A Change of Pace (Ukraine)

[North Korea]

7 June 2009
Panmunjom, Korea

This was all starting to get really old.

The Soviet Union had abandoned him, China was reluctant to involve himself in anything, and America was right on his doorstep with a whole arsenal of weapons.

America had broken his promises. Following the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the two nations had also signed the Agreed Framework, which promised North Korea fuel aid and the construction of alternate power plants in exchange for freezing all plutonium production. What had happened instead? He’d been labeled a part of a so-called “Axis of Evil,” and no agreement for a non-aggression pact had been reached. No way was he giving up anything unless he knew he wasn’t going to be attacked by a nation that viewed him as evil. And so, no deal had been made. His country was without fuel, and no doubt the United States was just waiting for an excuse to attack him.

He had a right to be doing this. He had a right to defend himself.

If the United States could have so many weapons of mass destruction at their disposal, why not him? It would be insane to sit around and hope an enemy who possessed some 10,000 warheads to have mercy on him. Clearly nice-talk was not doing North Korea any good. Only when he’d become a respected—or else feared—force could he hope to attain any sort of fair deal from negotiation. And so, development of his own nuclear weapons had begun. The world saw this as rebellion. Sang Kyu saw it as leveling the playing field.

It had now been three years since their first atomic test. About two weeks ago, they conducted a second. The international community had wasted no time jumping all over him about it of course, and with the same old scolding as always. “The members of the Security Council voiced their strong opposition to and condemnation of the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 25 May 2009, which constitutes a clear violation of resolution 1718.” Ha! Scolding had no affect on him; not anymore. So used to it was he that he simply ignored it, brushing it off as if it was some buzzing insect insistent on flying around his ear.

However, he was expecting a visitor regarding all this today. Normally, he would have denied any visitor any access to his Hermit Kingdom. They would only repeat the same words as the UN anyway. He had agreed only because he needed a change of pace, and this visitor would not be just another annoying government official from South Korea or America. No, today he was expecting Ukraine. How very different it would be, to discuss this sort of thing with another nation, and one who was not constantly hovering in his affairs at that. He had only spoken to Ukraine once or twice in the past. Their countries had few relations, and Ukraine was represented in the North through the embassy in Seoul. Perhaps he would get a more fair chance to explain himself to someone he rarely spoke to? Not that he needed to explain anything. Clearly he was justified.

At about 10 o’ clock that morning he was to be at the border in Panmunjom to greet her. Due to security issues, both his own and concerns expressed by South Korea, he had been advised not to take her anywhere except for the North Korean building in Panmunjom. He had agreed, not seeing any reason to have to take her anywhere else anyway.

About an hour before the scheduled meeting time, he arrived in one of the buildings near the border, checked to make sure everything was organized and being coordinated as planned, and made sure all personnel were at their assigned station. When everything and everyone was in place, in was nearly 10:00. Two soldiers would accompany Sang Kyu to the border, and so, when the time arrived, the three of them walked the short distance to the border marker, dutifully guarded by soldiers on both sides, to await their guest.


((Some Background Info:
-The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Basically an agreement that all signing members would not spread, manufacture, or acquire nuclear weapons. North Korea pulled out in 2003.
-The Agreed Framework: Agreement between the US and N. Korea saying that the US would give N. Korea energy aid and normalize relations with them if they halted plutonium production. Never happened.
-When the Soviet Union dissolved, North Korea lost a considerable amount of security and economic aid.
-The US had, at one point, 950 warheads stationed in South Korea. They had all been removed by 1991.
-The chart I looked at said the US about 10,000 nuclear weapons in 2006, the year North Korea conducted their first nuclear test.
-Panmunjom is that place you always see when people are talking about the border between North and South Korea. I figured it'd be an appropriate setting for our little meeting.

I hope this is okay! :'D I've had a nasty case of writer's block.))

[ukraine]

One of the things that came with being an old nation was that everything had some amount of personal significance. Ukraine had a long memory and a lot of history behind her, so to speak. When things happened in the world, she couldn’t help but associate it with moments in her own past. So, when she heard that North Korea had conducted secret nuclear tests again, she couldn’t prevent the news from stirring up some of her most unpleasant Cold War memories.

Although she was not usually one to interfere into other nations’ business, Ukraine simply couldn’t stand idly by and allow another nation to become a nuclear power. She had to do something to try to stop him, which was why she was in Panmunjom today. As ridiculous as the idea might sound, she was going to attempt to reason with North Korea.

She knew going into it that her chances of convincing the other nation to stop his nuclear program were slim. Im Sang Kyu was not known for being receptive to negotiation, and there was absolutely no reason for him to listen to what she had to say. There wasn’t even any reason for him to be letting her into his country, and she had been a little surprised when her request to pay him a visit had been approved.

But Ukraine felt that she had to try. After all, she had been in a similar situation once. She had produced large quantities of nuclear weapons under her brother’s orders during the Cold War. Then, once she had regained independence, she had destroyed them all. She had known that it was probably a stupid move, that she would be vulnerable once they were gone, that she could have all that power and nobody would dare to mess with her. But she did it anyway, because she didn’t believe in nuclear warfare. She wanted to go back to the days when nations didn’t have to live in fear of being blown off the face of the planet. She knew not everyone wanted that, but so much progress had been made in recent years, and she couldn’t let North Korea ruin that progress without trying to stop him. Even if her version of “trying to stop him” only meant letting him know that she didn’t approve of what he was doing.

It was almost 10:00, so Ukraine went to the border, accompanied by a pair of South Korean guards, to meet Sang Kyu. She fidgeted nervously when they reached the border, a little bit worried and not sure what to say or do. How exactly was one supposed to begin a conversation with North Korea? Well, she knew what her siblings would do. They would use threats and intimidation to try to get their way. But Sofiya was not Ivan or Natalia, and intimidation had never accomplished much for her. She would try a more diplomatic approach.

“North Korea? I hope I’m not inconveniencing you too much,” she said quietly in the nations’ common tongue. “I’d like to talk to you about something that I think is very important.”

[North Korea]

It wasn’t long before he saw Ukraine approaching, flanked by two South Korean guards. He kept his expression blank, so as to not openly show the contempt he had for the two South Koreans. They would know how he felt anyway, and there was no reason to be looking so hostile around his guest. This was supposed to be a friendly meeting.

“North Korea? I hope I’m not inconveniencing you too much. I’d like to talk to you about something that I think is very important.”

Sang Kyu blinked in surprise for a moment. It had been a while since he’d be addressed in the nations’ common tongue. Normally when he had to speak to other nations, he was speaking to South, so the two of them could simply speak in Korean. With what little contact he had with the other nations, it was rare that he was spoken to in the common tongue.

“Of course not,” the North Korean responded politely. Despite his reputation, he still wanted to appear polite. Perhaps he could dispel some of those oh-so-nasty rumors if he appeared to be a nice guy. He supposed it could be easy to believe such rumors when he was barely out in public to oppose them. “Although, the border would not be an ideal place to discuss things of such importance,” he said, sparing a glance at the Southerners once more before looking back to Ukraine. “Would you folow me, please?”

He nodded tersely to the North Korean guards, and one of them broke off to began heading towards the main Panmunguk building on the North side. The other would eventually bring up the rear. Sang Kyu turned to follow the first guard, looking over his shoulder and motioning for Ukraine to follow him.

The inside of the North Korean Panmunguk building was carefully maintained. The floors were marble, because, of course, the North Koreans wanted to make a good impression on their guests, no matter what country they were from. The floors were carefully polished daily, even if the rooms hadn’t been used. In the upper floors there were some conference rooms, though only a small one would be needed for the two of them to talk. The guard in front led them up the stairs.

The room they were led to was practically empty except for a red oak table and some similar chairs. There was a North Korean flag hanging on one wall, while one of the other walls was nothing but a window (over which the curtains were drawn). Simple, but an appropriate meeting place.

“Please…have a seat,” Sang Kyu said once they’d arrived.

[ukraine]

North Korea’s politeness was surprising to Ukraine, who had expected cold hostility. She decided that perhaps he wasn’t quite as bad as the rest of the world made him out to be. Still, Ukraine was afraid of any nation that felt the need to hide behind threats and nuclear weapons. After the Cold War, who wouldn’t be afraid?

“Although, the border would not be an ideal place to discuss things of such importance. Would you follow me, please?” said North Korea, gesturing for Ukraine to follow him.

It wasn’t easy for Sofiya to step across the border. She felt vaguely safe on the South Korean side, which at least had a Ukrainian embassy. But she couldn’t show her fear now. She had come to speak with North Korea, and she would do so.

The Panmunguk building was surprisingly nice. She had not expected North Korea to be able to afford polished marble floors. Then again, she remembered how, during the Cold War, her brother had insisted on the Soviet Union always being better than America, whether or not it was reasonable or even possible. She guessed that this was probably similar; Sang Kyu didn’t want his brother’s people or anyone else to see anything less than perfection from him, even when perfection was far from the truth.

They were led up the stairs to a small meeting room with a table and chairs and a North Korean flag on the wall.

“Please … have a seat.”

Ukraine sat down. The red oak was nice-looking, but it certainly did not make the most comfortable chair. She fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Thank you, she said, smiling. “Why don’t you sit down, too, and then we can talk?”

But as she sat there, Sofiya began to feel trapped in such a small space. She was a country girl at heart, used to open spaces and large tracts of farm land. Little closed-up rooms made her feel claustrophobic. If she could at least see outside … her eyes fell upon the drawn curtains, which were surely only closed because the room had been unoccupied. She stood, walked over to the window, and pushed the curtains aside, revealing a view of the Panmunjom.

“That’s better,” she said happily.

She glanced apprehensively at Sang Kyu, uncertain what his reaction would be. But surely there was no reason for her to worry. The room was nicer without the curtains blocking the window, surely he would agree …


--

((OOC: So sorry for the long wait))

[North Korea]

After the two nations had both stepped inside, the guards shut the door quietly. Of course, they wouldn't be hanging around. They'd been ordered beforehand to go stand down the hall, away from the door, so that there was no chance they'd overhear anything. Of course, they probably couldn't understand the common tongue of the nations anyway, but nevertheless, that was their order. They were not to leave that spot in the hallway. They were still standing guard, after all. The guard who had shut the door nodded tersely to the other, and the two of them took their positions farther down the hall without a word.

When Sang Kyu was satisfied that the guards had left, he turned back to Sofiya.

“Thank you. Why don’t you sit down, too, and then we can talk?” she was saying.

After pausing one last time to make sure there was no noise outside the door, he did so, pulling up one of the chairs and taking a seat across from Ukraine. He thought briefly about trying to make some kind of small talk beforehand, but he'd found in the past it was something he was quite awful at. He was a horrible conversationalist. He would run out of things to talk about in under a minute. Asking him to start a conversation was like asking a fisherman to built a rocket--he had no idea how to go about it, so it was best to just get to the point. "So, what exactly were you wanting to discu--"

The North Korea stopped mid-sentence to watch the Ukrainian stand up, go across the room, and open the curtains. His eyes hung on the image of Panmunjom below them for a long moment.

“That’s better,” Sofiya said happily, though she seemed to look at Sang Kyu a bit nervously a second later.

In truth, he was quite the opposite when it came to having the curtains open. He would rather they be closed. Closed meant privacy. Closed meant safe. Having them open gave anyone below with binoculars the opportunity to look inside the room. Who knew? Perhaps the South would hire lip-readers just so see what they were talking about, even if they had to forward the conversation to someone who could understand the nations' common language in order to know just what. To any other person, that would have seemed too excessive to even be a possibility, but Sang Kyu found it a perfectly logical reason to keep the curtains drawn. He was paranoid, yes, but he would rather simply have the curtains shut than take the risk. Closed was good. It was the way his country was, it was the way this room was going to be.

"Ah, I am sorry..." he began, hesitantly rising and making his way to the window, "But for security reasons the curtains must remain closed..." He proceeded to pull them shut, though, remembering the way she had seemed to fidget uncomfortably before, he left them open just slightly. Not enough to allow anyone to see in clearly, of course, but enough so that more light filtered in and that a glimpse of Panmunjom was still visible below. "Standard procedure..." was the excuse he gave.

He then glided back to his seat, hoping the little incident would quickly be forgotten. "You were saying?"

[ukraine]

Why was every nation Ukraine talked to so paranoid? During her Soviet days, she had been certain that Russia was surely the most ridiculously paranoid nation she would ever meet, but North Korea was even worse. Seriously, how could a little light and a nice view do any harm? It wasn’t as if anyone out there would be able to hear them, and surely no South Korean spy would be able to understand them, unless it was the nation himself. Anyway, it wasn’t as if this was some top-secret meeting. Sofiya was planning on making a public statement saying basically the same things she was about to tell Sang Kyu. In the end, South Korea and the rest of the world would know that Ukraine disapproved of North’s nuclear activities. So what was the point of all the secrecy?

“You were saying?”

Sang Kyu’s words pulled her out of her mental rant and back into the little room.

“Let’s get to the point, then,” she said, not bothering with small talk. The sooner this was over, the better. “I’m here because I’ve heard that you tested more nuclear weapons.”

She wondered if he would admit what he’d done or try to deny it. She figured he would probably go with the later – in her experience, secretive nations tended to be, well, secretive. Or maybe not. After all, he seemed to want people to be afraid of him, and having a nuclear arsenal was certainly an effective way of accomplishing that.

“I guess you probably know how I feel about nukes,” she said. “I don’t like them. They're more power than any nation should be able to have, and the only thing they’ve done is created a lot of fear and hatred.”

She hesitated, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. Should she try to sound accusatory? Afraid? Sympathetic? Indifferent? In the end, she decided to keep it simple and just say what was on her mind.

“I just don’t understand why you would want them.”

[North Korea]

“Let’s get to the point, then,” He heard her say. Happy that she wasn’t going to comment on him choosing to close the curtains, he happily sat still and listened.“I’m here because I’ve heard that you tested more nuclear weapons.”

“I guess you probably know how I feel about nukes,” she said. Oh yes, he was aware. Or, at least, 99% certain she did not approve of them. She probably would not be here if she didn’t care, and was probably equally unlikely to be here if she supported what he’d done for fear of also being condemned by the international community as well.

His 99% certainty was confirmed a moment later.

“I don’t like them. They're more power than any nation should be able to have, and the only thing they’ve done is created a lot of fear and hatred. I just don’t understand why you would want them.”

No, he wasn’t even going to deny that he’d tested them, that he had them in his possession, and that he almost certainly planned on testing more of them. He wanted the world to know he had them. They’ve created fear and hatred in the world? Well, that wasn’t his fault. Who had started the whole thing? America. Who was he making nuclear weapons to keep away? America. As far as he was concerned, if there was anyone to blame, it was America, not him.

“Go ask America why you would want them,” he responded bluntly. “His country’s the one that invented them. I’m testing them because I am concerned because he has them.” He intertwined his fingers in front of him on the table, though never taking his eyes off Ukraine.

“For what reason would I have them other than to defend myself from the nation responsible for them?” he asked. "Why do the other nations have them?" he continued, asking very seriously as if he expected an answer, though he continued on before Ukraine would have a chance to answer. "To defend themselves from other nations that have them. That's why. I am no different."

[ukraine]

America again? Why did his name always come up where nuclear weapons were concerned? Okay, sure, he invented them … and yes, he had a lot of them … but they weren’t supposed to be talking about America. This was about North Korea.

“Look, this doesn’t have anything to do with America, okay?” she said. “I mean, America’s weapons used to scare me, too. Sometimes they still do. And it’s pretty obvious that he’s not going to get rid of them any time soon, because he doesn’t care what the rest of us want. But that doesn’t mean you have to go and imitate him.”

Ukraine felt North Korea’s gaze on her as she spoke, and she forced herself to look him in the eye. All her instincts told her not to, but she fought them back. She would not show weakness even if she really just wanted to start crying.

“For what reason would I have them other than to defend myself from the nation responsible for them? Why do the other nations have them? To defend themselves from other nations that have them. That's why. I am no different."

Ukraine let out a little hysterical laugh as she thought once again of her own nuclear past. She had never gotten the nerve to ask Russia why he had insisted on producing so many weapons, had never demanded an answer from him as she did from North Korea, even when she was the one who ended up making a lot of them. She had never dared to ask, but she had also never needed to. She knew that if she had, his answer would have been something very similar to North Korea's. We have to defend ourselves, sister. We have to protect the Union. It’s all America’s fault.

“That kind of thinking fueled the Cold War,” she said. “We had to protect ourselves from America. It was his fault, and we were just defending ourselves. And then he had to make more, bigger and more destructive than we had, and then we had to do the same. We all just wanted to defend ourselves, but we came so close to destroying everything in the process.”

Try as she might, Sofiya could not stop the tears that leaked from her eyes as she spoke.

“If a nuclear war started, do you really think a few missiles would save you?” she asked softly.

[North Korea]

Oh dear. This was starting to turn out just like every other meeting he’d ever had with other nations, wasn’t it? Perhaps he was wrong to assume that just because he didn’t speak to Ukraine often she would be more open minded about him. Another who has become Westernized… he sighed internally.

“Look, this doesn’t have anything to do with America, okay? I mean, America’s weapons used to scare me, too. Sometimes they still do. And it’s pretty obvious that he’s not going to get rid of them any time soon, because he doesn’t care what the rest of us want,” the Ukrainian was saying. The North Korean’s eyes narrowed. As far as he was concerned, it had everything to do with America, whether the American planned on getting rid of his nuclear weapons or not. It didn’t change the fact that he had them and that he was involved.

“But that doesn’t mean you have to go and imitate him.” Well what else was he supposed to do? Sit there while a hugely powerful nation stationed troops and weapons right on his doorstep? He felt like a sitting duck unless he did something!

He didn’t, however, expect her to suddenly start laughing. What the hell was she laughing at?! This was serious! Did the rest of the world see this as some kind of funny joke that North Korea had once again been left out of? He felt himself twitch in annoyance. Ukraine was no different than the other nations, no. Perhaps he was wrong to have given this meeting a chance at all.

“That kind of thinking fueled the Cold War. We had to protect ourselves from America. It was his fault, and we were just defending ourselves. And then he had to make more, bigger and more destructive than we had, and then we had to do the same. We all just wanted to defend ourselves, but we came so close to destroying everything in the process.” It sounded like a pretty accurate description of what went on in the higher levels of the North Korean government daily. Keep building! Keep testing! We’ll never be able to defend ourselves unless it’s bigger with more explosive power! It was then that he noticed that Sofiya was beginning to tear up. Oh great, was he going to have a crying girl on his hands now too? Just what he needed…

Her next question did catch him a little off guard however.

“If a nuclear war started, do you really think a few missiles would save you?” she asked him in a soft voice?

Instantly he fired off the first comeback that came to mind. “Who said it would be just a few, hm?” Only afterwords realizing that he had no idea how he’d intended that statement to be interpreted. Did he intend to suggest he had more than a few nuclear missiles? Did he intend to suggest that he was capable of building way more than the world thought? Either way it was a thinly veiled threat, but it was an empty one at best.

He didn’t know, nor did he exactly care at the present time whether his current stockpile of weapons might save him in a war, but North Korea had to save face at all times. Never could the country appear weak. Never could Sang Kyu ever admit to being less than what he tried so hard to make himself appear to be. Quickly, he tried to elaborate on his statement, being vague and general as always.

“The world seems to always so sorely underestimate North Korea. Don’t ever assume you know what the North is capable of. You do not.”

[ukraine]

Sofiya should not have come. She had been so sure of herself, certain that she could convince North Korea to see things her way, or at least certain that she had to try. Now, all she was certain about was that it was not a good idea to get so emotional in front of a country like him.

But how could she help it, when he was behaving this way. Thinly-veiled threats did not do much to set anyone at ease. The idea of a nation like North Korea in possession of any nuclear weapons was frightening, but the idea of him having more than “just a few” was utterly terrifying.

“You want more than that, then?” she asked tearfully. “You think you can make enough that it would be worth it?”

“Don’t ever assume you know what the North is capable of. You do not.” His words made Ukraine shiver with fright. She tried to hide her fear, but she figured it was probably pretty obvious.

“Even if you can do more than everyone thinks, it’s still wrong,” she replied. “It just makes it worse. The more ambitious you are about it, the worse it is. It’s so selfish of you! We’ve all made so much progress toward peace. We still fight, of course, but most of us have learned to do it with words instead of weapons. If you keep going with your nuclear program, you could ruin that!”

Sofiya pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes, sobbing. Why was every nation she talked to so stubborn? She had never been able to make any of them see reason, ever! Poland … Russia … and now North Korea! A bunch of self-centered nations with questionable sanity who would never listen to a word she said. Why did she even bother?

[North Korea]

Lovely, now he had a crying girl on his hands. The North Korean sighed, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. This meeting was clearly doomed to end in disaster. What had been his reasoning when he’d said yes again? He certainly had not had the intention of ending up in the same room as some girl crying.

“Even if you can do more than everyone thinks, it’s still wrong., It just makes it worse,” she was saying, clearly distraught. Had she really been afraid by what he’d said? Maybe that was a good thing… If he was feared, no one would dare invade, right?

“The more ambitious you are about it, the worse it is. It’s so selfish of you! We’ve all made so much progress toward peace. We still fight, of course, but most of us have learned to do it with words instead of weapons. If you keep going with your nuclear program, you could ruin that!”

He eyed her as she pulled out a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. He nearly rolled his. She was getting so very worked up about this! It was almost unfathomable to him, who made a point to never wear his emotions on his sleeve.

“If you want to see it as selfish, fine,” he shot back. “I am trying to survive here. My nation comes first. Everyone else second. If I have to be selfish to ensure my nation’s survival, then so be it.”

Sang Kyu continued to stare at her, not intending to lighten his gaze any time soon. He needed to get a point across here, and hopefully if he did that well, the girl would spread that message without him ever having to talk to anyone else.

“If the rest of the world has such a problem with my program, they could just leave me alone, and then I would never have any need for them. But every time they hound me about it, I’m just going to keep going. They need to learn that,” he said. "Now, will that be all, or do you have something else to lecture me about, hm?"

[ukraine]

How infuriating could one paranoid nation be? Very infuriating, as Ukraine was constantly finding out. One of the things she hated most about so many nations was their inability to listen to reason. They always had to be right, no matter what, and even if they were obviously wrong, they would never admit it. There was no such thing as compromise for them.

So she listened as North Korea gave a ridiculous excuse – one that she had definitely heard too many times before. And it did make a certain amount of sense in practical terms. Ukraine understood that most nations put their own safety before others’. But being the self-sacrificing type that she was, Ukraine was still shocked and frightened that a nation would take self-preservation to its worst extreme.

"Now, will that be all, or do you have something else to lecture me about, hm?"

Sofiya stood up, glaring through her tears at the Korean.

“Why do I even try anymore?” she asked, her voice angry and sad at the same time. “No matter what I say or do, everyone just goes on doing all the wrong things and making everything worse! Not all of us are hateful and paranoid, you know, and the world would be a better place if none of you were.”

She walked across the room to the door, tears dripping down her face. Then, with her hand on the doorknob, she paused and looked sadly over her shoulder.

“Please think about what I’ve said,” she said softly. “I know you disagree, and I know you’re afraid of what will happen if you do the right thing and give up your program. But it doesn’t have to be like that. I got rid of mine, and I’ve never regretted it. Please just think about it.”

[North Korea]

The Ukrainian stood up, giving him a teary glare. “Why do I even try anymore?” she asked with a mixture of anger and sadness. Sang Kyu wanted to say that it was her own choice whether she kept trying or not, not his, but she continued on. “No matter what I say or do, everyone just goes on doing all the wrong things and making everything worse! Not all of us are hateful and paranoid, you know, and the world would be a better place if none of you were.”

“If it’s such a stressful thing,” he said flatly, beginning to lose interest, “Then just stop trying. It’s not your business what everyone else does.”

But Sofiya was already up and crossing the room to the door. The Korean gave a soft, but nonetheless aggravated sigh. No one needed to tell him that this meeting was over.

“Please think about what I’ve said. I know you disagree, and I know you’re afraid of what will happen if you do the right thing and give up your program. But it doesn’t have to be like that. I got rid of mine, and I’ve never regretted it. Please just think about it.”

She was just spewing the same words as everyone else by this point, as far as he was concerned. It certainly was not the first, nor would it be the last time that someone had told him that giving up the program was the ‘right thing’ and that they themselves had not regretted it. Perhaps that worked for them just fine, he thought, but that would never would for North Korea.

“Good for you,” he said, obviously not meaning it. “It’s great that that worked for you, sure. But that’s not going to work here. There’s 30,000 Americans at the Southern border just waiting for their chance. I’m not stupid enough to just give it to them.”

He rose from his seat and pushed his chair back under the table, looking up to meet Ukraine’s eyes again. If this meeting was over, even if it had ended poorly, he still felt obligated to see her back to the border. As long as she was in his country, he had a responsibility to treat her as a guest… he supposed.

He took a couple of steps to close the distance between them. “Shall I see you back to the border then?”


((We seem to be coming to the end here. Maybe a couple more posts by each of us? Or if you'd like the make the next one the last, that's fine too. ;) ))

[ukraine]

“Good for you. It’s great that that worked for you, sure. But that’s not going to work here. There’s 30,000 Americans at the Southern border just waiting for their chance. I’m not stupid enough to just give it to them.”

Ukraine could tell that North Korea’s “good for you” was not genuine. He probably thought she was stupid for giving up her nuclear weapons, with his paranoid belief that he would be attacked without them. She didn’t seem to be able to get through to him that it was possible to become a non-nuclear nation and not get invaded. Maybe it wasn’t worth it to keep trying. She had done her part, and that was enough.

“Okay, fine. I get it. You don’t want to listen,” she said. “But you know how I feel – how most of the world feels. We’d all really appreciate if you’d stop.”

At this point, she didn’t even try to make her words sound convincing. She knew it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. This meeting was over, and Sofiya had accomplished nothing.

“Shall I see you back to the border then?” Sang Kyu asked in his usual way-too-polite way.

She nodded. “I guess that would be best.”

To be honest, she didn’t like the thought of walking through the North Korean building alone. This place was kind of frightening for her, especially after seeing how stubborn and paranoid the Asian nation was. She might not be enjoying his company very much, but there was something worrying to her about being alone in a strange and frightening place.

Glancing around the tiny, closed-in room, Ukraine felt a rush of claustrophobia. She couldn’t wait to get out of here and back to her own nation.

“Let’s go, then.”


--
((OOC: another post or so each sounds good to me.))[/size]

[North Korea]

"Let's go then."

With a terse nod, Sang Kyu led her out the door, leaving the door to the room open behind him. That was common safety procedure as well, to leave the door open when you were done in the room. That way, no one could hide in one of the rooms with the door shut. If a door was found shut when there were no meetings scheduled, it would be instantly obvious to all the regulars in the building that something was up.

The two guards that had been waiting at the end of the hall looked up at them as they approached. One of them caught sight of Ukraine's still teary face and gave Sang Kyu a questioning look, to which the nation simply shook his head slightly as if to say "don't ask."

Catching on, the guard nodded and went around to bring up the rear, his companion staying near the front to lead them. They went out the same way they'd come in--the lead guard taking them out of the hallway and down the same set of stairs, then into the foyer with its polished marble floor still gleaming. The guard quickened his pace just slightly to reach the door before the rest of them and proceeded to hold it open as they passed.

The sun was still high and bright in the sky. Sang Kyu blinked against the sudden brightness, his eyes not adjusted due to the darkness of the room they'd had the conference in. Resisting the urge to rub at his eyes, he continued on toward the border, pausing several yards away to stop and glare at the South Korean guards on the other side. When the others caught up, he turned back to Ukraine.

"I suppose it ends here," he said, looking at her with a calm completely different from that he'd stared down the South Koreans with. His gaze seemed softer, as if he was still trying to maintain that certain level of politeness, but still just as cold as ever.

He nodded towards the South. "Those guards are waiting for you, I suppose. They will take you back." He tried to think of a way to end their encounter that didn't sound fake. Saying 'it was nice talking with you' would probably be interpreted as a lie. "I know you mean well," he said, hoping this sounded a bit closer to the truth. "But I just don't think it will work for me."

Now, how to end this? There wasn't a whole lot to be said. They had accomplished nothing, and it wasn't like they were extraordinary friends or anything. In the end, he decided continuing to be polite would simply be the best. "Take care," was the best he could come up with as he watched her cross the border, leaving him alone with the two guards once more.

((It's been awesome threading with you! I've never threaded with a Ukraine before, so it was nice and refreshing!))