a Mini-Supplement for Twilight:2000
by Andrew Borelli
c. 1998 All Rights Reserved
Shortcuts to the file
History
Current Situation
Government
Trade and Local Life
Trade & Economy
Marauders
Refugees
Weather
Getting Involved
Final Note
Running Korean Campaigns for Merc: 2000
North Korea, October 2000:
Cold, snowy wasteland, all dotted with craters, empty villages and twenty foot snow banks. Welcome to Korea. The worst of the fighting's over, or at least that's what they keep telling us. I remember back in '97 when it seemed like things couldn't get worse; waves of screamin' Koreans armed with good Russian equipment flying at us every day, Ivan's armored columns popping up all over the place. Then we heard the first nukes had been used in Europe, and it wasn't long before the same happened here.
But a bunch of us are still alive, and I guess that counts for something. Now if just could hop a ship back in Pusan and get the hell out of here.
Welcome to Korea:
This mini-supplement is intended to provide GM's with new material to spice up plodding campaigns, as well as provide PCs with new and exotic locales to explore. This supplement can be tailored to fit a Merc campaign as well. It is hoped that this work will be valuable in tracing the events of the Second Korean War, a conflict not often covered in Twilight. Before getting on to the meat of the supplement, a small history is in order to introduce players and referees to the region.
History: By 1989, Kim-Il Sung's Communist regime in North Korea was in serious trouble. With public confidence in the "Great Leader" badly shaken, it became evident that drastic action was necessary to reclaim the faith from the people which had once been so fervent.
To this end, North Korea began an ambitious new wave of underground mining and terrorist activities against its neighbor in the south. It was hoped that these actions, combined with a massive propaganda blitz, would help bolster public faith in the regime. South Korea, meanwhile, was under pressure for its methods in squelching increasingly large political riots calling for closer ties with the North. Combined with an unstable economic future and instability in the region, it looked as though the North might once again regain the political upper hand.
By 1992, however, North Korea's methods were beginning to stall. Many of the mining operations had been mopped up by US and ROK troops, while terrorist activities, which had (accidentally, for the most part) resulted in numerous civilian casualties, only managed to turn public opinion against the North. The South Koreans managed to temporarily calm tension in its streets during this period, although matters were still paper thin.
In February of 1993, Kim-Il Sung died. His son, Kim-Jong Il, succeeded him as Great Leader. Realizing the inevitable, Jong Il began a series of friendly overtures to South Korea, all the while stepping up propaganda tactics in his own nation. The collapse and re-organization of the old Soviet Union two years before made getting supplies and advanced weaponry even more difficult, and while things were still holding together, Jong Il knew that real measures were needed to keep it that way.
From February 1993 till March 1994, both Koreas essentially tended to their own houses. The North set about a series of political machinations calling for closer ties with other Communist Asian nations. The nation also began significant purchases of modern weapons from whoever would sell them. These efforts were more successful than the Great Leader's attempts at economic reform.
The South had its own problems to deal with, ranging from rising crime and unemployment to increased political chaos in the streets. In the South, the unification movement had never been stronger, which made politicians extremely nervous in light of the fact that a rapidly decaying United States had been systematically reducing its military force in Korea since 1991. With conditions worsening in South Korea's big cities, the government began to flounder. Terrible student riots tore through Seoul and other industrial centers in 1994 and 1995, worsening the nation's image through the eyes of the media.
Time passed and tensions rose, but little changed. The world's eye was on Europe, where numerous brushfire wars and increasingly weird economic bedfellows made for headlines, as well as on China, where border disputes with the old Soviet Union were deteriorating. North Korea, desperately looking for a strong ally (and by now in the opening stages of a famine), decided to publicly support the Soviets in the Chinese matter. The South tended to side with China out of sheer spite for its Northern neighbor, and denounced the North for supporting "acts of international irresponsibility". With the USSR strongly backing the North and the US becoming close once again to Seoul, trouble was just over the hill.
1996 brought war first in Asia and Europe, while 1997 brought the collapse of China and the first liberal use of nuclear weapons in a world conflict. Before the war the Koreans had undertaken a massive buildup of forces and stretched its credit to the limit purchasing modern arms. The South, already well equipped but unprepared, immediately called up its reserves to garrison the front, while a slow re-deployment of US military forces in the region began. By Christmas of 1996, the two nations were a hair-trigger away from disaster.
Encouraged by Russian victories in Poland and convinced that the US could not spare resources to save South Korea, the attack finally came in March of 1997, five months before China disentegrated.
The first week went well for the North. With their newly acquired arsenal, North Korean tanks and mechanized infantry punched their way through ROK positions (albeit at great cost). American units still proved to be more than a match for the North Korean army, but with the technology gap narrowed quite a bit, sheer force of numbers soon forced the US to withdraw from their prepared defensive positions, again at great cost for both sides. Inclement weather in the South grounded some of the ROK's air force, and until the US had all of its air resources in place, Russian bombers pounded Allied units from the sky.
By the second week, as casualties quickly mounted, the front grew desperately thin. North Korean & Russian units penetrated deeper into South Korea, but this left their supply lines open to attack, which in turn ended up slowing their advance. Seoul, and its surrounding suburbs, at first a massive pocket of resistance, fell under siege at the start of the third week. It should be noted that the South Korean army handled the siege bravely, holding for almost another two weeks before falling to superior numbers. Months later, Seoul was retaken in an Allied offensive the press would later label "the Second Inchon".
One month after the fighting began, China decided to send forces through Korea to link up with Allied units. This shocked the Allies more than it did the North Koreans, who expected that the Chinese could spare nothing in their fight to throw the Russians back. As thousands of "ChiComs" poured over the Yalu river, a hysterical North Korean high command rushed units back to the north to hold off this unexpected invader.
This bold pincer strategy worked well for a number of weeks. The fighting in the south stagnated for some time, then exploded suddenly, leading to a renewed US push for Pyongyang. Eventually, he US offensive began to stall. It is during this time the North Koreans began to fire tactical nuclear artillery; the other combatants fired larger warheads at each other soon after.
When the Chinese government ceased to be, a number of Chinese units disbanded and went marauder or simply stayed where they were, which badly confused operations. Fighting degenerated into nasty firefights of attrition with ugly (and needless) losses, during which time the Russians and NK's suffered greatly to American nuclear counterstrikes and off-shore artillery bombardments. This final blow stemmed more from a lack of cohesive command on the part of the Russians and North Koreans rather than from any sort of concentrated effort on the part of the Allies, who indeed were already feeling the effects of desertion, mutiny, and a total lack of regular supply or refit.
The North Koreans, strangely enough, performed (in some cases) better than their allies during this terrible time, frustrating numerous American and ROK attempts to capture Pyongyang. These attempts stopped completely in late 1999 when the Russian 38th Internal Defense Rifle Division secured the capital.
Current Situation: As of 1 January 2000, the Korean peninsula is disputed between the North Korean/Russian forces, and the Allied forces to the south (composed primarily of ROK & US troops, but also including British, French, Australian, Thai, Canadian forces as well). Actual engagements are few and far between; any major battles that do happen are short, carefully planned offensives designed to take clearly strategic targets from the enemy. The Allies have an advantage here; although the North Koreans still have a fairly large force, they suffer from a complete lack of motivation, skill, or supply, while surviving Russian forces in the region are dwindling rapidly as units slowly unravel. Some have degenerated into marauders, mini-warlords, or other rabble; others are simply wandering home, emotionally and physically exhausted from three years of unrelenting war.
Government: This varies greatly from town to town. In South Korea, there is still a central government (theoretically) separate from the military, but its jurisdiction becomes thinner and thinner as one approaches the "front." Seoul is still the center of things, with 42% of the original population now living and trading within its defended walls. A national council convenes here as well to pass whatever legislation it can. In reality, the army has a final say in everything, although it is not uncommon for the two organizations' goals to be similar, creating an air of co-operation. Since the Allied armies still occupy many towns controlled by Seoul, this co-operation is often necessary.
North Korea is somewhat different. The remainder of the North Korean army rules the countryside, garrisoning and farming wherever they can to survive. The army is the law in North Korea, still commanded by Kim-Jong Il, who issues orders from his private, bunker-like apartment complex in Pyongyang. Towns not garrisoned by North Korean army troops are regularly patrolled by the hated political police, who are really thugs with guns and authority. Officially assigned to crush "counter-revolutionary ideals", the political police act as rear-guard and frontier security. Duels between these forces and ROK border patrols are not uncommon. (Note: The South Koreans are no saints in this either: the infamous "white mice," or military police, known for their white helmets and lack of regard for civilians, are just as hated in the south.)
Trade and Local Life: The standard of living in the Koreas varies greatly as it does elsewhere. The big cities are dirtier and emptier than they once were, creating large slum areas which both armies are having difficulty controlling. Most cities are war-torn to some extent. Seoul's northern neighborhoods, for example, were very badly damaged, but a slow process of rebuilding is taking place. Other cities, not as fortunate as Seoul, were reduced to almost total rubble. Seoul and Pyongyang also tend to avoid the problems other cities experience in this post-war world due to the presence of constant trade, active political control and a large military body keeping the chaos to a minimum.
Most of the big industries in both Koreas are working at minimal output, so labor and resources are at a premium. Note that independent industry exists only in the largest of cities; the big production complexes of the past were captured or destroyed early in the war. The war has not done anything to improve the famine in North Korea, so in many places there, farms are as heavily defended as military bases. Food is always scarce.
In the smaller towns, life is very different than before the war. Most towns are still wrecked or at least partially damaged from the fighting, while others cannot overcome the economic upheaval the invasion caused. The smaller the town though, the more likely a single organization holds it firmly. Most small towns in the North and South have some sort of garrison. Again, life in these places depends on the location; as one approaches the front, towns become more destitute, the population more pestilent. Disease is a very big problem on the peninsula, and garrisons are constantly on the watch against it. This is due to the fact that most of the dead were left unburied during the winter invasion and began to decompose when the snow melted, leading to an immediate outbreak of cholera and a rumored resurgance of black plague. The breakdown of a central medical system and the loss of many public services only fueled the fire. This makes medical supplies and personnel extremely valuable - during the last weeks of "sanctioned" fighting, a fierce mechanized battle near Kaesong was fought over seventeen unclaimed crates of penicillin!
Trade & Economy: Trade is fairly constant in South Korea, often run by independent distributors operating out of large cities. As of 1 Jan 1999, no independent is allowed to launch a trade expedition without a "letter of transportation". Said document is obtained by filling out a whole lot of forms in Seoul, presenting one's credentials, and then paying a hefty sum. Trade runs to frontier towns pay the best; border towns pay premium prices for badly needed goods. Often, a convoy headed north may find itself carrying some exotic (by 2000, ICM shells, say, are pretty exotic) weaponry or ammunition to an army unit, which pays even better. As you may have guessed, running trade without papers constitutes black-marketeering, which is punishable by forfeiture of goods, imprisonment and/or death.
Trade in the North is controlled by the Army. Operating on an almost exclusively barter economy, many Northern towns barely exist on subsistence agriculture, trading mutually needed items with other nearby towns to stay afloat. In other places, starvation is rampant, leaving some towns deserted. Naturally, black-market runs here are brutally suppressed. Generally, the army also oversees vital farming and fishing operations, acting as supervisors and security in exchange for a chunk of the proceeds. As in the South, travel is difficult as many roads are badly damaged, and nature is beginning to take over the already rugged hinterlands. Note that gold is preciously scarce up north but is always accepted as payment.
Marauders: Korea's relatively small size acts as a plus here. Unlike Europe or the United States, where marauders have plenty of places to hide, bands of raiders in Korea are generally small and hit very isolated targets. Few groups are equipped to handle a serious stand up fight. Since most marauders are deserters or desperate refugees, many groups disband and scatter after only a few months in operation to avoid being tracked down and destroyed by local militia.
Refugees: Whenever a new offensive develops, or a new outbreak of disease ravages some township, PCs will encounter large caravans of refugees slowly trudging down the road. These columns will generally be headed away from the front and marching towards the coastlines. Often scared and desperate, refugees should just be avoided unless the PCs are prepared to help them, lest they are accosted by a lot of hungry, sick, scraggly people. It is rare that a refugee column becomes violent, however.
Weather: The wet, humid, flood-warning summers Korea once knew are a thing of the past. "Nuclear Fall" effects Korea just as it does the rest of the world, meaning that things are generally cool and overcast most of the time. There is a period of mixed sun and balmy weather from late June to mid August. The period from November to mid March is Korea's winter, during which time the peninsula is hit with blinding blizzards and daily below-zero temperatures. Towns and cities settle into winter hibernation, since snow fall has been measured at up to 108 inches during this season.
The Map:
When I wrote this adventure, I had a pretty good map drawn out for it, detailing unit locations, points of conflict, nuclear targets, etc. Since I don't have a scanner (and I can't find the map anyway), I'd suggest writing to these fellows for an excellent series of regional maps:
Defense Mapping Agency
Office of Distribution Services
Washington, DC
20315 - 0010
These maps are pretty cheap and are excellent for any campaign in the area.
Getting Involved: What The Hell Are We Doing Here, Anyway?
There are a number of ways the PCs could end up in Korea. They may have landed there by accident or to stop for supplies on the USS Corpus Christi (see The Last Submarine or Boomer). They may be coming out of a recent campaign in Thailand, or may be on a very long march from the Middle East AO.
If your campaign has been a particularly long one, the PCs may even have originated in Europe, with the stop in Korea climaxing a months-long march across the shattered USSR and the ruins of China. Finally, novice PCs may start out the game in Korea as part of the American defense contingent there, or as some of the last reserve troops coming in from Pusan.
Final Note: What To Expect and How To Run It
Korea is an exotic place. To your PCs, the culture will be foreign and the people may be hostile. Usually, townsfolk won't show their true allegiance until it's too late. The terrain is ruined and swampy in some places, frozen in others. The enemy will constantly by popping up where he is least expected, and when discovered by the PCs, he will either turn tail and disappear or dig in and call for help. The climate will be monotonously cool and dry when it's not blindingly cold. People in the countryside will be desperate and destitute, while rich bureaucrats, officers and merchants will rule the cities. (See "Bangkok: Cesspool of the Orient" for a similar situation.)
Both North and South Korea are tired of the war and just want to settle down to rebuild. Most of the people on both sides of the line who started the war are long dead, the majority of them killed in the nuclear strikes. Those few who are left either control fringe elements of their respective governments, or are simply ignored. Within the next 10 years, it is hoped that the Korean peninsula can begin a steady recovery from this disaster. However, the border issue is still unsettled, since old grudges die hard, it remains to be seen if these unfriendly neighbors will once again scrap.
Most Allied forces, meanwhile, would like to go home. Transports often travel to and from Pusan at irregular intervals to the US and a host of other destinations. The local brass know this, and a slow evacuation is being considered, though there is still much to do. Until the ROK is on their feet and the threat of war is clearly suppressed some loyal officers in the Korean AO do not feel their job is done. Others, aware of the poor situation back home (since the US and UK have come so utterly apart at the seams), are unsure if they want to leave Korea right now. Whether they can convince their troops of this or not is another story. With luck, however, the order to evacuate might come by the spring of 2001. Needless to say, your PCs will probably want to be there when it does.
Running Korean Campaigns for Merc: 2000:
Korea is in considerably better shape in this alternate world. The nation is unified as one, with Seoul as its capital. The people are also very unified, and there is a strong feeling of national identity. Both armies were scaled down greatly after the unification, and all troops wear new standardized uniforms as of 1 Dec 1998.
Korea is weathering the worldwide depression well, but street violence, organized crime influence, student unrest, and a growing drug trade are taking their toll. The unification has not been an easy one; many social problems still exist in the northern regions. With the UN allowed to fully intervene, the famine has temporarily abated, but problems still remain, similar to the troubles experienced in Germany after their reunification.
The government is hiring for a variety of missions against minor insurgents, criminal bases of operation, and drug-producing facilities. Missions are also available against (rare) warlord incursions from the fragmented mess that was China. The USDEA, meanwhile, has an active office in Pyongyang(!), which is constantly hiring mercs for runs against drug facilities and personnel across Asia. The CIA often plans missions against the yakuza, Chinese warlords, and minor insurgents in Japan, mainland China, and elsewhere in Asia.
Overall, Southeast Asia is in about the same shape as it is today (see "Merc: 2000" for the full story), with one major exception: China is no longer a single entity, having been divided amongst a number of warlords and petty bureaucrats with muscle. Very few still pretend to follow any particular ideology; life in regions ruled by those who do tends to be hellish. Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul and Bangkok are the major merc hiring halls in the area. These modern, ever-expanding cities are dirty, sprawling, and rollicking at night, with an abundance of vices and villains to keep the PCs busy on and off the job.
Back to Twilight: 2000 expansions
© 1997 grimacePCH@aol.com
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