21st Century Goguryeo

January 17, 2024, 18:00 (Hongkong Time: 17:00)

Hotel Icon, Yuzhenwang District, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Republic of China

At Hotel Icon in the Yuzhenwang District, one of the banquet halls were crowded with reporters from all over the world, as well as Korean government officials and several high-ranking generals.

Intelligence agents dressed in black suits and black sunglasses from Korea and the Republic of China stood guard in all areas outside the hotel and in the banquet hall that had been turned into a press conference room.

The world had been informed earlier that morning that New China would be making an important announcement regarding the war between Korea and New China. As a result of this, the banquet hall, which was about 330 square meters in size, was set up as a press conference room, and almost 500 reporters from all around the world sat in their prepared seats, with faces red from excitement.

The reporters were curious about why New China was making an announcement in a city of another country, rather than on its own land. Moreover, Hong Kong was a city in which there was something close to a civil war that had been ongoing for three years. As there were many questions to be asked regarding even the location of the announcement, the reporters were hoping to fulfill their curiosity soon.

A while later, just before the long-awaited press conference was about to begin, the main characters appeared from the back of the stage.

They were Vice President Chen Wei Ting, Foreign Minister Li Bao Dung, and Chief of the General Staff Guo Jingfei again. They took their places one at a time on the chairs that were prepared on the stage. The room was filled with the sounds of camera shutters clicking as the cameras began flashing repeatedly.

It looked as if all of this was part of New China's planned presentation to others that weren't aware of what had happened before this. Everything was, however, planned and prepared by the Korean government.

Each of them was surrounded by a flood of camera flashes as they entered. They then sat down in the seats prepared for them on stage. Vice President Chen Wei Ting, who was seated in the middle, pulled a small document out from his suit pocket and moved the microphone toward his mouth.

"Hello, I am Vice President Chen Wei Ting of New China. Firstly, let me tell you the reason why we've invited reporters from all over the world for this press conference."

Vice President Chen Wei Ting looked slowly around the room at the hundreds of reporters who were staring at him. His throat dried up. Grabbing the glass of water on the table, he gulped it down quickly. He cleared his throat and continued with a slight tremble in his voice. "As of this moment, New China will officially announce its surrender to the Republic of Korea. In addition to this, New China will be annexed to the Republic of Korea following the necessary annexation procedures."

The press conference hall instantly turned to chaos due to the unexpected announcement. The reporters were aware of how the war was going, so they had expected New China to surrender to Korea, but the news of New China being split into three and annexed by Korea was news so shocking that no one could've imagined anything close to it.

The press conference room calmed after the momentary murmurs and exclamations of surprise. Vice President Chen Wei Ting continued reading the contents of the document calmly. "New China will now disappear forever into the back streets of history. Sovereignty, as well as the people and the land of this country, will be transferred to the Republic of Korea. In addition to this, if any sections of the New China Army could not be contacted due to communication loss, you are now ordered to disarm voluntarily and follow the orders of the Republic of Korea Army upon hearing this announcement. That is all."

Vice President Chen Wei Ting hung his head in shame as he finished reading the humiliating announcement to the end. He stood up from his seat, and the others who were sitting beside him followed suit.

They bowed and walked toward the back of the stage, trying to skip the question and answer segment. Realizing this, the reporters raised their hands and questioned them in an uproar, but they hurriedly disappeared to the back of the stage without a word.

Their exit as the puppets of the Korean government due to the unconditional surrender was a lonely one.

"You can't just walk in like that after announcing that. This is a press conference!"

"Shouldn't we get some answers to our questions?"

The reporters, dissatisfied, raised their hands and clamored. An official of the government of the Republic of China in charge of the event hurried to calm the crowd.

"Ah ah! We will give ample time for questions with reporters. Please wait just a little while."

As the presenter finished speaking, a gentleman in a royal blue suit came up to the stage. It was Lee Yoon-yeon, the Prime Minister of Korea.

Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon gave off a benevolent aura. He greeted the reporters, giving them a bright smile as he stood at the podium. The reporters who had been making a fuss up until now became quiet.

"Hello, reporters from all over the world! I am Lee Yoon-yeon, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea. Just as Vice President Chen Wei Ting has said, as of this time, New China has been officially annexed to the Republic of Korea in accordance with international law. However, the Republic of Korea has no intention of annexing the entirety of New China. Therefore, the government of the Republic of Korea plans to split and merge New China with two other countries—the Republic of China and the Eastern Republic."

Once again, reporters whispered at the shocking remarks. Some of the quick-witted reporters were able to notice why the announcement of surrender was made in Hong Kong of the Republic of China instead of in New China.

"Please take a look at the screen behind the podium."

As Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon spoke, the screen behind the podium turned on and a large digital map of the whole of New China appeared. New China was divided into three colors.

"As you can see here, New China will now be ruled by three countries after division and annexation."

First, the blue sections that were classified as Korean territory, included Hebei Province, Henan Province, Beijing and Tianjin, as well as parts of the northern Shandong Province. It also included the northern parts of the two Shanxi Provinces. The two provinces were separate provinces, although they were spelled the same way in Korean.

The second section, which was green, was classified as the territory of the Republic of China and included the southern part of Shanxi Province and the western part of Hubei Province. The last section—orange—was classified as the territory of the Eastern Republic and was the eastern part of Hubei Province.

In terms of the size of the territories, Korea had the largest portion, followed by the Republic of China, then by the Eastern Republic.

Some of the chief executives of the Blue House had expressed considerable dissatisfaction with the distribution of some of the land to the Republic of China and the Eastern Republic. There was, however, a reason why things were decided this way.

The public sentiment of Korea was unfavorable so they could not afford to take on New China's 500 million citizens, even if the land that was to be taken was vast. They could not implement the colonial policy that existed in the 19th century to early 20th century. As a result, it had been agreed that the two countries—the Republic of China and the Eastern Republic—would be responsible for the 500 million people of New China in return for some of the land.

It was indeed a wise choice for Korea. There were also several advantages that could not be seen on the surface.

The annexation further deepened diplomatic relations with the Republic of China and the Eastern Republic, eliminating risks of war, and allowed for the two countries, with a significant increase in population, to serve as geographically close domestic markets for Korea.

Meanwhile, the Republic of China and the Eastern Republic also recognized that the old China had previously been able to develop its economy at a rapid speed due to the population of 1.4 billion people serving as the domestic market. The land they had received from Korea was not very big, but they each saw the migration of almost 500 million people as a chance to create a cornerstone for their economies' growth.

Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon's presentation had come to an end, and it was now time for the question and answer segment. At this, each of the 500 reporters raised their hands, shouting and trying to get their questions in first.

Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon pointed to a reporter.

"Thank you. I'm James Scud, a reporter for the BBC. If the Republic of Korea takes most of New China's territory, but forces the 500 million residents into the two countries, wouldn't there be a huge social reaction? Also, for what purpose will you be using the vast lands?"

It was a pointed question from reporter James Scud, but Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon answered him without hesitation. "Mm, a big social reaction...It's possible. In the perspective of each person, they would be losing their property. We fully sympathize with this, and we will recognize as many personal possessions or assets as possible, and actively take measures so that each person may take it with them upon moving to the Republic of China or the Eastern Republic. Real estate, however, isn't it originally a national asset of New China? Therefore, as this agreement was made in accordance with international law between countries, real estate is inevitably owned by the Republic of Korea."

Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon seemed as though he had expected these types of questions, and had planned accordingly. He continued to talk without hesitation:

"This seems to have answered the first question. Now I will give you an answer to the second question. We see the United States with huge land 50 times the size of the Korean Peninsula, but its population is only about 300 million. Even if we do not specifically talk about the United States, we can see that Russia is similar. What do you think? Large populations in a small amount of land can be a problem, but a small population in a large amount of land doesn't generate many problems. Most of the land we've gained from New China consists of large grasslands. The Republic of Korea is planning on creating large agricultural complexes here as a state-run business and will provide free food to countries suffering from food shortages worldwide."

When the question had been answered, the reporters raised their hands again, trying to ask their question.

Yes, the female reporter in the back, go ahead."

"Thank you, Prime Minister! I'm reporter Liang Xiang of EDTV of the Republic of China. First of all, I was impressed that you promised to create agricultural complexes and provide food for countries suffering from food shortages. Here is my question—many large cities, including Beijing, are currently in ruins. Do you have any plans for the restoration of those cities? There are many historical buildings and relics of the Han Chinese there. Do you have any plans for that?"

Reporter Liang Xiang sat down after finishing her question. Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon immediately began to answer.

"You must have asked this question because you are also of the Hans. I understand completely. There will definitely be a major restoration project. However, we are planning a restoration project in the form of a large-scale park focusing on buildings with historical significance. In fact, New China used to be the largest cause of fine dust. The Republic of Korea has suffered from fine dust for years. Well, they never did admit to it, but it was scientifically proven. This is not a place to discuss fine dust, however, so I won't go into the details. To solve the fine dust problem, the Republic of Korea will not conduct any urban restoration projects in any territory of New China and will only construct parks with as much lush vegetation as possible. Also, if the Republic of China or the Eastern Republic requests delivery of historical buildings or various relics in New China, we'll deliver them without missing a single thing. Did that answer your questions? Then I'll take someone else's question."

Prime Minister Lee Yoon-yeon answered, relaxed, and pointed to a male reporter in the front this time.

"I'm reporter Jermaine Jones of Fox News. I'll ask a slightly different question. Currently, the Republic of Korea is at war with Russia. Also, rumor has it that the EU will move NATO forces to intervene in the Korean-Russian war. The United States is also very concerned that this war may escalate to World War III. Do you have any intention to make peace with Russia?"

"Mm, escalate to world war...The war with New China has ended at this point, so is war with Russia really seen as something that could expand into a world war? I personally think that these worries come from countries that are a bit biased. Same with the NATO forces. What is the purpose of keeping a separate NATO force? Wasn't the purpose of this inter-nation force to protect Europe from Russia? But in reality, as the Republic of Korea went to war with Russia and is now in a more advantageous state, the EU is trying to use the NATO forces, meant to keep Russia in check, to keep the Republic of Korea in check. Isn't it ironic? Well, the EU must have its reasons. Something like the silent influence of the United States that the EU can't deny."