Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 273



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#273. It seems like things are a bit noisy in the south these days.

The three of them have been talking about the lack of military resources for a long time.

It seemed like he had been through quite a bit.

“Anyway, that’s true. No matter how much you say you need to win the election politically, you still can’t touch national defense. Either way.”

“you’re right.”

“Shortening the service period? No, what are you going to do if you reduce it even further when there are already so few people? Who the hell is going to raise cows? And a soldier’s monthly salary of 2 million won? Who doesn’t want to pay it? Prime Minister Goh, you know how many times I’ve insisted on raising the soldier’s monthly salary.”

“Hahaha! You said that often. That’s what you said back then. The conscription system means that you have an obligation to serve in the military, not that you can work for free.”

“That’s right. Many people misunderstood the conscription system, but it was wrong to bring in young men for free and use them just because it was a conscription system. In the 60s and 70s, we had to deal with the threat from North Korea right away, right? We didn’t have money to buy weapons. Okay, I’ll give you a hundred concessions, but it wasn’t like that since the mid-80s, right?”

“Yes.”

“From that time on, at least in my memory, it is correct to say that our country was able to live to some extent. But the soldier’s salary was the same, right? When I was commissioned, the few tens of thousands of won was like being treated like a real slave. At that time, the sergeant’s salary was probably 12,000 won. Was that a monthly salary? A monthly salary? A monthly salary!”

“Calm down, please.”

Now, Lee Kang-cheol was raising his blood pressure.

“That was in the mid-1990s. Back then, I think you could make 40,000 or 50,000 won a day as a handyman at a construction site. But a sergeant’s salary of 12,000 won? That was too much. Didn’t soldiers not spend money? It was a time when people smoked a lot, so the cigarettes they gave us weren’t enough, so we had to buy cigarettes to smoke, sometimes we had to have a snack at the PX, if we got out on leave, we had to have a drink or two, and if we got a new soldier, we had to buy him a drink, and so on. Of course, there were some amazing guys who saved all 12,000 won, but those were very exceptional cases.”

“Hehehe! I’ve seen that guy too. He was really amazing.”

“Anyway, at least you should give them enough to not have to ask for money from their families. And considering the fact that more than 70% or 80% of soldiers in our country are students at a junior college or higher, you should give them enough to at least cover a year’s worth of tuition if they save up well. When did a sergeant’s monthly salary break 200,000 won? I think it was in 2017?”

“Yes, that must be the time. I remember it that way too.”

“And then, from then on, the soldiers’ salaries went up steeply because of the policy of realizing the salary of soldiers and such. Yes, I welcome that as well. I didn’t think they shortened the service period, but I thought they were doing a good job. Based on the economic situation of our country in the mid-2020s, I thought that a sergeant should naturally receive a salary of about 1 million won per month. But out of the blue, 2 million won? That’s not right! No, if they suddenly raise it like that, what are they going to do with the non-commissioned officers? Huh? And they’re cutting off all overtime pay?”

“you’re right.”

“Who would want to become a non-commissioned officer? It’s similar to a private’s salary? That’s why there was a mass desertion. How difficult and precious are the non-commissioned officers, the backbone of the military, to raise?”

“Is that all? Why do you do ROTC? You could serve as an officer and earn some money, right? But the service period is 28 months, and the salary is not much different from that of a soldier, so who would want to do it? It was the same for military doctors. No, if you served for 38 months and went out, your career wouldn’t be properly recognized, but you came to be a military doctor because you thought it was better than being a soldier, right? But the active-duty service period for soldiers was reduced to 18 months, and the salary is also good. Then who would apply to be a military doctor? It’s better to just go and come back as an active-duty soldier. And since doctors are going to be active-duty, do you think they’ll be assigned to combat? They’ll be within the military medical system anyway.”

“that’s right.”

“And by the way, if things turn out like this, are you going to give us a salary of 4 or 5 million won each? Then, what about the captain? What about the major?”

“Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me hot… … .”

In an environment of extreme low birth rates, two outrageous collaborations have emerged: a shortened service period and an increase in soldiers’ annual salaries to 2 million won.

As Lee Kang-cheol said, in the 2020s, the South Korean military was collapsing.

“This is my sincere opinion. If you start to meddle in national defense with political judgment, the country will simply be ruined. I absolutely do not want to see that happen here.”

“You are right.”

“So what were we talking about that brought us here?”

“I was saying that it was great that there were so many resources to join the military… … .”

“Hmm!”

“… … .”

The story has changed a lot.

“Yeah, you’re saying you’re adding 200,000?”

“Yes, that’s right. The current military has a total of 1.3 million people. Of those, 300,000 are in the Navy, including the Air Force and Marine Corps, and the remaining 1 million are in the Army.”

“Then where are we going to send the additional 200,000?”

“They are all Army. The Air Force says 140,000 including air defense is enough, and the Navy has 60,000 Marines and 100,000 Navy, so there is not much room for reinforcements yet. Well, if Chief of Staff Kim Jong-woo has the money, he would like to increase the Marines by about 20,000… … .”

“Why does that bastard keep trying to increase the Marine Corps? Isn’t 60,000 enough?”

“In fact, as our overseas territories have rapidly increased, the need for Marine Corps has increased. This is true in the areas of Haenam Island and Noeju Peninsula, as well as in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Republic of Borneo, where we manage a considerable number of oil and gas fields.”

“Okay! 60,000 Marines are enough. It’s strange to send the Marines when the Army can do the job. I’m not saying this because I’m from the Army, but it’s strange to unnecessarily divide ground combat forces. We’ve seen and followed the US military a lot in modern times, so we keep trying to imitate the US military, but there’s no need to do that. The US military has a historical reason to maintain such a large Marine Corps.”

“Yes, I thought so too, so we decided not to increase the Marine Corps this time. General Kim Jong-woo was also a little disappointed.”

“Then everyone is in the army?”

“Yes, that’s right. Currently, our army is comprised of six field armies and one Capital Defense Command, but the field armies are not large enough to be called field armies. So this time, we plan to add two to three divisions to each field army.”

A field army is a unit of unit organization larger than a corps and smaller than an army group, but the field army of the Republic of Korea Army has not yet reached its proper size due to a shortage of personnel.

“Hmm, yeah. It’s definitely a bit embarrassing to call them a field army.”

“And some of them are going to be transferred to the Mobilization Command. In addition to the standing divisions, it is now time to steadily increase the number of reserve divisions.”

“Yes, that’s true. You can’t increase the number of standing divisions indefinitely.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Yes, Prime Minister Goh, do you have any opinions?”

“We have already reviewed it and submitted it for approval.”

“So, all I have to do is sign and it’s done? Okay. I’ll approve.”

“thank you.”

“Ah! You know that even though we have abundant manpower resources, we shouldn’t use our soldiers recklessly, right?”

“Hahaha! Of course. We don’t have any tennis disease or lawn disease like modern times.”

“Yeah, you’re doing well. Why are you bringing in someone else’s precious child to do something like button-making? Isn’t that something that can be easily outsourced?”

“Haha! Okay, I understand.”

Lee Kang-cheol signed happily.

***

It’s Baekjung on August 18, 1959.

dripping!

“Yes, please come in.”

“Mr. President, here I come.”

“Ah, Mr. Usagi. Welcome.”

Lee Kang-cheol welcomed Kim Kyu-sik, who had come to the Blue House.

“Aren’t you on summer vacation right now?”

“Hahaha! That’s right. But something came up so I was in Jeju Island and came up here.”

“What’s going on? What’s going on?”

“I think I need to visit the Republic of Borneo and Indonesia.”

“Why are you there in this hot weather?”

“The Ambassador of the Republic of Borneo came to see me urgently.”

“The Republic of Borneo?”

Republic of Borneo.

It is a new republic created by combining North Borneo, which was formerly British, and South Borneo, which was formerly Dutch.

Borneo is a huge island with an area of ​​over 750,000㎢. Originally, it was called East Malaysia after taking over British Malaysia, the south was called Kalimantan by Indonesia, and Brunei, located between Sarawak and Sabah in the north, was independent. South Korea basically created it this way to keep Indonesia in check.

It had been a protectorate of the Republic of Korea for only about a year before it gained independence, so the influence of the Republic of Korea was still strong.

“Why there?”

“It seems like things are a bit noisy in the south these days.”

“Where in the south? Indonesia?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Why Indonesia again?”

“I think Sukarno has become somewhat wealthy now. He seems to be greedy for the Republic of Borneo.”

“Huh? Sukarno? No, is he crazy? Where are you looking at?”

“Hahaha! That’s true.”

Indonesia became independent 10 years ago with only the islands of Sumatra and Java, which is different from its original history.

“At that time, they had no choice but to give up the remaining islands in order to become independent, but they seem to be gaining confidence little by little. It is said that the Indonesian Navy frequently invades the Borneo area in front of South Borneo. And it has been reported that they are secretly inciting the citizens of South Borneo who were originally there.”

“Is this a report from our National Intelligence Service?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Just a moment. Please call Prime Minister Koh Seok-man and Director Cho Tae-hyun and speak to them together.”

“All right.”

After a while, Go Seok-man and Jo Tae-hyun came in together.

“Did you call?”

“Uh, Director Cho. Have you received any reports on recent developments in Indonesia?”

“Ah! That’s why you called me.”

“Yes, I heard from Mr. Usa that Sukarno’s liver came out of the ship.”

“Hahaha! There are definitely signs of that.”

“What is it like?”

“First of all, it has been discovered that he is constantly working on Borneo, secretly inciting pro-Indonesian residents.”

“and?”

“We may think that their navy is weak, but they still continue to invade and provoke Borneo’s territorial waters. They even incite the Indonesian oil industry, saying that our country, Britain, and the Netherlands are stealing it all.”

“No, there are people like that!”

“Anyway, judging from all these circumstances, it is clear that Sukarno has clearly come out of the boat. He is trying to take over Borneo with his own strength.”

“You’re crazy!”

Lee Kang-cheol’s expression hardened.