Epidemic at the Land of the Morning Calm - Expanded TL of Seoul Station and Train To Busan

the KZ virus is therefore from the Human Hand?

In the movie, it was implied to be an accident from a corporation called BioTech. The main character's (the father of Su-an) firm is said to have saved BioTech from bankruptcy based on his phone call in the train from an associate in Busan but is assured they have no hand in the epidemic. Other than that, the entire thing is open to interpretation.

The conspiracy theories behind the breakout of the virus are going to be numerous ITTL...

Theories would range from a CIA plot, a North Korean plot (unlikely), a test for brand new vaccines, a twisted sales pitch for bioterrorists, to even Trump being responsible for it to make him win the election. I would be making a separate post regarding this.
 
Attention fans!

The LADBible announced yesterday that there will be a sequel for Train to Busan named under the title Peninsula. Judging by the name, looks like the virus would spread throughout the entire Korea. I'm assuming the North would be involved in some manner possibly using a ground invasion or a limited nuclear attack on some cities in South Korea.

Looks like they are going the way of Second Korean War here.

http://www.ladbible.com/news/film-a...uster-train-to-busan-confirms-sequel-20180814
 
Overview Timeline
This overview Timeline would give the reader a summary of the events that occurred here.

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Pre-POD
January 2, 2016

- American student Otto Warmbier is detained in Pyongyang, North Korea for allegedly stealing a propaganda banner.

January 6, 2016

- North Korea conducts its fourth nuclear detonation.

February 7, 2016
- North Korea launches the Kwangmyongsong-4 (KMS-4) satellite into orbit via a ballistic missile. The international community condemns the launch.

March 2, 2016
- The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 2270 on 2 March, condemning the nuclear test and rocket launch by North Korea and imposing sanctions on it.

March 11-15, 2016
- 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Seoul.

March 21, 2016
- President Obama lands in Cuba for a meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since 1928.

March 22, 2016
- Suicide bombings at Brussels Zaventem airport and Maalbeek metro station kill 35 people and injure 300 more.

April 2, 2016
- Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani military in Nagorno-Karabakh kill at least 193 people, which becomes the heaviest breach of the 1994 ceasefire.

April 13, 2016
- South Korean legislative election, 2016.

May 9, 2016
- Philippine General Elections. Rodrigo Duterte wins the Presidential Elections.

May 20, 2016
- Tsai Ing-wen is sworn in as the 14th President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

June 12, 2016
- Gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State opens fire at gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49, injuring 53.

June 23, 2016
- The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union.

June 28, 2016
- ISIL is suspected to be responsible for attacking Atatürk Airport inIstanbul, killing 45 and injuring around 230.

June 30, 2016
- Rodrigo R. Duterte is inaugurated as the 16th President of the Philippines

July 6, 2016
- The app Pokémon Go is released on smartphones, breaking numerous records in terms of sales and revenue.

July 12, 2016
- The Philippines wins the arbitration case they filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the legality of China's "Nine-Dash Line" claim over the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

July 14, 2016
- An Islamic terrorist truck attack in Nice, France kills 86 people during the Bastille Day celebrations.

July 15-16, 2016
- In Turkey, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized themselves as the Peace at Home Council,unsuccessfully stages a coup against the state institutions, resulting in the deaths of at least two hundred and forty and the triggering of a series of unprecedented purges throughout the country.

July 20, 2016 (Point of Divergence)
Note: Time is Korean Standard Time
- Accident at Bio-Tech corporation releases a biochemical agent that managed to infect a dog that was already infected with rabies.
- Sunset: A homeless old man is bitten by the infected dog but promptly kills it. He asks for help but is ignored by passerby's.
- 8:00 PM: Old man turns into an Infected, becomes "Patient Zero" of the virus. He infects roughly 25 people who continue to infect more as many of Seoul's citizens. Infected grows to around 50 people at the Seoul Station district and continue to increase. Police receive numerous calls of rioting and disturbance. Many of the first responders are infected trying to treat the wounded. Riot police is called in which temporarily holds the Infected at bay.
- 11:00 PM: Infected grows to around 300-500 individuals at the past three hours. Blue House informed of the incident. Police construct a temporary barricade in an attempt to quarantine the infected.


July 21, 2016
- 12:00 MN: Barricade begins to give way to the infected.
- 1:00 AM: Third ROK Army deployed to Seoul, authorized to use deadly force agains the Infected. Infected breach the barricade 15 minutes later and spread the infection from Seoul. Surprisingly, the U.S. Army Group in Yongsan Garrison goes on alert and places the entire base on lockdown while barricades are set up. More victims fall to the infection for the next three hours.
- 4:00 AM: Infected individuals reach Incheon, spreading the infection there and the towns between Seoul.
- 5:00 AM: The last KTX train leaves Seoul as no cancellation of travel was issued.
- 6:00-8:00 AM: The virus overruns Songnam, Anyang, Puchon, Goyang, and surrounding towns. Incheon is added to the list. The U.S. bases of Camp Casey, Dodge, and Red Cloud are overrun. News of the deaths of American soldiers in Korea reach the Pentagon and the White House. A stowaway infected in the KTX Train spreads to the infection among the cars before the remaining survivors quarantine the breached cars.
- 10:00 AM: President Park Gyun-hye and cabinet evacuated to Busan after the Blue House falls to the Infected. Busan is declared the temporary capital of South Korea. ROK Armed Forces and U.S. Forces Korea reinforce the roads and tunnels into Busan, dubbed as the Second Pusan Perimeter. Other safe-zones are established around the southern tip of the peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands nearby.
- 11:00 AM: Taejon is fortified. Once the Infected reach the city, the ROK Army and the police put up a great fight.
- 1:00 PM: Taejon falls to the Infected.
- 1:45 PM: The KTX train arrives in Taejon, unaware the city has fallen to the Infected. Upon learning the bad news, it is already too late. Infected police and soldiers immediately pounce on the survivors, adding more to the horde. The number of survivors on the KTX decline as other are forced to be left behind.
- 3:00 PM: China, Russia, Japan, and Taiwan mobilize their military just as a precaution. PLA Shenyang Military district placed on high alert. Russian Ground Forces are amassed on the Russo-Korean border in Vladivostok, alongside with a destroyer and a Kirov-class battle cruiser.
- 3:35 PM: Kim Jong-un calls for an emergency meeting on how to discuss a potential North Korean invasion of the South as they were distracted with the viral outbreak.
At this time, most of the international media was already reporting about the outbreak. The topic becomes trending in social media.
- 5:00 PM: 1,300,000 refugees make it to the Busan Perimeter. A pregnant woman and a child are rescued by ROK Army defenders in one of the tunnels. Upon medical examination and questioning, they reveal their names as Seong-kyeong and Su-an respectively. They testify being the two survivors of the last KTX that left Seoul at dawn as well as their encounters with the infected. Both are then transferred to Jeju Island sa Seong-kyeong's baby was to be delivered in a month.
- 8:00 PM: The U.S. Pacific Fleet on the orders of the Pentagon deploy the RIMPAC Forces present in Hawaii to sail towards the Korean Peninsula to provide military and humanitarian assistance to South Korea. Various countries around the world issue travel bans to South Korea while advisories are enacted upon neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
- 8:30 PM: Kim Jong-un calls for a meeting with North Korean scientists on how to weaponize the virus for future attacks in South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, the North Korean-state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) broadcasts about "reunification" and "eradicating the infected on a sea of fire."

July 22, 2016
- Midnight: Front lines of the infection have stabilized. JSA and DMZ still free from infected.
- CDC and WHO named the virus as the "K-Z Virus", a short name for the "Korean Zombie Virus" due to similarities shared by the infected from the horror pop-culture genre.
- 9:00 PM (9:00 AM NYC time): United Nations Emergency session held declaring a quarantine of the Korean Peninsula. All non-essential flights and vessels prohibited to land or to dock. Only military vessels and planes plus essential civilian transport craft are allowed to travel between safe-zones.

July 23, 2016
- Infected showing signs of dormancy when no one is present to infect. USAF, USMC, and ROKAF C-130 transport planes begin dropping supplies to surviving military outposts in the sea of the infected zones.

July 27, 2016
- World economy takes a deep plunge following Brexit, the Turkish coup attempt, and the K-Z Virus Epidemic in South Korea.
- Korean Olympic Committee pulls out both North and South Korean athletes from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Jainero, Brazil.
- Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump (R) speaks in a rally in Toledo, Ohio enforcing why strict border control should be done, making references to the outbreak in South Korea.
- The WHO releases an initial report of the K-Z Virus Epidemic.

August 2016
First Week
- USAF Predator drone and U.S. Navy P-3 Orions make overhead flights over infected territory, noting a decline in Infected activity. Info is then relayed to the ROK Armed Forces that plan to slowly march into Seoul by retaking the towns and cities around it first.


August 5, 2016
- Busan Safe Zone expands 15 km as ROK Armed Forces successfully clear Yarigsan, Kimhae, Chinyong, Hanam, and Kaya of infected.
- Yongsan Garrison is evacuated of U.S. and South Korean soldiers as well as civilian dependents by helicopters coming from the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) and the RIMPAC fleet. It is considered to be the largest helicopter evacuation since the Fall of Saigon in April 30, 1975.
- The Rio de Jainero Summer Olympics opens with large security provided by police and the Brazilian Armed Forces. The U.S. Navy deploys the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the USS Lassen (DDG-82), the USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98) in addition to support ships and freighters from the U.S. Merchant Marine in the event of hasty evacuation of American citizens from Brazil. The United Kingdom deploys the HMS Dauntless (D33) and HMS Bulwark (L15) to the Atlantic for similar reasons. The Falkland Islands Defence Force is activated plus the territories of the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, St. Helena, Tristan de Cunha, and Ascension Island prepares to take in British refugees should an emergency evacuation occur.
- The Korean People's Army begins making plans on how to capture infected and use them as biological weapons for the war with the South.

August 9, 2016
- KPA Special Operations Forces go behind infected lines and capture some Infected specimens. They are then picked up by a KPN Romeo-class submarine with their specimens in tow.

August 12, 2016
- Some specimens break through their confines and infect three KPA soldiers and a dozen of scientists before being put down. The surviving guards and scientists are executed publicly by anti-aircraft guns for their complacency.
- The USAF flies two B-52 bombers and one B-2 Spirit stealth bomber over North Korea to serve as a warning.

August 17, 2016
- 28 days after Day Zero, 90% of the Infected dies of starvation and exposure.

August 27, 2016
- North Korea tests five ballistic missiles over the Sea of Japan and makes threats of bombing infected South Korean cities. Panic hits the Busan Safe-Zone as the possibility of war breaks out.
- USS Fort Worth (LCS-2) docks in Cebu City, Philippines before proceeding to support the RIMPAC fleet in Korea.

September 2, 2016
- North Korean artillery bombards Seoul followed by a rocket barraged by the KPAAF, killing 25,000 survivors still holed up. KPA Ground Forces cross the 38th Parallel and overrun the DMZ. The Second Korean War begins.
- U.S. and South Korean fighter jets establish air superiority over the peninsula.
- RIMPAC fleet establish naval superiority in the waters near Korea, scoring several kills on the KPN. A Romeo-class submarine is captured by a joint-operation from different warships namely the HMCS Calgary (FFH 335), HMNZS Te Kaha (F77), and the Chilean Navy's Almirante Cochrane (FF 05) while the JS Kirishima (DDG-174) sinks a Sang-o class submarine.
- More PLA troops and armor are stationed across the Sino-Korean border.
- NORAD on alert monitoring for possible North Korean nuclear missiles hitting the CONUS.
- B-52s, B-2s, and B-1 Lancers take off to bomb North Korean military positions north of Seoul.

September 3, 2016
- KPA enters Seoul but encounters thousands of still active Infected that did not perish in the strikes. While they initially engage them in a heavy firefight, several KPA soldiers are infected and attack their comrades. A retreat is ordered while Kim Jong-un orders the KPA to reinforce the DMZ to "fight the infected to the death."
- The USAF intercontinental bombers bomb KPA positions north of Seoul along with a horde of infected following the trail of the retreating KPA.
- Disgruntled elements of the DPRK government begin secret negotiations with the Chinese to arrest Kim Jong-un. Chinese forces begin mobilizing for an invasion of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
- Indian cruise missiles known as the BrahMos is first tested in combat, fired from the INS Satpura of the Indian Navy on KPA positions.
- North Korean nuclear missiles are readied for launch while Infected specimens are placed on Il-28 bombers, An-12 biplanes, and Romeo-class submarines to be dropped on South Korea and Japan.


September 4, 2016
- All planes carrying the Infected were shot down by U.S. and South Korean F-15s and F-16s. One plane was able to drop its Infected via parachute but were all killed by South Korean UDT special forces. News of the North Koreans using Infected as weapons causes worldwide outrage.
- The JS Hyūga (DDH-81) helicopter destroyer sinks the submarine carrying Infected specimens.
- The Japanese Diet leads a serious discussion of temporarily revoking Article 9 following an attempted North Korean biological attack on Japan. It was determined that the JSDF should continue supporting their allies in bringing the down the Kim regime.
- 11:30 PM: North Korea fires a nuclear weapon on the town of Paju as the Infected horde from Seoul reaches there. This was the first time a nuclear weapon was used in warfare since the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The nuclear attack shocks the world.

September 5, 2016
- Midnight: The PLA storms the North Korean border and surrounds the Presidential palace. The coup plotters then arrest Kim Jong-un while a civilian government takes over. A ceasefire is declared while talks of reunification are put in the table.

October 2016
- 99% of Infected die of starvation, exposure, and radiation poisoning.
- U.S. and ROK forces enter Seoul for the first time. Cleaning up and rehabilitation begins.

November 4, 2016
- The provisional DPRK government releases two American citizens detained in Pyongyang, including student Otto Warmbrier, following an agreement.

November 8, 2016
- Donald J. Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections with a larger turnout. Riots erupt across many cities in America as many millennials express dissatisfaction with the results.

December 14, 2016
- Investigators trace the source of the K-Z Virus to an accidental leak from the BioTech Corporation. Just as authorities were about to apprehend the CEO of the corporation, it was discovered he had committed suicide by hanging. The corporation is then seized by the South Korean government.

January 20, 2017
- Donald J. Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. Thousands are arrested for civil disturbance since U.S. authorities increased security not taking chances of an outbreak. One of his first acts in office was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, impose a 90-day entry ban from individuals coming from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and to continue the UN-led humanitarian efforts to rebuild the Korean Peninsula.

February-March 2017
- Clinical tests of the K-Z Virus Vaccine begin.

April 10, 2017
- The vaccine is declared safe and is distributed to the world.

November 11, 2017
- Kim Jong-un tried for crimes against humanity in addition to the use of a nuclear weapon. He temporarily stays in a Hague prison before being transferred.

March 3, 2018
- Kim Jong-un is returned to the Republic of Korea where he is executed by firing squad in public. The Kim Dynasty comes to an end. Civilian discussions between ROK and the DPRK continue in regards to reunification.

August 2018 (Present Day)
- Estimated deaths from the 2016 epidemic and the Second Korean War puts it at approximately 7 million people.
- DPRK citizens get a taste of democracy for the first time, albiet heavily based on the desires of Beijing.
- Talks of reunification continue between the ROK and DPRK though the radiated ruins of Paju continue to hamper the efforts.
 
who is current korean president?

South Korea is still Park Gyeun-hye as the outbreak would have delayed her political scandal for a few more years to be discovered.

For North Korea, I need to do my homework who is a more moderate leader that the PRC chose over to administer the provisional government.
 
South Korea is still Park Gyeun-hye as the outbreak would have delayed her political scandal for a few more years to be discovered
Still.. South korean Presidential Election was supposed to be in December 2017, without the impeachment. The president-elect would have been inaugurated in Feburary 2018.
 
Still.. Presidential Election was supposed to be in December 2017, without the impeachment. The president-elect would have been inaugurated in Feburary 2018.

Thanks for correcting me. I will have to do my homework who will be the President for South Korea. I'm not sure it will be Moon Jae-in or another candidate.
 
Second Korean War 2 year anniversary
Today marks the second year anniversary of the Second Korean War, which broke out two months after the K-Z Virus Epidemic in South Korea. Ever since the outbreak, North Korea had been itching for war and even attempted to use the Infected as biological weapons as a revenge weapon.

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Pic: North Korean Artillery firing on Seoul.
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MLRS added to the artillery barage.
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KPA soldiers in the JSA.​

The war began with North Korea launching missiles and artillery strikes at Seoul, pulverizing much of the abandoned city full of dying Infected and survivors still wholed up in their homes. This was followed by a ground invasion using the massive numbers of the Korean People's Army. The defenders of the JSA and the DMZ were overwhelmed as nothing could stop the North Korean advance. However, the superior air forces and naval powers of the RIMPAC fleet devastated the KPAAF and KPN.

To Kim Jong-un's dismay however, taking Seoul was not as easy as it seemed. Upon entering the ruined city, there were still several active Infected which attacked the KPA. Through superior fire power, the KPA initially held on their own but more and more Infected arrive, aided by safe houses breached by the artillery attack. By mid-day, the KPA were ordered to withdraw from Seoul back into the DMZ where they attempted to hold the line from the Infected reaching the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

As the horde approached on the 3rd of September, the USAF bombed several KPA and Infected north of Seoul using B-52s, B-1 Lancer, and B-2 Spirits. Yet, many Infected still kept going. A delusional Kim Jong-un then ordered a nuclear attack on the South Korean town of Paju as the Infected reached there. It was the first time a nuclear weapon was used in war since 1945 which sent outrage and shock throughout the world.
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Effect of the nuclear attack on Paju and fall out.
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Wider map of the fall out pattern as a result of the nuclear attack on Paju.​

Unknown to Kim, some disgruntled elements of the North Korean government had been in secret meetings with the People's Republic of China, whom have grown extremely concerned of the plague spilling over from the Korean Peninsula. Just before midnight, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) stormed the Sino-Korean border and disposed of the Kim government. A civilian government took over and immediately called for a ceasefire and Kim was arrested as a war criminal (and later executed by the ROK for his crimes against humanity). Another series of reconstruction began with much of the UN focusing on rebuilding the Korean peninsula as the last of the Infected perished before 2017 as the vaccine was finally developed and distributed the following year.
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Soldiers and tanks of the People's Liberation Army cross into North Korea​

Today, both the ROK and DPRK Provisional Governments are in talks on how to move forward. Tensions and distrust remain high, but as time passed, both sides are closer to getting a common ground. Though the irradiated ruins of Paju remain an obstacle, talks of reunification are currently ongoing and expected to reach to 2021.
 
Conspiracy Theories
The outbreak of the K-Z Virus on the night of July 20, 2016 was met with both hysteria and shock through much of the international community. The news of a zombie-like virus seemed unbelievable at first until more and more videos of "rioters" attacking both citizens and police made it all to real. However, thanks to the zombie pop-culture started by George Romero in 1968, revived by Danny Boyle in 2002 with 28 Days Later, and made into a survival guide by Max Brooks in 2003, some Doomsday preppers finally thought it was the time of their lives. Pop-culture actually played a big role in the preparation for minimizing the spread, thanks to numerous video games and the fame of the TV series The Walking Dead.

Across the United States, sales of guns, supplies, and survival gear incredibly skyrocketed just 12 hours into the outbreak. Various counties as far as Southeast Asia, Oceania, Europe, and South America began mobilizing their armies and setting up possible retreat points if an outbreak occurred. Despite the fast spread of the virus which covered roughy 90% of South Korean territory in just 24 hours, it also meant that the outbreak would be contained there. Bites were impossible to hide as victims would turn in 10-12 seconds. Plus, it would be impossible for the virus to spread beyond land territory, as it would meant the Infected could only reach the victim within running distance. This comes in addition to the fact that the Infected were still technically alive and hence could be prone to damage or injury that would harm a human. Perhaps humanity's greatest blessing was the fact the Infected could neither swim or walk on the bottom of the seafloor or a river; any that tried to cross was seen helplessly flailing around until they drowned. This is one of the reasons why the virus was only contained within Korea.

Yet, as the virus stabilized and the South Koreans backed by the U.S. and their allies were slowly retaking the peninsula, theories began spinning wild among who or what was the cause of the outbreak. Theories included a North Korean attack as a pretext to an invasion (see below), an accident at a laboratory, mutation of the rabies virus, a U.S. government false flag operation, ISIS obtaining a secret weapon and using it on an unlikely location, Donald Trump's (then a Presidential candidate) ticket to the White House, and lastly, a space-borne alien virus. As absurd as it might sound, some of the theories did coincidentally almost become true.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea planned for a "liberation campaign" to their brothers in the South, promising to "rid the filth" from the "capitalistic and imperialistic" disease plaguing them. Though Kim Jong-un knew the virus originated from Seoul, it was chance to put the blame of the United States and their "warmongering" policies. Even worse was the fact he had ordered the Korean People's Army to capture Infected specimens to use as bioweapons in causing a distraction within the Busan Safe Zone in addition to various U.S. military bases in Japan plus several Japanese major cities. From there, his KPA would come past thundering the DMZ and bring reunification to the Korean Peninsula once and for all. Unfortunately, his plan would fall apart as majority of the U.S. and its allies easiy defeated his invasion forces while his biological attack plans were foiled by Korean UDT Special Forces. Even worse was the world now blamed Kim and his regime for starting the outbreak as the evidence was nearly undeniable. Because of Kim's madness and the risk of the virus spreading into Russia and China, disgruntled elements of the DPRK staged a coup backed by the People's Liberation Army which arrested Kim and replaced him with a civilian government which sued for peace on the 3rd day of the Second Korean War.

Politically, other theories include a deliberate attempt by then-President Park Gyun-hye in trying to hide the allegations of corruption with her administration. While these were brought to light by early 2016, the outbreak had to postpone the investigation until the country stabilized (after all, what good would a country be without a leader?). As of 2018, former President Park is still being investigated in relations to the accusations.

For Trump, the outbreak did ensure he had a clear ticket to the White House in November 2016 elections. His margin was larger than expected, definitely squashing any resistance Hillary Clinton posed. The larger turnout was mainly caused by the fear of illegal immigrants bringing in the K-Z Virus (or any virus) that would harm national security of the United States. Despite this, thousands of liberals and college millennials still protested against the results, even crying foul despite the electoral collage being in the favor for Trump. As with OTL, riots and shutdowns occurred throughout major cities across the U.S. though this would be dispersed immediately by police and the National Guard who were still on alert in case of a sudden appearance of the K-Z Virus.

Once and for all, it was proven on December 14, 2016 that the virus did indeed come from the Bio-Tech Corporation, a pharmaceutical company based in Seoul. Investigators were able to pinpoint an accident at the testing labs which most likely infected a dog with rabies that caused the virus to mutate before crossing into humans. The CEO was held responsible and warrant of arrest was issued but by the time the police raided his home, he was found to have committed suicide by hanging.

To this day however, many are still not convinced it was an accident and they go on insisting there was a much more sinister motive behind the outbreak.
 
The next chapters will be a press conference interview with Seong-kyeong and Su-An where they detail their journey as they took the last train to Busan as well as 60 Minutes interview two years after the outbreak.
 
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Patient Zero seen in the vicinity of Seoul Station around 6:00 PM, July 20, 2016.
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Riot police engaging initial Infected on the night of July 20, 2016.
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Soldiers of the Republic of Korea Army aim their assault rifles at the police blockade as both Infected and uninfected attempt to scale the walls. July 20-21, 2016 (midnight) AP PHOTO
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The situation of Seoul at 6:00 AM Korean Standard Time, July 21, 2016. This was taken from a plane on a flight from Seoul to San Francisco. The one who took this photo, an American tourist, states: "I was on the airport when I heard riots were occurring downtown. I was not really scared since the airport was far from where the situation was. However, when heavily armed SWAT police and some soldiers wielding assault rifles came in the terminal on the lookout for some "Infected", I knew the situation was bad. Talks were about Infected, kinda like zombies. I never believed in the zombie thing but there was a media blackout the whole time I was there. When the plane took off just as the sun rose, I saw how Seoul was like. I could see traffic jams, people running everywhere, muzzle flashes from soldiers and police shooting the Infected, and pillars of smoke rising like tendrils to the sky. I then took this photo, which would then be shared on social media for the next hours to come. I felt really lucky to have gotten out of Seoul just before the situation spread throughout nearly the entire South Korea.​
 
60 Minutes Interview with Seong-kyeong (Part 1)
Steve Kroft: Today, I am here in Jeju Island interviewing a survivor from the last train that left Seoul on the day of the outbreak. Her name is Seong-kyeong. She will share her experience on the what is known to media as "The Train to Busan." So Mrs. Seong-kyeong, if you please?

[A translator appears, ready to translate the Korean woman's sentences].

Seong-kyeong: It was dawn on July 20th. I was traveling with my *pauses* my late husband. His name was Sang-hwa. He was buff and practitioner of MMA. On that dawn, my husband and I were on the KTX Train bound for Busan. There were many of us in the train, including two elderly sisters, a baseball varsity team, a smug businessman, and a father and a child. At this time, we were unaware was occuring outside in Seoul, as the media was silent. We did not know the gumiho [monsters] were outside lurking the streets.

Steve Kroft: So that dawn, no one knew the outbreak has been ongoing for the past six hours?

Seong-kyeong: Not a clue. The only thing I saw were some firetrucks and ambulances rushing to some sort of accident. We really did not have a clue. The only thing my husband and I were concerned at that time was my then-unborn child, since I was in the eight month of pregnancy. Continuing, it took around an hour or so as the train was already heading to the next station in Daejon. There was some form of commotion at the back. It appeared that the passengers where fighting among each other. Sensing danger, Sang-hwa took me by the hand and handled me to the next car. However, one of the businessmen I saw earlier closed the door before we could go in due to the panic though he did open it later. I saw my husband punch of the rioters in the face, sending him back thus buying us time. As we entered, I saw my husband reprimand the businessman who did apologize later. We were then trying to barricade the door as the rioters started piling up. There was a strange look on their faces. Their eyes were white and veins were protruding out of their skin. They looked like they were on drugs. However, they did not attempt to open the door, just merely banging it with their fists. The pexiglass was able to hold them. As the man released the knob, the rioters still did not turn the nob. I had some sense of placing newspapers on the door and to my surprise, the rioters stopped pounding on the door.

Steve Kroft: Did you suspect something was wrong with them?

Seong-kyeong: I did. As I said, everyone on the train thought they were high on drugs. It was only later when one of the passengers was viewing the news on his phone when the Health Minister declared something was wrong with the rioters. The scene on the phone showed the rioters attacking people and falling down from helicopters that would normally kill a human being. We all deduced they were infected with some sort of Rabies virus. The train for now was safe, except the cars at the rear that was crawling with the infected. Along the way, we passed by several train stops full of people begging for the train to stop only to be mangled by the infected. The conductor announced that the train will soon make a stop at Daejon station where the police and the military were able to secure the place as a safe-zone. However, by the time we arrived in Daejon, the place had been overrun. The police and the military there all became infected. Many of the commuters died in the stampede back to the the train while some people foolishly released some of the infected into the platform while opening the wrong car. My husband and the businessman he reprimanded earlier barely managed to make it on board.

(To be continued)...
 
@Ukron, want to post your testimony for Train to Busan? I was curious how the French handled the fear of K-Z spreading beyond Korea.

Plus, I won't be able to work on this for a while so everyone feel free. Also, would Moon Jae-in be President as OTL?
 
Great TL, just a few technical issues (that's mostly the movies' fault - you did good, my man):

- the dog seemed to have been infected during the day (IIRC the intro of TTB showed truck drivers and a roadblock when the sun's still up);
- turn time seemed to be under five minutes, so if first Infected case was approx. 2000 hours, there should be more than 500 by 2300 (esp. some of the earlier bite victims might be sent to major hospitals to be treated, which would spread K-Z from there);
- Yongsan is not that far from Seoul Station, I find it unlikely for the garrison to not notice the Infected before 0100;
- from personal experience, Seoul has a rather vibrant nightlife; I feel that a disturbance on this scale would be keenly felt by 0200 at most;
- how are people managing to reach Seoul Station oblivious to what's going on if the first few (tens? hundreds?) of cases were around the station? IIRC Gong Yoo's drive to the station was rather peaceful and ordinary;
- if the Infection had spread as far as Incheon by 0400, situation must've deteriorated to a point where transportation systems are shut down, so how is Seoul Station still open for business?
- the KTX takes 6+ hours to reach Daejeon? Also, does it mean the Infected managed to outrun a HSR train (considering there are undoubtedly barriers of all sorts along the way)?

Marc A

P.S. From the detailed description of your retreat, I thought for a moment the Infection might reach you in the Philippines; thankfully it ain't that kind of story.
 
Great TL, just a few technical issues (that's mostly the movies' fault - you did good, my man):

- the dog seemed to have been infected during the day (IIRC the intro of TTB showed truck drivers and a roadblock when the sun's still up);
- turn time seemed to be under five minutes, so if first Infected case was approx. 2000 hours, there should be more than 500 by 2300 (esp. some of the earlier bite victims might be sent to major hospitals to be treated, which would spread K-Z from there);
- Yongsan is not that far from Seoul Station, I find it unlikely for the garrison to not notice the Infected before 0100;
- from personal experience, Seoul has a rather vibrant nightlife; I feel that a disturbance on this scale would be keenly felt by 0200 at most;
- how are people managing to reach Seoul Station oblivious to what's going on if the first few (tens? hundreds?) of cases were around the station? IIRC Gong Yoo's drive to the station was rather peaceful and ordinary;
- if the Infection had spread as far as Incheon by 0400, situation must've deteriorated to a point where transportation systems are shut down, so how is Seoul Station still open for business?
- the KTX takes 6+ hours to reach Daejeon? Also, does it mean the Infected managed to outrun a HSR train (considering there are undoubtedly barriers of all sorts along the way)?

Marc A

P.S. From the detailed description of your retreat, I thought for a moment the Infection might reach you in the Philippines; thankfully it ain't that kind of story.

Thanks! This was really a challenge to write. I'm glad you like it. Now I'll answer your points one-by-one.
- The dog actually isn't seen in Seoul Station. It is part of the fanfiction material I added here as the old man we saw in the beginning had multiple bite marks. The one we saw in TTB was actually a deer.
- Regarding turn time, in Seoul Station, the film portrayed as somehow empty as people were coming home from work. Yes, that's definitely part of the film's inaccuracies. Plus, this 500 or so bite victims would still probably be in the immediate area.
- Let's just say U.S. Embassy cables were able to alert Yongsan Garrison about the riots ongoing, so they had time to fortify the base.
- It was a Thursday night, sure the nightlife would have been noticed. Yet, the people in the Seoul Station animated feature film were just surprised seeing the ROK Army being deployed to the streets near Seoul Sstation.
- Gong Yoo's arrival into Seoul Station may have implied that the Infected would have moved on to other places. Again, this would put it on a contradiction to the TTB so I just stuck with the film canon. The only thing they saw were fires and first responders going to the scene. Another inconsistency.
- 0400: I would like to correct that the Infection just reach the outskirts. On regards why transportation was not shut down is up to the movie producers.
- There are undoubtedly natural barriers and obstacles in the entire South Korea. Binkhov's Battlegrounds did a scenario where North vs South and the ROK use the mountains to its advantage. Perhaps the writers wanted the movie go to "virus spreads in less than a day" though there is always a possibility of a carrier slipping down the net. Plus we see in the film scattered Infected almost everywhere.

As for my retreat, the virus would have already started to burn itself out. The fast zombies here are alive like the Ragers and the Green Flu Infected. They can't swim or cross bodies of water. The retreat is in the beginning of September 2016 so most of the infected were already dead. * Cue North Korea starting their invasion *
 
What happened to Democratic party of korea? Was it overrun?

More or less since the headquarters was in Seoul. There is 70-30% some of the politicians may have survived elsewhere. As for Moon Jae-in, I'll have to see where he was at the time of the outbreak.
 
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