Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

The matter has entered a stage where it's hard to explain.

According to the South Korean military, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force launched a missile targeting a South Korean helicopter that was taking off. This caused the Phalanx CIWS on the USS Washington to automatically activate as it was receiving the landing aircraft, killing a South Korean commodore and shooting down the helicopter, which damaged the deck and rendered the aircraft unable to take off or land.

According to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, a South Korean ship launched a missile, but due to its poor aim, it flew over the USS Washington, triggering the Phalanx CIWS, which then fired machine guns and shot down a South Korean helicopter that was landing from the same direction.

The situation in the United States is more chaotic. Since the average U.S. soldier has less than a high school education, some people believe the missile came from the north, while others think it should have come from the south.

The views of the high-ranking generals were relatively reliable. Based on the ballistic analysis at the time, they believed that the ballistics came from a South Korean warship, possibly due to a South Korean sailor accidentally triggering the ballistics or some officers leaving alone.

Therefore, Vice President Vance was still able to slam his fist on the table and angrily berate the South Korean diplomats:

"Can you bear the charge of attacking a US warship?"

Kim Hong-kyun, who had organized the anti-coup encirclement network, was helpless. He could only make a deal with Army Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo to pressure the South Korean military into accepting the United States' demands.

During halftime, Vance and Li Xinghe chatted for a while.

This elite president, who came from a rural background, now had a full head of white hair and was smoking a cigarette with Li Xinghe, sighing with emotion.

"The world situation is changing so much, it's really scary."

Vance never expected that the South Korean chief of staff he bribed last year would be on the bandwagon of rebellion this year. After Kim Myung-soo's corruption scandal broke in South Korea, the American media sensationalized it. It wasn't just the Democrats stabbing him in the back; Republican candidates like DeSantis, and even Trump's son, were all secretly stabbing him in the back.

"I must get back to Washington as soon as possible, preferably today. I need to achieve something."

Vance pulled out $200 million from under the table and placed it in front of Li Xinghe, instructing him to resolve the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute with South Korea and Japan as quickly as possible, just like last time, through bribery and bribery from the audience.

At this point, Li Xinghe was no longer short of money; he had $2 million in his pocket that he could use at any time, but he would take any money Vance offered.

When asked about the vice president's 200 million, Li Xinghe said:

"Now that things have come to this, we can only make the best of a bad situation, even at the cost of lives, to force the South Korean and Japanese navies to withdraw for investigation, while simultaneously announcing a freeze on the Dokdo dispute and clearing out all the people on the island."

"It's up to you."

That's what His Excellency the Vice President said.

……

Li Xinghe, carrying a suitcase, came down and found Jin Hongjun.

Kim Hong-kyun exclaimed with deep emotion:

"Although you have many ulterior motives, without your warning, the Sixth Republic would have almost collapsed."

Although the Sixth Republic is not yet finished, it is now almost the 6.5th Republic.

From Park Geun-hye's planned but unfulfilled coup in 2017, to Yoon Seok-yeol's failed coup attempt in 2024, and now Kim Myung-soo's near-successful coup attempt this year, South Korea has been paying a heavy price step by step. With each coup, the country's laws and power structure become distorted.

Li Xinghe placed the money in front of Jin Hongjun, opened the box, and then looked at him.

"This is……"

Kim Hong-kyun's eyes widened in disbelief.

As a traditional career bureaucrat, he could never earn that many dollars even if he worked his entire life.

Li Xinghe discussed this with a pointed tone:

"This incident teaches us not to casually reveal information to your friends and subordinates, because you don't know if they are truly on your side."

If Kim Myung-soo hadn't told Cho Gu-hwan that he had taken $100 million from Lee Sung-ha last year to cultivate their relationship, Cho Gu-hwan wouldn't have informed Lee Sung-ha. Consequently, Lee Sung-ha wouldn't have known the situation and wouldn't have been able to deduce that he had the tacit approval of the US military stationed in South Korea for the coup. The entire coup might have been successfully carried out by his impulsive actions.

Therefore, the core issue is to not reveal that you have accepted bribes.

Jin Hongjun naturally understood.

"In America..."

"They're in a hurry, but you should know when to stop."

Li Xinghe said.

Kim Hong-kyun was silent for a moment, then sent someone to fetch Park Ahn-soo and explained:

"The position of Chief of the Joint Staff is temporarily stripped of its real power and will be temporarily filled by Army Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo. Any military mobilization order from the Joint Staff Headquarters must be approved by both the Minister of National Defense and the Vice Minister."

Previously, in order to resist North Korea, the South Korean military's command chain was highly centralized. However, it now appears that the consequence of this over-centralization was the rise of figures like Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan, and various other disastrous post-coup policies. Meanwhile, North Korea has opted for a more conservative approach, closing its borders and continuing to prepare for its next major move.

Therefore, the new approach of the 6.5 Republic of South Korea is to dismantle the power of the entire South Korean military, return the power of the three armed forces chiefs of staff that had been centralized to the three armed forces chiefs of staff, and at the same time set up more power barriers to prevent them from having complete control.

Thus, the de facto top military officer in South Korea is Army Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo.

When this person arrived at the scene, he readily took $100 million and patted his chest, assuring everyone that he could suppress any opposition within the military.

How can this be guaranteed?

Kim Hong-gyun hurriedly asked questions, fearing that another coup might be staged.

Li Xinghe silently told a hellish joke:

"There's plenty of expired mini bread rolls, two packs of instant noodles per person, kimchi, and an extra sausage."

Don't be fooled by how easily Li Xinghe makes it sound; it's actually very difficult to implement. If you take expired, unwanted fast food from the supermarket and feed it to the soldiers, what will the Ministry of National Defense's logistics department, those on food allowances, those running canteens, and the families of officers who run military canteens make money?

Besides, it doesn't sound good to feed the country's soldiers with garbage and swill.

Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo was delighted with the money and ignored Lee Sung-ha's strange remarks, saying directly, "The military police can eat their fill of iron rods. I don't believe anyone would dare to disobey their superior."

Therefore, there is no need for extra food; simply adding the spirit of the iron rod is sufficient.

Private bribes also have returns.

Li Xinghe has been promoted.

Park Ahn-soo gifted Lee Sung-ha the rank of lieutenant colonel in intelligence:

"You are promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed as the head of the Army Intelligence Division."

"Thank you, sir."

Li Xinghe was quite satisfied, which also meant that he was now qualified to form factions within the South Korean military.

In addition, Zhao Guhuan was also promoted, but only as a probationary brigadier general, and he spent his time building up his achievements in Gangwon Province.

There are many rules governing the promotion of national heroes.

Unable to return to the Second Operations Command,

Those who languish aimlessly in the local divisions in the rear cannot be directly sent to the front lines to serve as commanders of standing divisions, as this would damage morale.

One should be promoted to a high enough position to attract public support, but one's power should not be expanded too much to avoid arousing resentment among colleagues.

Therefore, the team that Zhao Juhuan was ultimately assigned to was very special; it was the 36th White Tiger Division of the First Operations Command.

Park Ahn-soo conferred ranks and medals upon Cho Gu-hwan, praising him:

"Congratulations, you will be the commander of the White Tiger Division from now on. Although your station is in Wonju, Gangwon Province, it is considered to be in the rear, not far from the Seoul metropolitan area. You can report to headquarters at any time."

The 36th White Tiger Division was not the White Tiger Regiment in history, but a defensive local division stationed on the front line to carry out second-line counter-infiltration operations. It consisted of the 107th and 108th infantry brigades and lacked technical equipment such as artillery brigades and tank battalions, relying solely on its strength.

Zhao Gu-hwan first expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Park Ahn-soo, but then looked at Lee Sung-ha with a sorrowful expression:

"Oh no, I've become the snow-shoveling champion."

This is because the 36th White Tiger Division was stationed in extremely harsh conditions, in one of the coldest and snowiest areas in North Korea. Therefore, the entire division was adept at snow removal and building repairs. Due to limited funding, the soldiers ate poorly, wore little clothing, and worked long hours, making it a notorious "icebox" in the South Korean army. Soldiers often suffered from frostbite, their faces cracked and bleeding, eating only scraps of food, bean sprouts, and cold rice balls, and were frequently disciplined with iron rods by their superiors. However, it wouldn't be accurate to say the division was incompetent. Because of its poverty and harsh conditions, the 36th White Tiger Division was quite effective among the second-line divisions in the South Korean army, frequently winning the title of "Best Division of the Year."

Therefore, it can also be called another type of 'West Ice Warehouse Hotel'.

The halftime break has now ended.

$200 million was enough to force the heads of South Korea's diplomatic and military systems to back down.

Vice President Vance also got the result he wanted.

Ultimately, with the foreign leader taking the blame for everything, Japan, South Korea, and the United States signed the Dokdo Memorandum.

The armistice agreement in the memorandum was simple and straightforward: South Korea and Japan would withdraw their troops from the Dokdo Islands simultaneously, and the United States would be responsible for monitoring the Dokdo crisis.

Since both sides currently occupy a major island, which was exclusively occupied by South Korea before the war, and the South Korean military has gained an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield, with its cannon fodder local divisions inflicting heavy losses on Japanese fishermen, the treaty stipulates that both sides will withdraw their troops simultaneously. However, South Korea can rebuild a lighthouse on the northern island of Dokdo and maintain a coast guard presence; Japan will withdraw from the southern island, but the US military will monitor South Koreans to prevent them from entering the southern island. This effectively freezes the sovereignty dispute over the island.

Fishermen from both sides can fish together in the waters around Dokdo, with the central axis between the north and south islands serving as the dividing line. The U.S. military will dispatch ships to patrol and monitor the area.

To be fair, this peace memorandum is the closest thing to a peaceful outcome achieved through the joint efforts of diplomats from the three countries.

It essentially returned to the pre-war state, and South Koreans were still allowed to operate on Dokdo, which can be considered a compromise solution formed after reconciling the conflicts among the parties.

However, after the news was leaked, it provoked a huge wave of opposition.

The South Koreans are dissatisfied. Why can they only go to half of my island? And whether they get to go to the other half depends on the whims of the US and Japan?

The Japanese were even more dissatisfied. Why should they have to withdraw from the half of the island that the fishermen risked their lives to reclaim, and why should no one be allowed to land on the island without the permission of the US military?

But the Americans are finally satisfied. These two fat dogs are no longer fighting amongst themselves, and the US-Japan-South Korea military alliance can continue to move forward.

The general public has had their fill of gossip, having already digested all the drama surrounding the Japan-South Korea conflict over the past few decades. Watching Japanese and South Koreans hurl insults at each other in newspapers, online, and even offline, accusing each other of being "inferior Chinese," "grandsons of the Chinese," "Japanese slaves," and other offensive and offensive language, has given Chinese viewers a sense of pride in becoming grandfathers.

The US no longer cares about the online criticism.

Li Xinghe didn't care and hurriedly went home to prepare to leave with his men.

"Getting ready to go home, Seoul is still too surreal."

In the short span of just over two weeks since the Dokdo crisis, South Korea's stock, bond, and currency markets have all suffered a triple blow. Both imports and exports have exploded. The already precarious shipbuilding industry has been rejected and severely damaged by the international market. The tourism industry, which relies on Korean entertainment, has also collapsed instantly. As a pillar of the national economy, South Korea's automotive industry has been further weakened by the opportunity to seize market share from Chinese and Japanese car exports. Companies such as Kia, Hyundai, GM Daewoo, and Renault Samsung Motors, which were already suffering from the corrosive influence of the Chinese supply chain, have been hit hard.

Neighboring Japan, of course, suffered a similar economic tsunami. Although the US dollar depreciated, the yen failed to appreciate and continued to fall against the yuan. From retail and catering to high-tech industries, many long-established Japanese companies were forced to close down or be acquired by Chinese capital.

People jokingly refer to it as 'the Dokdo crisis, triggered by a cannon shot, brought about a tsunami of Chinese capital swallowing up the islands.'

"Go home, go home."

Lee Ju-yeon and Cho Yeol-sook were also packing their luggage.

South Korea is too crazy and too dangerous; Japan is a safer amusement park for children with a galaxy-like constitution.

However, on this trip back to Tokyo, Lee Sung-ha also brought along a group of Korean entertainment actresses, ranging from high school students to young girls. He took them to Aoyama-so to stay and learn Japanese before they would debut on Fuji TV to see their potential.

Zhao Lieshu suddenly kicked Li Xinghe:

"You are not allowed to accompany them to study Japanese."

She watched that TV series to learn Chinese, so the reference was very clear.

"I'll only accompany you in learning foreign languages, okay?"

Li Xinghe shrugged.

My trip to Seoul has come to an end.

The author says:

Author's Note: Thank you all for your support. Here's 3900 words. Another day of not being able to get up, my hands are cold and numb. I'll update a little more this afternoon to make up for it.

Chapter 532: Price Hikes Amidst Chinese Fever, Unification of Cults and Electricity Dealers (5500 words)

After a few days away, when Li Xinghe quietly landed at Haneda Airport on a Chinese airline's plane, new changes had occurred in Tokyo.

Lee Ju-yeon happily carried the souvenirs of Yiwu specialties she brought back from Seoul, and hugged Seon Ji-hwa tightly as they got off the plane together.

"Is Mom going to work as a co-agent at the Sino-Belarusian brokerage firm? Your past reputation is enough to solidify our business."

"Okay."

Zhao Lieshu and Xuan Zhihua discussed her career plans. Xuan Zhihua's health has improved a lot, and it's time for her to make a comeback and lead her affordable Korean girl group to expand the market in Japan.

As soon as I got off the plane, I saw that the surrounding airport was full of Chinese tour groups. Many Chinese with certain assets also came to Japan for tourism or shopping through the fast-track visa process.

Li Juyan looked at the people around her:

"There are so many Chinese people."

"At this point, it seems that only China can save the Japanese economy."

Meanwhile, at the airport entrance, Prosecutor Ryuzaki Hibari, dressed in a black and white women's suit, stood tall and obediently with her long hair elegantly styled in a bun. Although there was no chain around her neck, in Zhao Lieshu's eyes, she resembled a leashed Afghan hound, proudly awaiting her master's favor.

Ryuzaki Hibari smiled at Zhao Lieshu and the others, then explained:

“There have been a lot of Chinese people coming to Japan lately. The rich are coming to buy companies and real estate cheaply, while the poor are looking for jobs with special skilled worker visas. They are doing freight, rentals, and farm work. It seems like there are people from all over the country. It feels like the entire Chinese population from the whole continent is pouring in.”

For Japan, a country as small as a province, seeing different groups of Chinese people—wealthy and powerful, hardworking and capable, students from affluent families, and working-study students from impoverished backgrounds—their perception of China is far too complex.

Ryuzaki Hibari offered to help Lee Seong-ha with his briefcase. Jo Yeol-sook and Lee Ju-yeon simultaneously pursed their lips, and after exchanging glances with Ryuzaki Hibari, they all confirmed each other's identities.

They must be like-minded people.

Zhao Lieshu's initiative in taking her leave demonstrated the composure of the first wife: