Chapter 128: Negotiations with Yu Ji-ha
The West Sea of the Korean Peninsula often had unwelcome visitors.
They were Chinese fishing boats and typhoons.
These two came in pairs every summer, as the fishing boats anchored on the islands of the West Sea to avoid the typhoons.
It was a sight to behold, seeing over a hundred fishing boats lined up in the narrow island harbors.
Of course, that was a Chinese expression. For Koreans, it was nothing but abhorrent.
The fishing boats not only illegally fished in Korean waters, but also caused damage to the harbors.
After the typhoons passed, they did not leave peacefully, but threw away their waste nets and garbage.
The highlight was the chase between them and the Korean Coast Guard, who resisted with weapons while illegally intruding into Korean waters.
It was no wonder that the Coast Guard hated being assigned to the West Sea.
They had to suffer from all kinds of dispatches, and they could even die if something went wrong.
The only time they were quiet was during the Sino-Korean War, or the Second Korean War.
They could not dare to intrude when dozens of heavily armed warships patrolled around.
Ironically, the ecosystem of the West Sea became much richer because the Korean fishing boats could not fish and had to rely on subsidies.
But recently, Chinese fishing boats had been appearing near Yeonpyeong Island and other areas that used to be NLL.
Their apparent target was crabs.
But Minister of Industry Yu Ji-ha claimed that they had a different ulterior motive.
“This is a confidential document from Cheongwadae. As you can see, it shows that North Korea transferred the development rights of its West Sea continental shelf to China.”
The document contained information that Kim Jong-un had transferred the development rights of North Korea’s West Sea continental shelf to China in the mid-2010s.
The problem was that there was an oil field on that continental shelf.
The exact location was between Dalian and Nanpo in China.
The deputy minister of industry handed over a few more documents.
“China has been exploring this area since the late 1990s. They seem to have found an oil field in the late 2010s, and they obtained the development rights by paying some kind of compensation to North Korea.”
“But this is not an official document, right?”
Yu Ji-ha pointed out and the deputy minister nodded.
“Yes. It’s a kind of letter exchanged between the leaders at that time. It’s not legally binding because they agreed verbally. It was not submitted to UN either.”
“Then we can ignore it.”
The bureaucrats felt anew the changed status of Korea as they looked at the president who spoke calmly.
There was a time when a few lawmakers ran to Beijing as soon as China coughed.
But now things were different.
Korea did not care about China’s opinion anymore.
Rather, they used new technologies such as black metal as hostages and even gained land including Baekdusan.
Although they clashed with China in the process, they did not suffer much damage.
They still had diplomatic relations as their last weapon, but it was uncertain whether China’s economy, which was struggling in a quagmire without a strong leader, could withstand it.
Yu Ji-ha summarized the meeting content.
“Listen carefully. China wants to develop an oil field on the continental shelf of the West Sea. They probably need oil because their supply from the Middle East was cut off due to Pakistan’s destruction.”
“The independence of Xinjiang Uyghur also affected them. China does not have enough troops to deploy there now.”
Chief Secretary Bae Sung-min added casually and Yu Ji-ha nodded.
“They need oil for economic recovery, but they don’t have enough supply within China. So they plan to divert our attention and develop it.”
“Then… do we have to secure it?”
“China will never give up this oil field either.”
Everyone’s voice was tense.
They had seen firsthand how much power China could mobilize in the Sino-Korean War.
If it weren’t for the terrain of Taiwan Strait, US support, and railguns and ion beams, Taiwan would have surrendered long ago.
Of course, Korea was strong enough now.
They could even compete with China in naval battles if they included the fleet of United Human Federation.
But China’s black metal-based technology development was dazzling.
They succeeded in electrifying railguns after Japan, and they installed black metal armor plates on all their warships.
They did not stop even though their center of gravity became higher and their stability was impaired.
It was clear that they were determined.
Of course, there was a similar phenomenon behind them as Japan.
The awakened ones who were exhausted from training vomited blood and collapsed, but the Chinese government concealed it.
They would not be able to stop the aftermath when it exploded all at once later.
He came to a conclusion.
“This agreement made by a letter is null and void from the start. Therefore, we have the right to the continental shelf as well. How much we can claim will be decided from now on. Deputy Minister of Resources.”
“Yes.”
“Send an exploration ship to the continental shelf. I will get the detailed data, so you just need to borrow the equipment from the Russian side.”
The data meant the exploration records of the Chinese side.
He wondered how he would get them, but he just had to do as he was told here.
He would receive the data soon.
“I understand.”
“And keep an eye on the navy nearby. You can also do some railgun firing training.”
It was a blatant act of raising tension, but he seemed to have no worries.
Well, he was a dictator who threatened China and Japan and sent Iran and Pakistan back to the medieval times. What would he be afraid of?
Everyone said that the U.S. had to step in to control him, but they didn’t seem to have much intention to do so.
Was it because they withdrew from Asia due to the semiconductor issue?
Did they think they only had to protect Europe and the Middle East?
He pointed his finger at the West Sea.
“And these ships that came to deceive us… Judging by the timing, they are trying to sweep up all the crabs during the fishing season. We can’t let that happen. I’ll take care of this matter myself, so just crack down on our fishermen.”
Everyone was curious how he would take care of it, but there was no one to ask.
The secretary-general had to step up here.
He asked, feeling the anxious gaze of others, and he asked back.
“How do we respond to ships that illegally enter our territorial waters?”
This was something that only the head of the Coast Guard could answer.
“We broadcast a warning and fire a warning shot.”
“And if they don’t back off?”
“We stop them with live ammunition and board them to arrest them if necessary.”
In the process, the ships sometimes rammed into the patrol boats or resisted with weapons.
It was natural that there were many casualties.
“From today, we change the response protocol. If they don’t back off after two warnings, we use live ammunition.”
The head of the Coast Guard was shocked.
“Mr. President…”
“I’ll take responsibility. You won’t have to fight with Chinese ships anymore, so just focus on cracking down on our fishermen. It’s troublesome if they get caught by going into someone else’s territorial waters for no reason.”
“Yes, we will crack down thoroughly.”
“I heard that these days some fishing boats that fish for hemp near the coast often enter Japanese waters. It must be a mistake, but please guide them well. It will be troublesome if it happens again.”
There was a group that didn’t listen as much as Chinese ships, and that was Korean fishermen.
They were so disobedient that former Coast Guard officials would roll their eyes when they heard fishermen.
They would dangerously pass through funnels or hulls when warships appeared, hoping for a full catch.
They didn’t dare go near merchant ships because they might collide with them due to lack of maneuverability.
Anyway, the bureaucrats’ questions didn’t subside.
There was no answer as to how he would take care of it himself.
Their questions were completely answered when several unmanned surface vessels appeared in the West Sea.
These vessels were made to monitor the coast of Terra Island, but they were scheduled to be dismantled soon as their purpose was over.
They didn’t need small boats anymore since Earth Fleet was fully equipped.
But Korea could use these boats very usefully.
About 50 unmanned surface vessels of 300 tons each detected Chinese fishing boats sweeping up crabs during the fishing season.
***
After the oil price linkage system was abolished, the government faced fierce opposition from the dairy industry.
Thousands of people protested on Gwanghwamun Street and police forces protected them.
He had never stopped any protests, but listening to their claims was a completely different matter.
“Stop killing dairy farming! Stop abolishing linkage system!”
“It’s distribution’s fault! Farmers have no problem!”
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food immediately convened a board meeting of Dairy Promotion Council, but tension rose as all directors refused to attend.
However, their confrontation ended absurdly when he took away the price determination authority from the council’s business.
“There is no reason for it to be included in the council’s business since the linkage system has been abolished. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food should revise the regulations as planned. From now on, milk prices will be determined by the market.”
The dairy farmers couldn’t sit still after hearing this.
—Oil is hard to store and control the supply. It is incomprehensible that the government abolished the linkage system at a time when long-term measures and support are urgently needed.
—They criticize that milk is 4,000 won per liter, but it seems that the dairy industry is taking too much margin. They dispose of the surplus milk every year and play the media that they are struggling, but why do they keep making profits?
—The production cost is too high and it is hard to lower the cost. I wish President Yu Ji-ha would consider us.
Contrary to the general perception of people, dairy farmers were not making a lot of money.
The root cause was the land of the Korean Peninsula, which was not suitable for milking cows, and the environment where they had to import most of the equipment and feed.
While Korea was suffering from this pain, Europe was in a situation where dairy farmers were protesting because milk was too cheap.
The price difference was a whopping four times.
Until now, European milk had entered Korea duty-free through FTA, but France and others had reduced the amount exported to Korea since a while ago.
As a result, the price of a liter of milk pack that consumers picked up at the mart did not change much.
At this point, consumers got furious.
—How can it make sense that it is more than twice as expensive as gasoline?
—No, I won’t eat it. I’ll just wait a bit and eat Australian milk when it comes in.
—Why do you demand socialist policies in a capitalist society? You would be angry if foreign workers asked for a raise every year.
The two sides clashed without any concession, and the battlefield was mainly TV and YouTube.
All kinds of criticism and propaganda were rampant, and the dairy industry was hit by both sides after agreeing on one opinion.
—Korean dairy industry is amazing for creating a miracle where low-fat milk is more expensive than regular milk!
—I don’t understand why the president’s family’s salary keeps increasing while they whine every year that they are struggling!
This issue had been fought for more than a day or two, but no clear conclusion was reached.
It was said that making a policy that satisfies all of supply, distribution, and demand was harder than a rooster laying an egg.
People’s eyes were focused on Yu Ji-ha’s mouth, and he announced some policies.
“I understand the realistic difficulties of 5,000 dairy farmers. And I can’t ignore the grievances of consumers who have to buy milk at an absurdly high price. Therefore, I will implement the following policies instead of the linkage system.”
New policies were announced one after another.
One notable thing was that he dismantled most of the raw milk organizations, including Dairy Promotion Council, and established a new institution led by the government.
Usually, when it comes to government-led, it is easy to think of inefficiency, but there was no representative for this institution.
It was controlled by artificial intelligence.
Some media criticized him for trying to make the whole country an AI board.
—If 50 million, no, 70 million become public servants, the inefficiency will be unspeakable.
However, contrary to this criticism, public service society these days was not so inefficient.
Lucia monitored budget waste and most of the red tape was eliminated.
Even trivial money that used to be paid to each local government head as dignity maintenance expenses disappeared completely, and most importantly, public servants’ status guarantee was abolished.
They didn’t fire low-performers because it was hard to measure performance as public servants, but criminals or those who caused social controversy were immediately fired.
As a test case or something, hundreds of public servants who had been illegally receiving allowances by using overtime cards were fired at once.
People who lost their jobs suddenly cried and clung to them, but they even recovered the illegally received allowances.
“There are many jobs these days, but public service is still popular. There are many people who want to do it, so work hard.”
There were some concerns about work gaps, but no major sequelae occurred.
Anyway, thanks to these measures, Korean public servants worked harder than those in general companies.
While receiving instructions from artificial intelligence.
A retired senior public servant anonymously interviewed with a media outlet like this.
“I don’t know what he’s trying to do by making the whole country an AI board. Here’s AI, there’s android… There’s no human being, no human being.”
“But didn’t it become more efficient? There’s no more talk of budget waste.”
“No, it’s our human world. How can we live by chasing efficiency only? We make mistakes like this and waste like that. That’s how we live.”
He seemed to complain that he had been doing well enough and why he made it noisy by turning it upside down.
The viewers flipped over and asked him to reveal his identity, and the media outlet took down the video.
Meanwhile, the dairy industry did not accept the government-led policy very well.
—What’s the point of being a public servant without status guarantee?
—I don’t like the fact that artificial intelligence controls it. We know the Korean milk market best.
—The salary and allowance are too low. We will make our own group and act.
However, everything was buried when something happened in the West Sea.
Unmanned surface vessels that suddenly appeared destroyed hundreds of Chinese fishing boats.
They broke the formation by surfacing after diving, as the fishing boats did not move even after the warning broadcast.
The furious fishing boats charged at the unmanned surface vessels, but it was like hitting a rock with an egg.
The sturdy black metal hulls shattered the fishing boats, and all that was left were Chinese fishermen screaming for help.
Several unmanned surface vessels went around and picked them up and put them on a barge.
That’s how hundreds of Chinese fishing boats that came to sweep up the crabs in the West Sea during the fishing season were completely annihilated.
When the media reported this in detail, cheers like wildfire followed.
—That’s refreshing. They should have done this sooner.
—But is this okay? China won’t sit still.
—What are they going to do if they don’t sit still? Restrict exports?
—It would have been different in the past, but things have changed.
It was true.
Korea succeeded in restructuring its economy centered on Silla Group and diversified most of its raw material imports.
They settled on producing things that didn’t fit their budget by themselves at Silla Group.
They took measures to avoid being influenced by external forces.
The problem was food prices, which were represented by the basket price, but they were solving them one by one with the introduction of smart farms and policy changes.
The dairy farmers realized who they had been complaining to when they saw this incident.
Yu Ji-ha notified without negotiating.
He also took actions that changed the environment itself without hesitation.
Therefore, if they continued to resist, the entire dairy industry might be extinct.
His real scariness was that he somehow cleaned up after doing all that.
The dairy farmers gathered and decided that it would be better to accept the president’s proposal after a meeting.
“They say Silla Heavy Industries will provide equipment cheaply and introduce an automation system.”
“Feed cost is the biggest problem, but they say they will bring it in cheaply from Australia. Let’s trust them for now.”
After the pain, the oil price linkage system was completely abolished and Lucia took charge of price determination.
Yu Ji-ha called the representatives of the dairy industry and notified them.
“The oil price will drop from 2,000 won to 900 won. So I hope you lower the milk price accordingly.”
“Yes…”
They all answered, but their expressions were not very pleasant.
It implied that he wouldn’t leave them alone if they didn’t lower it.
What couldn’t he do when he destroyed Chinese fishing boats and persuaded those fierce dairy farmers?
Yu Ji-ha added one more thing.
“I heard there was such a country. They removed fat from milk, but surprisingly they added wellness and sold it more expensively. Does that make sense?”
“…”
The representatives sweated nervously.
In fact, they were still selling it like that.
If they said nonsense that it was because of the added process in front of him, he would thoroughly smash them.
The best thing was to admit their mistake and promise to do better in the future.
“We won’t do that anymore, Mr. President.”
“We will determine the price so that consumers can be satisfied.”
Yu Ji-ha nodded his head and emphasized.
“It’s a capitalist world, isn’t it? What can I do if a company wants to sell something expensive? But that means you have to accept fierce competition.”
It meant that Silla Group would enter the milk business if they raised the price, so do as you please.
“And from next month, the fines for collusion will increase. If you’re curious how much it will increase, you can try colluding.”
It would be several times more than what they gained from collusion.
The representatives could only mutter “yes” without any resistance.
Thanks to these measures, the price tags of milk displayed at the mart began to change from a few days later.
Consumers were finally satisfied when they saw the milk price drop by almost half.
“This is reasonable enough to buy often.”
“It’s expensive compared to American milk, but we have to eat ours.”
“Anyway, everything is solved when the president steps in.”
Of course, not everyone was in a good direction.
The government’s burden increased administratively and financially because it embraced dairy farming.
But that was what Yu Ji-ha wanted.
He had to put all facilities into Mega City because he had to wage a total war in 39 years at the earliest or 49 years at the latest.
He introduced artificial intelligence and androids excessively because he didn’t have enough time to persuade and deploy people.
But when one conflict was resolved, another conflict erupted.
A large oil field was discovered on the continental shelf between China and Korea.
The estimated reserves were about 45 billion barrels, enough for Korea to use for about 40 years.
It was enough to be called medium-sized, but China claimed sovereignty and stepped forward.
Korea did not back down and sent a few warships.
Tension was high in the narrow sea, which was only 200 km wide and had an average depth of less than 50 m.
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