Empire of the Ring

Youngho returned to the Arirang Autonomous State after ten days. Even though the heat had cooled down, his skin still smarted from the sunray.

The temperature difference was stark as he just came from Siberia which still was chilly at times, even in the summer. It was cool indoors or in the shade because there was no humidity.

Kim Chun and Cho Chul-hwan gathered in Youngho's office—where there was a fan on the ceiling to catch up with each other.

"I sent the maritime police guards to the Black Sea since their ship and the Kazakh Navy's missile ships are being delivered to the sea. They'll be here the day after tomorrow with dispatched engineers coming from Korea."

"Whoa, they'll be here already? The Korean military said that they'd transport the ships with a carrier. I guess this is what they meant."

"They're dropping the ships off at Batumi Sea Port. From then on, it's up to us."

The autonomous state now had a missile ship. This is a ship that the state ordered when the Kazakh Navy ordered its ship from Korea.

Until now, the Caspian Sea has been Russia's front yard, and the Caspian Sea coastal countries had very little naval power. The only thing that the Kazakh Navy had were three small Russian missile ships. Before that, all it had was retired Korean naval ships for one dollar. A dollar might sound funny, but it was often done as a symbolic gesture of the transfer of military equipment between countries.

"Well, with the missile ship, the Caspian Sea will now become ours now."

"Having asymmetric power is to acquire a war deterrent force. We're not trying to take over anything."

"So, all of our forces are just going to train and train for nothing."

"Sort of. No one really maintains power to deliberately wage war. Nations are led to war when the balance of power is broken while trying to protect their own share."

"Military force is a group of high-maintenance. I guess one can't even dream of having it without economic power."

"Yes, a force without economic power is a house of cards."

"Then our state is free from worry. We've got a lot of money, and is full of soldiers who are from special forces."

On Kim Chun's remarks, Suh Min-seok's eyes glistened. He seemed to have caught a chance to say something.

"Right. Boss can buy dozens of fighters in a second. We're also bringing in a 12-seater mid-size jet soon."

"What! Did you really do that? You guys didn't nag him to buy one, did you?"

"Oh, who do you think we are? Boss decided it on his own because we'll soon have the coronation and the wedding with the Danish royal family."

"Your word is getting longer. I bet you grilled him to get a jet."

Kim Chun gave Min-seok a hard time by picking up the truth out of Suh Min-seok's words like a ghost. He was well aware that Youngho was not a person who bought things to show off in front of others.

"We were just suggesting."

"Did you really suggest it or did you hang on to the boss's trousers nagging?"

"Oh, Mr. Commissioner, that never happened."

'Phew, this kid… You secretly pressured me not to buy that!'

Suh Min-seok was in trouble, so Youngho helped him off the hook. If he did not do that, Min-seok would be sulky for a while.

"I called Cessna. Tell them we'll have to reconsider our decision to purchase a jet it if they don't give us a discount."

"They already told us that they'll give us a 5-percent discount with a payment plan."

"Great. Since we're buying a different model this time, the company should send pilots and mechanics again, shouldn't it?"

Just like the last time, Youngho was planning to make some of the pilots and mechanics settle down in the autonomous state.

"It's the same model with the previous one except that its size is bigger. The company offered a discount under the condition that the pilots and engineers would be staying here only a few days."

"Oh, I guess Cessna used its head this time."

The company had already lost pilots and mechanics to the state, so it offered a good price under a condition in order to prevent its employees from quitting their old jobs. However, Youngho was not going to give up his plan.

***

In Astrakhan, a city near the Caspian Sea, a Russian naval base in charge of the Caspian Sea lied. The Russian Navy exerted its power in the Caspian Sea, but it only lasted during the melting season. It was because the naval vessels could not go anywhere when the water of the Volga River and the north of the Caspian Sea were frozen for four months in the winter.

However, Kazakhstan was the only country on the Caspian Sea coast to have an icebreaker, allowing it to project its power throughout the year. It was because of the presence of car ferry and the freighter of the Arirang Autonomous State.

Russia also has a lot of icebreakers, but there was no way to send those huge ships to the Caspian Sea through the Volga-Don Canal or Volga-Baltic Waterway.

Thus, in the brief four-month period when the Russian navy was stranded, the Kazakh navy was invincible in the Caspian Sea. And now, five more missile ships were introduced to Kazakhstan. Two of them belonged to the autonomous state and three of them belonged to the Kazakh Navy. Youngho originally planned on purchasing only one vessel, but he changed his heart because of Lieutenant Commander Victor Jun's convincing words. He said that buying additional vessels would only lead to unnecessary misunderstanding to outsiders, suggesting to buy many at once.

At the Port of Atyrau, all of the Kazakh military force seemed to have gathered. Even President Nazarbayev was there to see the country's new naval vessels. Five high-profile missile vessels were mooring and showing off their shape.

The two maritime police patrol vessels were painted in white, and it was written in English "Kazakhstan Coast Guard" on the side of its body. The naval vessels were equipped with 76-millimeter guns at the front, whereas the coast guard vessels were equipped with 40-millimeter guns. But, four anti-ship missiles with a range of 150 kilometers were employed on all ships. With the length of 63 meters, the ships almost could be believed to be destroyers.

When Youngho approached the president, who was smiling with satisfaction, he gave him a pat on the shoulder with encouraging words.

"This is great. We're invincible now in the Caspian Sea."

"You made a good decision, Mr. President. In the next few years, 100-ton high-speed ships will be pouring in. Our shipyard is planning to introduce a trial vessel by the end of this year."

"Make it well. I'll pay you enough for the boat."

"If we develop a small torpedo for the high-speed boat, Russian naval ships are no problem for us."

"Is it not enough for the county's technical skills?"

"We're trying to develop one with a few weapons technicians who retired in the Soviet Union era. We're not even up to the level of the national weapons lab."

"Do your research with confidence in the Arirang state. I'm sure you'll get there soon. Just don't tell me you're going to sell it only to foreign countries, alright?"

"Oh, I won't ever do that. I'm all for the development of Kazakhstan. Weapons developed in the country will be provided to the national military without conditions."

***

In the reception room inside the port management office, military commanders, big-name politicians, and government officials sat together, and Youngho was also invited. Conversation with the president was kept in the room.

"Mr. Lee. Didn't you say there will be a coronation at this time of the year?"

"We plan to have it simple after the wedding ceremony with the Danish royal family in the fall. I don't want it to be too huge and disturb the government. We're only going to invite broadcasting companies from all over the world."

"Now that you've become a special administrative region, please do a lot of good work to promote Kazakhstan and our government."

"Mr. President, since you mention that, I won't forget to invite all of the prominent broadcasting companies of the world to promote our state and Kazakhstan. It will be a remarkable day for the whole world."

"Sure, that's what it's supposed to be. The world still thinks that Kazakhstan is a poor country in Central Asia. I'd like to attract more foreign investors to the country, and the only way to do that is to let them know that we are more than that. I'm very excited about the Arirang Autonomous State's future steps since you've proven your ability by making a deserted land into a city. You know, some of our cabinet members are worried that the autonomous state is too small and people of the world might make a fool of the Serbian royal family…"

The participants of the meeting were just looking at the president's mouth to see what was coming out of his mouth next. After a short pause, he drank a cool drink, and then went on again.

"It's a wilderness, but do you have any intention of developing a little more land? I'm not asking you to develop it all. I'm afraid that European royal families would laugh at the Kazakh government for not sparing more land mass to the autonomous state when they see it since our country boasts of the world's ninth-largest area."

"We've only developed one-fifth of the state's territory now. The rest of us are trying to develop it only as a grassland. It's beyond the capacity of the state."

"Oh, Mr. Lee. Mr. President is making a difficult request for you. Could you put more effort into the development of Kazakhstan just as you've helped our military? The military will also help you from the sidelines."

When the commander of the Navy stepped up and said a word, other people in the meeting also added words. It seemed that the officials had decided to support the president's statement.

Most of Western Kazakhstan's semi-desert areas were abandoned anyway, so the president thought that sparing more land to the autonomous state would be helpful in the development of the area.

Youngho acted as if he was overwhelmed by the offer but he actually was glad to receive more land.

"Okay. I'll do my best to develop Kazakhstan since you're asking me."

"I hope I'm not forcing you too much, but could you develop the tributary of the Ural River and land around it adjacent to your autonomous state? I took a glance at it on the map and it didn't seem like an overwhelming task to develop the river since the state is bigger."

The president's suggestion was quite a surprise. The tributary was about 1,000 square kilometers, but since the area of the state was now 1,200 square kilometers, twice the size of Seoul, the combined area of the two was to secure land larger than that of *Jeju Island.

"Thank you for your consideration, sir."

"It's a tributary, but it'll be easier to develop than it is now because the river is attached to it. I'm not asking you to develop a city around it. I wouldn't be happier if I could see pastures around it. That's all. "

Youngho was glad to hear the president's expectation. Rather than developing it as agricultural land, he was focusing more on pastures to raise livestock on it since he knew that it was easier to form pastures than farmland. Pastures would prevent sandstorms in the land.

Now the Arirang Autonomous State was becoming a reputable place, especially with its huge land mass. It would be many years before the wilderness was cleared and developed into a great city. But the wilderness could be a land of opportunity since no one was yet to know what was buried in the ground.

*Jeju Island- an island in Jeju Province, South Korea.