[Haesan]

Jules Kwon, the President's bookish Chief of Staff, just finished briefing Kim I-seul on the Xiomeran response to the arms sales.  He calmly inquired, "Do you think this merits a serious response?  This could just be more posturing from the Xiomerans."

President Kim replied, "Jules, you know as well as I do that our response needs to be proportional, at the very least.  We're not going to look like pushovers here.  Where is Xiomera's diplomatic presence again?"

"Ah I see, let me look," Jules said absentmindedly as he shuffled through his papers.  "Other than the embassy in Hwagang, there are consulates in Suyang and Anfa of course, and then also one in Anmi, apparently?  It must be to coordinate between the SEZs, there's no other reason why that would be a target city."

"That's an appealing option to target, how many are staffing it currently?  How big of a splash would it make?"

"My notes say no more than a few dozen embassy staff are housed in the consulate itself, it's a small location and mainly handles business registration and other affairs.  However, some intelligence does seem to indicate that they're using the consulate as a hub for managing surveillance and shadow policing of migrants, like they discovered in Acadia earlier this year.  We can't be certain though, but it would explain the relatively low rate of citizenship applications for Xiomeran workers in SEZs if some system like that were in place."

"I'm tired of always feeling two steps behind Calhualyana, let's do something proactive for once.  Removing some Xiomeran control in SEZs might prove very useful if things escalate further.  For now, let's deflect.  Have [Minister of Foreign Affairs] Cho [Ji-hwan] close the consulate in Anmi, and make it a public statement centering around a strong government concern about illicit surveillance while ensuring absolutely nothing is said about Huenya.  If the intel turns up false, the worst that happens is that the Xiomerans are mad, which is kind of the point of retaliating anyways.  If it's true, we've done something really good here.  Regardless, this surveillance narrative provides us nice cover."

"Well, what about the economics?  Isn't this risky?"

"Don't worry Jules, I'm preparing for this outcome.  I'm convinced there's a silver lining in this mess.  Backpedaling will only make us drown in the coming wave, we have to swim forward."

Jules let out a deep sigh. "If you say so."

"Oh, if you're on your way out, could you get a line to the Bank of Haesan?  Also, let Sabrina know to come right away after her meeting."

"Will do."

"One last thing, that diplomat they expelled, what was her name again?"

"Kim Eun-sol, I believe it was."

"Ah yes.  If you could make sure she gets a promotion and a cushy gig somewhere, that would be much appreciated.  She made a lot of plans possible today through her sacrifice."

"Duly noted."

The door to the Chamber of the Moon (the Presidential Office) delicately shut.  It was going to be a long night in Hwagang, presumably one of many to come.