The dragon was stirring at last, his head was turned west, but his tail was dipped in the Yellow Sea, and who knew what ripples that tail would make? If there was one certain rule to politics in the far-east, it was surely this: when China mobilized, so did everyone else. For Lee Dae-Hyun, President of the Republic of Korea, it was an especially delicate situation. If China was going abroad, how might the North react? By all reports, the situation in Europe was spiraling rapidly; would North Korea take advantage of the turmoil to give its final response to the question of reunification? And what of the restarted nuclear program, truly, how far had they developed these weapons—weapons which could reduce Seoul to dust? There were rumors of war, and men were apt to act foolishly when war was in the air.
Lee breathed a heavy sigh and placed the vibrantly red phone back into its cradle. He dropped his elbows onto the desk, massaging his eyes tiredly. He had just contacted the Joint Chiefs and ordered the Military Readiness Level, MILRED, to be raised to the second highest level. Once the order filtered through the chain-of-command, Korean soldiers on leave would begin to return to their units, commanders would begin to equip companies more thoroughly, safety protocols would be traded for security protocols, and whole divisions would be mobilizing and heading towards…well, where else, towards the border.
There was one other order of business, however. The United States still maintained a large military presence in Lee’s nation, and President McKinley deserved, at least, fair warning of Lee’s intention. His picked up the phone once more.
“This is President of the Republic of Korea Lee Dae-Hyun calling for President McKinley.”
Lee breathed a heavy sigh and placed the vibrantly red phone back into its cradle. He dropped his elbows onto the desk, massaging his eyes tiredly. He had just contacted the Joint Chiefs and ordered the Military Readiness Level, MILRED, to be raised to the second highest level. Once the order filtered through the chain-of-command, Korean soldiers on leave would begin to return to their units, commanders would begin to equip companies more thoroughly, safety protocols would be traded for security protocols, and whole divisions would be mobilizing and heading towards…well, where else, towards the border.
There was one other order of business, however. The United States still maintained a large military presence in Lee’s nation, and President McKinley deserved, at least, fair warning of Lee’s intention. His picked up the phone once more.
“This is President of the Republic of Korea Lee Dae-Hyun calling for President McKinley.”