[KE]: Message to the United States

[John]

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Security: Official - Sensitive. Encrypted communications, encrypted documents.​

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To: Albert Arnold Gore Jr., President of the United States of Amerca Odinson
Sender: Roh Moo-hyun, Prime Minister of the Korean Empire
Subject: Relations

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Dear Mr. President,

I want to start my extending my warmest greetings. It has been a while since our two nations have been in discussion with one another. And I am not one to beat around the bush, so, I would like to invite yourself or a representative of your government to the Korean Empire so that we may discuss the future between our two nations and how to further benefit our relationship.

Kindest Regards,
Roh Moo-hyun
Prime Minister of the Korean Empire

 

[Odinson]

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THE WHITE HOUSE​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

TO: Roh Moo-hyun, Prime Minister of The Korean Empire ( John )​

FROM: Al Gore, President of the United States of America

Prime Minister Roh Moo-hyun,

Thank you for reaching out to my office. The United States and Korea have had a very close-working relationship in the past and I hope that we can continue that relationship going forward. Due to ongoing global events, I unfortunately cannot leave Washington D.C. right now. However, I can send our republic's chief diplomat - Secretary of State Jackson Fitzgerald - in my place. I hope that the meeting between Secretary Fitzgerald and your government is fruitful and leads to benefits for both of our governments. If it is acceptable to your government, he will depart Washington for Korea tomorrow.​

Respectfully,

Al Gore
President of the United States
​

 

[John]

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Security: Official - Sensitive. Encrypted communications, encrypted documents.​

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To: Albert Arnold Gore Jr., President of the United States of Amerca Odinson
Sender: Roh Moo-hyun, Prime Minister of the Korean Empire
CC: Jackson Fitzgerald, Secretary of State of the United States of America
Subject: Relations

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Dear Mr. President,

I very much look forward to recieving Secretary Fitzgerald in Seoul. I will endevour to make his stay comfortable and worthwhile. We will have much to talk about if we are to progress our friendship and co-operation.

Kindest Regards,
Roh Moo-hyun
Prime Minister of the Korean Empire

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Preparations were made in Washington for the departure of Secretary of State Jackson Fitzgerald to Korea. Numerous members of staff as well as a dozen armed Diplomatic Security Service agents travelled with Fitzgerald to Korea. The flight would only go over American territory, international waters, and Korean territory. Before entering Korean airspace, the flight would request permission and would ask to be directed to the appropriate airport and runway so that they could land and the diplomatic talks between the United States and Korea could get underway. Secretary Fitzgerald brought with him several plans to jumpstart cooperation between the United States and Korea and to foster a fruitful relationship.

John

 

[John]

At Incheon International Airport, a security detail made up of NPA and NIS officers would be waiting for Secretary Fitzgerald to de-plane. Waiting at the door of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class that had been assigned to pick up the Secretary would be Moon Hee-sang, the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister. After a short drive to the Yongsan Presidential Office, Prime Minister Roh Moo-hyun would be waiting on the steps to greet the Secretary. Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Secretary Fitzgerald arrived to Korea without incident. He took the transportation to the Yongsan Presidential Office where he was greeted by Prime Minister Roh Moo-hyun on the steps of the building which was certainly a very friendly and welcoming gesture.

"Thank you for the invitation to Korea, Prime Minister," Secretary Fitzgerald said to the Prime Minister. He gave a bow as a greeting, which he was told was common in Korea. "I look forward to the discussion that we will have today, I hope that it will be very productive," he said sincerely.

There were important events around the world occurring right now, and multiple countries that were asking for the direct attention or presence of the Secretary of State, but Korea was a long-time partner of the United States and took precedence.

John

 

[John]

Prime Minister Roh Moo-hyun would return the bow to the secretary, before offering his hand to shake, a custom he knew was very common in the Western world. "Thank you for accepting the invitation, Mister Secretary. It is an honour to host this meeting between our two nations."

He took a moment before motioning up the steps towards the door. "Shall we head inside?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Secretary Fitzgerald shook Prime Minister Roh Moo-hyun's hand and nodded in response to his question.

"Certainly, let's head inside," Secretary Fitzgerald said. Secretary Fitzgerald would follow the Prime Minister into the building. He was carrying a briefcase with him that included some paperwork and possible diplomatic proposals, depending on how the discussion would go. Secretary Fitzgerald was wearing a dark suit, a white shirt, and a dark green tie. On the lapel of his jacket was an American flag lapel pin with a thin gold lining around it.

John

 

[John]

The Prime Minister led the Secretary up the stairs and into the building, making small talk about the journey over before they got to his office. Opening the door, he would escorts the Secretary inside and close the door behind him "Please, take a seat, can I get you something to drink?"

The Prime Minister sat on his seat, both seats were sofas, with a coffee table in-between them.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Secretary Fitzgerald followed the Prime Minister inside and set his briefcase down beside his feet as they both took a seat. "Thank you for the offer, Prime Minister, but I do not need anything at this time. Since you were the one wise enough to call this meeting, I would be happy to let you begin our discussions today, if that is what you desire," he said as he took in a moderately-sized breath and then exhaled. Secretary Fitzgerald was still a relatively young man, especially for Washington, but he was starting to get small wrinkles in his face, on the outskirts of his eyes, that wouldn't go away no matter how long or good of a vacation he took. His job was aging him, but he loved his job. This was what he lived for.

John

 

[John]

The Prime Minister nodded, before beginning. "Yes I would like to start off by officially welcoming you to Korea, can I ask, has this been your first visit since the unification of the North and South?" He paused to allow the Secretary time to answer, before continuing "I would like to kick off the discussion by asking, what is the United States' official stance on the conflict between Canada and France? We, as in the Korean Government, are yet to make an official statement on it, however we are in contact with both the French and Canadian governments"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Yes, Prime Minister. I believe this is the first time I have returned to Korea since the unification. I am still elated that Korea was able to be peacefully reunited. That was, without doubt, the most impressive active of diplomacy in Asia since I have been appointed as Secretary of State," he said as he briefly reminisced.

"As of now, the United States has remained officially neutral in the conflict between Canada and France. The Canadian government appears to have evidence that France armed the terrorists who committed the attack in Ottawa, which is why they justified a strategic attack exclusively on French territories in the New World. The attack in Ottawa was.... strikingly similar to what happened in Washington in 1996. I know that if we even had a whiff of international involvement after the attack on the Capitol.... I hate to imagine what we would have done," he said a bit more softly, thinking about how emotional responses can corrupt even the most rational and logical men.

"The FBI is sending a team to Canada to investigate this evidence. In the meantime, the United States has taken the absolute stance that we will not tolerate, under any circumstances, the involvement of other countries in this conflict, especially those from outside the Western Hemisphere. It is regrettable enough that this war has started, but the White House and the Pentagon do not want it to turn into a world conflict, and we do not want every country with a small blue-water navy sending forces here to complicate the situation further. We are operating with British and Polish naval forces, but neither of those countries have any interest in getting involved in the conflict unless they are directly attacked... Did I answer your question adequately, Prime Minister?"

John

 

[John]

The Prime Minister nodded along as he listened to the Secretary. "As we are not in the Western world and haven't, until recently, been in contact with either Canada or France - we were not aware that this was going to be the outcome from the attack. You are right, however, that the attack is very similar to the attack that your nation suffered all those years ago.

The main reason I have asked this, Mister Secretary, is because of our communications with Canada and France, we have offered a vessel, specifically the HMKD Dokdo, to act as a neutral zone in the conflict area for all parties involved to be able to evacuate their injured and sick to. The government of Canada made us aware that the United States would not allowed any foreign involvement, however I would like to ask if you would allow this vessel to operate in neutrality to assist with the injured. She would operate within all provisions under the Geneva Convention."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Your government's commitment to helping the injured is very admirable," Secretary Fitzgerald began. "I cannot understate how intense and dangerous the situation currently is in the Carribean, and the ocean just to the East of it. The White House's stance on forbidding foreign intervention is absolute. If the HMKD Dokdo would be willing to operate with only defensive weaponry and small-arms and to operate without any armed escorts, then I think we could work together... The way I envision this working would be the HMKD Dokdo would sail to the North Atlantic and be based out of Port San Juan in Puerto Rico. From there, the United States Coast Guard could dedicate two cutters to escorting her if she were to go out into open waters for recovery and relief efforts. In this scenario, we would highly publicize the deployment of the Dokdo so that all nations knew of its neutral stance and that it was in the area for purely humanitarian reasons. We could issue a joint press-release that Korea and the United States are working together in a humanitarian mission, and that this would not be an invitation for every nation to start clogging the North Atlantic and the Carribean with warships or random and unorganized humanitarian assets.

"What do you think of that, Prime Minister?" Secretary Fitzgerald asked. He knew that the President would be annoyed that he offered this up to the Koreans, but it wasn't an unreasonable joint mission and it could bring the two countries closer together.

John

 

[John]

"That is something we could definitely see as agreeable. The HMKS Dokdo would be operating Helicopter aircraft, however, all will be painted with the red cross to mark their status as medical aircraft. As far as I'm aware, we have the approval of the Canadian government and are awaiting the response from the French government before we commit to an operation.

On the subject of naval vessels, and with a change of subject, I was curious on how the United States would be open to a naval and air exercise between our two nations. We are both nations with interests in Asia and the Pacific and I feel the closer interoperability between our two nations would only help in securing a peaceful Asia."

 

[Odinson]

"Please keep my office informed on what your government decides to do. I look forward to hearing back from you in regard to the Dokdo," Fitzgerald said.

"In regard to a joint-military operation, I think that could certainly be something that we could agree to in the Pacific. Was there anything in particular that you had in mind, or what branches would be involved, or is that something that we should leave to the generals and admirals to decide? I know that the White House and the Pentagon will like the idea of our governments and our militaries working together again."

John

 

[John]

"I will forward all relevant details of the operation, including number of personnel involved, when we get a response from the French government.

I think it would be best if the discussion about the exercise would be left to the Admirals. I will forward a notice now for my Chief of Naval Operations to begin communications with your naval command.

Now I would like to move onto the subject of trade, historically the United States was one of South Koreas major trading partners, but since the unification, trade has fallen off. I would like to discuss the possibility of opening up trade and routes between our nations."/

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I am so happy to hear that you are interested in discussing matters of trade," Secretary Fitzgerald said. "This would be a discussion best left for the Secretary of Commerce, but I can assure you that the United States would be interested in establishing more prominent trade routes with Korea again," he said sincerely.

Secretary Fitzgerald never handled matters of trade between countries, though he had been known to forward such matters in the past to the Department of Commerce which existed entirely to handle international trade and commerce between other countries and the United States of America.

John

 

[John]

"I am delighted to hear that there is a possibility of establishing more prominent trade routes between our two countries once again.

I believe that fostering stronger trade relations between the United States and Korea would not only benefit our economies but also strengthen our diplomatic ties. I am eager to explore potential opportunities for collaboration and look forward to discussing this matter further with the Secretary of Commerce." The Prime Minister grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen, writing down an e-mail, he passed it to the Secretary. "This it the e-mail for Lee Hun-jai, the Minister of Economy and Finance. If you could pass that on to the Secretary of Commerce that would be great." He paused, before continuing on. "Is there anything that the United States would like to discuss?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I would be more than happy to do that," said Secretary Fitzgerald.

"I am here at your honorable invitation, I would be happy to offer you the first opportunity to propose what we discuss. There are of course a number of things that I would like to discuss with you, on behalf of the Gore Administration and the United States government. Among those are the defense industry as well as a possible future relationship between our countries in the realms of mutual defense and intelligence sharing," he said.

John