Chapter 515: Side Story 4. The Wheat Grain of Syria (1)

Side Story 4. The Wheat Grain of Syria (1)

New World Church.

Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon, famous as a far-right political activist, is the head pastor of this church, which is currently not affiliated with any Protestant organization and follows an independent path.

Although Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon was expelled and defrocked, he still carries the title of pastor and travels around the country leading anti-government prayer meetings and patriotic rallies. He says things like, 'I received a revelation directly from God that Kang Jin-hoo will be ruined,' and 'OTK Company will collapse and a new world will open,' pleasing various conservative group members who wish for Kang Jin-hoo's downfall.

However, as everything ended with Kang Jin-hoo's victory, the conservative groups disbanded, and he was sued by a civic group for violating the Donation Collection Act.

But he did not stop. Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon had a great ambition and had several plans for it.

Standing on the pulpit, Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon said to the 17 young men and women in front of him.

"Our brothers and sisters here will head to Syria, where the holy land is, tomorrow. They will take the lead in establishing God's kingdom by preaching to the pagans there. This is not a coincidence but God's plan, and the ends of the earth for spreading the gospel are Islamic regions. You must have the courage to die if shot. You may not die if God does not allow it, but you must lay down your life at the last moment. Since you cannot go to heaven if you commit suicide, you can only go to heaven if you are killed by someone. Let us all pray for our brothers and sisters who will become the wheat grain of Syria!"

The next day.

The 17 members of the New World Church mission team departed for Syria with high hopes of preaching in the center of early Christianity.

And exactly one week later, trouble broke out.

***

President Heo Chang-min was down in Saemangeum to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Disneyland. Kang Jin-hoo, Chairman Lim Jin-yong, President Lim Soo-mi, and the CEO of Disney also attended.

Numerous domestic and foreign reporters flocked to film the groundbreaking ceremony and interview those involved.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, a meeting with domestic and foreign businesspeople followed. But while the meeting was in full swing, an attendant ran up and whispered.

"I think you need to take a call, Mr. President."

Urgency was felt in the voice.

Unless it was an urgent call, they wouldn't have reported it during the meeting.

President Heo Chang-min got up from his seat for a moment and went outside to answer the phone.

[This is National Security Advisor Jung Seong-chul. It's an emergency, Mr. President.]

"What is it?"

Hearing the story, President Heo Chang-min's expression hardened.

"I will return to the Blue House right now. Immediately convene the NSC officials and report as information comes in. I will connect via video call as soon as I get in the car."

[Understood.]

The president's car headed straight to the Blue House.

***

Inside a dark building, 21 men and women were sitting on their knees.

Their faces were covered in tears and snot, and their bodies were trembling, suggesting something had happened. Behind them stood five men covering their faces with black masks and holding AK-47 rifles.

A man holding a knife spoke to the camera in stiff English.

"You insulted our god and forced us to apostatize. Now you will pay the price. If you do not comply with our demands, we will execute one person at a time."

The attendees gathered at the National Security Council (NSC) watched the video together.

But even after the video ended, no one opened their mouth. That's how serious the situation was.

A moment later, breaking the silence, National Security Advisor Jung Seong-chul spoke in a businesslike voice.

"21 of our citizens were kidnapped by terrorists while traveling by bus near Idlib, Syria. All belong to the New World Church; 17 departed through Incheon Airport a week ago, and 4 were church members in Antakya who joined in Ankara."

Defense Minister Lee Seok-woo asked.

"Why on earth did they go there?"

First Deputy Director of National Security Kwon Yu-geun answered.

"They say the purpose was local missionary work and volunteer activities."

At those words, everyone looked dumbfounded. Someone clicked their tongue and said.

"They were told not to go so many times, yet they went again."

Deputy Director Kwon Yu-geun explained while displaying a screen.

"The organization that carried out the abduction is Al-Syria, a splinter group of the Al-Nusra Front. It is an armed group of radical Islamists, and the leader is known as Muhammad Sheikh Al-Khalid."

"So what are their demands?"

"They are talking about the termination of the ROK-US military alliance and the withdrawal of Korean troops stationed in Lebanon, but those are just pretexts."

"Then?"

"They are demanding 20 million dollars for the ransom of the hostages."

President Heo Chang-min turned his head and asked.

"What do you think, National Security Advisor?"

National Security Advisor Jung Seong-chul answered.

"Even if we support negotiations at the civilian level, we must avoid government-led negotiations as much as possible."

If it becomes known that the state complies when hostages are taken and threatened, there is a risk that this will lead to more hostage situations.

Therefore, the principle of all countries is not to negotiate with terrorists. But this time, it's not just one or two people, but a whopping 21 people were captured.

It is only a matter of time before this fact becomes known to the media.

If the citizens die, the government will be criticized for not negotiating properly, and if they negotiate for rescue, they will be criticized for breaking principles and wasting tax money.

They can't let the citizens die like this, and they can't pay the ransom to terrorists. It is a difficult situation for the government either way.

President Heo Chang-min said with a firm expression.

"The lives of our citizens are the top priority. We will dispatch a government task force to Syria, so propose a face-to-face negotiation to buy as much time as possible. Until then, we must find another way."

***

[(Breaking News) New World Church Mission Team Kidnapped in Syria!]

[Terrorist Group Al-Syria Holds 21 Korean Missionaries Hostage!]

[New World Church Asks the Whole Nation to Pray for the Safe Return of the Mission Team]

[Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon: The hostage situation is the government's responsibility. President Heo Chang-min must take responsibility and negotiate...]

[What are the Hostage Rescue Measures?]

As the large-scale kidnapping case in Syria was reported, public opinion was turned upside down.

- No, why on earth did they go there??

- Isn't Syria in the middle of a civil war right now?

- Government forces, rebels, Kurdish militia, and IS remnants are all gathered there playing land grab?

- They went to such a place for missionary work? Are they crazy?

- They must be really dying to die.

- Since they went where they were told not to go and got caught, shouldn't they take responsibility themselves?

- There is nothing more precious than life in the world. Even if we scold and punish them, we must bring them back to Korea first.

- That's right. No matter how great the sacrifice, we must save the lives of our citizens.

- The government has a duty to protect the lives and safety of the people!!

- Life comes first. We have to save them~

- I mean, they risked their precious lives and went where they were told not to go, so they should take responsibility.

- If life is so important, shouldn't the government first rescue the citizens who poured all their assets into coins and are jumping into the Han River?

- Yeah, yeah. Let the state compensate for all stock losses~

- But surely they're not using my tax money to save those people, right?

Watching the news, Taek-gyu said, dumbfounded.

"They went again? Syria this time?"

"That must be a travel ban area."

Just don't go where you're told not to go, and don't do what you're told not to do. But in the world, there are always people who do exactly what they're told not to do.

Ellie asked, unable to understand.

"Why go on mission trips to dangerous areas? Is it effective even if they go?"

"Well."

Missionary work might or might not work even if you settle down locally for a long time. But how effective would it be to go for just a month or two?

But...

"It would be a great help in promoting the church's achievements. If the mission team returns safely, they can claim, 'We did missionary work in the middle of a dangerous area and nothing happened. This is God's grace,' and if someone dies, they can just praise them as a martyr. Is it a profitable business either way?"

Ellie looked incredulous.

"They risk their lives and go to a civil war zone just for that?"

That's why he doesn't go himself but sends a mission team. Because there is nothing easier than forcing danger on others while sitting in a safe place.

"Do you know the Pond Church incident?"

"What's that?"

Taek-gyu nodded as if he naturally knew.

"It was a national disgrace and a waste of tax money."

I explained.

"Around 2007, a mission team sent by Pond Church to Afghanistan was kidnapped by the Taliban..."

"Ah! I remember! Didn't they get rescued safely?"

"That's right."

Although there was a lot of controversy at the time, the government stepped in to negotiate.

Fortunately, the negotiations went well and they succeeded in bringing the hostages back safely, but by acceding to the Taliban's various demands, the national image was greatly tarnished, and a bad precedent was set.

Consequently, it was tantamount to letting them know that they could extort money by capturing Koreans and threatening the state.

"Although the ransom paid at the time was not revealed, it would be at least tens of billions of won."

To go on a mission again despite such an incident.

The list of abductees flowed out on the news. But surprisingly, I saw a familiar face among them.

"Uh! That person..."

***

The most important thing to maintain an organization is not a cause or belief. It is money.

IS was able to expand its power in the Middle East based on the funds it secured by seizing gold bars from the central bank when it occupied Mosul, Iraq, in the early days, and later by controlling the Kirkuk oil fields. But as they lost their base, the funding dried up, and the organization is now scattered.

The Al-Nusra Front, which controlled Syria as IS collapsed, also faced problems, and the organization's size was reduced to less than half due to the funding cut.

Currently, various terrorist organizations are experiencing severe financial difficulties, and this was the same for Al-Syria.

The organization, which exceeded 5,000 members in its heyday, now has only 1,500 left.

Although they frequently loot surrounding areas to get money and supplies, that was far from enough to maintain the organization.

The most lucrative business is hostage-taking. Catching tourists or pilgrims from developed countries and getting ransom.

If done well, it was possible to earn millions of dollars at once.

Since it's not something that requires huge capital, if they don't respond to negotiations, just kill them and be done with it.

But as this kept repeating, no sane person came to Syria, and as the fact that it was profitable became known, all sorts of organizations jumped in.

Therefore, kidnapping was not easy recently. However, this time, they hit the jackpot by kidnapping 21 people at once.

Moreover, unlike other countries that do not negotiate with terrorist groups, Korea has a history of paying a huge sum to rescue a kidnapped mission team.

Despite the threat to hand over the money immediately, the Korean government demanded face-to-face negotiations.

"Is their strategy to buy time while gauging the international community and domestic public opinion?"

Of course, Muhammad Sheikh Al-Khalid, the Amir of Al-Syria, had no intention of being dragged around.

Since there are many hostages anyway, just executing a few as an example would be enough.

Hussein, who had looked around the hostages, reported to Muhammad.

"One of the hostages said something interesting."

"What did he say?"

"He says he's Kang Jin-hoo's friend. Specifically, he says they were in the army together."

There is no one in the world who doesn't know Kang Jin-hoo's name. This was the same for terrorist groups.

Muhammad stroked his beard.

"Was Kang Jin-hoo ever a soldier?"

"In Korea, men are obligated to go to the army. It seems they served together then. Here is a photo that guy had."

In the photo, Kang Jin-hoo with short hair and the hostage man were captured together.

Seeing the photo, Muhammad smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.

"I should include Kang Jin-hoo in the negotiation targets. Raise the amount to 50 million dollars, and tell them we will behead one hostage at a time until they give the money. The Korean government and Kang Jin-hoo will pay if they want to save the hostages."