My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 463 Nervous
“Yes, the recent incident at Mount Kumgang is definitely the hottest topic of national concern,” An Rusong said. “And it seems that the invitations issued by Vice Minister Park have only been sent to the three major television stations, so I have to find a way on my own.”

“Hehe, as you said, it was a sudden incident. Vice Minister Park’s itinerary for this trip to Jeju Island did not originally include a response to this incident,” Baek Geum-joon laughed. “The reason he arranged this press conference was actually to show the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s attitude on this incident.”

Hearing him say that, An Rusong vaguely understood.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Lee Min-bo is likely to condemn North Korea during tonight's "President Online" program. He will also formally question the "Sunshine Policy" and "Peace and Prosperity Policy" proposed by the previous two presidents. However, he will not directly announce his new North Korea policy on television, nor will he explicitly state what countermeasures the Blue House will take against North Korea in response to the "Mount Kumgang shooting incident."

Ultimately, Lee Min-bok is the current president of South Korea, and he must be responsible for his words, especially those he says in public.

For the past decade, South Korea's policy toward North Korea has been one of tolerance and moderation. For Lee Min-bo to fundamentally change this policy, he cannot simply act arbitrarily; he needs to gauge domestic reactions. If he were to broadcast his policies directly on television, there would be no room for maneuver. If these policies ultimately fail to be implemented, wouldn't his presidency be in jeopardy?

Therefore, what Lee Min-bo needs to do tonight is to "send a message," making some symbolic and strong statements. Meanwhile, Park Sun-kyu, as Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism, will announce some sanctions against North Korea at a press conference. These include suspending South Korean tourism to Mount Kumgang and suspending South Koreans' trips to North Korea for ancestral worship.

Don't underestimate the sanctions from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Once the channels for civilian exchanges between North and South Korea are blocked, the impact on North Korea will be quite severe, because the program of South Koreans traveling to North Korea does bring a large amount of foreign exchange to North Korea every year.

Most importantly, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, North Korea has been struggling. For the past decade, it has been in a state of deficit regarding two crucial aspects of people's livelihoods: food and energy. At the beginning of this year, Pyongyang publicly admitted a food shortage of 166 million tons, and despite this large shortfall, they lack the foreign exchange to purchase food and must rely on aid from other countries.

Compared to food, North Korea's energy shortage is even greater, and what they lack is not just fuel, but the entire energy system.

North Korea's energy infrastructure, including coal mines, oil refineries, thermal power plants, and hydroelectric power stations, was all built with Soviet aid and technology. Now, more than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, these facilities are not only severely outdated but also lack necessary maintenance, rendering them unusable and necessitating replacement.

Therefore, every foreign exchange earnings are precious to Pyongyang today, let alone the foreign exchange spending brought by hundreds of thousands or even millions of tourists.

Furthermore, the statement made by Park Sun-gyu on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was merely a test by the Blue House. All parties should be well aware that once the measures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are truly implemented, other sanctions will follow.

With the disruption of inter-Korean tourism routes, will South Korean investment in North Korea stop? Will private economic cooperation between North and South Korea come to a standstill? Will South Korean government aid to North Korea cease? These are all very real questions.

For over a decade, Pyongyang's primary means of restraining South Korea and the United States has been its nuclear program. If the Blue House changes its moderate policy towards North Korea, could the North Korean nuclear issue undergo another unexpected turn of events?

These are all uncertainties, and issues that all parties, including South Korea, must carefully consider. Therefore, Lee Min-bo's desire to change his diplomatic stance towards North Korea is not something he can decide on his own; he also needs to consider the attitude of the South Korean public, and even more so, the attitudes of the other countries in the Six-Party Talks, especially the United States and the North Korean power.

Bai Jinjun, on the other end of the phone, had no idea what An Rusong was thinking. He continued, "Since you're interested in Vice Minister Park's reception, I'll prepare an invitation for you later."

“Three copies, three invitations,” An Rusong interrupted him.

"Hehe, okay, okay, three copies," Bai Jinjun said with a smile, "Well, not just three invitations, I'll also contact Vice Minister Park to arrange two more opportunities for you to ask questions."

"That would be perfect," An Rusong said, releasing his arms from Sun Manzhu's slight struggle as he felt her move. "Jin Jun is the most trustworthy."

"I'll have the ham delivery person bring you the invitation later," Baek Jin-joon said, ignoring his flattery. "As for the draft of Vice Minister Park's main speech at the reception, I'll send you an electronic copy. Also, Vice Minister Park's secretary is Song Ha-joon; I'll send you his phone number. You should know the specific arrangements afterward, right?"

"Don't worry, Kim Joon-ge, I know how to arrange it," An Rusong said with a smile. For a press conference like the one arranged by Park Syang-gui, reporters couldn't just ask any questions they wanted. Before the press conference, invited reporters would receive a prepared speech draft, and the questions they could ask would be limited to the scope of the draft.

Of course, any reporter who wants to deviate from the script is welcome. However, reporters have the freedom to ask questions, and spokespeople have the freedom not to answer them. Most importantly, those who deviate from the script will likely be blacklisted and will not even have the chance to receive an invitation next time.

After hanging up the call with Bai Jinjun, An Rusong put his phone on the desk and casually pinched Sun Manzhu's pert buttocks. He was about to suggest that Luo Minzhi arrange for someone to go to Jeju Island, but he swallowed the words back. What if Sun Manzhu asked who the invitation was for, especially since there were three copies? How would he answer?

Fortunately, he was quick enough to realize the situation and didn't say the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Sun Manzhu didn't seem to want to ask any more questions either. This girl... well, with her pretty face slightly flushed and her eyes brimming with tears, was she in heat?
Just then, having been aroused by Li Wanshun's teasing, An Rusong raised his hand and used his right thumb to flick Sun Manzhu's lips, a wicked smile on his face.

As An Rusong predicted, the Mount Kumgang shooting incident directly triggered a new round of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. That same evening, Park Sun-kyu announced at a press conference in Jeju Island that, given North Korea's inability to provide even the most basic security guarantees for South Koreans traveling to North Korea, continuing to open the route for South Koreans to travel to North Korea was no longer feasible under the current circumstances, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would suspend the Mount Kumgang tourism project effective immediately.

At the reception, when a reporter asked about the date for the reopening of tourism to North Korea, Park Sun-gyu replied that South Koreans would not be allowed to travel to North Korea until North Korea investigated the truth of the shooting incident, promised to prevent similar incidents from happening again, and established a system to ensure the safety of tourists.

Three days after the shooting, North Korea responded to the incident. Interestingly, the reactions of its military and the "Comprehensive Development Guidance Bureau for Scenic Spots" responsible for the Mount Kumgang tourist area were somewhat intriguingly different.

The North Korean Development Guidance Bureau responded by issuing a statement demanding that South Korea not obstruct South Koreans from traveling to North Korea, or else they would take decisive retaliatory measures.

The military's response was to expel all the South Korean tourists still stranded in the Mount Kumgang tourist area back to South Korea.

At this point, North Korea's top leadership had not yet made a formal statement on the matter, but the tensions on the peninsula had already begun to show profound economic consequences. The most obvious manifestation of this was the renewed devastation of the real estate market, which had been impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis. Simultaneously, the stock market experienced a sharp decline, its green resembling a vast prairie, sending a chill down one's spine.

However, none of this affected An Rusong. His NGN company was neither listed nor in a period of rapid growth, so the external economic environment had very little impact on him.

As dusk approached, the rain that had been falling all afternoon showed no signs of stopping, and the water on the road where the Chevrolet was driving had already submerged the curb.

This is Magudong in Jiangxi District. It was Luo Minzhi's first time driving here. Because he was unfamiliar with the road conditions and the road was flooded, he dared not drive too fast.

In the back cabin seat separated by a partition, An Rusong crossed his legs and lazily looked at a newspaper in his hand, while Lin Ya'en, wearing a brand-new uniform and a rolled-brimmed military cap, was touching up her makeup in front of a makeup mirror.

Wearing her military uniform and light makeup, Lieutenant Lin possessed a unique charm—a blend of dashing elegance and sexy allure, a captivating blend of heroic spirit and captivating charm.

However, An Rusong's attention was not on the woman at the moment; he was looking at the headlines in the newspaper.

A week later, after testing the reactions of various parties, Lee Min-bo finally unveiled his policy strategy toward North Korea. The core of this strategy was to make two demands of North Korea: denuclearization and openness. If Pyongyang could not meet these two demands, South Korea would stop providing economic aid to North Korea.

As Lee Min-bo proposed his new policy toward North Korea, his public support surged rapidly. The implications behind this change are enough to explain many things.

(End of this chapter)