[VT]: Phone Call to Korea

[HeadlessSeeker]

Private/Encrypted/Secured

Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyễn Thị Bình would from his secured office place a call to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Specifically this was directed at the office of Baek Jeonghee. With the situation in Russia and ideas floating around the Vice President of Vietnam needed to know if the Koreans would be willing to play ball. As the idea that was being tossed around was contingent on their cooperation. So, he would await for the line to get picked up and to hear a voice.

A man in a military uniform stood guard at the office door to make sure this phone call was private.

Jay

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

Jay

 

[Jay]

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Foreign Minister Baek was in her office inside the Foreign Ministry reviewing the latest national security council briefings. The council was convening later to discuss the situation in Russia and she'd need to brief them on the current political situation. In her office the Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Services, Kim Sunhee. She was friends with her since university and was coordinating the intelligence situation with her. They were a discussing the situation as the NIS planned operations for possible covert insertions to Vladivostok to gather intelligence was discussed. Rumors of fascist groups taking hold in the region were concerning. The Foreign Minister had to deal with the over 10,000-20,000 Korean citizens as foreign workers in the region. As the two discussed, the Minister's secretary walked in. He knocked and bowed to the Minister, as she welcomed him and took the note. It was a call from the Vietnamese Vice President's office. Deputy Director Kim excused herself to get coffee asking if the Minister wanted anything before leaving to get them coffee. A translator from the Ministry with the clearance would come in with her, who would be on the call to translate for the Minister. Her Secretary made sure the line was encrypted on both ends before patching it through the Minister's communications system. Picking it up, she looked down at the note as her secretary transliterated into hangeul the Vice President's name. She was curious as to what the call would be about as she spoke first.

"Hello, this is Foreign Minister Baek, how are you Vice President Nguyễn. How are things in Hanoi, I am excited to meet you in Jeju in the coming months." Her Translator relaying the information in Vietnamese to the Vice President.

HeadlessSeeker

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

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"Greetings Foreign Minister. Thank you for answering my call, it is a matter of most urgency." he would say with a pause. "Ah yes, you are hosting the meeting between Vietnam and the USA yes? I look forward to it as well. It shall be a historical event to be certain. But, that is not why I am calling you today."

"The reason I am calling you is because of the situation in Russia. I understand that you have a land border with Russia now with the unification of the Korean peninsula. We have an interest in the events in Russia, but before moving forward with my proposal I'd like to know Korea's position on the matter. Also, I would like to know what Korea knows about the Russian situation."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"I understand. Thank you for calling. The current situation in Russia precarious, while in the West, my understanding is that government forces are in control, across the East various militias and armed factions control bits and pieces of land. Our intelligence...is rather limited. To be honest we did not even know of the rapid degradation of State control of the Far East to this extent. At the moment, our government is deliberating its options. At this stage, we are monitoring the situation and relying on local information to paint a picture of events in the Far East. I know that there are defections in the Army and Navy stationed in the region. Do you have any relevant intelligence you would be able to share on the ongoing situation in Russia?"

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[HeadlessSeeker]

Private/Encrypted/Secured

"We do not have any new information. All we know is what the Russian's themselves have broadcasted. We do know this based on the broadcast that far right militants including neo nazis have taken control of the Russian far east. That they apparently control Vladivostok. It looks like the Federalists, Communists, and Neo Nazis are all opposed to one another. It is our belief that we need to ensure the right side wins the oncoming conflict. I would like to propose an intervention using the Russian Korean border as a gateway into Russia. We need to ensure that if anyone wins, it isn't the Neo Nazis."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"This is concerning. If Vladivostok has fallen to militias, then, it would be an important center for operations and resupplying their forces. One we would have to monitor. At the moment, we haven't noticed any maneuvers or changes near our border, if we were to host an intervention force, this would ultimately make us a party to the conflict and risk the stability of our northern regions near the border. I will regardless raise this to our national security council. If you could answer some questions, what would this intervention force consist of in terms of equipment and contributing nations, what would the operational goals be, i.e. would the goal be to capture major cities, intervene and push all groups out of the Far East, and so on, and would Korean forces be required to participate in the intervention."

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[HeadlessSeeker]

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"At this time Vietnam would be able to put forward a 5280 man mechanized combined arms intervention force. This would include tanks, APCS, armored scout cars, logistics vehicles, artillery, air defense equipment, fighter aircraft, ground support, and attack helicopters. Our goal is to after putting forward this initial intervention force to join them with our forces that are currently in training which will be far more substantial. I cannot give exact details on equipment at this time.

But initial numbers are 109 tanks, 144 APCs, 2 armored scout cars, 24 anti aircraft artillery, 6 howitzers, 314 trucks, 8 artillery tractors, 18 ambulance vans, 8 floating bridges, 4 combat engineer vehicles, 60 fighters, 60 ground support, 60 attack helicopters, 4 sam systems.
On the matter of the tanks, apcs, scout cars, anti aircraft artillery, howtizers, trucks, artillery tractors, vans, bridges, and combat engineer vehicles you can expect their numbers to increase tenfold when joined by the rest of the force.

We are approaching Thailand about a join operation on the matter and it is likely they would join an intervention. Our operational goals are to capture the city of Vladivostok using our limited but well equipped initial numbers to wreak havoc on the far right militias there. Then, depending on the situation join them with reinforcements when they are ready and proceed to secure the Russian far east.

Korean forces are not required, but help would be appreciated. If we could have assistance in ferrying our aircraft to Korea that would be great. On another note, if the former Korean People's Army members would like to form a volunteer group for the intervention that could work to. Because then your government would not be directly involved beyond hosting our forces."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Thank you for the clarifications. I was primarily asking to consider the logistical implications and how to cope with the presence of foreign troops deploying through Korea. I assume the Thai forces would be using Korea as a staging point as well. The optics in this instance, while justifiable, may cause considerable strain between Korea and its neighbors in China and Russia in the future. With Korea being a land bridge for foreign nations to launch operations.

I will regardless bring this information to the National Security Council where we will deliberate these discussions. Have you spoken with the Russian Government regarding your plans to assist in pushing the factions in the Far East out? Alongside this do you have any legal justifications prepared for this possible intervention?

Any increased conflict in the border regions would be destabilizing and if a threat is poised to the border, Korean forces would have to respond accordingly with our right to defend our country. However, we will not condone nor support the use of the KPA or its personnel as mercenaries for an intervention. The KPA was full disarmed and demobilized.

With regards to military support, I will ask my counterparts in the national defense ministry about our capabilities of offering in-air refueling and assistance to Vietnamese Aircrafts. I would assume you would need to use air bases in Korea to launch airstrikes against these militias? Such assistance would come a number of preconditions of course."

HeadlessSeeker

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

Private/Encrypted/Secured


"What sort of preconditions would these be?

Also, I have just received an update. A rather disturbing one. The Russian Federation is working with the Neo Fascists and Neo Nazis against the Communists. It would seem we have misread the situation. Though, they do not fully trust them either. So, this cooperation between them may not last. I think for the time being it would be best to wait and watch the border. As well as see if anything changes.

However we have been told that in the west a royalist faction had crowned one of the Romanovs. We do not know what to make of this."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Preconditions primarily on the types of munitions used e.g. prohibitions on cluster munitions, what phosphorus etc... as well as a criteria for target selection i.e. not targeting residential towers, hospitals, Red Cross or Crescent organizations, etc...Which are what I understand to be the standard norm, however, would be reinforced alongside a Status of Forces Agreement to regulate the deployment of foreign troops on our soil.

Considering as well, by using Korean Airbases, you would be in-directly making Korea complicit with an intervention force and subject us to possible retaliation attacks or reprisals. We would have to discuss in-depth allowing our soil being used to stage attacks.

While we respect the Federation as the legitimate government of Russia until the Russian people elect a different government, any hostile non-state actor will be dealt with accordingly by our armed forces. Should they poise a threat or be actively planning to attack our country, we would have no choice but to act accordingly. However, it is disturbing that these factions are getting a form of recognition from the Federation Government. While we wait, should we become aware of relevant intelligence, we will do our best to share it with you. I hope your intelligence agencies will also share any information they manage to obtain.

With a multitude of factions, instability will spread quickly. If there is an agreement between the Neo-Fascists and the Federation, the risks of heavy artillery and equipment falling into their hands is high. One which we hope to avoid. Vice President Nguyễn I hope you will keep us up to date and informed by your governments positions as we wait and watch what happens. I can assure you that if any faction other than the legitimate government of Russia, the Russian Federation, attempts to seize the border crossings or maneuver heavy equipment near the border, the ROK Armed Forces will react as provided through international law in the framework of self-defense."

HeadlessSeeker

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

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"Our largest worry is that lets say the Federation and these Neo Nazis and Neo fascists are victorious. What then? The Neo Fascists and what not will have become stronger and like you said almost assuredly have better equipment by then. We believe that the likelihood of their alliance breaking down at that point is incredibly high. If it comes to it, if the far right militants begin to make moves towards seizing power I believe that would be provocation enough. But, you may not see it that way.

The best result would be if we can manage a compromise peace agreement between the factions, but the likelyhood of that is very slim. In the event we do have to intervene we would be more then willing to act in accordance with the mentioned preconditions."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"I completely agree with your assessment on a peace agreement. With winter upon us, any offensive would be catastrophic. The humanitarian crisis would be devastating and widespread. The region is highly unstable as long as the threat of war looms. If we can achieve at least a temporary settlement and avoid fighting during winter, it would help save countless lives.

I also recognize that these are valid concerns. We would not accept to have roaming militias being a governing body on our border. Such actions represent a breakdown of the rule of law, order and conduct, and risk severe escalations of conflict in the short and long term. As you indicated, if the Neo-fascist get access to heavy equipment such as long-range missiles, it would be an immediate threat to global security. Giving them considerable leverage. We currently lack intelligence on the assets the Russian Military left behind, is there perhaps anything your government can identify from records or through the Russian Government that can help us grasp the full situation?

Like you said, if either side, working together, do not have a basis of trust or foreign mediator, they would most likely breakdown. If the international community can bring together at least a handful of major factions, those who refuse to cooperate would be loosing out on their ability to get their core goals."

HeadlessSeeker

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

"We are currently working on getting information from the Russians in regards to factions and possibly equipment. One thing is for certain, we should be proactive in intelligence gathering. While I am not suggesting breaking territorial sovereignty we do need to get a in person glimpse at what these fascists are up to.

Currently the President is negotiating the starting of a discussion between the communists and the federalists. Using our unique position to convince them that we would make good mediators. However, this fact must remain quiet as to not alert and anger the other factions present. If the fascists were to find out, then hostilities would most assuredly erupt."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Hopefully the Russians will be able to provide accurate accounts of what exactly is happening in the east and if they have any control at all. I will raise this issue as well to the NSC about our lack of intelligence.

While, Korea is particularly not interested in either an expansionary Communist or Fascist presence on our doorstep, I do hope that a diplomatic resolution can avoid a civil war. I will make sure that the information about your negotiations will be properly handled in our NSC discussions."

HeadlessSeeker

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

"Very well. This is a situation we will have to watch closely. We will also need to keep an eye out for other nations attempting to take advantage of this situation, or even trying to influence the outcome. Those that do so for any parties other then the ones we support will risk a scenario in which Russia and surrounding areas are made unstable."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"Thank you Vice President Nguyễn for reaching out. We will monitor the situation ever more closely. The rapid fall of the far east is concerning on Russia's security capabilities. Thank you regardless for reaching out."

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[HeadlessSeeker]

"There is one more thing before we sign off. We will be having a meeting in Bangkok with Thailand in regards to the situation. We would like to invite Korean officials to the meeting. We hope that Indonesia will join the meeting as well. That way we can all get an idea of a direction to take with this.

One thing to note is that on November 3, 1978, the Soviet Union and Vietnam signed a 25-year mutual defense treaty. We have decided to grandfather in the agreement to apply to Russia. The state which we view as the successor to the Soviet Union. Thus, we believe that the mutual defense clause can be legally used to intervene if we as a group decide it is necessary."

Jay

 

[Jay]

"I see, would this be a ministerial meeting, and would it be consisting of foreign or defense officials, or both? We can arrange to have officials present in the meeting. Hopefully we can come forth with a framework for the Asian community to adopt and implement for the crisis. Thank you for the note, while, it would be a legal argument on successor states, it is a stable pretext for assisting Russia in these difficult times."

HeadlessSeeker

 

[HeadlessSeeker]

"Both would be necessary for this meeting. All that is left if for Thailand to give us a date and a time and we can forward that to you. Do you believe Australia should be included in this meeting? They are further away but could provide some insight perhaps. I can also make sure to forward you any news on our attempts to resolve this situation with the communists. if I might add, could perhaps former members of the DPRK assist in this endeavor? Or would they be more liable to embolden the revolutionaries in Siberia?"

Jay