52. That shouldn’t happen, should it?
“What about the government?”
“What would the government do? They’re Filipino, they’re Filipino citizens. What would they do? To put it in a more extreme way, they don’t even know if they’re Zapino, which is Japanese, or Chipino, which is Chinese?”
“Well, yeah.”
“If you intervene, it could turn into a diplomatic issue. The Philippines is originally a multiethnic country, and then the Chinese came in a long time ago, and then they were ruled by the Spanish, the Americans, and the Japanese, so there’s a lot of different blood, and so the government doesn’t like to see that come out in public.”
“I see.”
“It’s not for nothing that Japan, who had this problem before us, tried to solve it through a private foundation.”
“Oh, what did Japan do?”
“They set up something called the PAD Foundation (Personal Ability Development Foundation), with money from Japanese companies and private individuals, to help Zapino families become economically independent, and most importantly, to help Zapino children get a good education. And the Japanese government made it easier for them to get work visas to Japan, and they also relaxed a lot of the requirements to get Japanese citizenship.”
“Ah—.”
Damn, the Japanese kids are so much better at this than we are.
“Rather than actively integrating them into the country, we’re giving them a chance to at least break the cycle of poverty in the Philippines, so they don’t end up living the same miserable life as their mothers. In fact, we already see a lot of older girls among the kopinos living the same life as their mothers.”
“Like what?”
“A life like their mom’s, as streetwalkers, or selling their bodies for money in the pa, asking for lady’s liquor.”
“Ahh—.”
“Well, at least she’s whiter than your mom, and usually sells for a little more money. You’ve been in the Philippines, you know how obsessed they are with white skin.”
“Ha—.”
Neither Dad nor I could speak, stunned.
Generation after generation of Koreans selling their bodies?
Either way, something has to be done.
From nob le mt l. co m
Jose, the kid we met yesterday, is one of them, but so many others are living in misery.
“What do you think would be best for them, Mr. Yeom?”
“Doesn’t it matter if it costs a lot?”
“Well, I don’t mind if it’s a few tens of billions, but if it’s hundreds of billions, it’s a bit much for me.”
You can’t do the same thing I do with Korean kids.
Sorry, I’m only half Korean.
So, my internal limit is a few tens of billions in the beginning, plus about 10 billion a year, which is not a burden in my current financial situation.
“What? How many tens of billions?”
“Why, is that too little?”
“Oh, no, it’s just too unexpectedly large. Whoa, let’s just say it, never mind the cost.”
“Please do.”
“Well, to get to the bottom line, I think what Japan did is the best way to go.”
“The way Japan did it?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s not good to just give people money, because if you just give them money, they’ll just stare at it and live a lethargic life.”
“Hmmm.”
“What you need to do is make sure that the kopino families are economically self-sufficient, that the children are properly educated, and if possible, set up a center or something to continue to ‘Koreanize’ them.”
“I see.”
“In any case, basically, we need to support Kofino families to become economically independent by providing them with minimal housing expenses, and help them with vocational training and job placement.”
“How much do you think it should be?”
“I’m thinking about $150 a month? That would cover renting a house with running water and a toilet, and eating the bare minimum. If you give them more than that, they’re not going to work, so I’m against it, and that’s with strings attached: they have to finish school, they have to go to the Korea Center we designate, etc.”
“What do you mean, vocational training? I thought there were no decent jobs in the Philippines?”
If there were, I wouldn’t have come here.
“This is where you need the cooperation of the Korean government.”
“Yes, we need to ask Korea to give priority for work visas to Kofino families, and we need to give them the vocational training they need to work in Korea, like welding, electricity, and other skills. That’s what Japan does.”
“A vocational visa—. Dad, is that possible?”
“I’ll have to discuss it with Young-dong and the officials I’ve known for two years.”
As we talked, a picture seemed to emerge.
The idea was to provide minimal monetary support, but to support the education of the Kofino children, and to encourage their mothers, as long as they were healthy, to get a work visa to Korea, or whatever it was they were doing, to earn money through sweat equity.
Also, I thought it would be okay to let the children live around the Korea Center so that they could be ‘Koreanized’ as Mr. Yeom said.
As long as they learn to be ‘quick and fast,’ they’ll be fine wherever they go.
“Mr. Yeom.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“How much would it cost to build a school with integrated middle and high school in an area where land prices are a bit cheaper?”
“What? A school?”
“Yes, as a boarding school.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it right.”
“If you’re really serious about it, we can negotiate with the Philippine government for the land.”
“Oh, that would be great.”
“If that’s how much it’s going to cost to build it, the Philippines has really cheap labor, so I’m thinking it could be built for about 10 billion, not including the interior facilities and fixtures.”
“So it would be about 15 billion to be generous?”
“That’s about right, don’t you think?”
“Dad.”
“Yes.”
“If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right, right?”
“There are a lot of kids, so it’s going to cost a lot of money, is that okay?”
“Let’s start with two locations, one in Cebu and one in the Philippines, and then we can open one or two a year, that’s fine.”
“Well, I think it’s only okay if you say so.”
“Then I understand that the Jung-Hwa Foundation will be doing welfare work in the Philippines in earnest.”
“Cheol-sik.”
“What?”
“Do you think you should make a lot of money?”
“Phew!”
“Hmph!”
After we finished talking, we went to Jose’s house in the slums with Mr. Salt, who agreed to help us in the future.
“Huh! This is it, Won!”
“This is the worst in the favela? How does he live like this?”
This was the reaction of the dad and the salt boss when they saw Jose’s house.
“Mr. Salt”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you think we should get Jose to move out?”
“I think so.”
In the end, Jose immediately packed up his bags and followed his mom, temporarily living in the employee housing attached to Mr. Yeom’s Korean restaurant.
Since he was going to be working in the Philippines anyway, he couldn’t go to Bali.
“Mom, I’m sorry, what should I do?”
“It’s okay, son, it’s nice here, and I’m doing it for a good cause, so don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll take you to a better place next time.”
With Ms. Yeom’s help, about 30 of the poorest Kopino families in the slum were relocated to a rented multi-family house owned by a Chinese family.
Even though the rent was around 100,000 won, it was a palace compared to what they had before, and Jose moved there.
The day before he left the Philippines,
“Hey, Jose.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How’s the house?”
“Very good, I have my own room for the first time.”
“He—.”
I patted his head in sympathy.
“You hate poverty, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I hate it.”
“Then will you promise me one thing?”
“What promise?”
“If you study hard and be a good boy, I’ll send you to study in Korea!”
“Ha, study in Korea?”
“Well, if you don’t like Korea, I’ll send you to America.”
“No, I want to go to Korea.”
That’s why they offered to send him to Korea.
Sometimes when Jose talks about Korea, there’s a certain longing for it, a certain longing for his father’s country.
He seemed to hate his father so much.
“So you promise?”
“Yes, mister.”
“Okay.”
“Mister.”
“Huh?”
“Thank you.”
“Yeah.”
So much for the family vacation.
Still, everyone seemed to be in a good mood, feeling proud that they had done something good, so that was enough.
After returning to Korea, Dad was busy working on a welfare project for the Filipino community in the Philippines, and I had some work to do before returning to the US.
“Pilseung!”
“Oooh, Steel Sik, it’s been a while, hahahahaha!”
My maneuvering brother and signal brother came to see the battalion commander.
Lieutenant Commander Lee Sang-chul of the Navy Reserve.
He was the battalion commander when I was first deployed, and I am grateful to him for taking care of me so much because he knew my situation was difficult.
He was a master of special warfare in Korea, trained in various martial arts, and was known as a monster in a unit full of monsters, but even after seeing him for a long time, he was still in great shape.
Look at those muscles.
Who would have thought he was in his mid-fifties?
“hahahahaha, battalion commander, no, flyer commander, how come you haven’t changed at all?”
“Dude, if you’re in your 50s, you’re young, young man! You can be like me if you work out hard enough.”
Really?
If you exercise and become like you, is that human?
This guy is something special, isn’t he?
“hahahaha—.”
“So, our Sergeant Kang is very successful and does a lot of good things?”
“Heh, heh, he’s made some money.”
“Yes, you knew I would be successful. No matter what you did, you were going to break me.”
“That’s because you were so considerate.”
“hahahahaha! Isn’t that right?”
“hahahahaha!”
“So, I’ve heard the general story from the flyer, but what kind of security company does he make?”
“Eh, that’s—.”
I explained my idea of a security company in detail to the flyer.
“Hmm, so you’re going to rescue your former colleagues who can’t find a place in society, teach martial arts to children in orphanages and young people from orphanages to raise their self-esteem, and then do a premium security service business for VIPs?”
“Yes, that’s right. And I already own one PMC in the US.”
“Oh! Really? Are those the guys out there?”
“hahahaha! I called them while I was on a family trip to the Philippines, and now they’ve followed me to Korea.”
Harry’s team was told to go to the U.S. first, so they came in from the Philippines.
“Are they all tier 1 kids, because that’s what I saw when I looked out the window when you came in?”
“Yeah, the original head guy was from Delta Force, so it’s mostly Delta and Green Berets and DevGru and Navy SEALs. There’s the occasional guy from the 75th Ranger Regiment Search and Rescue or Marine Corps Raiders, not many, but there are some.”
“So they’re all real elite, huh?”
“hahahaha, that’s right.”
He’d done a lot of joint training with the U.S. military, so he was well-connected.
“So, you want me to run the company?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why me?”
“hahahaha, because there’s no one else who can match you in skill and character.”
“That’s true, but—.”
“…”
This guy is all well and good, but he does have a bit of a temper sometimes.
It’s been so long I’d forgotten.
“Well, let me ask you a few questions.”
“Yes, of course.”
“You said you do VIP security for a living, but as you know, not many of our VIPs are clean, and I don’t want to put my kids to work trying to keep up with them. Could they get caught up in something illegal?”
“Don’t worry about that, that’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Really? Then you’re going to run a huge deficit.”
“A deficit? Let’s start from the beginning. The main purpose is the security of my family and close ones, and the security of my business, which will continue to grow and grow in Korea. Oh, and the guidance of the children at the nursery school and the stability of my old colleagues. I don’t care if I don’t make a dime on the security business.”
“You can afford that?”
“I mean, if I’m in the red, it’s not going to be 100 billion a year, is it?”
“Huh? Uh, sure.”
“Well, then, that’s it. I’m looking at a deficit of somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 billion a year at most, and that’s not even what I make in a day.”
“Ha, a day? Are you that successful?”
“I’m a major shareholder in a bunch of American multinationals you could name.”
“Huh. That’s a lot of money?”
“It is.”
“…”
I decided to be a little smug.
It was huge, and it was true.
“You seem to have changed a bit, don’t you think?”
“Well, you could say it’s a sign of confidence, right?”
“Sure.”
“I won’t interfere with the company’s operations at all, and you’ll be treated with the utmost respect. No bodyguards for the scum? That’s not going to happen, is it?”
“hahahaha! That’s great! I got it! I’ll take the job!”
“hahahahaha! Thank you, Mr. Flyer!”
This should put the security company out of their misery.
Somi and her parents will be relieved.