Episode 40: The Truth Behind Grand Prince Dae-sun

1995, Seoul, South Korea. It has been almost a year since Imperial Prince Tae Hoon’s disappearance. The search for him is still ongoing but, to no avail. The Emperor and Empress has been in depression since that incident but none more so than Empress Haewon herself. But, amidst all that sadness, a new family member has been added to the Imperial Family of Korea with the birth of Grand Prince Dae-sun, son of Prince Dong Hwan and Princess Che-Rin. Celebrations were held around the country once the news was out. Even the Emperor and Empress congratulated the two.

That night, Princess Che-Rin was still in the hospital, recovering. Grand Prince Dae-sun was in the nursery. He was being watched by his father through the nursery’s huge window when someone approached him and told him to come up to the very top of the hospital. The Prince followed the stranger to the rooftop of the hospital to find North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

“And, what are you doing here?! But first of all, how did you even get here?!” asked Prince Dong Hwan furiously.

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is if you will accept the offer we discussed about. You said you will think about it. That was two weeks ago. Your answer. Right now.”

“You do know that my son Dae-sun has been born today. I… I don’t think I could accept that offer anymore. Now go before…”

“I knew that it will eventually come to this. Bring him in.”

At once, a baby’s cry was heard by everyone. Prince Dong Hwan’s eyes widened and when he turned around, a North Korean guard was holding his infant son, Dae-sun in his hands.

“Dae-sun! How dare you! Give him to me! NOW!”

“If I were you, I would shut my mouth. Now then, your answer.”

“How… how dare you use my own son against me! What could you possibly get from me by doing this?!” shouted Prince Dong Hwan.

“Of course. I knew that this would happen.” Kim Jong-il gave a look to the North Korean guard holding the infant Grand Prince. With just one arm holding the baby, he reached for his pocket and showed Prince Dong Hwan… a gun.

“… No… Please… Don’t… hurt… Dae-sun…” Prince Dong Hwan’s eyes started flowing with tears and then, he collapsed on his knees.

“Well then, your answer?” asked the North Korean leader.

“O-okay… I accept your offer… just please… don’t hurt my son… Please…”

“Good then. Good answer. Now, then, retrun the baby to the nursery if you will.”

The North Korean guard nodded and started walking back towards the stairs. Prince Dong Hwan then stood up and was about to follow the guard when Kim Jong-il stopped him.

“Stop right there Your Royal Highness, we’re not finished yet.”

“Wha-what do you mean?” asked the Prince.

“I want you to promise, no wait, to swear to me right now that you will uphold what is in the offer.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You’ll regret it then.” Kim Jong-il then took out a radio phone and said: “Do it, now.” He then raised the phone up in the air and instantly, a baby’s cry was heard by everyone until it ended instantly.

“What what did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?! ANSWER ME!”

“A little disposing so that you follow what’s in the offer.”

“HOW DARE YOU! You do know that I can ask help from…”

“From what Your Highness? The police? The Imperial Guards? The KCIA? The Military? The UN? And then, when they investigate they will know what has transpired here then.”

Prince Dong Hwan was in a tight spot!

“I… I… (with more tears coming from his eyes) Araseo… I accept… I swear to uphold the contents of the offer. I shall work with you to bring about the unification of our country.”

“Good.” An evil smiling Kim Jong-il stands before the kneeling Prince with tears on his eyes.

“NO!!! DAE-SUN!!!” The North Korean guard then went back up and gave the Prince his son’s lifeless body…

After that, an elaborate story was created by Prince Dong Hwan and he told the doctor and nurses serving his wife about it and they carried it out. The story was, Grand Prince Dae-sun died hours after he was conceived by his mother. Princess Che-Rin was so devastated by the news that after coming back to Changdeokgung Palace, she locked herself in her room for two weeks. Afraid of being discovered, Prince Dong Hwan had the doctor and the nurses disposed by his own men, the same men who kidnapped his brother, Emperor Gojo, his wife, Empress Haewon, and their two sons, Crown Prince JoonSe and Imperial Prince Tae Hoon.

But then, what really happened was this. Kim Jong-il planned the whole thing. Knowing that Prince Dong Hwan would probably give the same answers which he thought of and the prince’s newborn son, he had a dummy created, an exact replica of Grand Prince Dae-sun; then, he recorded a baby’s cry and had someone edit it to sound as if it was instantly killed. The cause of death that Prince Dong Hwan knew was, his son’s throat was slit. Now, the replica of his son had slice or mark on his throat that fooled the Prince.  He asked the doctor and nurses to cover it up. The doctor and nurses were fooled too because the creators of the replica used real blood and it just looked so real. The true Grand Prince Dae-sun was brought back to North Korea where he was raised by a South Korean nanny which they kidnapped. Dae-sun grew up in the North while being cared for by his nanny whose name by the way was Yeom Ji-ahn. From her, he learned everything about his real family. When he can think for himself now, he demanded to be returned to his family, a demand which was always ignored. While in the North, they received their basic necessities and even had a TV installed just for them.  But, despite all that, they weren’t allowed to come out. The only time that Dae-sun was able to come out again was when he was brought to Seoul by Kim Jong-un. Ji-ahn wasn’t permitted to come with him.

“And now, you know the truth…” said Kim Jong-un.

After hearing about that, Princess Che-Rin couldn’t take it anymore and so, she slapped her husband very hard.

“YOU FOOL! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU, YOU MONSTER! YOU SELFISH MONSTER! HOW COULD… YOU!”

At Dong Wook’s café…

“That’s it! THAT’S IT! I’ve had enough of this! Prime Minister Jin! Call those military generals still loyal to me now! Even the United Nations! IT’S TIME TO END THIS CRISIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!