21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 493: Season 2 Book 20 Shadow of War – 2-1 Suspicious Movement

January 8th, 2024, 21:00 (Latvia time: 14:00)

The meeting room of the representative board of the EU headquarters, Riga, Latvia

Following the summit meeting, which establishes and decides on major policies, the representative board was now assembled in the meeting room of the EU headquarters. Among the 30 EU member states, the Foreign Ministers, who had been delegated authority by their respective presidents, sat around a round table, and U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson, who had been given the right to speak by Chairman Maris Felsix, took to the podium.

“Dear representatives of the EU member states! Nice to meet you. I’m here today to deliver a message on behalf of President Trump.”

Starting with the greeting, U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson’s speech began. “Currently, Northeast Asia appears to be in the grip of a severe crisis that could lead to the global economy collapsing and the outbreak of World War III. In this situation, and because of its geographical nature, it appears that it has already passed the point where it can no longer be dismissed. Furthermore, President Choo Un-hee of the Republic of Korea issued a very aggressive and arrogant public statement yesterday, threatening all countries in the world with war.”

U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson, who drew the attention of the foreign ministers by choosing to use only provocative words, paused and continued to speak again, “For this reason, President Trump believes that our active involvement with the EU is necessary. As you are all aware, the global economy in the twenty-first century is linked, so if we are faced with an economic depression, many countries will go bankrupt, and neither the U.S. nor the EU members will be able to avoid it. In response, President Trump, along with the EU members, wants to move NATO forces to prevent the spread of the war, as well as impose economic sanctions on the Republic of Korea, which is currently leading the war.”

When the word ‘NATO’ was mentioned, the eyes of the representatives of the EU member states changed. It came as a surprise to them. U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson, who was aware of this, continued with conviction in her voice, “Dear representatives of EU member states! The Republic of Korea has committed a massacre of civilians in New China, which is unprecedented in the history of war. A single attack has resulted in the deaths of up to ten million civilians. This figure is only an estimate, and our intelligence agencies believe the number of casualties will likely exceed 20 million. Furthermore, the war that began in Northeast Asia has now spread to Ukraine and southern Russia, and the scale of the conflict is growing by the day. Isn’t Ukraine, Europe’s ‘front yard’? We don’t know when the war will spread across Europe. As a result, we believe that active participation by NATO and the U.S. military is required before it is too late.”

Maine Johnson, Secretary of State of the United States, concluded her speech solemnly, making eye contact with the foreign ministers of each country who were present as representatives. “I don’t think we can afford to wait any longer. Let us work together for global peace and coexistence.”

After concluding her speech with an exaggerated gesture, she returned to her seat. A moment of silence passed. And then, one of the representatives of the EU member states raised his hand.

He was Foreign Minister Pierre de Gaulle, a representative of France. “Secretary Johnson! Are your proposed economic sanctions going to include all of the countries currently involved in the war, including Korea, Russia, and New China?”

Surprised by the sudden question, U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson replied with an awkward smile, “Well, no. The only country that will be subjected to economic sanctions is the Republic of Korea. As previously stated, the Republic of Korea committed genocide and atrocities against civilians in New China. As a result, we believe those are good enough reasons for imposing economic sanctions on them.”

“But, didn’t Russia start the second Northeast Asian War, and New China also took part in it by launching a preemptive attack in the middle of the war? In other words, given the origins of the conflict, I don’t believe it makes sense to impose economic sanctions solely on the Republic of Korea because it slaughtered civilians.”

When Minister Pierre de Gaulle asked the key question, U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson shrugged, as if she had expected it, and immediately responded, “A number of intangible internal circumstances between the other countries can lead to war. In other words, there could be a reason we don’t know about. But isn’t it true that in the name of the war, they slaughtered ten million civilians? We believe that the international community should impose strict and severe sanctions on such countries. Don’t you agree?”

Minister Pierre de Gaulle nodded and did not ask any further questions.

“Even with economic sanctions, what do you mean by moving NATO forces? Do you want NATO to intervene in the war?” This time, it was German representative Minister Johan Hoffman who asked a question.

“That’s correct. If something goes wrong, Europe could be engulfed in the flames of war. So, before that happens, shouldn’t we mobilize NATO forces to fortify our defenses and take appropriate precautions to keep the war from spreading to Europe?”

“Appropriate precautions…In my opinion, that would merely ignite the war torch in Europe.”

As Germany has always been consistent in its antagonistic attitude toward the United States, they were opposed this time as well.

“War does not break out after a warning. That’s why we don’t know for certain when sparks will ignite. Therefore, we want to start suppressing it in advance before it does break out.”

“How are you going to use NATO then?”

“Shouldn’t we issue warnings to all countries that cooperate militarily with the Republic of Korea, such as Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, in addition to using NATO forces to drive the Republic of Korea out?”

“What? Do you want to have a war with Korea?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s right.”

“What’s so scary?”

“It’s not that…”

“Stop, stop, Secretary Johnson, Minister Hoffman, stop.”

Chairman Maris Felsix stepped in to put an end to the verbal brawl. Minister Johan Hoffman responded by looking out the window as if he wanted to look away, but U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson’s gaze was fixed on Minister Johan Hoffman.

This was because Minister Johan Hoffman, the German representative with significant clout within the EU, was dissatisfied and openly opposed the deal.

After the heavy silence in the conference room, Chairman Maris Felsix said, “Well, representatives! I will officially present what U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson said to the CEO’s board of directors. The representatives should exercise their right to vote at the second meeting tomorrow afternoon after consulting with the leaders of their country.”

“Wait a minute.” Minister Johan Hoffman jumped up from his seat and cut off the chairman’s words.

“Minister Hoffman! I’m still talking,” Chairman Maris Felsix said, slightly offended, as her eyebrow twitched. Minister Johan Hoffman, on the other hand, carried on speaking without hesitating.

“What right does U.S. Secretary Johnson, who is not a member, have to formally submit the remarks to the CEO’s board?”

“Yes. I don’t think that’s right,” said Minister Lushti Jenkin, Turkey’s representative, who agreed with Minister Johan Hoffman that the proposal was unfair.

*Turkey had become an EU member two years earlier.

“Hehe, isn’t it the chairman’s authority to approve the proposal? Are you two disregarding the CEO’s authority?”

“I’m not questioning your authority, but aren’t these remarks from a country that isn’t a member?”

Minister Johan Hoffman did not back down until the end. In response, Chairman Maris Felsix said with a cold look, “I’ll tell you again. It is the chairman’s authority, so please refrain from speaking or acting in any way that contradicts the chairman’s authority. And that concludes today’s first representative meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the second meeting.”

Chairman Maris Felsix rapped her gavel after she was done speaking.

“Uh, what are you doing right now? To make a unilateral decision like this…”

Minister Johan Hoffman criticized the chairman, Maris Felsix, who had left her seat! Maine Johnson, U.S. Secretary of State, who was standing next to her, smiled meaningfully and quietly said, “Minister Hoffman! The tide has shifted. I hope you don’t confront the U.S. too directly.”

“What?”

“Haha! See you tomorrow.” U.S. Secretary of State Maine Johnson left the conference room, leaving Minister Johan Hoffman behind.

* * *

January 9th, 2024, 09:00

Central Office (National Security Council), Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan

Japan, which lost to South Korea three years ago, had undergone a major constitutional amendment. In particular, the bicameral legislature, which was divided into two separate assemblies, was changed to Unicameralism based on the parliamentary cabinet system and the total number of council members was 600, with 400 local council members and 200 proportional representatives.

Furthermore, the prime minister’s term was three years, and he could be reappointed once, allowing him to serve as prime minister for a total of six years. As with the previous method, the election method was chosen by a vote of the councilors from among the former members of the council.

However, compared to the previous Abe administration, the prime minister’s power had been significantly reduced. The majority of the reduced powers were delegated to ministers from each ministry, with the Prime Minister of the Cabinet having only domestic administrative authority. However, in the event of a serious situation in the country, the Prime Minister, who is also the head of the administration, has the authority to convene ministers from each ministry in case of a critical situation in the country, and this is called the Security Council.

The ministers from each ministry, who have the same authority as the prime minister, sat on both sides of the long table, and Prime Minister Uchida, who sat in the center, began explaining why he had called the security council.

“I’ll tell you why we convened this security council today.”

When Prime Minister Uchida’s voice rang throughout the Council room, two Prime Minister’s Office secretaries who had been waiting behind him placed documents in front of the ministers from each ministry.

“Please read them slowly.”

At the words of Prime Minister Uchida, the ministers began to read the documents in front of them.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Uchida watched each of the 20 ministers’ expressions one by one.

“Is this true? Is it really a document presented by the United States?”

Just after the surrender and abolition of the Self-Defense Forces following World War II, and the deployment of U.S. troops, the newly established security force of the National Security Agency Act passed in 1952 was to ensure the country’s security. It did, however, only have land forces and no maritime or aviation capabilities. It had a total of 60,000 soldiers and was equipped with only personal weapons and basic equipment. The majority of transportation were transportation trucks, with some armored vehicles used for urban battles.

The security minister, who can be seen as the former Ministry of Defense that manages and controls these security forces, was the first to ask a question without closing his mouth.

“Minister Mike Takashi! It’s exactly as you read.”

“Ha! It’s a very dangerous suggestion.”

Foreign Minister Kurosawa Kiyoshi also shook his head and expressed deep concern. “That’s right. You have to reject these suggestions.”

Even Minister Konno Yasuyuki of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare stood up and voiced his strong opposition. At this point, a person’s voice was heard in the room as someone hit the table and said, “Huh. What do you mean no? How can you reject such a golden opportunity? How long are you going to beg for, Josenjin?”

He was Ishihara Shintaro, Minister of Economy, Industry and Energy, and was the only far-right politician to reach the ministerial level..