The very next day, just as he had expected, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo contacted Seok-won to say the government had accepted his proposal.
It was only natural. No matter how they looked at it, the offer was all benefit with no downside for the government.
After formally signing a contract with the government, Seok-won immediately paid $200 million in advance and took delivery of the 20 tons of gold that had been collected so far.
Then, without delay, he boarded a helicopter with his executive secretary, Han Ji-sung, and
headed down to Busan.
Amid the loud whir of the rotors, Seok-won, wearing black sunglasses, leaned deeply into his seat, resting his chin on one hand as he looked out through the rounded windscreen.
Under a cloudless, clear blue sky, the deep-blue sea came into view in the distance, along with a densely packed cityscape of large and small buildings.
At that moment, the voice of the pilot came through the headset he was wearing.
[The mountain on the right is Hwangnyeongsan.]
Looking up, Seok-won saw a tall mountain rising in the middle of the city.
Flanked by two peaks, each over 400 meters high, the ridgeline stretched out wide, making it feel like an island floating alone within the urban sprawl.
The helicopter made a wide arc toward Hwangnyeongsan and began to descend slowly. As it landed on the large training ground of a civil servant education center nestled at the mountain's base, clouds of dust swirled around.
The rotors above gradually slowed, and Seok-won opened the side door and stepped out.
At the same time, a middle-aged man with a slightly plump build came running over with two
others, shielding his head with one hand from the downdraft and keeping his body slightly
hunched forward.
"Are you President Park Seok-won?"
"I am."
Wearing a cashmere coat and sunglasses, Seok-won gave a slight nod.
The middle-aged man gave a polite bow and said respectfully,
"Welcome. I'm Jeong Jun-yeop, the director of this facility."
"Pleasure to meet you."
Seok-won extended a hand, and Director Jeong bent at the waist as he accepted the handshake.
"I'd like to check the bunker first—would you show me the way?"
"Ah, yes. Please follow me."
Led by Director Jeong, they crossed the training ground and circled behind the four-story
education center building. There, embedded into the side of the mountain, a large steel door
painted in red came into view.
"This is the Gwang-an-dong bunker."
Seok-won removed his sunglasses and tucked them into the inner pocket of his jacket. Then he looked up at the massive steel door—large enough to let a full-sized dump truck pass through with ease.
Turning toward Director Jeong standing beside him, he asked,
"It seems very well maintained."
"It was built 25 years ago, so it's been around a while, but since it's used as a command post
during the annual Eulji exercises, we've been regularly maintaining it."
Director Jeong glanced at the bunker's thick concrete entrance with a slightly regretful expression as he added,
"A new, state-of-the-art Chungmu facility was built inside the new city hall complex this year, so this one is no longer in official use."
"Chungmu facilities" referred to classified military installations built across the country in
preparation for war.
The Gwang-an-dong bunker had been constructed with the idea that, in the event North Korean forces invaded and Seoul fell, the President and military high command would need a place to establish an emergency command center. As such, it was built on a massive scale.
At Director Jeong's signal, a younger government employee stepped forward with a key and unlocked a padlock nearly the size of a child's head.
Grabbing both sides of the double-door structure, he and another worker pushed with
considerable effort.
The doors were a full 40 centimeters thick and nearly 8 meters tall. It took two people to pry them open.
With a heavy creak, the steel doors finally gave way, revealing a hidden gray concrete tunnel
within.
"The entire mountain is composed of solid rock, and as you can see, the thick steel doors and
reinforced concrete structure make this bunker capable of withstanding most conventional bombardments."
His tone held subtle pride, and Seok-won nodded in acknowledgment.
"It certainly looks solid."
"Well then, let's head inside."
At Director Jeong Jun-yeop's signal, Seok-won began walking.
Han Ji-sung and the others followed close behind, heading into the tunnel.
One of the civil servants opened a silver electrical panel mounted on the left wall and flipped a switch. Lights installed at regular intervals flickered on, brightly illuminating the interior.
Looking up at the ceiling, Seok-won saw several thick pipes—each painted in different colors for easy distinction—firmly fixed and running deep into the passage.
As they slowly walked through the corridor, Director Jeong explained the bunker's specifications in detail.
"The passage is 3.4 meters wide and nearly 4 meters tall. It can accommodate not just trucks, but also armored vehicles with no issue."
"And what's the total interior area?"
"It's approximately 4,330 square meters, which is around 1,300 pyeong."
"That's quite spacious."
"Well, it was originally designed as a command post for the president, government, and military leadership in case of emergency. If used only for evacuation, it can hold up to 5,000 people."
Considering it was meant to house the wartime command headquarters, there would've been
hundreds of security personnel, so the scale made sense.
"The main corridor alone, shaped like a lowercase 'h,' stretches over 270 meters."
After walking for a while, a large steel door appeared on the left—big enough for several people to walk through side by side.
"What's that?"
Raising one arm, Seok-won pointed at the door. Director Jeong nodded with an "ah" as he replied.
"That's an emergency exit leading to the middle of the mountain. There are thousands of steps, so you'd have to be fully prepared to climb it."
"Wouldn't a passage connected to the outside pose a security risk?"
Seok-won asked, slightly narrowing his eyes.
Director Jeong answered with a confident smile.
"There are several surveillance cameras installed, and more importantly, there are five of those thick steel doors along the way—strong enough to withstand an explosion. It's practically impossible for an intruder to sneak in."
Despite the confident reply, Seok-won's expression remained serious.
"There's no reason to leave a potential risk unchecked. If we end up using this place, make a note to completely seal off the emergency exit."
"Yes, sir."
Han Ji-sung, who had been following behind, jotted the instructions into his leather-bound
planner.
What on earth is he planning to use this bunker for, being this meticulous?
A bit of curiosity stirred in Director Jeong Jun-yeop's mind, but since it wasn't his place to
question, he just pretended not to notice and moved on.
As Seok-won began walking again, Director Jeong immediately stepped up beside him and
continued explaining.
"As you can see, on either side of the central corridor are conference rooms, restrooms, and
various rooms for the occupants to stay in. And in the middle of the tunnel, where the hallway branches in both directions, there's a large dining hall, kitchen, showers, and storage facilities."
The dining hall, kitchen, and showers were all large enough to accommodate hundreds of people at once.
"We call this area the central square. There are so many rooms of different sizes, and the layout is so complex that anyone unfamiliar with it is likely to get lost."
As he listened and slowly took in the space, Seok-won commented,
"Being an underground tunnel, I would've expected a lot of moisture, condensation, or even mold, but I don't see any signs of that."
"There are ventilation shafts installed throughout, and the drainage system is very well-built, so there's no need to worry about those things. On top of that, even without any separate heating or cooling systems running, the bunker maintains a constant year-round average temperature of 11.9°C. It's cool like an air-conditioned room in summer and warm enough in winter."
Indeed, though the weather outside was freezing below zero, the inside of the bunker felt just
slightly chilly—nothing more.
And as initially explained, it had clearly undergone regular maintenance. Though the bunker had been built 25 years ago, the arched ceilings and walls didn't show even minor cracks; everything was clean and intact.
Seok-won slowly continued his inspection, clearly satisfied.
The place was so massive that even skipping most of the smaller rooms and walking straight
through still took over an hour to reach the innermost section.
One room at the very end was especially large, resembling an auditorium or conference hall. A central stage stood at the front, and tiered seating fanned out from it. Behind the seating area was a small projection booth with a window.
Standing with both hands on his hips, Seok-won scanned the auditorium and imagined installing a massive vault here, upgrading the security systems, and filling it with hundreds of tons of gold collected through the nationwide gold collection drive.
He imagined the room—larger than three combined classrooms—packed to the brim with gold bars, gleaming yellow under the lights, and found a deep smile naturally forming on his lips.
"I'll make my own Fort Knox right here."
Fort Knox, located in southern Louisville, Kentucky, is a U.S. Army base famous for housing the United States Bullion Depository, which stores the country's gold reserves.
It held a staggering 8,133 tons of gold, of which 2,200 tons belonged to the U.S. federal
government, and the rest had been entrusted by central banks from other countries, including
Germany.
Though this wouldn't compare to that colossal scale, Seok-won was planning to store 227 tons— more than what the Bank of Korea held—so calling it a "mini Fort Knox" wouldn't be far off.
Nodding slightly to himself, Seok-won turned to Han Ji-sung, who stood ready with his planner.
"I like it. Contact the Deputy Prime Minister's office and let them know I've decided on this
place."
"Understood."
"And before we start moving anything, we'll need to do a major renovation to suit the new purpose. Find the best contractor available."
"Yes, sir."
Seok-won rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then gave an additional instruction.
"Using this space as-is wouldn't be bad, but for enhanced security, have it redesigned so that we excavate another 30 to 40 meters deeper and build the vault there."
"Yes, sir."
Han Ji-sung diligently jotted down the flood of instructions into his planner.
Then, Seok-won turned and looked at Director Jeong Jun-yeop, who was standing off to the side.
"What's the land area of the civil servant training center outside?"
"Hmm... including the neighboring site of the Institute of Health and Environment, it should be roughly around 8,000 square meters."
"If we want to utilize this properly, we'll need to take over the civil servant training center as
well. Could you contact City Hall and check if we can meet with the mayor right away?"
"Right now, sir?"
Director Jeong replied with a troubled expression.
"If it's difficult to call directly, we can go through the Deputy Prime Minister's office and have them arrange it."
As Seok-won casually mentioned the name of Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo—a figure
towering in authority—Director Jeong's expression stiffened. But then, as if backtracking, he quickly waved his hand.
"N-no, that won't be necessary. I'll make the call right away."
Satisfied, Seok-won lifted his chin slightly in approval.
"Then I think we've seen everything we needed. Let's head out."
"Yes, this way please."
Director Jeong hurriedly led the way.
Before following, Seok-won gave one final glance around the auditorium that would soon
become the vault, then quietly turned around.