Who's Who in Post Cold War Thriller II

Here's an advance peek at my second Post Cold War political thriller titled The Poksu Conspiracy. What follows is the Who's Who that will appear in the book. It lists all of the characters who appear in more than one chapter. I figure you won't need a cheat sheet to keep up with those who only make brief appearances. They are listed by category.

The Korean (hangul) characters for "poksu" in a square, at right, was the trademark of the small poksu guerrilla group that harassed the Japanese during World War II. It later appears as the codename for a highly-secret nuclear weapons project.

Who's Who

Worldwide Communications Consultants (Washington-based CIA spinoff)

    Nathaniel (Nate) Highsmith, President

    Burke Hill, chief financial officer, clandestine group director

    Tony Carlucci, Highsmith's executive assistant

    Jerry Chan, manager of Seoul Office

    Duane Elliston, account executive in Seoul Office

    Brittany Pickerel, research assistant in Seoul Office

    Evelyn Tilson, Hill's executive assistant

    Travis Tolliver, media specialist in Seoul Office

    An Kye-sun, Korean media specialist in Seoul Office

    Song Ji-young, Korean secretary in Seoul Office

   

American Officials

    Thornton Giles, President

    Kingsley Marshall, Director of Central Intelligence

    Ambassador Shearing, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea

    Brig. Gen. Henry Thatcher, Presidential Assistant for National Security Affairs

    Special Agent Frederick Birnbaum, instructor, FBI National Academy

    Vincent Duques, South Korean Embassy political officer and CIA Station Chief

    Special Agent Clifford Walters, FBI, San Francisco

    Damon Mansfield, South Korean Embassy cultural attaché

    Kurt Voegler, South Korean Embassy commercial attaché

   

South Korean Officials

    Kwak Sung-kyo, recently-elected president

    Hong Oh-san, prime minister

    Col. Han Sun-shin, director of Agency for Security Planning (NSP)

    Dr. Hyun U-je, head of Korea Electric Power Company (Kepco)

    Ko Pong-hak, information officer, Ministry of Culture and Information

    Park Sang-muk, Seoul public prosecutor

   

Seoul Metropolitan PoliceBureau

    Superintendent General Choi, head of Special Security Group

    Lt. Han Mi-jung, fiancée of Lieutenant. Yun

    Lt. Yun Se-jin, officer, Tongdaemun Station

    Capt. Yun Yu-sop, homicide detective, Namdaemun Station

   

World War II Poksu guerilla group

    Lee Horangi-chelmun, leader

    Ahn Wi-jong, other group survivor

   

North Korean Officials

    Kim Il-sung, premier

    Kim Jong-il, son and heir apparent

    So Song-ku, official of the Central Committee, North Korean Workers Party

   

Other Americans

    Will and Maggie Arnold, Falls Church, VA neighbors of the Hills

    Dr. Chloe Brackin, obstetrican and Lori Hill's best friend

    Lorelei Hill, wife of Burke Hill, head of Clipper Cruise & Travel

    Dr. Cabot Lowing, fellow, Highsmith Foundation

    R. Mitchell (Mitch) Steele, contractor's representative, Taesong Nuclear Power Plant

    Peggy Walters, Burke Hill's first wife

    Dr. Kim Vickers, director, Korean-American Education Foundation

   

In Hungary

    Margit Szabo, Lorelei Hill's grandmother

   

Other Koreans

    Ahn Pom-yun, drug kingpin in Chiangmai, Thailand, son of Ahn Wi-jong

    Mr. Chon, Namdaemun Market fruit vendor, Captain Yun's informant

    Hwang Sang-sol, a.k.a. Suh Tae-hung, free lance assassin

    Kang Han-kyo, editor of Koryo Ilbo, national daily newspaper

    Kim Yong-man, Mr. Chon's grandson

    Kwon, junior official at Reijeo conglomerate

    Dr. Lee Yo-ku, Seoul National University history professor

    Moon Chwa, official at Pulguksa Buddhist shrine

    Dr. Shin Man-ki, fired nuclear physicist at Reijeo installation

    Yang Jong-ku, hotel owner, chairman of Korean-American Cooperation Association

    Yi In-wha, prominent businessman, son-in-law of President Kwak's half-sister

    Yoo Hak-sil, Seoul private investigator, former cop

Where Do You Start the Story?

When you begin writing a book, the obvious first question is where to start the story. If the whole premise of the book and everything that happens flows out of events that occurred many years before the current action, to me it calls for a Prologue that details the background to the plot. I'm aware that some readers refuse to read prologues and skip to start at Chapter 1. To me, this is a shortsighted approach. In the first place, what's the difference if it's called the Prologue or Chapter 1?

My second Post Cold War thriller opens with a Prologue that sets the scene for the story that follows. Since the action takes place mostly in South Korea, we get a little historical perspective on the area and how it developed into an ideological punching bag over the years. It's a key to understanding the motivations of those who people the story.

I carefully researched the background to make sure the history was accurate, which it is up to the point where my fictional character, Young Tiger Lee, picks three of his Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army comrades in Manchuria to form the Poksu (Vengeance) guerrilla group. Returning to their Korean homeland, they wreak havoc on the Japanese Army during World War II.

As I mention in the Prologue, the Japanese forbid use of the Korean language during the occupation. But young Lee, not his real name, chose to use the hangul characters for the Korean word for vengeance, written inside a square, as the mark of his guerrilla group. They left it at sites of their attacks against the Japanese.

As I mentioned in a blog recently at Murderous Musings, The Poksu Conspiracy could be called half spy story, half Korean police procedural. Much of the story is told from the POV of Captain Yun Yu-sop, a homicide detective in the Namdaemun Police Station of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Bureau. The espionage half involves a CIA spinoff called Worldwide Communications Consultants, where my protagonist Burke Hill handles clandestine activities.

Both spies and cops wind up seeking to identify who Young Tiger Lee turned out to be as a key to what's going on in South Korea.