Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 102
Only Krnovel
#102. One more star
Friday, June 27, 1947.
Since it was the weekend of Nolto, which comes every other week, Lee Kang-cheol and Go Seok-man started pouring soju as soon as they finished work around 8 p.m., intending to have a good rest tomorrow.
Originally, Saturday was an anti-communist day, but modern people who cannot rest properly have chosen to rest on Saturday and Sunday about once a month.
However, not long ago, it was officially changed to a biweekly rest system, so it was still possible to comfortably take two days off on the weekend once every two weeks.
The fatigue of the people who came down as an expedition team had reached its limit, and now that the national system had begun to settle down, it was okay to take a break every other Saturday.
Of course, instead, we decided to abolish the semi-working days on Saturdays and work until 6 p.m.
“Kya!”
“nice!”
The soju they drink now is 25 percent.
When it was first made, it started at 25 percent, but alcohol with a lower alcohol content such as the modern 16 or 17 percent was not sold on the market.
“Sweet, sweet! “Soju is sweet!”
“Hehehe! “I guess it’s because it’s been a while since I’ve had a proper drink.”
“Okay, since it’s the weekend where the first half of the year ends, let’s try running today!”
“great!”
Since both are original liquor stores, soju bottles quickly piled up.
“Ugh! older brother.”
“why?”
“Now let’s give it one more star.”
“Are you saying that again? “Don’t say anything that tastes bad.”
“ah! really!”
“You’re saying it’s okay whether it’s real or fake? “I’m not even the owner of Manse Stone Bed, so why do I put five stars on my own?”
“driving me crazy… … .”
“Are you telling me to give up?”
“… … .”
What Go Seok-man brought up was the issue of Lee Kang-cheol’s promotion to marshal.
This problem actually came up a long time ago.
At first, it was not a problem when the expeditionary force and some of the troops of this era participated were small, but as the size of the national army gradually grew, word began to emerge.
As the national army increased in size in a short period of time, it was originally planned that individual members of the modern expeditionary force would be promoted faster.
The colonel became a brigadier general, a major general, and soon a lieutenant general.
However, Lee Kang-cheol’s rank was fixed at the rank of general, so now the situation has come to where he should be promoted to the rank of general. However, Lee Kang-cheol, who is the head of state and the active commander-in-chief of the ROK Armed Forces by maintaining the military government, remains at the rank of general, so those who should be promoted are not promoted. A problem arose that prevented it from being done.
Ko Seok-man, who immediately moved from the position of Chief of Staff to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should have been promoted from Lieutenant General to General, but he still remained at the rank of Lieutenant General.
Moreover, the fact that the supreme commander and president of the Republic of Korea, which emerged as a rising power, was at the rank of general did not make him lose face when meeting with the generals of the Allied countries.
For example, when you meet Admiral King, General Marshall, or General MacArthur of the United States, all of whom have the rank of Marshal, a phenomenon occurs in which your genealogy becomes distorted.
This was even more so because not only Nimitz but also Admiral Halsey were given the rank of Marshal immediately after the end of the war.
This is why, since the end of the war last year, Lee Kang-cheol has not budged even though major generals and even the State Council have been urging him to raise him to the rank of marshal.
There was only one reason: it was embarrassing to establish a marshal rank with one’s own hands because it seemed like something a dictator would do.
“Brother, listen to me now. Last month, the number of South Korean troops exceeded 500,000. And by next year, it will be enough to reach 700,000. “If this continues, are you telling me and the chiefs of staff to stay as lieutenant generals?”
“Who told you not to get promoted? “You can do it, right?”
“No, you are still the captain, how can we get promoted!”
“What are you talking about? Even in our modern times, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was a captain, the Chief of Staff was a captain, and the Deputy Commander of the Combined Forces Command was also a captain?”
“Is that like us? You are the president of South Korea, right? “Why do you keep saying absurd things when you know this?”
“Anyway, I don’t like it.”
“why!”
“How many times do you say it? It’s embarrassing that I promoted myself! “Depending on the circumstances, they implement military rule and do things that resemble a dictatorship, but I don’t want to do anything that a real dictator would do.”
“… … .”
The conclusion was this again.
“Anyway, it really doesn’t work anymore. So, next month, get the rank of Marshal. The congestion from above is serious. “It’s not the time to think about your tastes.”
“Oh, really. “Can’t we just move on?”
“It’s not possible. “I won’t give you the rank badge myself, so just accept it.”
“Who are you going to ask to put it on?”
“Is there only one more person? “This is Mr. Baek Beom, the Senate President.”
“To… … . “Ah, I understand.”
“You thought well. Foreign ambassadors are entering the country one after another, so you need to think about your reputation as well.”
“Does face feed you?”
“Who said it was about saving face? “I mean national respect, the country!”
“… … .”
When they said it was for the sake of the country’s reputation, there was nothing more to say.
“Anyway, when is Kennedy’s father coming?”
“They said it would arrive next month.”
“Why are you procrastinating so much when the embassy and official residence have been completed?”
“Well, I guess there were quite a few things I ordered separately. So the interior was remodeled again.”
“Can you hear that?”
“That gentleman is a rich man, right? “If you say you’re going to do it with your own money, what’s the U.S. government going to say?”
“her! “I knew he was a nerd, but he’s really different.”
“I hate Churchill. “I’m going to have a headache when Joseph comes.”
“That much?”
“It appears that what remains in the record is not everything. Basically, they say that because he is a wealthy person, he would be in big trouble if he were to think of an ordinary civil servant.”
“Damn, where did you get such a bastard… … .”
“Anyway, the work can be done through the projection below and directly with Roosevelt, so don’t worry about it.”
“But still.”
Although he says he doesn’t care, he is John F. Kennedy’s father.
It would be a lie to say I didn’t care.
“And that’s it, brother. “Our military resources are slowly running out. What are you going to do?”
“already?”
“What is it already? You said our troops exceeded 500,000, right? “Considering the population of the Korean Peninsula, we have extracted enough.”
“To… … .”
“If we push too hard, we can make more, but then it will look like Hyundai again. Did you forget? “What was the condition of the unit after raising the active-duty conscription rate to 90% because there were no young people?”
“Keuung!”
The active disposal rate in Hyundai peaked in the early 2010s.
It exceeded 90%.
Eventually, the government acknowledged that military resources would inevitably decrease due to the low birth rate, and implemented a troop reduction, saying that instead of reducing troops, they would increase their quality. From 2015, the number fell to the 80% range, and eventually remained in the 80% range until the early 2020s. It was.
However, as military resources further decreased and the threat from China became a reality, it was again set at 90% in 2027, when they were there.
This means that if the limbs were attached and the eyes, nose, and mouth were properly attached, they were brought into active service, but the side effects from this were extremely serious.
Soldiers are basically people who fight with extremely dangerous guns.
Therefore, the principle is that only people who are healthy both physically and mentally can become soldiers, and that is correct.
However, due to the shortage of military resources, even unsuitable resources were enlisted for active duty, so it would be abnormal if there were no defects.
Physically unsuitable resources are better off.
As the unit was overflowing with mentally unfit resources, all sorts of things were done to prevent accidents.
Since it was impossible to give a gun to a soldier or not, it was common to attach several healthy privates to a soldier of interest and have them move around, or to treat them like masters without asking them to do anything at all.
Is there any way for the unit to function like this?
The healthy soldiers became more and more tired, and company commanders and battalion commanders had to worry about misfits causing accidents.
“Hey! “It’s terrible, it’s terrible!”
“So that’s what I’m saying. This means that we are at our limit right now. “If we hire more people, those kids will come back in.”
“damn! “Because of this population, we will suffer in the future and we will suffer even now. Is there such a thing as this?”
“That’s right. Moreover, the rapid economic development is also playing a role. The entire country is under construction, with a new factory being built every day. “With so many lucrative jobs becoming available in society, who would want to remain in the military despite the risk and hardships it poses?”
“Ai, the alcohol tastes bitter again. How come we have to experience the same problems we experienced in modern times here? Is this a problem even if the economy develops? … .”
“It’s frustrating.”
“So what are we going to do? You are not the kind of person who would speak out without a plan. “You’re not really asking to extend the period of service, are you?”
“That’s not true. “If we were to extend it from the current 30 months, we would have no choice but to extend it by 6 months to cover 3 years, but that is not a fundamental solution.”
“Isn’t three years too much for humanity? No matter how old the times are… … .”
“Look, we might need to increase it. “Anyway, that’s it. Other measures are also needed.”
“How do you mean that?”
“I don’t know about the Manchurian Special Administrative Region, Sakhalin, or Hokkaido, but I think we will have to recruit troops from the Japanese within the Korean Peninsula.”
“what? Let’s enlist Japanese people? Isn’t that too early? “No matter how voluntarily they stayed and pledged loyalty to the Republic of Korea.”
As Lee Kang-cheol said, it has only been two years since Japan was defeated.
Instead of returning to Japan, he decided to remain on the Korean Peninsula and live as a Korean and swore an oath of loyalty.
He even changed his name to Korean style, but it was natural to think that it was still too early.
Not enough to put a gun in your hand.
“Anyway, Japanese people on the Korean Peninsula are the first to assimilate and live as Koreans. In fact, it adapts the fastest. And the case is different from the Japanese forcibly conscripting Koreans during the Japanese colonial period. These are people who have decided to live as Koreans of their own free will. “It’s a little early, but it’ll be okay.”
“Then let’s conscript them in the same way?”
“First, we receive resources.”
“Resources? “Then will there be people who want to do it?”
“There definitely will be. “If you also offer carrots.”
“Are you trying to eliminate discrimination?”
“Is there anything else than that? The salary of a private soldier is a small salary, right? So, they are saying that almost all discrimination against those who have served in the military will be lifted early, limited to them. Then there will be quite a few applicants.”
“How much support will we have?”
“There are 3 million people of Japanese descent, including those who came from China. “If you do well at least 50,000, you will be able to get up to 100,000.”
“Only as a private soldier?”
“Of course, unless those friends want to become non-commissioned officers or apply to become officers or non-commissioned officers after being discharged from the military, we should only select them as privates.”
“Hmm, I understand. First, please raise the agenda for the next cabinet meeting. Including operational plans. “You know you should never gather people of Japanese descent together, right?”
“Of course.”
At the first Cabinet meeting in July, there was less opposition than expected regarding the issue of receiving resources from Japanese citizens.
I don’t know if it’s a racial trait of the Japanese to adapt to the strong, but it seemed like they had a big impact on their rapid assimilation over the past two years.
Because he was very obedient.
No, at times they responded to government policies more proactively than the original Koreans.
Having decided to put down roots and live in Korea, it seemed like a consensus had been formed that we should adapt quickly and avoid being discriminated against as soon as possible.
And, as a bonus, it was decided to extend the service period of conscripted soldiers.
Instead, it was decided to increase the current salary, which is about half of the private minimum wage, to 70%, which I believed would be of some consolation.
There was no doubt that the parties involved would cry.
* * *
July 10, 1947.
“ha ha ha! Congratulations, Mr. President.”
“This is incredibly embarrassing, Mr. Chairman.”
When Baekbeom Kim Gu, in his capacity as chairman of the Senate, placed a five-star rank insignia on Lee Kang-cheol’s shoulder, Lee Kang-cheol was very embarrassed.
“No, President. Actually, it’s very late. The president of a country is a general? “That doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m embarrassed, but I will work harder.”
“ha ha ha!”
“ha ha ha!”
Next, a promotion rush that had been stagnant until now took place.
Ko Seok-man became a general, the chiefs of staff of each army were also promoted to generals, and all corps commanders were promoted to lieutenant generals.
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