Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 314



Only Krnovel

#314. It’s not easy being a leader.

10:00 a.m., January 10, 1963.

The Blue House.

“Oh! Minister Park Jae-seung. Welcome.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

The new Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jae-seung sat down in a slightly awkward position.

It is a security-related position that only includes the President, the Prime Minister, the Director of the National Intelligence Service, and the Minister of National Defense.

It was bound to be difficult for now.

Park Jae-seung had attended as a stand-in for Kim Kyu-sik when he was on a business trip overseas, but this was the first time such a gathering of the most important figures had taken place.

And it was the same awkward for Lee Kang-cheol, because he had spent so much time with Kim Kyu-sik.

“Yeah, you have something to report?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Haha! Don’t be nervous and just talk. I won’t eat you.”

“… … .”

Lee Kang-cheol joked to relieve the tension, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

“Oh, so what is it? Is it a conflict between the Philippines and the Republic of China?”

“Yes, that’s right. You knew that, didn’t you?”

“No, Director Cho was just talking about it. It’s about the security trends in neighboring countries.”

“Oh, then what the director is reporting is… … .”

Then, Director Cho quickly intervened.

“Am I your subordinate? I report and you listen?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it… … .”

“Poohaha!”

“ha ha ha!”

“… … .”

Park Jae-seung’s face turned red, now realizing that it was a joke.

“Okay! Let’s stop joking. Let Minister Park do the reporting. Tell me.”

“Yes, yesterday at around 1:30 PM local time in the Philippines, a collision occurred between the Republic of China Coast Guard and a Philippine fishing boat and Coast Guard in the waters 80 km northeast of Basco Island, Philippines.”

“How much of a conflict was there?”

“A Chinese coast guard vessel fired water cannons, killing one fisherman and injuring several others,” the statement said.

“Well, why don’t you show me the map?”

“yes.”

Park Jae-seung quickly displayed a map of the area on a large screen.

“This is the exact spot. To be exact, it is 20km east of Mabudis Island, the northernmost island in the Philippines.”

“What? That clearly looks like a Philippine island? Why is the ROC Coast Guard there?”

“That’s a bit absurd. Filipino fishermen from Vasco Island were fishing there when suddenly a ROC Coast Guard vessel barged in and demanded an inspection, claiming it was their waters.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Their waters? That doesn’t make sense by any standards.”

“Yes.”

At this time, the concept of territorial waters was not even clear.

Originally, in history, territorial waters were traditionally claimed by maritime powers to have as much military freedom as possible in the open sea, and this theory was generally dominant until the 19th century.

However, in the 20th century, claims were made for 6, 12, or even 200 nautical miles, but even at that time, there were no clear and binding standards.

Ultimately, it was confirmed as 12 nautical miles through the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, and at the same time, the ‘contiguous zone’, a controlled waters area to prevent violations of rules related to customs, finance, immigration control, and health and hygiene, was also confirmed as 24 nautical miles.

And although the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone was a concept first proposed by President Harry Truman in 1945 when he made the so-called ‘continental shelf declaration’, the concept was actually created in the 1970s, so it was still quite early.

Of course, South Korea had already drawn a line between the waters of the defeated Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of China, almost like an exclusive economic zone, but this was only something that was agreed upon between these countries.

The exclusive economic zone was also established in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was adopted in 1994.

Therefore, during this period, unless it was too close to claim 100 nautical miles, let alone 200, like the West Sea between China and Korea, it was common for a country to claim and manage the coastal waters where its fishermen fished as “our waters.”

In the case of the Philippines, they simply managed about 50 nautical miles as their own waters.

But how can they claim the Basco Sea in the Philippines, which is 160km away from Taiwan, as their own waters?

It was no different from the sound of dogs eating grass.

“I wonder if there’s some kind of plot behind this?”

“That’s true. If you’re going to be greedy, aren’t you guys the ones who are second to none? Didn’t you start talking nonsense like the 11-line line a while ago?”

“Oh, me! I was already making a fuss with the 9-dan line in modern times, so who knew there would be something worse? Well, that guy is still that guy.”

“ha ha ha!”

The Nine-Dash Line was a subject of much talk and trouble.

In modern times, China claims the waters in the South China Sea as its own, but when you look at the map, it is ridiculous.

This is because they were acting all out of control, claiming the East Sea of ​​Vietnam, the West Sea of ​​the Philippines, and the North Sea of ​​Borneo as their own seas.

According to their nine-dash line claim, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia cannot even fish in the waters right in front of them, except in their pure territorial waters.

So what crazy country would accept something like this?

Even this nine-dash line was not a clear concept.

It has never been stated whether this is territorial waters or an exclusive economic zone.

They just kept insisting that it was ‘our sea’ and territory.

What’s even funnier is that the originator of this ridiculous claim was not the Communist Party, but the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek, who made even more vicious claims.

The origin of this nine-dash line was the 11-dash line claimed by the Republic of China in 1947.

The 11-dash line went a step further than the 9-dash line, claiming that the Gulf of Tonkin between Vietnam, the Noizhou Peninsula, and Hainan Island was part of China’s sea. Modern China has made the same claim, excluding the Gulf of Tonkin.

That’s why Lee Kang-cheol said that guy is that guy, and looking at this series of events, he meant that if modern Taiwan had the power, it would have done the same thing as China.

In short, the real Chinese, regardless of whether they are this guy or that guy, are the ones who lost their conscience a long time ago.

Only Go Seok-man, who had stopped laughing, opened his mouth again.

“Anyway, that’s true. Whether it’s the nine-dash line or the eleven-dash line, the Chinese kids can’t even make similar claims this time. They have us.”

“yes.”

“Looking at it this way, it seems like they are acting out their bullying against the relatively easy Philippines. From the perspective of the Republic of China, because we own the Ryukyu Islands in the east, the area between them is limited to the area between the islands of Yonago (Yonaguni Island), and to the west, the maritime area is limited to before Hong Kong.”

“From Shanghai to Fuzhou, the entire East Sea is blocked by us.”

“That’s what I’m saying. They probably wanted to secure at least the waters between Taiwan and the Philippine island of Luzon. That way, they could secure a route out to the Pacific without having to clash with us. Well, the Philippines might have seemed easy.”

“Oh, really. Why on earth do they do that?”

“Hehehe! Isn’t the word used in situations like this ‘special feature’?”

“Damn kids. Anyway, things are a little better now, huh?”

It may seem comical to South Korea, but in recent years the Republic of China Navy and Coast Guard have been expanding their power at an alarming rate.

Based on rapidly developing economic power.

It seems that he wanted to swing his newly acquired ‘sword’ with confidence.

“Okay, so what is the Philippines’ response, Minister Park?”

“It’s a chaotic situation. They say that excited protesters have been gathering at the Republic of China embassy since morning and the police are controlling it.”

“What does the Philippine government say?”

“They say they have been strongly protesting to the Republic of China since yesterday afternoon, but it seems they are not listening. On the contrary, the Republic of China is claiming that the area around Vasco Island is Chinese territory. In short, they are saying that the area north of Babuyan Island is their territory.”

“Are you guys really crazy? There are Filipinos living in Vasco Island.”

“Even on the entire island, there are only a few thousand people. I think they think they can easily be kicked out.”

“so?”

“The Philippine ambassador to Korea came to visit us early in the morning.”

“I see.”

“Yes, he said he strongly hopes that our government will step forward. He also said that he will deliver a personal letter from President Ramon Magsaysay today.”

“This is it, okay.”

Currently, the Philippines is working hard to reform itself as President Ramon Magsaysay survived the plane crash as originally planned.

So, although it was much more developed than its original history, it was not a powerful country like Vietnam or Burma.

So, there was absolutely no need to take on the Republic of China, and they were asking for help from the South Korean government.

The problem is South Korea’s position.

South Korea is currently the leader of East Asia and is like the eldest brother of all countries except for North China and South China.

Okay, let’s think about it.

The younger brother, who was not good at anything but followed his older brother diligently, came home crying after being beaten by the punks next door.

But just stay still?

If you do this, you are not the eldest brother.

The other younger siblings will also doubt their eldest brother’s abilities and be disappointed.

If that happens, I will lose my authority as the eldest brother.

“Damn it, I can’t not come out, right? Right? Prime Minister Koh?”

“It’s not easy being a leader. Besides, the Philippines is one of our most loyal allies, aside from Vietnam and Burma. We can’t just let it pass.”

“Then to what extent should we respond?”

“It seems like Chiang Kai-shek has come out of the boat recently because he built a boat. It’s time to step on it. Let’s see, for now, it’s not something the Navy should be involved in.”

“That goes without saying.”

“Then let’s send down a few of our coast guard ships to Yugu.”

“Is that okay?”

“The Ryukyu Coast Guard was originally created as the headquarters of the coast guard that governs the entire Southeast Asian seas. There are more than 10 3,000-ton coast guard ships. Even if we send just a few of them, the ROC Coast Guard will not be able to do anything.”

“Okay, let’s do that, and give Chiang Kai-shek a separate warning, okay?”

“Of course, Minister Park.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“Summon the Republic of China Ambassador to Korea to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and issue a strong warning.”

“What level would be appropriate?”

“Do it hard, do it hard. If you keep being greedy, we won’t stay still.”

“All right.”

7:00 p.m., January 10, 1963.

The official residence of the President of the Republic of China.

bang!

“What the heck! What the hell is going on!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Chiang Kai-shek is furious.

And the Secretary of Defense, who had been leading the effort, had his head down.

This Philippine incident was something that neither Chiang Kai-shek nor his son Chiang Ching-kuo knew about.

In short, it was something that happened because of overdoing it from below, but if you overdo it and make something happen, shouldn’t the results be good?

But things went haywire, and South Korea even officially warned them that they would not stay still unless they refrained.

What kind of humiliation is this?

“Minister of Defense!”

“Yes, Your Excellency the President!”

“If things got to this point, I should take responsibility, right?”

“Go, Your Majesty!”

“You said you saw your grandchild a while ago?”

“yes?”

“Good. Go home.”

“… … .”

It was clearly a veto.

Go home and see Anna.

The Secretary of Defense will never again hold public office.

As the Minister of National Defense left helplessly, Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo were left alone in the office.

“Jingguoya.”

“Yes, father.”

“Do you know why I’m so angry?”

“Yes, Father, my hands are trembling with humiliation, so how much more so must you be?”

“Yes, that’s right. How can our China be subjected to such humiliation? Even in Chongqing, they were the ones who bowed down so pitifully!”

“… … .”

“Jingguo!”

“Yes, father.”

“Let’s further accelerate the modernization of our armed forces! In particular, let’s put all our efforts into building a naval fleet!”

“All right.”

When Chiang Ching-kuo left, Chiang Kai-shek ground his teeth.

“You guys! Let’s see where you stand!”

There is a saying that the one who farts gets angry.

It was a perfect match, but Chiang Kai-shek’s anger and jealousy toward the Republic of Korea were growing by the day.