"Welcome. How long has it been?"

President Min-gu Noh rose from his seat to greet Seong-ho Kim.

"I should have come by to pay my respects now and then, but I've been busy lately and haven't managed it. I'm sorry."

Seong-ho gave a slight bow. Min-gu took his hand in both of his and shook his head.

"Oh, come now. If you've been busy, Vice-Chairman, it's all been for the country, hasn't it? It's quite all right."

Holding both of Seong-ho's hands, Min-gu even pulled out his chair for him.

"Please, sit."

The President seemed to be in a hurry. Seong-ho thanked him without a word and sat down.

The moment Min-gu sat, he got straight to the point.

"The reason I asked to see you, Vice-Chairman Kim, is simply that there's something I very much want to ask of you."

"Something you want to ask of me?"

"Yes. Something I truly hope you'll agree to."

Having made it clear how badly he needed this, Min-gu went on.

"Please go to North Korea as special envoy."

"I understood I'd already turned that down once."

"Couldn't you reconsider?"

His desperation was written all over him.

"…Mr. President. As I said, I have no connection with the North whatsoever. Is someone like me really the right person to send as envoy?"

"Wouldn't it be stranger if you did have a connection with the North? Of course you don't."

Seong-ho gave a little huff of a laugh.

"Being envoy isn't anything special. All you'd have to do is convey our government's thinking and steer the mood so they'll come to the summit. That's all."

"Then it doesn't have to be me, does it? The Minister of Unification could go, or the party leader, who knows your mind, or the Chief of Staff here. I don't see why it has to be me."

"If it were only a matter of conveying our government's message… then as you say, Chief of Staff Mun here could go."

Min-gu admitted that Seong-ho wasn't wrong.

"But getting them to the summit table isn't something Chief of Staff Mun…