1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 145



Only Krnovel

Episode 145

[GOX TV regular opinion poll Bush administration approval rating drops sharply to 22%, disapproval rating 65%]

Bush, who checked the results of the opinion poll by reading the morning paper, throws down the paper he was holding.

GOX TV is a media outlet known for its conservative tone even within the United States.

There was no way they would have conducted a false poll against this Republican government.

Then, he calls a Cabinet meeting that was not scheduled in a hurry.

A few hours later, the assembled cabinet members rush in and sit down with troubled expressions.

They probably all checked the poll results that came out this morning.

Today’s poll is the lowest of any recent poll, but that doesn’t mean other polls are significantly higher.

President Bush, furious, speaks to the Secretary of State, reprimanding her.

“Secretary of State! When will shale gas be produced properly? If this continues, we will really have no choice but to import it from the Middle East again! Do we really have to intervene in the Middle East again?”

The United States has been purchasing oil and natural gas that Korea sold to other countries at a high premium to replace the crude oil and natural gas that it was currently importing from Korea.

It was a temporary expedient, as the political burden of re-increasing its presence in the Middle East was too great.

However, because people were paying a lot of money to buy things, consumer prices began to skyrocket.

However, I tolerated all these problems because I thought they would all be solved if only shale gas production started to work properly.

However, even though the point at which the shale gas equipment upgrades were supposed to be completed has long passed, there has been no news, and the current shale gas production is far from sufficient to replace the underground resources that were being imported from Korea.

“sorry…….”

The Secretary of State can’t bring himself to say anything.

His proud appearance just a short while ago had disappeared, and now only his wrinkled appearance remained.

Bush again strongly rebukes him for this.

“Don’t just say you’re sorry. Tell me specifically why it happened!”

The Secretary of State gives the Secretary of Energy a sidelong glance as the President continues to reprimand him.

The Energy Secretary is forced to take up the mantle and speak on his behalf.

“Mr. President, actually, that is… … .”

“What is it? Tell me.”

This time, Bush looks toward the Energy Secretary.

“In fact, one of the companies that was supposed to upgrade the drilling equipment this time notified us a while ago that they can no longer proceed with the work.”

“What! What is the reason!”

“Most of the parts used by that company are imported from Korea, but Korea has apparently blocked the export of those parts.”

“ha…….”

Bush sighs deeply.

Then he turns to the Minister of Energy and asks:

“Aren’t there any other companies besides that one? There’s more than one equipment company in the world!”

“Other equipment manufacturers have technologies that are not even as good as the ones we use now. Those companies have overwhelmingly superior technologies because of the technology in their Korean products.”

Bush squeezes his eyes shut.

‘What should I do… … .’

I did something for no reason and ended up suffering unimaginable losses.

If things continued this way, his approval rating would hit rock bottom and he would ultimately fail to be re-elected.

However, the political burden was too great to increase the proportion of crude oil imported from the Middle East.

‘How can the US, having withdrawn from the Middle East, be forced to go back into that pit? …?’

Now, the time has finally come to make a choice.

They had to choose between declaring defeat to Korea or reestablishing relations with the Middle East.

Bush closes his eyes and thinks for a long time.

The other cabinet members also had an idea of ​​what he was thinking about, so they said nothing and quietly waited for the president to open his mouth.

And after about 30 minutes, Bush opens his eyes and opens his mouth.

“Whew… Let’s withdraw all of these tariff increases and reconcile with Korea.”

The Secretary of State speaks in astonishment.

“Mr. President! That is not reconciliation, it is virtually the same as declaring defeat to Korea!”

Bush glares at him and asks.

“Then, Secretary of State! Do you have any good ideas for resolving this situation? Prices are skyrocketing, and American products are not selling as well as expected. And it doesn’t seem like Korea will sell its shares. So what are we going to do in this situation? Should we go to war with Korea?”

“That, that is… … .”

The Secretary of State has no answer.

Bush asks the Secretary of Defense.

“Mr. Secretary of Defense, if we go to war with Korea, can we win?”

The Secretary of Defense answers without a moment’s hesitation.

“A war between Korea and the United States should never happen, but if it does, there will be no winners or losers. It will just be mutual destruction.”

Bush knew it too.

South Korea had already completed the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles long ago.

It was also a well-known fact to most countries that they were operating thousands of nuclear weapons.

Like the war with Russia, the war between Korea and the United States would have been a war in which no one would win and only mutual destruction would remain.

Bush shouts, looking at the Secretary of State, who just bows her head in silence again.

“Didn’t you, Secretary of State, say you were the one who was so confident that you would leave shale gas to me? What on earth are you leaving to me?”

It was a de facto signal of dismissal.

Bush turns to the Secretary of State, then looks at the entire Cabinet, saying:

“There’s nothing more to say. I’ll speak to President Kim Jong-guk later, apologize, and then we’ll go back to the tariff issue as if it never happened.”

* * *

‘It’s almost time for the phone to ring… … .’

A conservative American media poll released today found that the Bush administration’s approval rating has fallen to 22%.

If that’s the level of opinion polls conducted by conservative media outlets, and not just other newspapers, then other opinion polls won’t be much different.

As prices in the U.S. and prices of American products rose, Korean products, which had seen a relatively large decline in sales, have seen a significant recovery in sales.

‘Can shale gas be produced properly without our help?’

The reason the US took such an absurd action was probably because of its belief in shale gas.

But in terms of history, the United States didn’t really start producing shale gas until the late 2000s.

Originally, even in history, it was not yet a time when technology for shale gas drilling had been properly developed, and while crude oil was imported relatively cheaply from Korea’s 7 mining areas, there was little investment in shale gas drilling technology, so the US’s shale gas drilling technology was actually inferior to its original history.

Just then the office phone rings.

-Tiring~ Tiring~

When I pick up the phone, I hear the voice of the diplomatic secretary.

“Mr. President, this is President Bush. Shall I call you right away?”

“Yes, please do.”

A moment later, President Bush’s feeble voice is heard over the phone.

“It’s been a while… President Kim Jong-guk.”

“Oh, yes. How have you been?”

I greeted him in a cheerful and comfortable voice as if nothing had happened, unlike him who was weak.

“President Kim, your voice seems bright… I guess you haven’t had any particular worries.”

I asked him with a smile.

“Haha. Why beat around the bush? Just tell me why you’re calling.”

Bush takes a deep breath and finally declares surrender.

“I’m sorry. We were short-sighted. Let’s pretend that the tariff increase against Korea never happened. So… … .”

I strike the player before he can say anything else.

“Are you asking us to resume exports of crude oil and natural gas?”

Bush still answers in a feeble voice.

“Yes… that’s right.”

“But you see. The amount produced in our 7th mine has not recovered at all. Even if the tariff is re-imposed in the US, the production will not recover… … .”

Bush gets impatient and gets irritated.

“President Kim Jong-guk, we in the United States are not stupid. We know full well that the amount that South Korea used to export to the United States is now being sold to other countries, so why are you saying such things?”

I continued to smile and pretend not to know.

“Haha. Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Bush eventually gives up on the continued feigned ignorance.

“Ha, what does Korea want?”

“Hahaha. Well, that’s not what I was hoping for.”

“Please speak frankly… … .”

I told him what I had planned.

“Then let’s make a free trade agreement between Korea and the United States.”

“Free trade agreement…? Let’s eliminate all tariffs on each other, is that it?”

“That’s right. If we do that, we might be able to push ourselves a little and produce crude oil and natural gas in Block 7. Maybe we could export even more to the United States than before.”

They said they would sell more crude oil and gas than before if only a free trade agreement was signed.

It’s not that Bush didn’t know that this was a poisoned chalice.

This will certainly provide a huge temporary boost to the U.S. economy.

It was also certain that prices would be significantly controlled.

But in the long run, if Korean products were to enter the U.S. without any tariffs, many U.S. industries would collapse.

A president who sees far into the future would have had to refuse.

Even if it meant some pain, we should have reestablished relations with the Middle East and considered importing crude oil from there.

But Bush couldn’t afford that now.

The very next year was the next election.

Re-election was more important to him than anything else.

‘If crude oil is imported again and American companies become more price competitive, it could benefit the United States… … .’

“Okay. Let’s discuss a free trade agreement… … .”

I smiled broadly and thanked him.

“Hahaha. As expected, it’s President Bush. Starting tomorrow, I will ask for your understanding regarding the crude oil and natural gas that were supposed to be sold to other countries and sell them to the United States first.”

I deliberately raised my voice and lavished praise on him.

“Just like his father, he is a man of great courage. He is truly a man fit to be the President of the United States! This free trade agreement will definitely have a positive effect on both the United States and Korea!”

I lifted him up with praise that was not even worth it. But deep down, Bush knew that this was a declaration of defeat.

If we continue to import crude oil from the 7th mining area, we will end up relying on Korea for a significant portion of our underground resources, and we will inevitably continue to suffer losses in diplomacy with Korea, just like in the past with the Middle East.

I couldn’t stop laughing just thinking about how big our future trade surplus would be.