Page 133 of Never

‘Jin Chin-hwa is already doing that, sir.’

‘Good. Third, see if we can arrange for our people at the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang to attend our planning meeting remotely.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Kai reached the Guoanbu campus at last. He took off his coat as he went up in the elevator.

He was waylaid in his outer office by Jin Chin-hwa, who was a Chinese citizen of Korean ancestry, young and eager and, more importantly, fluent in the Korean language. Jin was casually dressed today, as was permitted for weekend working, in black jeans and an Iron Maiden hoodie. He had an audio bud in one ear. ‘I’m listening to KBS1,’ he said.

‘Good.’ Kai knew that this was the principal news channel of the Korean Broadcasting System based in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

Jin went on: ‘They’re saying there has been an “incident” at a military base in North Korea. They cite unconfirmed rumours that a detachment of the Special Operation Force attempted to arrest a group of anti-government conspirators in a dawn raid.’

Kai said: ‘Can we put on North Korean TV news in the conference room?’

‘North Korea television doesn’t start broadcasting until the afternoon, sir.’

‘Oh, shit, I’d forgotten that.’

‘But I’m monitoring Pyongyang FM, the radio station, switching between that and KBS1.’

‘Good. We’ll gather in the conference room in half an hour. Tell the others.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Kai went to his desk and reviewed the information that had come in so far. There was nothing at all on social media, because North Koreans were forbidden access to the Internet. Signals intelligence confirmed what was already known or suspected. The embassy in Pyongyang had nothing.

Ting phoned. ‘I think I’ve done something wrong,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘Do you have a friend called Wang Wei?’

There were hundreds of thousands of men in China called Wang Wei, but as it happened, Kai did not have a friend of that name. ‘No, why?’

‘I was afraid of that. I was learning a long speech, and I picked up the phone. He asked for you and I told him you’d gone to the office. I was distracted and I just didn’t think. After I hung up, I realized I shouldn’t have told him anything. I’m so sorry.’

‘No harm done,’ he said. ‘Don’t do it again, but don’t worry about it.’

‘Oh, I’m glad you’re not mad at me.’

‘Is everything else all right?’

‘Yes, I’m about to leave for the market. I thought I’d make dinner tonight.’

‘Wonderful. See you later.’

The call had been from a spy, probably American or European. Kai’s home phone number was secret, but spies discovered secrets, it was their job. And the caller had learned something. He now knew that Kai had gone to the office on a Sunday morning. That told him there must be some kind of crisis.

Kai went to the conference room. His five senior men were there plus four North Korea specialists including Jin Chin-hwa, and the Guoanbu office in Pyongyang was attending remotely. Kai briefed them on the events of the last twenty-four hours, and each individual reported what information he had been able to glean in the past hour.

Then Kai said: ‘For today and probably the next few days, it’s imperative that we have real-time information about what’s happening in North Korea. Our president and our entire foreign policy establishment will be following events minute by minute, and considering whether China needs to intervene, and if so, what form the intervention will take – and they will be depending on us for reliable data.

‘All sources of intelligence must be milked. Satellite reconnaissance must focus on the military bases. Signals intelligence must monitor all the North Korean traffic we can access. Any sudden flurry of phone calls and messages could indicate a rebel attack.

‘The Guoanbu office in the Chinese embassy at Pyongyang will be working 24/7, as will our consulate at Chongjin. They ought to be able to provide some information. And don’t forget the diaspora. There are several thousand Chinese citizens living in North Korea – some businessmen, a few students, plus people married to Koreans. We should have phone numbers for all of them. This is the moment for them to prove their patriotism. I want every one called.’

Jin interrupted him. ‘Pyongyang is making an announcement.’ He translated as he listened. ‘They say they have arrested a number of American-controlled saboteurs and traitors at a military base this morning…they don’t say which base…nor how many people were arrested…Nothing about violence or gunfire…And that’s it. The announcement is over.’