons or fans, but none was broadcasting any suspicious activity that could be considered as a terrorism attempt.
“Everyone stay on their guard. If we let our vigilance slip for even a moment, we might lose the perpetrator. It only takes one moment, understood?”
“Yes, sir. No need to worry. Our team has its eyes on the screen.”
When Manager Kang Tae-yung warned everyone, Team Leader Kim Sang-hyun answered him. Outside the window, President Suh Hyun-woo’s address to the one million citizens gathered in the area was ongoing. At the roof of the buildings on the other side, two or three agents were standing around surveying the area. Atop the Inwang and Book-ak mountains, soldiers from the Capital Defense Division were standing sentry duty.
“Manager Kang! At this rate, I don’t think even a mouse could try something, don’t you think so, sir?”
Assistant Manager Oh Gi-suk, who had just been promoted, came up and spoke to him.
“Hey, sentry duty is all about timing. If we let our guard slip just for a moment, it is all over, you hear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Korea’s unification ceremony at Gwanghwamoon Plaza, which held the attention of all people across the globe, was going smoothly, thanks to the men and women working behind the scenes for their nation.
* * *
January 1, 2021, 10:35, on the rooftop of Samseon building, Jung-ku Sungremoon intersection, Seoul
A man in a black suit leaned up against the water tank atop the Samseon building on the southern side of Twegye Road; he began to move covertly. The roof of Samseon building was 2,020 meters away from Gwanhwamoon Plaza, so it was past the search net of the NIS Anti-terrorism Unit and the Capital Defense Division.
Click! Clack! Click! Click!
The man in the black suit pulled out an object from his black bag and started to assemble something. When he was finished, he stretched his shoulders and looked at the sky.
The man in the black suit had chosen the roof of the Samseon building which was 16-stories high; it had a straight view of the Gwanhwamoon Plaza. Since it was a straight shot, there were no buildings or obstacles in the way. From the concrete forest of buildings, this was a prime spot for a sniper not to be detected.
The thing that had caught the man’s attention was the 16 FAH-91SP Peregrin falcons hovering above at low altitude, seeking out any threats while careful not to disrupt the ceremony. One of the choppers was heading toward his direction.
“I didn’t think they would use choppers as well. Damn it!” the man muttered to himself.
The man in black suit hid in the emergency staircase. If attack choppers were being used, then he concluded they would be using infrared sensors as well.
The man in the black suit thought for a moment, and then looked down at his M82A3 sniper rifle. The round’s caliber was 12.7mm, with an effective range of 1800 meters. This gun was a high-powered sniper rifle that had a speed of 853m/s that would kill a person if the bullet grazed the target.
“Whatever, all I need is one shot.”
The man with the rifle thought to himself and looked at his watch.
“Current time is 10:41.”
He pulled out an extra scope and looked at the sky. When he saw the Peregrin falcon chopper move in the opposite direction, he swiftly moved past the water tank and checked the stage at Gwanhwamoon Plaza after leaning on the ledge.
The Korean President was stepping down from the podium after finishing his address.
“There’s not much time left.”
The man in the black suit muttered to himself and moved back into the emergency staircase swiftly.
The black-suited man thought about his course of action slowly.
“If things go as I have been told, then my target will be up on the podium after the next person is finished. It will be 5 to 10 minutes from now,” he thought.
However, the man in the black suit was weary about the Peregrin attack chopper that was flying around in the sky.
* * *
January 1, 2021, 10:42, in an office in Gwanghwamoon, Jongro-ku, Seoul
Beep beep beep.
An alarm sounded from one of the 100 monitors connected to the camera. The footage pulled up, but no movements were being detected on the roof.
“What is it?”
Team Leader Kim Sang-hyun from Anti-terrorism Unit 1 asked the Operating Agent.
“There seems to be no movement being detected but it’s going off. Is this thing broken?”
“How can it be broken when it’s been installed only a while ago? It’s almost brand new, isn’t it?”
Team Leader Kim Sang-hyun, who slapped himself on the head, came up closer to the monitor to take a better look. Just as the monitoring operator said, the roof showed no suspicious movements. However, after a few moments, Kim Sang-hyun’s eyebrows began to dance around and his eye became wider. He started to speak to the monitoring agent.
“Hey! Where’s the camera’s location on this thing?”
“Sir? This camera is near the HJP building on the Sungryemoon intersection on Twegye Road.”
“We can enhance, right?”
“Yes, we can, sir!”
“If that’s the case, enhance the area in that direction!”
“Yes, sir! One moment, please.”
“Hurry! Lee Jun-suk, contact Manager Kang right away!”
“Yes, sir!”
A few seconds passed and the footage on the monitor was enlarged. There on the roof where there were no cameras, a man in a black suit was looking over the plaza with binoculars came on screen.
“It seems he triggered the cameras, sir.”
“Who the hell is that?”
“Something seems suspicious.”
“How far is that place from the Gwanhwamoon stage?”
“The building with the camera installed is 1950 meters away. It is on the other side of Twegye Road, so approximately 2,020 meters, sir.”
“Contact the closest agents from the building and get them on the line!”
“Yes, sir.”
When another agent worked on the computer, the center screen showed the closest agents on a digital map with their codenames.
“They’re online. Unit 2’s Team Leader Cha Tae-sik, and Agent Lee Jun from Unit 3 Team 1 are 50 meters away.”
“This is Team Leader Kim Sang-hyun of Unit 1 Team 1. We have found a suspicious individual at 120 meters from Twegye Road at the Samseon building’s roof!”
– This is Cha Tae-sik of Unit 2 Team 1. Confirmed, headed to the area now.
– Agent Lee Jun of Unit 3 Team 1, can you hear me?
– This is Agent Lee Jun of Unit 3 Team 1. I am on my way to the scene.
– All right. Stay safe.
That was when Manager Kang Tae-young from Unit 1 came in.
“What is going on?”
“Sir! You’ve made it. Show him the footage from the monitor on the center screen!”
“Yes, sir.”
The footage came up on the center screen again.
“This is the footage, sir!”
Team Leader Kim Sang-hyun pointed to the man in the black suit looking toward Gwanhwamoon on the screen.
“This is an emergency code 1! Did you see that bastard? Hey? That’s a scope, a scope! Tell every agent we have a code 1 emergency!”
“Yes, sir!”
The emergency code 1 alert was sent out to every NIS agent stationed along the Gwanghwamoon area. Unit 1’s Team 3 and 4 agents in charge of close proximity bodyguarding were moving around busily. Few of the agents from Team 3 ran over to the large container truck parked behind the stage to converse with the President’s personal bodyguards. Then the agents from Team 4 moved up to the stage and prepared for the worst.
“Team Leader Cha! This is Manager Kang from Unit 1. What’s your location?”
– This is Cha Tae-sik. We have just arrived inside the building. The elevator is shut down, so we are taking the stairs up.
“All right. Other agents are headed your way, so be careful when dealing with our target.”
– Yes, sir.
Manager Kang after talking on the radio rushed toward the window and glanced at the stage in Gwanghwamoon.
Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong was walking to the center of the stage to make her commemorative speech.
“It can’t be! That bastard’s target is the Vice President?”
When he glanced at Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong, his thoughts came out of his mouth. Team Leader Kim Sang-hyun spoke in shock.
“The Vice President? It’s only been an hour since our nation has been reunified. If something were to happen to her, then events from the 8.15 Pyeongyang terrorist attack—”
“Team Leader Kim! Contact the Capital Defense Division, and tell the attack choppers on sentry duty to perform a scan on the roofs of all buildings in the area!”
“Yes, sir!”
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