Chapter 138 : Fish to a Cat
Fish to a Cat
The Director of the National Intelligence Service, Jin Jong-man, waited for the deputy general managers with an anxious expression. Before long, Choo Jae-min from the First Division, Shin Jin-hong from the Second Division, and Im Deok-chang from the Third Division came in and sat on the sofa.
"You all know about the incident that occurred in Sedona, America, right?"
The three of them slowly nodded, waiting for the next words.
"Is this an unfamiliar picture to you? Doesn't it look familiar, Deputy General Manager Choo?"
The question was directed at Choo Jae-min, and it wasn't hard for him to answer.
"It looks similar to the Songchon incident on our First Division's side."
"So, I'm not the only one who noticed? What about the other deputy general managers?"
Shin Jin-hong and Im Deok-chang glanced at each other, reading the room.
"I think so as well."
"It seems that way..."
Im Deok-chang, who answered last, felt uneasy. The situation he had been worried about was occurring because of Jin Jong-man's summons.
Jin Jong-man continued.
"If the same problems are happening at other intelligence agencies like ours, then Songchon is just a shell. It means there are others pulling the strings."
To this concise explanation, Choo Jae-min raised a question.
"If it's really the same context... where is the true power behind it?"
"If I knew that, would I be this frustrated? Besides, something else came over through the NIS tip-off department."
A crisp document, as if just printed, was placed in front of them.
"Don't tell me..."
As Choo Jae-min murmured, Jin Jong-man continued his explanation.
"It's the personal info of the Bellbyte terror case suspects that some of the press set their own embargo on. Chinese MSS, Russian SVR, and Brazil's ABIN. Out of twelve bodies, three belonged to agents working for government-run agencies."
"How did you get this?"
"Get, really. Some blind guy just threw it into the NIS tips. Of course, we couldn't trace the IP. Probably the same guy who leaked to the press."
The situation had become even more grave. It meant there was a force capable of planting moles not only in the NIS but also in other countries' intelligence agencies.
"Deputy General Manager Shin."
At that call, Shin Jin-hong answered in surprise.
"Yes? Ah, yes... Director."
"You don't still think Songchon is the one behind all this, do you, after seeing this?"
It was he who had reported that the rogue agents' handlers were Songchon.
Beads of cold sweat formed on Shin Jin-hong's forehead. Since he was in charge of investigating Songchon, it was an awkward position.
"No, sir. I'll confirm again and submit an updated report."
"No. This time, Deputy General Manager Choo will handle it. It was under First Division's jurisdiction to begin with."
A similar situation had unfolded at other intelligence agencies.
Because of that, Jin Jong-man could no longer harbor any suspicion toward Choo Jae-min.
"Then, what should we do about the investigation you mentioned previously?"
He was referring to the investigation into Hwain Techon, the Seunghwa Foundation, and Seunghwa Trading.
Since the other two deputy general managers weren't privy to it, he didn't specify.
Jin Jong-man hesitated for a moment. This was because, in the message sent by HERMIT, he sensed that an NIS insider was also involved.
If he handed over something Choo Jae-min was investigating smoothly to someone else, there was no telling what might happen.
"I'll take care of it."
"I'll transfer all the material to you."
"Go ahead."
During the conversation, Im Deok-chang showed interest and spoke up.
"Is something going on? If there's anything I can help with, let me know."
Jin Jong-man looked at Im Deok-chang, briefly pondering.
He wondered if Shin Jin-hong and Im Deok-chang, along with Choo Jae-min, were related to the Notex case.
He had previously instructed Im Deok-chang to dig into the Prosecutors' Office and Deputy Prosecutor General Jung Yoon-ju.
However, after Jung Yoon-ju's death, the prosecutorial side spiraled out of control.
Even the Prosecutor General had gotten involved to root out widespread corruption.
"Then, Deputy General Manager Im, you take charge of that."
"Which one, sir?"
"The relationship between Hwain Techon and Notex. And a detailed investigation into the Seunghwa Foundation and Seunghwa Trading."
With this explanation, Im Deok-chang straightened his face and asked back.
"Wasn't the Notex side already concluded with the report I made on the Korean staff member the other day?"
Im Deok-chang had assumed that was it. But suddenly, not just any company, but one that had funneled money to Notex, Hwain Techon, was brought up, unsettling him.
"We had information. That's why we're digging into the two companies. How far have we gotten?"
At this, Choo Jae-min glanced around and explained.
"All the shell companies connected to Notex have shut down, so tracking the traces proved difficult. But with some hard-won cooperation from the authorities, tracking the flow of funds confirmed links to domestic shell companies."
"Then, Deputy General Manager Im, you'll take it from there."
The source of the $1.4 billion discovered in the Notex incident was still unknown.
In that situation, the NIS had tracked the flow of funds to evidence passing through Korea.
If that got into hands abroad, not only the NIS but even the Korean government would be in serious trouble.
"Even if there was a shell company in Korea, it may have just been a stopover."
To Im Deok-chang's mumbling, Choo Jae-min, who recently handled the investigation, added,
"The Korean side also shut down, but it wasn't a short-term operation, so there will be some trace left. That's why we've already requested cooperation from the Financial Supervisory Service and the National Tax Service."
This meant the investigation was already well underway.
Im Deok-chang, unable to reveal his inner thoughts, spoke as calmly as possible.
"If you hand over the material, I'll handle it from there."
Thus the meeting ended.
Im Deok-chang immediately strode down the hallway and into his office.
Reading the tense atmosphere, Choi Dong-hoon, who followed him in, spoke first.
"Is there a problem?"
"The Director has been quietly tracking the Notex funds."
"... What? But wasn't that..."
Choi Dong-hoon also remembered that it had been resolved previously.
"I thought I'd swept it under the rug well, but someone passed on info, so Deputy General Manager Choo was looking into it."
"How far have they gotten?"
"They've tracked it all the way to domestic shell companies. With the National Tax Service and the Financial Supervisory Service mobilized, they'll trace the fund routes soon."
If that trail led to Hwain Techon and the W&W Group, things would become uncontrollable.
Of course, W&W Group fell under Baek Ji-woong and Kwon So-jeong's remit, but traces related to Hwain Techon were the NIS's job—he couldn't easily shift the responsibility.
"So we need a tighter wrap. Shall we move now?"
"The issue has even reached domestic operations, so if we move carelessly, we'll leave traces. Just make sure to cut the bridge in between."
"Understood."
"Oh, and check out everyone Director Jin Jong-man has met or talked with or messaged recently. Find out the source of the info as well."
Because confirming the source was necessary.
Just then, a message from Choo Jae-min, Head of First Division, appeared on his computer.
[First Division Choo Jae-min: I've uploaded all the material to the cloud.]
This was about the handover.
* * *
Norton General Hospital in Flagstaff, Arizona, America.
In a private room there, Taeshin Group chairman Tae Gun-seung still lay unconscious. As he had not woken up for days, they just kept watch over him.
However, since the rest of the child could not be away from the company indefinitely, they had returned home.
Of course, some had suggested transporting Tae Gun-seung to Korea.
But since it was unclear when he would awaken, and the trip wouldn't end in just an hour or two, the doctor had not approved it.
Thus, only In-hyuk, Tae Ju-ha, Tae Seok-hyun, his wife Lee Sun-hye, and the secretaries and security team remained at the hospital.
"I think I'll have to stay here longer. Make sure all important matters are shared directly via report regardless of the time."
Right now, In-hyuk was on the phone with Noh Dongjun, team leader of PEF Team 2.
There was a matter in the ongoing investment project that needed his personal handling.
[That's no problem, but... are you sure? There's chaos here with all the articles these days.]
That news about Tae Gun-seung had leaked to the media.
"It'll be noisy for a while."
After ending the call, In-hyuk turned to Baek Si-hwan, who had been standing in the back.
He must have heard about the Bellbyte Technology incident, with Kooou wiping out twelve people, yet he looked calm.
Even Reina Blackwood quietly stood by Tae Seok-ho, but couldn't hide all her faint killing intent radiating from her body.
"Manager Baek, you should go back to Korea on tonight's flight."
"Any specific instructions?"
"Sort out the incoming reports more and share them. It's a bit much to keep responding to everything from here."
Most of his time had been spent at the hospital.
"Shouldn't you return with us, division director?"
"I brought the chairman here, so I must see to him until the end. So don't worry about me."
"Then I'll go get ready for the return first."
Baek Si-hwan didn't argue further and quietly withdrew.
Just then, In-hyuk felt a vibration from his phone.
[NIS02: The Notex funds are assumed to be related to Hwain Techon. The NIS Director instructed Im Deok-chang to investigate domestic shell companies.]
[NIS02: Bellbyte case, assumed forces besides Songchon. Suspect identities have been reported.]
It was a message from Shin Jin-hong, Deputy General Manager of the NIS, sent via Ghost Link.
Reading it, In-hyuk clicked his tongue.
"Leaving fish in the care of a cat, huh."
NIS Director Jin Jong-man, not knowing Im Deok-chang was part of the hidden powers, had assigned him the Hwain Techon case.
He had expected as much, but it still felt strange seeing it play out as predicted.
"But if Im Deok-chang makes a move now, there'll be no turning back."
It was originally a method intended for Deputy Prosecutor General Jung Yoon-ju at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
He had planned to trap her with prosecutor corruption and then completely destroy her with collected evidence.
But because Jung Yoon-ju foolishly took the initiative herself, he had to dispose of her swiftly and cleanly.
"I'm reusing a scenario I never got to play out, so it's not bad. But it's quieter than I expected."
In-hyuk stood by the window at the end of the hallway.
The security guards from Taeshin Security were guarding the entrance to Tae Gun-seung's hospital room, and the rest of the hallway was quiet—it was late at night, after all.
Of course, he hadn't been talking about the atmosphere.
After Tae Gun-seung collapsed, Kooou hadn't shown any movement.
Since they had tried to go after Tae Gun-seung even using armed forces, he thought she'd try again.
"I doubt they gave up... is it because of the security guards?"
Tae Seok-ho and Reina Blackwood had returned to Korea. Of course, that alone wasn't enough to dispel all suspicion.
Clack—
Just then, the hospital room door opened and Tae Ju-ha walked out.
"Are you done with your call?"
"I just finished."
"Where did Manager Baek go?"
She'd seen him leave the room earlier.
"He had some company liaison work, so I told him to return on a night flight. He went to pack his things."
"Oh..."
"Is it all right for you to stay here, Director Ju-ha? It must be inconvenient to work here."
She was also the CEO of Taeshin Asset Management, with a mountain of work waiting.
But she couldn't leave the hospital, worried about her grandfather, Tae Gun-seung.
"I'll stay until grandpa wakes up."
In-hyuk nodded. Then, he shifted his gaze toward the corridor behind her.
He saw a nurse with a strange air about her passing in front of the station.