I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 178



Only Noblemtl

EP.178 Nuclear Armament (1)

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.”

As soon as the countdown ended there was light.

Kwaaang!

A new sun has risen on the tiny volcanic island of Iwo Jima.

A shockwave and heat storm spread out with a dazzling flash, engulfing everything.

The makeshift structure was blown away without a trace.

I watched this historic scene on TV.

“Your Majesty! Congratulations!”

“Yes. Now we are a nuclear power.”

On January 10, 1953, South Korea became the third nuclear power in the world.

The only remaining tasks were to perfect the ICBMs and SLBMs capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as the hydrogen bombs with increased explosive power.

I visited the Energy Research Institute for World Peace.

“I am proud of my masters.”

I gave a round of applause and praise to the scientists who led the development of nuclear weapons.

With this, we no longer need to look at Smile’s face.

Once we achieve mutually assured destruction with them, there will be no more threats to our security.

‘I wonder what Mao Zedong’s face looks like.’

I officially informed the public of my nuclear armament.

“Our Republic of Korea has become a nuclear power with nuclear weapons. No one can threaten the security front of the empire. From now on, you can sleep soundly. If there is an enemy who threatens the empire, we will definitely retaliate with Juche nuclear weapons. This Lee Seong-jun guarantees it.”

This also adds one more achievement trophy to Lee Seong-jun’s collection.

Permanent member of the UN Security Council + nuclear state + world’s third largest power.

When we added our name to the list of nuclear powers, a strange trend was created in the international community.

India, which had just ended its civil war, and several other countries have been talking about creating a Third World by bringing together ‘non-aligned countries’.

“This is a third option for countries that neither the US nor the Soviet Union likes. What do you think about Korea, the leader of the Third World? If Korea raises its flag, we will stand under it.”

Are you asking us to play the role of a smile now?

Nope.

That kind of story is out of the question.

If you keep chasing after a smile, your legs will tear, so why run with a load on your shoulders?

It was not too late to think about formally forming a camp after catching up with the Soviet Union.

When you gain power, followers will naturally follow you.

From now on, if we continue to show off our empty ambitions, we will only attract the attention of the United States.

The communist leader, the Soviet Union, is taking the aggro well, so why would you do such a foolish thing?

I rejected any conception of the Third World.

As this incident proves, nuclear weapons have elevated Korea’s power and status to a level different from before.

At that moment, even the arrogant Mao Zedong showed a humble attitude in the face of South Korea’s nuclear weapons.

The occasional propaganda criticizing Korea has completely disappeared.

“As the eldest brother of East Asia, Korea needs to act in a manner befitting its position.”

Instead, he made a weak sound and checked our mood.

After all, nuclear weapons make people humble.

Even in Washington and Moscow, their attitude toward us has improved considerably.

“Dear Prime Minister Lee Seong-jun, I would like to ask for your opinion on this matter.”

People who used to ask for my opinion or mediation now often ask for my opinion in advance.

It really felt like I was getting closer to being on par with them as a player.

Soon after we got our hands on the nukes, we started receiving secret inquiries from several countries.

Israel first.

“You are giving me a nuclear warhead, right? You have to keep your promise.”

Promises are kept.

I reassured Tel Aviv again and again.

Next was Britain.

“Do you have any intention of sharing nuclear technology?”

Yes, of course.

Knowing that Britain was soon to complete its nuclear program, they were willing to provide that level of assistance.

“I will cooperate with you.”

The reason for showing favor to Britain was simple.

They were planning to obtain cooperation in the supply of Australian uranium under the pretext of technological cooperation.

The last one was France.

“Could you possibly help us develop nuclear weapons in Korea?”

If it had been 1945, I would not have even spoken to de Gaulle.

But for France, which had severed Algeria and Indochina, the story was a bit different.

After I had Yongpal consulted with him, I asked him this.

“By any chance, how much have you thought about it?”

France was also a country that would have nuclear weapons anyway.

I proposed a plan to share nuclear weapons in exchange for French capital.

We also need to get back some of our investment capital.

Money from France?

They’ll either embezzle the money they received from the Marshall Plan or give it to us.

France was happy to accept our counteroffer.

“I’ll give you whatever you want!”

When we began sharing nuclear technology in this way, the United States and the Soviet Union expressed concern.

“Isn’t that giving nuclear weapons to dogs and cows?”

Yeah, that’s not it.

Anyway, I only supported those who were going to have it.

“We only shared with countries that are already developing nuclear weapons. We have no intention of supporting any more nuclear development.”

“Then, Your Excellency, please support the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that we are discussing in Washington this time. Moscow has also agreed to it.”

The nuclear ladder kicker that came out in 1968 is coming out now?

Well, it was scary to see me reaching out here and there.

“great.”

I agreed to the non-proliferation of smiles.

In fact, the nuclear warhead I had agreed to share didn’t have much meaning on its own.

Without strategic bombers, missiles, or launch platforms like battleships, nukes were no different than nothing.

In our case, we had a platform ready to temporarily launch nuclear weapons.

In Korea’s case, the nuclear launch platform was a battleship.

Originally, we were going to use nuclear torpedoes, but we changed direction because we heard that they are more efficient.

Not long after agreeing to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, there was talk of progress being made at the UN General Assembly.

It seemed like the smile was urgent.

“It’s good to have a nuclear monopoly.”

But I wasn’t.

I was not a smiling hegemon, but a challenger who aimed for a multipolar system under it.

So the more nuclear powers that could weaken the dominance of the smile, the more advantageous it was.

Of course, it would be problematic if there were too many, so it would be desirable to have only the official nuclear states in the distant future as nuclear powers.

I also did not want the number of nuclear powers to increase without warning.

“Your Majesty, will the next nuclear test be conducted on Iwo Jima?”

“That’s the best place.”

It’s completely off the mainland and doesn’t suffer from fallout. There’s no place more ideal than that.

“I am telling you this because there are voices from Japan expressing concerns about fallout damage.”

In the aftermath of the Italian War, the effects of radioactive fallout were known to some extent even among civilians.

In the areas where the nuclear bomb exploded, the number of deformed babies increased rapidly, and those exposed to the radiation suffered from all kinds of rare diseases.

It was no wonder that people foamed at the mouth when they heard the word radioactive fallout.

‘Iwo Jima won’t work.’

Wouldn’t you have to maintain the goodwill of the Japanese people to sell your products?

There was no reason to conduct a nuclear test on Iwo Jima, even if it provoked opposition from Japan.

As I was reviewing suitable candidates, I had this thought.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be done in the country.

Since we had already decided to cooperate with Britain, we decided to borrow the power of the Commonwealth.

“Can we borrow your island?”

“I will pay the full cost.”

“Rather than that, I would like us to observe.”

“Then, go ahead and do that.”

The British readily agreed to provide a nuclear testing site.

Now that the location has been secured, a date has been set for the second nuclear test.

Nuclear tests did not end with one or two.

At least I had to keep going until I finished the bomb.

Even if you try it a few dozen times, you can complete a usable hydrogen bomb.

And as the smile developed a more powerful nuclear weapon, we also had to follow suit by miniaturizing our warheads to a certain level.

Although it was a money-eating hippopotamus, it had to invest to keep up with the competition.

Mutually assured destruction was a strategy that required enormous investment in that respect.

Of course, I had no intention of pursuing smiles and complete mutually assured destruction.

Stacking nukes in units of tens of thousands like a smile was a truly retarded act of wasting money.

What’s the point of keeping a nuclear weapon that will become unusable in 20 years?

Just enough to hit the opposing major cities.

I thought 200 to 300 rounds would be enough.

At the time, China and Britain maintained exactly that level of nuclear power.

Just for that amount, it would have cost about 10 trillion won in maintenance costs based on the original South Korean standard.

What if you could manage tens of thousands of feet like a smile?

That would require spending hundreds of billions of dollars on defense.

We don’t even have enough money for economic development, so why are we wasting money like that?

It was very likely that North Korea would end up like this.

“There will be no problems in obtaining raw materials, right?”

“There will be no problem as we have contracted to import raw ore from Australia starting from the second batch.”

Although South Korea has large-scale uranium mines, they are no match for Australia in terms of profitability.

So, until they were armed with nuclear weapons, they used Korean uranium, and from then on, they imported large quantities of uranium from Australia, their mineral cooperation partner.

The reason we didn’t use Australian ones from the beginning was because we were worried that the US would interfere with our nuclear armament.

Now, you don’t have to worry about such interruptions.

The United States also knew that it could not do anything about the nuclear weapons it already had in its hands.

Even North Korea is like that.

For the first time in a while, I sat deep in the chair and enjoyed the comfortable feeling.

It’s like having a nuclear weapon in your hand.

It was a really thrilling feeling.