Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 160



Only Krnovel

#Episode 160 This is truly a big deal!

January 4, 1950.

The government complex has now been completely moved.

It is the first day of work in the new year of 1950.

This is because New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, so the substitute holiday continues until Tuesday.

In particular, Lee Kang-cheol went on his honeymoon, which he had postponed to meet envoys from various countries, a few days before this holiday.

“Did you have a good time?”

Go Seok-man welcomed Lee Kang-cheol warmly.

“Uh, I came up yesterday during the day.”

“Hehehe! how is it?”

“what?”

“Marriage life.”

“hey! Now, what kind of nonsense is this for someone who has just been on their honeymoon? “Isn’t it still a good time?”

“That’s right. And yet?”

“Don’t say anything strange. That’s what other people say. And what kind of kid am I? Do you believe that your married life will be happy for 100,000 days?”

“Well, you’re 60 now.”

“Why don’t we talk about age?”

“Hehe! I knew. Ah, Director Cho Tae-hyun is waiting.”

“What’s going on?”

“I guess the Soviet Union has finally been sorted out.”

“okay?”

“Yes, it has been officially confirmed that Khrushchev has become Secretary General.”

“Good. “Let’s talk with Director Cho.”

“yes.”

A moment later, National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-hyun entered Lee Kang-cheol’s office smiling.

“Did you have a good time?”

“Uh, okay. “Don’t say anything strange, just get straight to the point.”

“ha ha ha! All right. At the end of last year, on December 31st, Beria was purged and Khrushchev finally took power. He was inaugurated as Secretary-General two days ago.”

“What about Beria?”

“That person has done something, there is no way he will be safe. “According to our information, he was beaten to death by high-ranking officials.”

“To high-ranking officials?”

“Yes, because Beria was imprisoned, people who had a grudge against him flocked in, but they couldn’t all get in, so they beat them up in order of seniority. And then he died in the middle.”

“Huh, so you’re saying you lined up to beat that guy?”

“You know, right? “It’s only natural, considering what he did.”

“I guess I’ll do it in moderation. Yes, that worked, and anyway, now that Khrushchev has become Secretary General, the Soviet Union will be in better shape. “It’s good for us too.”

“Maybe so. ha ha ha!”

It was at the end of 1949 that Khrushchev re-entered central politics.

But this time, we advanced about a year and a half earlier than that.

And this is partly because history has changed a lot, but there is also a reason why a little manipulation by the National Intelligence Service was effective.

If you ask why Khrushchev, there was a reason.

Lee Kang-cheol and Ko Seok-man, as well as the National Intelligence Service, chose Khrushchev as the right person to rule the Soviet Union after Stalin, because of his actions in history when he served as general secretary.

Originally, in history, Khrushchev was known to the Western world as simply ignorant and hot-headed, but this is a bit of a misconception.

It is true that he was hot-tempered, but Khrushchev was by no means a simple ignorant person.

The reason this image was solidified was because he took off his shoe and hit the table at the UN General Assembly, but no matter what, a simple and ignorant person cannot become the Secretary-General of the Soviet Union.

Although his only education was four years of elementary school, he was an extremely intelligent person and a courageous person who survived under Stalin.

And even when he became Secretary General and held the power of the Soviet Union in one hand, he ruled much more moderately than Stalin and is said to have had a rich sense of humor.

At least during the Khrushchev era, the guilt-by-association system was largely relaxed, and endless purges, killings, and confinement to concentration camps ceased.

In addition, it has greatly contributed to improving the people’s living standards, and has brought about much cultural development by giving breathing space to society as a whole.

In short, Khrushchev was a surprisingly good leader, even though he had limitations as the Secretary General of the Soviet Union, and the Korean government early on identified him as the leader of the post-Soviet Union.

After defeating the Soviet Union, they would not get along well for a while, but they could not continue to be uncomfortable with the Soviet Union, which faced the border.

In that case, it would have been advantageous for the Republic of Korea to have the Soviet Union as a partner if possible, and to have someone who was more flexible and more moderate than others rule over the Soviet Union.

“Please brief Teacher Woosa in detail as well. “Even if it’s not immediate, reconciliation with the Soviet Union would be beneficial to the national interest.”

“All right. And the other thing is the Chinese trend.”

“How does it work there?”

“First of all, the Republic of China has been conducting a large-scale purge campaign since Chiang Kai-shek returned. “They took up the sword on a large scale, saying they would eradicate corruption.”

“Hoo? Are you trying to do well now?”

“That’s right. “If you look at President Chiang Kai-shek’s actions now, it seems similar to what he did after he lost the Chinese Civil War and treated Taiwan as the father of the country.”

Chiang Kai-shek came to his senses after losing the Chinese Civil War and being driven out to Taiwan.

Above all, he worked hard to eradicate corruption, which he believed was the first cause of his failure, and, placing importance on public sentiment, implemented reforms across society, including compulsory education.

That is why Taiwan was able to develop economically and socially.

However, this time I came to my senses earlier than expected.

“Well, it’s a bit difficult if you grow up so quickly. “To what extent?”

“Looking at what I’m doing now, I think I’m very determined. “He goes so far as to declare that he will not forgive anyone who commits injustice, even if he is his own blood relative.”

“What do you think, Minister Goh?”

“Hmm, militarily, it’s late for me to come to my senses, but I guess there could be a variable.”

“yes?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Director Cho, what about Mao Zedong?”

“The Communist Party spent the winter rearming with Soviet-made weapons that we supported. “They plan to launch a large-scale invasion after winter.”

“When do you see it?”

“We will start in late February or early March.”

“Okay. “Keep an eye on us, and if you see anything unusual, report it immediately.”

“I knew.”

“And the late Minister.”

“yes.”

“Soviet-made weapons. Increase the speed a little more.”

“All right.”

A few days later, Lee Kang-cheol made a personnel announcement to the military.

“After all, Nam Byeong-woo is the best, right?”

“That’s right. Regardless of rank, he is currently the most discerning and serious person.”

“Then the Chief of Staff of the Army that you are in charge of will be Nam Byeong-woo. “The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?”

“I will continue to take charge for the time being.”

“Isn’t there too much work?”

“Oh, that’s what I’ve done so far. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must lead the land, sea, and air force, but there is currently no one capable of doing so. To be honest, would even Air Force Chief Jeong Ji-woon listen to anyone else, let alone that crazy guy in the Navy?”

“That’s right. Kim Jong-woo, if that crazy guy appoints someone who worked under you, there’s no way you’ll listen to him.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can appoint Kim Jong-woo or Jeong Ji-un as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Once both of them are eliminated, there is no alternative.”

“… … .”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff literally oversees the three services, assists the Minister of National Defense, and has military command, so he has a higher rank than the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

However, the current ROK Armed Forces are from the future, and the Chiefs of Staff of the Air Force and Navy, Ji-Woon Jeong and Jong-Woo Kim, are the ones who created the Air Force and Navy by virtually founding them.

Therefore, the status of those two men in the Air Force and Navy was absolute.

This was especially true for Kim Jong-woo, because even though he was crazy, he had real skills.

Are you going to put those two people behind army generals like Nam Byeong-woo or Jeong Seon-ho?

Such a thing cannot happen.

However, it was not possible to have one of the two sit at the joint funeral.

In the end, at least for the time being, Ko Seok-man, who was firmly ranked second in power no matter what anyone said, had no choice but to continue to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In any case, this reshuffle ended with Nam Byeong-woo assuming the position of Chief of Staff of the Army, which had been previously held by Ko Seok-man, and making several other general-level appointments.

February 17, 1950, 3 p.m.

Space Center in Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do.

There was no disagreement about building a space center in Goheung-gun.

The lower the latitude, the more advantageous it is to launch a satellite, and naturally, Goheung-gun, where Narodo Island, where the space center was originally located, emerged as the optimal location for a space center.

However, it was different from the original. In this era, it was not possible to build a space center on Narodo, which was still an island, and there was no need to do so.

Since we had to launch numerous large and small rockets in the future, we had no choice but to build a large space center, so we made the center by accommodating the entire southern part of Goheung-gun, a peninsula.

Of course, a large amount of compensation is provided to the residents of the area.

“Wow! “This is magnificent!”

“This is truly a big deal! “It’s huge!”

Lee Kang-cheol and Ko Seok-man, who entered the space center, were gaping when they saw the KSLV-III rocket Venus standing upright.

The sight of the 55m tall Venus Rocket standing upright was truly majestic.

“Can someone that big climb up there?”

“ha ha ha! Mr. President, you will faint when you see rockets launched by American kids in the future.”

The director of the Aerospace Research Institute smiled and answered.

“Those guys are basically outside the standard.”

“But this time we will.”

“To do. “How much does this weigh?”

“The total takeoff weight including fuel is over 360 tons.”

“That’s huge!”

“It’s much bigger than Nuriho. The first-stage rocket combines five 100-ton multi-stage combustion cycle engines to produce 500 tons of thrust, and the second-stage rocket combines two 10-ton engines to produce 20 tons of thrust.”

“What about satellites?”

“This was the first launch, so a dummy satellite was mounted. Of course, we will put it into geostationary orbit, and even if it is a dummy satellite, it will have basic communication functions and an optical telescope so we can properly determine whether it will be successful.”

“Anyway, it’s amazing.”

“This is just the beginning. “The goal is to launch a rocket with performance similar to the Falcon 9 rocket that Musk was launching within five years.”

“Oh oh! “So the rocket can be reused?”

“of course. “From the beginning, while developing the KSLV-III rocket in the future, we planned to convert it into a reusable rocket like the Falcon 9 in the long term.”

“Oh oh! “You really worked hard, Director.”

“You told me to work hard?”

“… … .”

When Director Hang Woo-yeon looked at him with slightly resentful eyes, Lee Kang-cheol quietly avoided his gaze.

Even if I resented it, there was nothing I could do about it.

That’s why the development of satellites and rockets was so important.

Soon the launch count began.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! launch!”

Kuaaaa!!

The Venus rocket slowly began to ascend into the sky, emitting flames and a roar that shook the heavens and earth.

“Oh oh!”

“Wow!”

That day, the Venus rocket safely landed the dummy satellite in geostationary orbit.

The space age had begun.