Ch.265265. Korean Peninsula (4)

# From the perspective of the Yamato Union, this was truly an absurd claim filled with lies not worth listening to, but that was precisely North Korea’s official diplomatic rhetoric.

North Korea was genuinely denouncing the Yamato Union as an imperialist nation and sternly warning against their intervention on the Korean Peninsula.

From North Korea’s perspective, they had just begun preparing to attack Gangwon Province when these “Japanese bastards” appeared, seemingly without any moral principles, attempting to land on the Korean Peninsula and eyeing territory that North Korea had been coveting. In other words, North Korea refused to recognize not only the newly established Seorabeol regime on the Korean Peninsula but also Kim Su-ho’s government that still maintained the Republic of Korea name.

It was an incredibly arrogant notion, but this had been their relationship since before the apocalypse—a kind of tradition that many Seorabeol citizens viewed as something like WWE wrestling.

“Imperial Japan has been revived! Koreans living on the peninsula, unite!”

“For crying out loud! We are the Yamato Union! Unlike that damn claim!”

The citizens of the Yamato Union, itself a newly formed nation like Seorabeol, couldn’t help feeling genuinely wronged by North Korea’s claims.

While it was right for the Yamato Union to take responsibility for Japan’s karma, they were not landing on Korean territory with imperialist intentions. They were clearly Seorabeol’s allies, declaring their participation in the war and dispatching troops at their ally’s request—a perfectly natural action.

“We are allied forces dispatched under a mutual defense treaty! We are absolutely not an imperialist army!”

What is a mutual defense treaty in the first place? It’s an agreement between nations to defend and cooperate against war or armed attacks. In other words, a mutual defense treaty promises that when one country is attacked, the other will help and cooperate to deter the attack.

Naturally, Seorabeol and the Yamato Union had signed a mutual defense treaty, and now that Seorabeol was under attack, the Yamato Union had the obligation to defend, cooperate, and provide military support. Should they ignore the treaty and look the other way? National credibility is important, and unless a country’s credibility is completely destroyed, they must fulfill their alliance obligations to maintain it. Both newly established nations, Seorabeol and the Yamato Union, took action to fulfill their treaty obligations for a distant future.

“The reason Hwarang was dispatched to Japan was precisely because of our mutual defense treaty obligations! We are a righteous army that has stepped up in the crisis of our ally Seorabeol!”

“Seorabeol is nothing but a puppet state of American imperialism! Our North Korea has never recognized Seorabeol as a country from the beginning!”

Even when they explained in detail that this was why Hwarang had appeared in Kyushu when the treaty was signed, and why the Yamato Union had decided to join the war when conflict broke out across the Korean Peninsula, the other side not only refused to listen but even denied internationally recognized countries.

From the Yamato Union’s perspective, it was like having a mad dog bite their leg while heading to a friend’s house—it was absurd.

Of course, even within the Yamato Union, there were concerns from the pro-Seorabeol faction about sending troops to Seorabeol.

“Even though we’ve established a new country, isn’t it problematic for us to set foot on Korean territory because of past issues?”

But that was merely pointing out the need to coordinate the deployment date due to Japan’s karmic burden, not questioning the act of landing troops in Seorabeol itself.

After all, Seorabeol was the Yamato Union’s ally. Seorabeol had already sent Hwarang, the Dragon Priestess’s personal guard, as reinforcements to Kyushu, and Seorabeol’s Mage Association was helping purify territories contaminated by the Cult of Immortality.

Even now, mages from Seorabeol were purifying contaminated territories, allowing more Yamato Union citizens to return home and creating a structure that naturally increased favorable public opinion toward Seorabeol.

Therefore, the pro-Seorabeol faction’s argument that careful coordination was needed to prevent the Seorabeol-Yamato Union alliance from being undermined by such troublemakers was certainly reasonable.

“That’s true. We should first ask Seorabeol’s opinion and coordinate the deployment date.”

Takashima Shiro, the leader of the Yamato Union and head of the pro-Seorabeol faction, agreed with this argument. He prioritized consideration for their ally Seorabeol by first informing them of their intention to fulfill their mutual defense treaty obligations and setting the deployment date according to Seorabeol’s wishes. When conflict began to engulf the entire Korean Peninsula, Seorabeol welcomed the Yamato Union’s participation and officially requested their involvement.

After setting the deployment date according to Seorabeol’s wishes and finally declaring their participation, they were about to deploy troops to the Korean Peninsula when North Korea’s fierce opposition began, leaving them feeling dejected.

They worried that all their efforts had collapsed in an instant due to the Kim family’s antics.

“The Japanese Empire is trying to invade our Korea again! Comrades in South Korea! Follow North Korea, the only legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula!”

“We are a righteous army coming to eradicate the Cult of Immortality at our ally’s request! I swear in the name of the Dragon God Bahamut, we have not come to the Korean Peninsula for imperialism!”

They even had to engage in an untimely emotional battle with North Korea, making their heads spin.

An ally fulfilling its obligations had suddenly transformed into an imperialist nation, and those who actually fell for North Korea’s propaganda…

“Why is a pig the leader?”

“Huh?”

There were none.

Surprisingly, no one paid attention to the Kim family’s claims.

There was definitely a sense of crisis. Since the various warlords across the Korean Peninsula had access to personal internet, it wasn’t difficult to confirm external news—they knew Japan had fallen and the Yamato Union had been newly established in its place.

However, this was only possible for warlords who controlled historic major cities across the Korean Peninsula, Seorabeol, and Kim Su-ho. For local resistance forces that were essentially militia, the Yamato Union was an unidentified force of unknown origin, and they could certainly feel a sense of crisis thinking “Japan is invading the Korean Peninsula.”

“Aren’t the northern pigs’ antics always the same old story?”

“The Kim family speaking up for South Korea? Is that supposed to be a joke?”

“Even if I were a warlord cooperating with the Cult of Immortality, I wouldn’t follow the Kim family!”

But that was one thing, and honestly, who in South Korea would seriously believe the Kim family?

To South Koreans, the Kim family were tyrants who repeatedly broke promises at will and provoked conflicts to maintain their regime. Their claims carried no weight as national leaders and had zero credibility.

Even warlords who could potentially exploit this situation dismissed the northern “pigs'” words as nonsense.

“Above all, the Cult of Immortality is an enemy to our Yamato Union! This war is our revenge!”

“What is the Japanese Empire saying! They are nothing but an invasion force with imperialist justifications!”

However, from the Yamato Union’s perspective, maintaining a long-term alliance with Seorabeol was crucial for regime stability, so they were more outraged than anyone by North Korea’s claims and began strongly refuting them.

No matter how much North Korea shouted about “imperialist Japanese Empire,” they had prepared sufficient grounds to counter these arguments.

Of course, these preparations weren’t made for North Korea but for the Cult of Immortality, so the target was completely different.

“Do you not know or are you deliberately ignoring it? The Cult of Immortality established on the Korean Peninsula defiled Kyushu and corrupted our citizens into undead! Do you think your North Korean sophistry can stop our anger? No! This is a righteous holy war and a justified revenge!”

“Justification? What justification is there?”

“If you’re so ignorant, I’ll tell the world! We are joining this war for three reasons!”

Yes, this time the Yamato Union had justifications that no one could deny—reasons for war participation that the world would recognize.

“First! Since the day our citizens became undead due to that foolish and violent Cult of Immortality, we have always yearned for revenge against them and called for justice! The Cult of Immortality never apologized to the victims and instead trampled on more lives!”

First, they mentioned the fact that Yamato Union citizens had become undead due to the Cult of Immortality.

It was true that the Cult of Immortality had exerted influence in the Kyushu region, resulting in many citizens who could have been saved having to be eradicated as undead.

As a result, the Yamato Union, which had unintentionally been forced to kill its own people, called for revenge against the Cult of Immortality, and this became public opinion among Yamato Union citizens.

After all, it had only been a few months since they recaptured Kyushu, and there was no way they could recover from the shock of residents becoming undead during that time.

To repay this indelible wound, the Yamato Union government gritted its teeth against the Cult of Immortality, providing justification for their participation in this war.

“Second! The Cult of Immortality is currently cooperating with the Hayabusa Group to disrupt the South China Sea! The Hayabusa Group consists of deserters from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces who became pirates! As those who seek to succeed Japan, we must correct our mistakes!”

Furthermore, the Cult of Immortality hadn’t been idle either.

Following Seorabeol’s movements, the Cult of Immortality had also mobilized its allies, including deserters from the Self-Defense Forces who had escaped the Japanese government’s control—the main enemies of the Yamato Union.

Due to the Hayabusa Group’s activities, the South China Sea had become a pirate paradise with constant pirate appearances, and they claimed that restoring it to its original state was the Yamato Union’s mission.

If these people were indeed the legacy and mistake of the Japanese government, it was reasonable to argue that the Yamato Union, established on the corpse of the Japanese government, should take responsibility.

“And third! The Cult of Immortality is a cult group that worships the undead! They are members of an international villain organization and have a history of threatening millions of lives in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa—they are enemies threatening humanity!”

Above all, no one could deny that the Cult of Immortality was part of an international villain organization and a dangerous group.

The Cult of Immortality had already infiltrated various parts of the world, caused numerous casualties, and could reasonably be called enemies of humanity.

Therefore…

“According to these justifications, we are attacking the Cult of Immortality as both friends of Seorabeol and avengers!”

The Yamato Union declared they would fight the Cult of Immortality as both avengers and friends of Seorabeol.

“You, American imperialist puppet bastards!”

But North Korea wouldn’t be swayed by these arguments.

Rather, since this interfered with North Korea’s operation to take control of Gangwon Province, they increasingly denounced the Yamato Union as imperialist to prevent them from landing, but…

“North Korea dares to talk back?”

“Huh?”

From the beginning, these were reinforcements requested by Seorabeol.

Regardless of North Korea’s objections, Seorabeol had directly supported them and already opened ports for the Yamato Union to land.

To block this, North Korea would need naval power, which was questionable.

It was doubtful that a country that invested only in nuclear weapons rather than the economy or military weapons would have the naval power to block the landing operations of two countries. Moreover, unlike North Korea, Seorabeol was economically prosperous and had sufficient military power.

“If the Yamato Union doesn’t back down, they will taste hot nuclear weapons!”

“Nuclear weapons at this point in the apocalypse? Go ahead and try! It’s clear you cowards won’t actually fire them!”

Finally, they attempted to threaten with nuclear weapons, but this wasn’t frightening.

Instead, Seorabeol began provoking them to try firing, and in reality, North Korea had very few nuclear weapons, raising questions about whether they were even functioning properly.

Nuclear weapons themselves were specialized for mass destruction but couldn’t completely destroy cities, and most of Seorabeol’s population consisted of Awakened who were stronger than ordinary humans.

In a situation where even the means of attack was uncertain, firing nuclear weapons at a city inhabited by Awakened?

“There would be purification magic too. Wouldn’t it be difficult to annihilate everyone unless they take a direct hit?”

“As for radiation, there’s purification magic. If treated immediately, it’s not a problem.”

It was questionable whether they could annihilate all the Awakened living in the city, and Seorabeol could use this justification to approve a Dragon God summoning against North Korea.

In fact, if a contractor was in danger, Bahamut’s stance would change, and with Baek Seol-hwa currently in Gyeongju, there was sufficient justification for intervention.

“How shameless! The Kim family are nothing but cowards who remained quiet out of fear of the apocalypse!”

In the end, all that remained was silence, and seeing this, Baek Seol-hwa mockingly called the Kim family cowards who stayed quiet only because they feared the apocalypse.