Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 191
Chapter 68. mutually beneficial relationship
At Jeonghwan’s words, the other party on the phone, Yu Min-joong, the 15th president of the Republic of Korea, remained silent for a while as if he was contemplating what to start with his first words.
However, despite the confusion, a voice as calm and age-old as Jeonghwan could be heard from the other side.
“Nice to meet you. General Secretary. I think the general secretary will read the newspapers from the South, so you will know, but the atmosphere is half indifferent to the Shanghai terrorist attack by China, and half of the atmosphere is ‘good enough’. Some ignorant people even support bin Laden and Afghan extremists to thank them for killing the Chinese.”
(I thought it was pathetic) Jeonghwan nodded inwardly.
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Now, in the early 2000s, the Chinese threat theory was not yet a full-fledged rise, and for most Koreans, China was still largely unchanged from the image of the ‘Chinese Communist Army’ during the Korean War.In fact, even with North Korea, which was the main enemy at the time, it can be said that it was the Chinese military’s taryeong while receiving a visa and having limited human and material exchanges, but Jeong Hwan knew best that the shock of the Korean War had happened just three years ago.
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Naturally, there were few opinions expressing sympathy for the news that China, which sided with North Korea in the Korean War and called for the 1.4 Retreat, suffered a terrorist attack.“Hmm, well, I don’t really understand how you feel.”
“In my personal opinion, not as president of the Republic of Korea, terrorism against civilians should never be tolerated under any circumstances. Our people’s government also sent condolences to the Shanghai terrorist attack in the name of the government. I do not support China’s war in Afghanistan, though.”
‘Ttt, as expected.’
Hearing the words of Minjoong Yoo, who clearly respects human rights while distinguishing between the government and personal positions, Junghwan shrugged.
In the past three years since the 1998 North-South Grand Agreement, inter-Korean, or inter-Korean relations, the mutual awareness of the people of the two countries has changed faster and more dynamically than ever before, and in fact, it is still changing.
To name a few notable changes, in the case of the South, there were two major changes, the first of which was that South Korea had repaid nearly half of its debt to North Korea over the past three years.
“everyone! Our Republic of Korea is now facing a greater national crisis than ever before! Aren’t the dark, dark, young ambitious North Koreans who are targeting our liberal and democratic system rocking this country with debt! Just like the national debt repayment campaign during the Japanese colonial period, all 40 million people must work together to repay the loan owed to North Korea as soon as possible! Let’s keep democracy! everyone!”
“It came from the 9 o’clock news. Did you say that you gave away all the household items, including the stone ring, for this gold-raising campaign? Can you give me the reason for such a patriotic act?”
“Not out of patriotism, but for the sake of my sons and daughters who are now in elementary school. It is a democracy that has been won with blood, but I hear that if North Korea does not actively break out of this state of being tied to our economy, one day our children may lose their freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and demonstration.”
“… … Among my classmates, there is a guy who got a job cut list during the foreign exchange crisis and was cut off, then moved to North Korea and now runs a Seoul-style bulgogi restaurant in Pyongyang to make a living. What he’s saying is that the neighborhood upstairs has nothing to do with protests or unions.”
“It’s bizarre. therefore?”
“Is that all? It’s a fine if you just murmur complaints to the Workers’ Party of Korea and Kim Jung-hwan while passing by. … But this is not my story. As you can see this time around, if we are still in awe, when our children are around the age of the Goryeo Federation and grandchildren, Kim Jeong-hwan can sing Manse Manse in elementary school.”
“Ah, anyway… … .”
“Honey, don’t you know the story of a man who catches people? Is it a peony or an elk that Kim Jung-hwan is flirting with or is it that most of the shares of Seongsam Electronics are owned by a North Korean state fund? The Goryeo Ilbo says that if this is completely economically viable, it may end without a single bullet being fired!”
‘I didn’t expect it to be this fast. It’s a strange feeling to pay off debt so quickly that your taste buds are bitter. We came closer than the IMF, didn’t we?’
As Jung Hwan recalls, the factor that enabled South Korea to repay the North’s loan at a tremendous speed after the Great Inter-Korean Agreement was the gold-raising movement that took place like a wildfire among the Korean people.
And, from stone rings to wedding gifts and gold teeth in teeth, Korea’s private gold was converted into dollars, and the loan that North Korea lent to Korea was quickly repaid.
The dominant analysis was that this unprecedented speed was largely due to a sense of crisis and anxiety.
In the original history, hostility rapidly decreased as North Korea largely lost its ability to pose an economic and military threat to South Korea through a difficult march. come.
Three years have passed since the 1998 North-South Great Compromise, and the healing wounds of the Korean War have been revived in a different form but vividly, thanks to which North Korea’s influence on Korea has decreased considerably.
And it was the second change that occurred in Korea in the past three years to rise together with the trauma that was revived after half a century.
“Fellow citizens! I would like to inform you that all Saenara Party officials and members of the National Assembly are thrilled with the passionate patriotism that people have shown for their country through this nationwide gold-raising campaign. In that sense, we, members of the National Assembly, will take the lead and lead the movement to reject foreign cars and to cherish, share, and rewrite!”
“However, it is deplorable that President Yu Min-jung of the Blue House does not understand the patriotism of the people who are trying to regain economic sovereignty from North Korea in such a difficult situation! There are even testimonies that President Yu Min-jung privately said that North Korea has reached out to the difficulties of its compatriots, so now is the time to seek a higher level of exchange! If this is not a hint of the unification of red goods and the introduction of the federal system, what would it be?”
The second change was the revival of conservative forces.
When North Korea first attempted reform and opening up and economic development, it was ‘Huh? do you do South Korea’s conservative political regime, which was on the verge of decline due to the belief that it won’t be long?
And at the center of it was Lee Hyun-chang, who skillfully blocked the connection with Kim Jun-pil’s coup attempt and reorganized the conservative political sphere under the name of the Saenara Party as president.
Paradoxically, as North Korea introduced a market economy, it was difficult to say that it was the same as before, but as the military threat was reduced, South Korea’s conservative politicians raised a new banner, centering on the conservative economic powers who came up with the theory of unification by absorption at the beginning of Jeong-hwan’s tenure. He succeeded in recovering perfectly.
And if the banner could be summed up in one word, it was ‘protection of democracy through economic security’.
“Even if there is a justification for fighting terrorism, he does not support war as a solution,” he said. It’s late, but congratulations again.”
“I do not support dictatorship either. In order for the two Koreas to have dialogue in the future, it seems that Secretary-General and I will have to cross a lot of gaps between each other.”
Hearing the faint but clear bones of the pro-democracy fighter who had been fighting for a long time, Jeonghwan quickly turned the direction of the conversation to the direction he wanted.
“Then you don’t support China, do you? It is a place with both dictatorship and war that President Yu Min-jung hates.”
“… … China is a country with a deep history and culture, but it is certainly unfortunate that such a country is now ruled by a tyrannical and totalitarian group like the Communist Party.”
“Fortunately, the. Then you would hate it even more for China to lead your fellow compatriots into an unwanted war. In that sense, I would like to make a mutually beneficial proposal to President Yu Min-jung through this phone call. Of course, it is a top secret, so please keep it a secret.”
“… … ?”
“To tell the truth, there is a request from China to send our People’s Army troops to this war in Afghanistan. But to be honest, I don’t really want to spend much. After all, the Chinese will be on the screen anyway, so what do you mean by sending our soldiers to such a sandy place?”
When Jeonghwan broke his luck, Minjoong Yu on the other side of the phone remained silent once again.
And then, when he opened his mouth again, there was a slight disappointment and anger in his voice, unlike before.
“… … So, what the General Secretary is saying is that we ask the Republic of Korea to create an excuse for rejecting the alliance’s uncomfortable proposal. What do you want? Are you saying that we should fire even Hyunmoo missiles from the ceasefire line?”
“I mean, it’s like that.”
“Then what will the Republic of Korea gain from the proposal of the General Secretary? As I say in advance, just like General Secretary-nim, we will firmly reject the request to stand by the folding screen. If you’re going to threaten us with a loan, we’ll pay you back right away, even if the government pays the National Assembly for next year’s budget in advance. To that extent, the opposition parties, including the Saenara Party, will also be cooperative.”
At the tone of Yoo Min-joong, who seemed to be patient with what he wanted to say ‘no’ at any moment, he could guess the fact that he was now greatly disappointed in himself, whom he had expected inwardly.
After all, this hostile symbiosis tactic was the most detestable for a type like Yoo Min-joong, and Jung-hwan could fully guess that.
But inside, Junghwan thought that he was lucky to be able to say these things now.
“Don’t worry. President Yu. This is a proposal that the President will be fully satisfied with. Both as President of the Republic of Korea Yu Min-jung and as human Yu Min-jung.”
* * *
Three days after the phone call, that is, about two weeks after China’s unilateral invasion of Afghanistan began, an accidental engagement between the South and North Korean naval forces took place in the West Sea of the Korean Peninsula.
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No, in fact, it was difficult to see it as an engagement because only blank bullets and warning shots were fired at each other, but since the neighboring countries were so sensitive, the aftermath was not just a mere invasion of territorial waters.– Warning! The main ship is the Jangsangot Lake, a patrol boat in charge of the naval coastal guard mission of the Korean People’s Army! You have invaded the territorial waters of the present Democratic People’s Republic of Korea! If the player does not return immediately, we will first fire a warning shot and then aim and fire live bullets!
The South Korean naval vessel did not retreat despite the warning of the North Korean naval patrol boat, and in the end, both sides even fired warning shots at each other, and then the South Korean vessel retreated first, ending the situation.
Up to this point, it would have been a common accident due to differences in the rules of the Northern Limit Line between the two Koreas, but this time the situation was a little different.
The South’s official spokesperson for the Blue House commented, “The North’s alleged invasion of the territorial waters is unacceptable because the maritime boundary between the two Koreas has never been agreed upon, and the ship’s activities clearly took place south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL).”