96. You have damaged my honor.
“Why would Noe Abe want to see me?”
“I’m guessing, but I’m sure. He wants to deal with the current diplomatic issues between Japan and South Korea and the vaccine issue in one room.”
“Isn’t that a discussion for the president?”
“As much as it pains me to say it, Abe and I have already crossed the line of normal conversation a long time ago, which is to say that he doesn’t want to talk to me. No, it’s not just me, it’s the Korean government that Abe doesn’t want to talk to officially.”
“Huh—.”
I didn’t understand this Abe guy.
Let’s put aside the comfort women and military recruitment.
But Abe is the one who suddenly turned a long-standing historical issue between Japan and South Korea into an economic retaliation, and he is the one who provoked it by mobilizing super aircraft.
There is a lot to be said for this, but at least for the first incident, I was able to get some facts from my juniors and acquaintances in the Navy.
The incident began when a North Korean fishing boat received a distress signal on the high seas and the ROK Navy’s Gwanggaeto Daewang was dispatched to rescue it, and a Japanese P-1, a new anti-submarine warfare aircraft, approached the Gwanggaeto Daewang and flew a low-flying threatening flight, which was detected by the Stir-180 radar that our ship uses for fire control.
Of course, the Japanese never made a low-level threatening flight, but they claim that we threatened them with our fire control radar.
So let’s see.
The ship that responded to the North Korean fishing boat’s distress call was the Gwanggaeto, the flagship of our First Fleet.
It was the first modern destroyer to be equipped by the ROK Navy, which was significant at the time of its commissioning, but in fact, it is a transitional ship in many ways, and it is a bit lacking to be called a modern destroyer.
In addition, the Gwanggaeto was delivered in 1996 and commissioned by the Navy in 1998, so it is already 20 years old, and its combat system is often down and equipment such as radar is often broken, so it was actually scheduled for a major overhaul.
Starting with the Yang Manchun, the third ship of the Gwanggaeto Daewang class, the ship was in the process of undergoing a major overhaul and replacement of its combat system.
In short, the Gwanggaeto was being forced to operate an inoperable ship due to the navy’s lack of patrol ships.
But, no, the ROK Navy is crazy to take such an old ship and threaten Japan’s state-of-the-art patrol aircraft while rescuing a North Korean fishing boat?
Does common sense dictate this?
At the beginning of the incident, there was a fake article on Giregi that the South Korean defense ministry admitted that they had mobilized all the radars on the ship, and then the Japanese, as well as some crazy people in South Korea, took that and said that we were in the wrong, but ha!
It was so ridiculous.
It gets complicated, so I’ll leave it at that, but the fact is this.
The worst thing about the current diplomatic situation between Japan and South Korea is that Abe has often used inflated or false statements to gain political ground.
At least that’s what I know.
But to meet with this guy?
“So you’re saying I’m some kind of chicken instead of a pheasant?”
“hahahahaha, I don’t think that’s quite the right analogy, but from the Japanese government’s point of view, Mr. Kang holds the key to the vaccine, and they need to come up with something, and he’s much more qualified than we are.”
“Does the president want me to meet with Abe?”
“Yes, that would be great.”
“Hmmm—.”
“Why don’t you meet with the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. first, and then decide. In the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and my own government department, Shinsuke Sugiyama, the current Japanese ambassador to the U.S., is still a person worth talking to.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. First of all, he is one of the few Korean experts in the Japanese Foreign Ministry. He also served as a political attaché in Korea for over four years, from 2000 to 2004.”
“Huh?”
“I did a lot of things that were ostensibly contrary to our position. He called for the removal of the girl statue and took a hard line on the issue of Japan’s past history with Korea.”
“Huh?”
“But he’s a professional diplomat. He’s not the kind of person to express his own opinions. In the end, I’m sure he’s just following the orders of his home country.”
“I see, well, let’s see if we can get a meeting with him.”
“hahahahaha, thank you. I’ll send you the materials you need in a separate file.”
“Thank you.”
***
Two days later, a little after lunchtime, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Shinsuke Sugiyama, visited our office.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, my name is Shinsuke Sugiyama, Ambassador of Japan to the United States, and I would like to thank you for allowing me to meet with you.”
Mr. Sugiyama is an elderly man who has spent his entire career as a diplomat in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As a diplomat, he greeted me in a formal manner and with a stern demeanor.
He said, “How are you?” in perfectly pronounced Korean.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Alex Kang from Karma Investments, please have a seat.”
“Sure, thanks.”
Once seated and the car pulled up, we struck up a conversation.
“You have a very accurate Korean greeting, don’t you?”
“Yes, I worked in Korea for quite a while, a long time ago.”
“Did you speak Korean then?”
“Oh, no, I learned some back then, but I’ve forgotten all about it since I’ve never had to use it. I apologize.”
“No, I’m not sorry for anything—.”
You really have a lot to apologize for.
“So, what did you want to meet with me about? As you can see, I’m not involved with the vaccine. In fact, I told you that I would penalize any country that approaches me directly with a request for vaccines in the vaccine supply rankings, so I don’t want you to doubt my commitment. I’m a doer, and this policy still stands, and it applies to your country as well, doesn’t it?”
“I’m aware of that, but I want you to hear what I have to say.”
“You’d better be good, because the last thing I want to see is Japanese people getting vaccinated with Chinese-made vaccines.”
“I’ll tell you what: ——.”
Sweat began to break out on Ambassador Sugiyama’s forehead.
Our Karma vaccine was becoming the only one available in the Western world at this point.
Our vaccine came out so quickly and has been proven over time to be highly effective in preventing infection.
As a result, the multinational pharmaceutical companies that started developing the vaccine have been abandoning it one after another.
They realized there was no money in it.
Eventually, there were only three vaccines on the planet.
The Chinese-made SARS vaccine, the Sputnik V vaccine, which is nearing completion in Russia, and our Karma vaccine.
Either way, Japan has no choice but to choose our vaccine.
China is at the forefront of the Great Game, and Russia is a de facto enemy over territorial issues in the north.
In addition, we cannot open our hands.
In this situation, what if he says something wrong and offends me?
He’ll probably kill himself.
No wonder he’s sweating.
“First, let me tell you the position of the Japanese government.”
“Yes, please feel free to do so.”
“We, the Japanese government, believe that the reason why we have fallen so far behind in the coronavirus vaccine supply ranking is due to the deterioration of Japan-Japan relations in recent years.”
“I wouldn’t say that’s the case at all.”
“Yes, it is, and that’s why we, the Japanese government, believe that rather than simply asking for an adjustment to our vaccine supply ranking, we need to address the root cause of our falling behind.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
“That’s why we’ve come to see you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to suggest that we first address the reasons for the deterioration in relations between Japan and South Korea, and then politely ask you to adjust our vaccine supply ranking.”
“That’s a very good idea!”
“I mean, are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m totally in favor of it.”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
The gratitude is too quick.
“By the way.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman!”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“What?”
“No. If someone who doesn’t know about this hears it, they’ll think I’m the one who ruined the relationship between Japan and Korea?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that—.”
“Besides, you talk about this kind of thing with the government of my country, why are you talking to me? I’m just an investor and businessman, don’t you have a contact in our government? Do you want me to tell you?”
“Mr. Chairman, that’s not what you said, please—.”
Ambassador Sugiyama is almost crying.
Ha, let’s stop this.
This guy is guilty of something.
No, is he guilty?
Anyway, he’s just a messenger.
You don’t have to do this with a messenger.
He’s just trying to do something for his country.
“Well, let’s have a straight talk.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why did you come to see me?”
“To be honest, the current vaccine supply is unthinkable in isolation from the relationship between Japan and South Korea. As I said before, to solve the root problem, we need to untangle the relationship between Japan and South Korea, which has been tangled up for the past few years, and it’s at its worst right now.”
“So?”
“Yes, I’m going to ‘put it out there,’ to use a Korean expression.”
“You speak our language well, don’t you?”
“Humph, to put it bluntly, it would be best if our prime minister and your president could meet and resolve this, but that’s a difficult situation. You’ve gone as far as you can go.”
“Why, my president said he’d be happy to meet with you anytime.”
“Mr. President, please—.”
“Hum, so you’re going to put me in the middle, because the emotional chasm between you two is so deep?”
“Yes, sir, to put it simply.”
“Then this is not a matter for you to discuss with the ambassador?”
“Yes. So, our Acting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would like to invite Mr. Kang to visit our country as soon as possible.”
“Hmmm—.”
I thought about it for a moment, but the conclusion was the same.
Ugly is ugly, and business is business.
Right now, Japan is on fire.
There’s probably quite a bit to rip off this time.
Delaying the vaccine supply too much is also not good for anyone if feelings between the two countries are hurt too much.
At times like this, it’s best to just play along.
“I’ll have to discuss this with my government, but I understand, and I’ll schedule a visit to your country as soon as possible.”
“Ah! Mr. President, thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“You don’t have to thank me now, after all, it’s the prime minister you’re talking to back home that has to go well.”
“It will go well, I’m sure of it.”
“Well, in a way, I’m more demanding than my own government. You’ll have to prepare a lot of things.”
“I’ll pass that on to my home country.”
“Especially this one, tell them to have an answer ready.”
“As you say.”
“The incident where your country’s anti-submarine detectors made a low-level threat to our ships, you know?”
“Yes? Why do you call that incident—.”
“That incident damaged my reputation.”
“What? No. What does that have to do with you, Mr. Chairman—.”
“Why is there no connection? The incident damaged the honor of the Korean Navy.”
“No. I mean, why would the honor of the Korean Navy be the honor of the chairman?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m a sergeant in the Republic of Korea Navy. Of course, I’m a reservist, right?”
“——.”
I didn’t know.