Critical Incidents: The ROK - Land of HAN (A Jack Gunn Mystery Thriller Book 1) by Thomas H. Ward Read Free Book Online Page B

interesting. I think the American people are tired of war. I don’t think any Americans want another big war.”
    “It’s true the war in the Middle East has worn us out. But make no mistake, if our country is attacked, or our allies, the U.S. will respond.”
    “Maybe you are right and maybe not.”
    Kwon’s comments pissed me off.
    “What about the South Korean troops? You have about four hundred thousand. If you include the reserves, it’s more than six hundred thousand,” I said.
    “Yes, but by the time those troops are activated, the war will be over. Please remember that Seoul is only fifty miles from the DMZ. The north would overrun Seoul in two days. Then the capital is gone and possibly a few million people would be killed,” Kwon replied.
    Lee commented, “The north don’t stand a chance of taking Seoul. For one thing, they don’t have a million combat troops. Secondly, everyone in Seoul would fight to the death, even if it was with knives and shovels.”
    “I disagree, Lee-shi. I think the people will run for the hills. They are too soft from easy living.” Kwon said, with a smile on his face. “Our intelligence is very good and they have confirmed there are a million combat troops in the north. They confirm that Seoul would fall in two days. Remember, there are many North Korean agents operating here in the south. They would be activated to create problems in Seoul, making our troop response difficult. There are even spies in our ROK Army.”
    “Are there spies in the NIS?” I asked.
    “Perhaps there are. If so, we must weed them out,” Kwon advised, while giving an evil grin. 
    I said, “Maybe the north just wants to take Seoul and the surrounding area, which is rich compared to what they have.”
    “You are exactly right, Mr. Gunn. All they want is to take Seoul. Without Seoul, the rest of South Korea is doomed.”
    Kwon gently slapped the top of the table with his hand. “Gentlemen, thank you for the interesting discussion and dinner. I must leave now.”
    “Ok, let’s go. We’ll walk you to the lobby,” I said. The tab went on my room.
    Giving the usual secret handshake, we saw Mr. Kwon off, biding him a goodnight. Lee and I stood in the lobby for a minute watching him leave. When Kwon was gone, Lee said, “Let’s go to the Tiger House for a few drinks. We can discuss Mr. Kwon further there.”
    “That sounds good. I could use a few drinks after talking to Kwon.” Lee laughed at the comment. We jumped into a taxi to take us to Itaewon, the wild part of the city.
    You don’t want to drink and drive in Korea because they have checkpoints for blow tests at all most every stoplight. Stopped at a light, a police officer runs out in the street and makes the driver of the first car in line do a blow test. If you fail, it’s off to jail.
    It was Saturday night and Itaewon was jumping. Neon signs were flashing up and down main street. Even late at night the streets were crowed with mostly men, bar hopping, searching for a drinking establishment they liked. There are many types of bars in Itaewon.
    To start with there’s the normal type small American bars. They are nothing fancy but it’s a cheap place to get drunk, if that is your goal. Then there are the go-go bars with beautiful young dancing ladies, wearing hardly anything. After they dance you can entice them to sit with you for a drink and make some small talk, until their turn to dance comes up again. Room Salons are bars that have private rooms that you rent for the evening. The rooms are about the size of an average living room and have seating for about six to ten people. The Mama-San will bring you ladies to choose from for your private entertainment. Booze here is expensive and so are the women.
    Then there are traditional style Korean bars which also have women to serve and entertain you. They serve snacks, like dried squid, and original Korean dishes. There is no hard liquor severed, only top-shelf soju, which is a mild