Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 325



Only Krnovel

#325. How much medicine have we been using every year?

September 22, 1965.

Office of the President of the Republic of China.

“What the hell is going on? What did we do wrong?”

“… … .”

Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he thought he would die.

The sudden violation of the Cocom guidelines was quite shocking.

The United States, the chair of the Cocom, imposed strong economic sanctions.

In response to this, all Western countries, including member states South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other Commonwealth countries, as well as France and Germany, rushed to announce economic sanctions against the Republic of China.

In fact, all of these countries are heavily influenced by the United States.

So, since it was a situation where we had no choice but to hit back when the US hit us, we couldn’t say anything.

The problem is America.

I couldn’t understand why he suddenly started talking about Cocom.

“What the hell is going on? Did that Kennedy kid suddenly go crazy? Huh!”

“That’s right! The Cocom guidelines? I don’t understand since when you started following them properly and now you’re telling us this!”

Chiang Ching-kuo was also angry.

Because even he thought this was nonsense.

There was a reason why Chiang Kai-shek and his son were so angry.

COCOM, organized for the purpose of controlling exports to communist countries.

This Cocom was originally used in history as a weapon of immense power throughout the Cold War.

A representative example of such violations is the Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal.

The problem arose in 1982 when Toshiba Machinery, a subsidiary of Toshiba, a leading Japanese electronics company, began exporting cutting-edge machine tools and software capable of simultaneous nine-axis control to the Soviet Union.

In 1986, the U.S. federal government claimed that these machines had dramatically reduced the noise of Soviet submarine screws, but the congressman in charge of the investigation was scathing in his criticism that this had put American lives at risk, saying that the probability of detecting Soviet submarines by U.S. nuclear-powered submarines was reduced by 50 percent.

The United States also strongly requested the Japanese government to investigate and punish these individuals, and strictly prohibited the import of not only Toshiba machinery but also products of the entire Toshiba Group, its parent company, into the United States.

And the U.S. Congress and public opinion were also in an uproar, with members of Congress responding emotionally to the point of piling up Toshiba TVs and cassette players in front of the White House and smashing them with hammers. In fact, this was because the U.S. perceived Japan’s economic invasion as such a threat at the time.

In any case, as a result of this incident, Toshiba not only received criminal punishment for its export partners in Japan, but also had to resign from its president and chairman, and had to spend an astronomical amount of money, the largest ever, on lobbying to lift the U.S. embargo.

Ultimately, this lobbying effort resulted in the embargo on Toshiba being reduced to a formality after just a year, but once Toshiba had been branded an anti-American company, it never regained its former market in the United States.

However, the great majesty of Cocom had little presence in this history.

The beginning itself was launched more powerfully in 1947, faster than the original history which was launched in 1949, but it effectively lost its goal when the Soviet Union invaded and completely destroyed South Korea in 1948.

Although COCOM was preserved because the People’s Republic of China remained a threatening communist state, its status was as different as heaven and earth, and in reality, there was no proper monitoring.

If you weren’t a fairly bright person, you wouldn’t even know it existed.

Moreover, there were not many countries trading with the People’s Republic of China in northern China, and especially few exported machinery used in industrial facilities.

As South Korea’s national power grows to be second only to that of the United States, there is a risk that if either Korea or Japan makes a mistake, they will fall out of favor with South Korea.

So, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the only countries that actually traded properly were the rotten Soviet Union and the Republic of China.

And it was difficult to say anything about the Republic of China from the beginning, because it was realistically difficult to control it because they had a border that was thousands of kilometers long, and it was only after Mao Zedong stepped down and Liu Shaoqi took power that a slight mood of reconciliation began to form that proper trade began.

Because of this situation, the Republic of China had been officially publishing export statistics to the People’s Republic of China for several years, but then this bolt from the blue struck.

“What does our ambassador in the US say?”

“He said he didn’t know what was going on. He said that they were suddenly making a fuss about violating the COCOM, and that no excuse would work. In addition, thousands of people are protesting outside our embassy, ​​demanding that traitors leave the United States… .”

“You damn kids! Shouldn’t you at least know English so you can deal with it!”

“… … .”

It was truly mind-blowing.

“Anyway, the sanctions are too strong. We have to somehow resolve this… … .”

“That’s right, father. The United States and South Korea alone are more than half of the world. If you add Europe, Australia, and Canada, it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s the entire world. They’re all participating in economic sanctions.”

“How much damage do you expect?”

“The relevant ministries expect that at least 30% of exports will disappear. But that is not the problem now.”

“That’s not the problem?”

“The problem is rather income.”

“import?”

“Yes, imports. The items banned from our country are things we really need. They include precision machinery and electronic parts. If this happens, not only other industries but also the military industry will suffer a fatal blow.”

“her!”

Chiang Kai-shek was dizzy.

What the heck is this sudden bolt from the blue?

Although the Republic of China’s industry was developing, it still could not even dream of precision machinery or electronic components.

In other words, the economy of the Republic of China was still fundamentally like that of a typical developing country, using cheap labor as a weapon to process and export products.

It was clear as day that if intermediate goods or machinery were banned in this condition, it would be fatal.

“Jingguoya.”

“Yes, father.”

“You go to the US yourself and meet with Kennedy. And somehow you have to lower the sanctions level.”

“… … .”

Chiang Ching-kuo was unable to answer.

Because it is not a problem that can be solved just by going.

“I know it’s difficult, but we have to do it somehow.”

“father…….”

“I will give you plenty of money. I will give you 300 million dollars, so don’t be stingy and spend the money. America is a country where lobbying works, so that’s the only way to do it.”

“Three hundred million dollars each?”

At that time, $300 million was a huge amount of money.

“If that’s not enough, I’ll send you more, so don’t even think about saving money.”

“Oh, I understand.”

“We have to do it well. If we continue like this, we could collapse before going to war with South Korea.”

“ha…….”

Chiang Ching-kuo sighed and suddenly thought of South Korea.

weird.

It’s really weird.

This incident happened right when the Third Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation was underway and preparations for war were in full swing.

Could this really be a coincidence?

“……father.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Is this a coincidence?”

“Is it a coincidence?”

“Isn’t the timing just right? This happened when we were preparing for war against the Republic of Korea, even cooperating with the Communist Party. Is this a coincidence?”

“Well, I understand what you’re saying, but wasn’t it the United States that started this mess? Did South Korea even say it was sorry that the situation had come to this?”

“That’s true, but between the US and South Korea, it’s easy enough to set up a fight, right?”

“So what you’re saying is that South Korea is inciting the United States to create this mess?”

“Don’t you have any doubts? The timing is just right? And the evidence that the US has put forth is also like that. The US has been cautious in its espionage activities in East Asia, conscious of South Korea. But look at the evidence they have put forth. Is that evidence that could have been obtained through passive espionage?”

“hmm…….”

After listening to Chiang Ching-kuo’s words, Chiang Kai-shek also became suspicious of the Republic of Korea.

But that didn’t make any difference.

“You have a point. But that doesn’t make any difference, right?”

“… … .”

“Find out about it slowly, and you go to America first.”

“Okay, Father.”

* * *

October 8, 1965.

Washington DC

“Haa! This is fucking bullshit!”

In a historic hotel in Washington, Chiang Ching-kuo was sighing.

It’s already been over two weeks since I rushed to the United States.

They have shouldered the heavy responsibility of lifting economic sanctions, but there have been no results.

At first, I tried to meet President Kennedy and beg him, but it was no use.

“What kind of country is the Republic of China? Do you know how much money and weapons the United States provided to the Kuomintang? Yes?”

“… … .”

“And! We were almost driven out to the sea by Mao Zedong’s Communist Party, but the United States and the Republic of Korea used their power to help us take over the southern part of the country. And now you’re hitting us in the back of the head like this! Huh?”

“Oh, that’s a misunderstanding. It’s true that some companies have traded with the People’s Republic of China, but there were no really sensitive items. So please, save our Republic of China. If we continue like this, our economy will collapse.”

“What misunderstanding is there? There’s evidence for it all.”

“Ahh… … .”

I thought I was going crazy.

“Go back. Even if I could persuade you to do something, the situation is already out of my hands. All of us American citizens are shaking with betrayal, so what can I do?”

“… … .”

Kennedy had a point.

In this situation, if the embargo against the Republic of China were lifted, he would have to spend the remainder of his term as a vegetative president.

In short, it was no different from political suicide.

Eventually, Chiang Ching-kuo left the White House with his shoulders slumped and never saw Kennedy again.

No, Kennedy didn’t even think about meeting him.

Given the circumstances, there is only one way left.

Lobby, lobby again.

We have prepared enough ammunition.

But then things took a strange turn.

The most successful lobbyists in Washington consistently declined requests.

“Oh my! What kind of lobbying are you talking about in this situation? Don’t come. I’ll tell the security to stop you.”

“yes?”

What the hell is this?

But if the situation is good, why do you come here with money?

Are you saying that lobbyists aren’t there to solve problems like this?

We tried every possible method.

I also used my connections with long-time Chinese residents, and even went as far as packing $100 bills into my bag and offering to pay several times the original fee.

But it was no use.

In the end, we had no choice but to hire petty lobbyists who would do anything for money, but the money went into them but no results were produced.

“No, if you get paid, you shouldn’t work!”

“It’s not easy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The members of Congress don’t want to accept our donations. The media doesn’t want to accept our donations either.”

“… … ?”

Wouldn’t it be better for a dog to stop shitting, and for the congressmen to stop getting paid?

“That’s nonsense!”

“That makes sense. They are telling us not to come near them because they are afraid that if we accept money from Chinese companies, our political careers will be ruined.”

“… … .”

Chiang Ching-kuo was in despair.

And after a while, Lee Kang-cheol, who received this report, snorted and said a word.

“Huh! How much medicine have we been administering every year?”

Even if Chiang Ching-kuo had a lot of money, it couldn’t be more than South Korea.

Plus, I had been taking medication for decades.