1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 71



Only Krnovel

Episode 71

“Did the practical negotiations go well?”

This time, the person in charge of working-level affairs related to Russia, Foreign Secretary Yoo Seong-guk, answers.

“Yes. We have sorted out the trains coming from Russia, the embassy establishment issue, and even the natural gas pipeline connection.”

“Okay. Thanks for your hard work.”

He plans to assume his position as ambassador once this work is completed and the Korean embassy in Russia is established.

“In the future, Russia will become an important economic partner for Korea. Secretary Yoo’s role is important.”

“I will do my best!”

‘Oh, by the way, there’s someone I need to find.’

“Secretary Yoo, if you become an ambassador, please find just one person.”

“Yes. Who is it?”

“This is a guy named Vladimir Putin from the KGB.”

Secretary Yu is a little embarrassed when he hears that he is from the KGB.

“Are you from the KGB… … .”

I spoke to him, trying to comfort him.

“Don’t worry. By the time Secretary Yu comes looking for me, I’ll have been fired from the KGB and will be unemployed.”

Putin was fired from the KGB in the early 90s and spent a year or two unemployed.

And this was the perfect opportunity to catch him.

Whether he kills or saves them and makes them side with Korea, it certainly won’t be difficult in any way during his unemployed days.

“Oh, I see. I understand!”

Secretary Yoo’s expression brightens again.

Then suddenly a phone call comes into the hotel.

Secretary Yoo, who is fluent in Russian, answers the phone.

“Yes… yes… yes. I understand. Please wait a moment.”

And then, a little later, after I finished talking on the phone, I asked him:

“What’s going on?”

“This is President Yeltsin.”

“At this hour? Why are you calling at this hour?”

“He said he was coming to the hotel bar below and asked if I would like to have a drink.”

‘I guess the decision has been made.’

But doing such an important thing in a bar was typical of his behavior, given his reputation as an alcoholic.

‘Well, he’s someone who has lost his senses even in the White House… … .’

I told Yeltsin to do so and went down to the tavern a little later.

* * *

“I don’t know if you’ve been waiting long enough.”

Despite arriving sooner than expected, Yeltsin had already arrived at the tavern and was drinking vodka.

“No, I was just having a drink first.”

He poured vodka into my glass as soon as I sat down.

“Have a drink.”

He hands me the glass.

“thank you.”

I downed the vodka in one go.

As soon as the vodka goes down my throat, I feel a burning sensation in my throat and stomach.

“Ugh… … .”

As I frown and groan, Yeltsin laughs, as if he finds it amusing.

“Hahaha. I guess President Kim is weak to alcohol.”

“It’s not usually strong. What is the alcohol content of this?”

Yeltsin proudly shows off a bottle of vodka.

“It’s 45 degrees. In Russia, that’s not that high.”

’45 degrees?’

It was clear that they were crazy.

How can a country be run properly when people drink 45-degree alcohol every day?

For me, who usually drinks makgeolli, beer, and soju, 45-degree alcohol was too harsh.

“Haha, 45 degrees is too strong. The strongest alcohol I usually drink is around 20 degrees.”

“As a man, you should know how to drink stronger alcohol!”

Yeltsin poured the 45-degree strong liquor from his cup into his mouth in one go.

“Ugh. It’s good. I wonder if I’m living for this taste.”

Yeltsin’s face turns slightly red.

He pours another glass of vodka into my cup and offers it to me.

“Have another drink.”

Anyone else would have refused, but now he was an important diplomatic partner.

I held my breath and downed the vodka in one go.

Yeltsin also took another sip of vodka and soon got back to the main point in a serious voice.

“$80 billion. This is what Russia demands from Korea.”

’80 billion dollars… … ‘

Eighty billion dollars was not an unaffordable amount.

The $50 billion offered last time was about half of what our government calculated the territory was worth.

They were willing to pay up to $100 billion, but they weren’t willing to raise the price by 60 percent like that right now.

“80 billion dollars… … ? I think 50 billion dollars is quite a large amount… … .”

Yeltsin puts down his glass of vodka and says:

“Instead, I will add one more to Primorsky and Khabarovsk.”

“You’re adding more? What do you mean?”

At first I thought it might be some place in Siberia, but the place he spoke of was something I could never have imagined.

“It’s Sakhalin Island.”

“So, are you saying that you will transfer Primorsky, Khabarovsk, and even Sakhalin Island for 80 billion dollars?”

“Yes. From our Russian perspective, if we sell Primorsky and Khabarovsk to Korea, it will be difficult to access Sakhalin Island. If we are going to sell, it would be better to sell it all at once.”

An unexpected stroke of luck came to me.

Sakhalin Island is one of the regions with an enormous abundance of mineral resources.

However, since the underground resources were only properly extracted in the 2000s, it seems that Russia currently underestimates the value of Sakhalin Island.

And that wasn’t all. There were quite a few Korean immigrants and people of Korean descent living on Sakhalin Island, so in many ways it was an island that Korea absolutely had to take if it could.

I never even mentioned Sakhalin Island because I thought it would never be handed over, but I never thought that they would be the first to bring it up and say they would hand it over.

‘But that doesn’t mean I have to say okay right away.’

“I’ll give you $6 billion more on top of the $70 billion.”

In numerical terms, it went from $83 billion to $76 billion, so they were asking for a cut of $7 billion, but that would have meant that Yeltsin would have lost an additional $3 billion.

Yeltsin hesitates for a moment, then pours the rest of the vodka into the bottle.

“Are you okay? Drink a little slower… … .”

Originally, he was the one who died from alcoholism in history.

I stopped him with a slightly worried voice.

But he drank all that vodka before putting the empty bottle down.

“Koo. $70 billion to $8 billion! This is the last offer I can make.”

’78 billion dollars… … ‘

Anyway, for Primorsky and Khabarovsk alone, they were willing to pay up to $100 billion.

There was no reason to refuse $78 billion for Sakhalin Island.

“Okay, go ahead and do that!”

I shook his hand to commemorate the end of the negotiations.

But what he handed me was not a hand, but a small bottle of vodka.

“Okay, Mr. President Kim. Drink all of this. I only do business with people who can drink this much vodka.”

The vodka he handed me was 700ml.

It was actually a burdensome amount to drink all at once.

‘Well, if I can drink this and get the land, there’s no reason to refuse.’

Anyway, I just had to endure the hangover for one day.

I opened the bottle of vodka and poured the whole bottle into my stomach.

And Yeltsin sees that and laughs out loud.

“Hahahahahaha! That’s amazing. I never thought you’d drink it all.”

I shook his hand, placed an empty bottle of liquor next to me, and we finally sealed the deal.

“Oh my, thank you… … .”

And as soon as I finished shaking hands, I fell asleep right there.

The next day, Yeltsin and I were both so drunk that we collapsed on the floor and fell asleep, and it took quite a while for our secretaries to get us out.

* * *

The territorial transfer took place by surprise on the last day of the summit.

“thank you.”

He shook hands with Yeltsin in front of numerous flashes of light to mark the successful transfer of territory.

“From now on, our two countries will interact and live closely together. Hahaha.”

Yeltsin was laughing out loud, either because of the money falling on him or because he was genuinely happy about the deal.

Since this was a fact known only to a few people in each country, everyone was shocked when it became known.

And as soon as this news was heard, media outlets around the world reported it as breaking news.

[Russia transfers Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories to Korea! – Guardan]

[The exact sale price is unknown, but it is estimated to be around $80 billion. – The Sun Ilbo]

[Will Korea emerge as a new global powerhouse? – Berlin Post]

[Korea could become a focal point of the Third World. Several Third World countries are making diplomatic contacts behind the scenes to join Korea. – San Francisco Times.]

[With this contract, Korea’s territory will be expanded by more than five times its existing size and will gain a position of great strategic importance. – Maison de France]

[The White House has not said anything about it, but it is known to be secretly pleased that its ally South Korea has gained a strategically important position in East Asia. – New York Magazine]

This transfer of territory received much attention and headline coverage from all over the world.

Although territorial sales were not uncommon in the 20th century, this was the first time since the sale of Alaska in the 19th century that a large amount of territory had been sold between countries.

Korea transformed from a country of 220,000 square kilometers to a huge country of 1.24 million square kilometers in an instant.

This land area of ​​1.24 million square kilometers was larger than the territory of Germany and France combined.

Of course, in the case of Khabarovsk, which occupied the largest area, most of it was close to a wasteland, but even so, Primorsky, Khabarovsk, and Sakhalin Island were all very important lands like Altoran, strategically and in terms of underground resources.

In particular, by occupying these three regions, China and Japan appeared to be surrounded by Korea.

The two countries were in an uproar to break the contract, but since the two countries were not parties to it in the first place, there was nothing they could physically do.

Naturally, America was listening.

It was understandable that the closest ally would be thrilled to have land in such a strategically improbable location.

As soon as this news was announced, a phone call came to the new US President, Bill Clinton.

“This is my first time contacting you. I’ve been busy with various things, so I’m a little late in contacting you. This is Bill Clinton.”

He had a somewhat cocky attitude, unlike his father Bush.

Even though South Korea is a top ally, he didn’t call until months after taking office.

‘How arrogant. A man who can’t even take care of his own lower self… … .’

“Haha. No. I understand you’re busy. This is Kim Jung Kook.”

“Thank you for understanding. But this time, you really did something big.”

“Thank you. I see you’ve already checked.”

As expected of a young president, Clinton gets straight to the point without hesitation.

“Let me get straight to the point. Would it be okay for South Korea to deploy US missile defense systems and military bases in Khabarovsk, which it has recently acquired?”

He was a president who treated Korea strangely coldly during the IMF crisis.

I don’t know if he originally harbored ill feelings, but even now his attitude was very arrogant.

‘You want to get it all for free.’

“Well, that’s difficult. The territory has just been transferred, and there are still a lot of procedures to be done, including the relocation of residents. And Korean weapons will be deployed in this area.”

“That may not be a very good decision. Don’t you know that there is a reason why the United States welcomes this territorial deal?”

‘It won’t work.’

“President Clinton, do you like White House interns?”