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Upon hearing this announcement, the young leader simply wrinkled his nose into a somewhat unnatural sniff. The smile on his face froze slightly, but he replied in an unimpressed tone. "Choi Seong Ho, don't tell me the privilege of gaining an audience with me has muddled your senses-- you should know that I could execute you by firing squad for what you just said."
The guards pointed their guns at Choi, who bore the Hero of Labor medal on his chest for having saved the lives of countless North Koreans through technology.
"No, I'm perfectly sane. I used Trisolaran technology to solve North Korea's food crisis, with the sole aim of using the audience you would grant such an outstanding agrotechnologist to expose your plan to your face."
Kim motioned to the soldiers to put their guns away. "Go ahead, but let me remind you that regardless of whether or not you are right, you will be executed by firing squad."
Kim announced the death sentence in a tone that brooked no doubt; having executed countless people in this manner, Kim had no apprehension when it came to causing death.
"According to sophon intelligence, the Wallfacer project had begun long before the UN announced the four Wallfacers. While those four Wallfacers had a popular mandate, other Wallfacers with a less favorable public image would not be accepted. In reality, therefore, the UN designated eight Wallfacers, but only publicized the identities of four of them, leaving the rest to work in the shadows. You were one of them. "
"I don't deny it. Given the existence of the sophons, denial would be meaningless." Kim thought that his frankness would unsettle his opponent, but Choi simply smiled.
"You made multiple public announcements proclaiming that the Trisolaran crisis was a Western plot led by the Americans, and that you would resist this plot to the end. Even after Al-Qaeda halted its activities against America, you threatened to use nuclear weapons on the United States Forces of Korea and Japan, as well as staunchly opposed all the resolutions passed by the Planetary Defense Council. I must confess that this confused me into thinking you were just a stupid America-hater, but your mistake was in setting up that library at Kumsusan, which led me back on the right path.
"Your reading focused on World War One, Two, the Cold war, and the revolutions in North Korea and China. Initially, I thought that you were seeking inspiration from history for a means of defeating the Trisolarans. However, when the sophons discovered that you had poured all of North Korea's resources into miniaturizing a 500-megaton nuclear bomb, your plan became clear. You had taken only two things from your reading. First was the ability of the war to serve as a catalyst for technology: the chemical weapons, tanks, and planes from World War I, the atomic bomb of World War II, and the satellite and computing technologies from the Cold War made you believe that only another world war would allow human technology to surpass the sophon lock. Second, you believe that war between humans is nothing to be afraid of. You inherited this belief from your forefathers, who'd fought as guerillas being targeted by the Japanese.
Your plan is to visit Russia in the near future, ostensibly to meet the president so that you can explain your anti-American ideology and to gain his support. The train you are on will also carry the nuclear bomb you've used all of North Korea's resources to hide. Your diplomatic privileges would let you pass the Russian border. Later, at a city near Moscow, you would ignite this bomb, blowing yourself and countless Russians to ash.
Before the explosion, though, you would have told the world that the Americans had a shocking plan. While every country in the world is focused on planetary defense, they had contacted the Trisolarans, offering to destroy the other countries and misguiding planetary defense in order to ensure their own survival.
"You reckoned that your death would be enough for your fellow communist country Russia to believe you, and take the attack as an American assassination, resulting in war between Russia and America. At this point, your army would follow the original plan, attacking South Korea and unleashing Rodong 1 upon the Japanese troops, lighting the fuse on the dynamite bucket that is East Asia. This chain reaction would lead to a world war with three possible outcomes. One possibility is that humans would wipe themselves out, but this would only bring forward the fate that would otherwise happen four hundred years later. Alternatively, humanity would surpass the sophon lock, such that the Trisolarans would no longer have a technological edge. Finally, the size of the remaining population might be small enough that escapism would become feasible for the survivors. After all, in the following two hundred years, the survivors would be able to regain their industrial capabilities, and leverage upon the diminished population to make escape a reality.
"That was your plan, Wallfacer Kim, and I must say it's a highly idealistic one."
Kim ran his fingers through his hair, before speaking in a hollow voice. "If all this is true, so what?"
"My answer is: the Lord does not care."
Kim's eyes widened.
"The Lord has neither interest nor concern for wars between bugs. Your belief that a world war would ensue is naive, and you underestimate Russia, America, and the other countries in the Permanent Five. Besides, you lack scientific knowledge. Given the impossibility of breakthroughs in understanding elementary particles, no amount of technological torture would bring humanity to higher achievements.
Slowly, Kim plucked the DPRK badge pinned to his chest. He closed his eyes in thought, before asking,"Let me ask you something else: why, and how, did you join the ETO?"
"For revenge, Mr Kim. My parents died in the purgings of your father and grandfather. Fortunately, after I disavowed them, the country still raised me. When I displayed excellent results, they even let me visit the Chinese agricultural department, where I met Evans. At that time, he believed that Communist China would adopt his Pan-Species Communism, and the North Korean agent supervising us was negligent in allowing us to come into contact.
Indeed, the situation in North Korea did complicate my work significantly, starting with the lack of virtual reality suits in North Korea-- I did not even have a 3Body ID." Choi smiled bitterly.
"Guards, take him away. He shall be given a traitor’s execution, using the Koksan gun." Kim said to his followers with a tremor in his voice. That tremor came not just of anger, but from the helplessness of knowing that his intricately designed plan had become transparent to the enemy.
"Call Kim Yong-Nam in-- I want him to announce to the world that North Korea will denuclearize and open to the world." Kim had given up, he knew that his Wallbreaker had doomed his plan. "If I can't save humanity four hundred years later, then let me bring today's North Koreans some happiness, to hell with the Wallfacer plan..."
Kim Yong-Nam entered. His face was pale, but the freshly defeated Kim Jong-Un did not notice it. "You've really decided?" asked Kim Yong-Nam.
"Yes, I have." Kim Jong-Un replied, not noticing anything strange about how his usually efficient right-hand man was hesitating.
With a boom, the bullet went through Kim Jong-Un's brain. The bullet had come from Kim Yong-Nam's hand-gun. At the sound of the gunshot, the guards rushed over, staring blankly at Kim Yong-Nam. In an authoritative voice, Kim Yong-Nam said, "Our leader was assassinated by that Choi Seong Ho, got that?" The guards had been picked by Kim Yong-Nam and the others in Kim Yong-Nam's inner circle. Given Kim Jong-Un's plan to dismantle the special class that they had once served, the guards knew what was in store for them if they did not obey Kim Yong-Nam.
At seven p.m. in China, the news fanfare sounded on schedule. Zhang Yuanchao, an ordinary citizen, had recently become a news junkie, for the Trisolaran crisis had changed the daily habits of many people. Every media outlet today would run a special on Kim Jong-Un's death, which would simply serve as fodder for Zhang's discussions with his two neighbors the next day, for Zhang would never know of the oft-mocked North Korean leader's lofty plan.