attack?”
“The Eleventh is an S-2 Tracker maritime patrol unit, flying one of the slowest and most vulnerable planes in our inventory,” General Park said. “However, these planes have been modified as tactical jamming aircraft. They will shut down all of the Communists’ search radars between Haeju and Kaesong. They are being followed by F-16KCJ aircraft carrying HARM antiradar missiles. Any Communist radar that attempts to counter the jamming will be destroyed. A similar attack is commencing from the west toward Nampo and Pyongyang itself, from the east toward Hamhung and Hungnam, and from the south at Kimchaek and Ch’ongjin.”
“This is crazy! This is suicide!” Vice President Whiting exclaimed. “Won’t the North Koreans see those planes coming or see the jamming on their scopes and warn the rest of their defenses? They might start a retaliatory strike the second they notice all this happening. They might be starting an attack of their own at this very second!”
“In fact, Madam Vice President,” General Park said, “the Communists issued the first attack warning over fifteen minutes ago.”
“It is virtually impossible to fly anywhere within two hundred miles of North Korea without some Communist radar site detecting you, whatever your altitude,” General Park said calmly. “The Communists start tracking our aircraft almost from the moment they are launched. When our planes were within ten minutes’ flying time of their airspace — the amount of time it takes the slowest North Korean fighter pilot to get off the ground — the early- warning radar sites issued a warning to all other air defense sites throughout North Korea. The warning was relayed to the Military Command and Coordination Facility at Sunan, near Pyongyang.”
“But if the North Koreans know you’re coming,
“Because, Madam Vice President,” President Kwon replied, “the North Korean Central Command Facility issued instructions to all installations to continue to monitor the aircraft but to take no further action. They then issued an ‘ops-normal’ message to military headquarters in Pyongyang.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because, madam, it was a United Republic of Korea officer who issued those orders. Or, to be more precise, a North Korean patriot, working together with South Korean military assistance officers. The North Korean military command and control headquarters at Sunan, such as it is, belongs to North Korean patriots who desire nothing else but the reunification of the peninsula under a free, democratic government. They have decided to shut down the Communists’ military machine and allow us to assist them in destroying the most dangerous elements of it.”
At that moment a Klaxon went off in the observation room, and red revolving lights started blinking everywhere. On the public-address system they heard: “For Namu Two-Five, for Namu Two-Five, and for Pokpo Three-Eight, for Pokpo Three-Eight, this is Airedale, Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Dog. Turn to heading one-five-zero immediately. Acknowledge.”
Both General Park and President Kwon started to chuckle. “I have always thought that was very amusing,” Kwon said. Whiting stared at him. Total chaos was breaking out in the command center, and these two men were laughing through it! “The code words you Americans invent for serious situations such as this are very comical. What a refreshing sense of humor you people have.”
“What is going on?”
“Perhaps you do not know what this Hot Dog message means?” Kwon was surprised. “How little you know of the things you have put in place in our country that we rely on every day for our lives and our freedom. The Hot Dog warning is issued whenever an aircraft violates the Buffer Zone. It is supposed to warn our aircraft of unintentional overflight. ‘Airedale’ is the senior American battle director, whom you met down below in the command center.
“The warning is actually issued quite frequently, usually due to radar anomalies, jamming or decoying by the Communists, or by accident — an overzealous pilot, a new pilot trying to find landmarks, or one who is distracted from his work. Many innocent causes. The North calls them all preludes to war and declarations of war and demands an apology and reparations. Such demands are ignored, of course.”
They heard the Hot Dog call repeated many times, with several more call signs. Then there was a commotion on the floor of the command center, and they saw South Korean soldiers enter and head for several of the American officers and technicians.
“What’s going on down there, President Kwon?” Ellen Whiting asked. “I demand to know.”
“The American officers in charge of protecting and directing air traffic in South Korea are obviously upset because they issued a command to the South Korean pilots heading toward North Korea, and our officers would do nothing to stop them,” General Park answered for Kwon. “They are being restrained before they can call for any American aircraft to scramble to try to stop them.”
“They’re hurting them, for God’s sake!” Law protested. There were at least three South Korean soldiers around each of the Americans, who were struggling to free themselves.
“Do not worry, Madam Vice President,” President Kwon said, reading Whiting’s thoughts. “As you can see, none of my soldiers down there are armed with anything more than batons. We have no intention of hurting any of your people. They are only trying to do their jobs.” A few scuffles broke out, but the Americans were quickly hustled out and replaced by Korean technicians. In a matter of minutes, the only Americans left were in the observation area.
A few moments later the Klaxon sounded again. This time they heard: “Jack Rabbit, Jack Rabbit, Jack Rabbit, this is Guardian on Guard. All aircraft evacuate P-518 immediately.” The controller then read off a date-time group and a coded authenticator.
“‘Jack Rabbit’ is the warning that a border violation has just occurred,” General Park explained. “‘Guardian’ is the call sign of the American Airborne Warning and Control System radar plane that monitors all air activity across the Korean peninsula. P-518 is the Tactical Zone, the area south of the DMZ where unidentified aircraft will be shot down without warning. The general officer aboard that aircraft is the fourth in command, behind the joint forces commander, the Korean tactical control director, and the American battle director. Since no warning of a border penetration was ever sent from this headquarters, it became Guardian’s responsibility to issue the warning. Obviously, we cannot do anything to stop those onboard your radar plane. The cat, as you Americans say, is out of the bag.”
Vice President Whiting watched in fascination. The computer screens now showed several tracks northbound across the DMZ, from the Yellow Sea all the way across the peninsula to the Sea of Japan. It was a coordinated launch of several dozen units, timed to perfection — they crossed either the DMZ or the coastline inbound to their targets at almost exactly the same instant. At the same time, several more tracks began moving northward from other South Korean bases.
“Mr. President, General Park, you must call a halt to this right away,” Admiral Allen said. “Sir, you cannot hope to stage this attack without a forceful and possibly disastrous retaliation from North Korea, China, or both. You cannot hope to cripple North Korea’s armed forces enough to prevent a counterattack. At last analysis, the North has stationed half a million troops within sixty miles of the DMZ. Your Air Force can’t possibly hope to stop them all.”
“Admiral, it is not our intention to completely destroy the Communists’ military forces,” President Kwon said. “As you so correctly point out, that would be a costly and dangerous operation. General, please explain to the Vice President and the admiral.”
General Park bowed to President Kwon, then turned to Whiting and Allen. “President Kwon rightfully stated that our intention should not be to reunite the peninsula and the Korean people by force, but to create the proper atmosphere, the proper conditions, for a revolution to take place in the North. The reason there has not been a people’s revolt against the oppressive, brutal Communist dictatorship is that members of the military who belong to the party are rewarded with the basics of life — food, clothing, shelter, and security — for brutalizing and repressing their own people.
“The organizations responsible for this brutality and repression are the forty Spetznaz units, comprised of special operations battalions and Naval Infiltration Squadrons. These units were designed to operate inside South Korea, but the internal security and counterintelligence organs within the Korean Communist Party use them for internal security, counterespionage, and intelligence-gathering inside North Korea itself. They are brutal and
