Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 357



Only Krnovel

#357. You will receive crude oil as well, so please understand.

July 13, 1966.

Seoul Government Complex.

“… … .”

“… … .”

Two people were sitting at a round table, but they were keeping silence.

A little further away, there were about four people who seemed to be the two men’s attendants. They were also paired off and kept their distance, not saying a word.

The two men sitting at the round table were Zhou Enlai and Chiang Ching-kuo, who came to Seoul to negotiate the surrender on behalf of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, respectively.

The two met in the conference room and exchanged a brief greeting.

What should I say?

Both sides lost miserably and surrendered unconditionally?

There were still about ten minutes left until their appointment with Kim Kyu-sik, but they arrived 30 minutes early.

As a defeated country, and a country that invaded first and was completely destroyed, they had to crawl on their own.

As a result, I became a dumb person who just stared into space.

In the end, unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, it was Chiang Ching-kuo, who was younger than Zhou Enlai, who spoke first.

“Mr. Zhou.”

“hmm?”

“How is the damage over there?”

“Well, it’s beyond words. The eastern part of the line from Beijing to Tianjin was just scorched earth. The casualties, as you know, are incalculable. Whoa! It’s like a generation of our country melted away.”

“If you look at it that way, should we say we’re better off?”

“Haha! Maybe so.”

“How are you, Brother Deng? Is he okay?”

“Well? It’s okay for now, but in the end, we won’t be able to avoid responsibility. We, including Chairman Liu Shaoqi, are all prepared.”

“ha…….”

If we are to hold Chiang Ching-kuo responsible for this war, he himself was by no means light.

However, Chiang Ching-kuo is Chiang Kai-shek’s son and the de facto successor to lead the Republic of China.

No, for several years now, as Chiang Kai-shek has grown old and weak, it has been Chiang Ching-kuo who has been effectively ruling the Republic of China.

He lost the war, but no one held him accountable.

But it wasn’t Deng Xiaoping.

Even though the Communist Party is a one-party dictatorship, it seems like they will do whatever they want, but surprisingly, the Communist Party strongly holds those responsible for their failures.

This was true even during Stalin’s time, and even Mao Zedong was forced to step down from power due to the failure of the Great Leap Forward.

In the end, the current Chinese Communist Party leadership, including Chairman Liu Shaoqi, would not be safe.

In particular, Deng Xiaoping was the one who planned this war together with Chiang Ching-kuo, so he would not be able to escape no matter what he did.

Bam!

“Former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Kyu-sik, representing the Republic of Korea, is coming in.”

When someone who seemed to be an employee informed them, Zhou Enlai and Chiang Ching-kuo stood up from their seats in an awkward manner.

They had no choice but to be polite, as they were representing a defeated nation and their opponent was Kim Kyu-sik, who had a world-famous reputation.

In terms of age, Kim Kyu-sik was six years older than Chiang Ching-kuo’s father, Chiang Kai-shek.

After a while, Kim Kyu-sik slowly entered the room.

“Mr. Kim.”

“Mr. Zhou, please sit down.”

“Teacher, it’s been a while.”

“CEO Jang, I’m sorry to see you in such an embarrassing position.”

Kim Kyu-sik and Chiang Ching-kuo had known each other since Shanghai, China, and they often saw each other when Chiang Ching-kuo stayed in Seoul for a while to learn about South Korea.

That’s why the situation became more embarrassing.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“No. You did your best for your country. What do you have to be sorry about?”

“still…….”

“Since we met for official business anyway, let’s get to work.”

“All right.”

“Since we all know each other, we can negotiate comfortably. Is that okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Please do so.”

After a moment of awkward silence, Kim Kyu-sik opened his mouth.

“Our Republic of Korea does not intend to prolong this surrender negotiation. Therefore, I ask you to carefully answer whether or not you will accept what I am asking. Also, if you think it is absolutely impossible to accept, you cannot simply say no. You must suggest an alternative. I also do not want to say that our military is continuing to maintain the front line.”

“All right.”

“Yes, sir.”

Strictly speaking, the war is not over yet.

It is currently a state of armistice, and the war will end only when the instrument of surrender is signed.

So, what Kim Kyu-sik meant was that he did not want to threaten to issue another advance order, so he told them to do as they pleased.

“First of all, war criminals.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

When Kim Kyu-sik brought up the issue of dealing with war criminals, the attitudes of the North and the South became clearly divided.

Zhou Enlai was originally classified as a Mao Zedong figure, so he had no responsibility for this war, and since the current leadership, including Chairman Liu Shaoqi, had already made up their minds, if South Korea wanted to punish him, they could just let him go.

But Chiang Ching-kuo’s situation was not like that.

It is a matter for which he and his father Chiang Kai-shek will take responsibility, and his father Chiang Kai-shek also said that he would gladly accept it if the Republic of Korea wanted to punish those responsible.

Because I couldn’t allow my son, who would lead the Republic of China in the future, to be punished.

However, Chiang Ching-kuo could not stand by and watch his father be punished with a gun.

I had to stop it somehow.

Even if it means paying more in compensation or giving up more territory.

“First of all, what do you think, Mr. Zhou?”

“If we have to take responsibility, we will. Chairman Liu and all the leaders of the party and the military are prepared. However, if possible, we ask for a lenient punishment.”

“Well, it looks like the story is over already.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then what about the Republic of China?”

“… … .”

“Hey, CEO Jang, go ahead and speak.”

“Hoo!”

Chiang Ching-kuo took a deep breath and then opened his mouth.

“Teacher, who should take responsibility?”

“Isn’t the Republic of China obvious? The President and you. But given the current situation, it’s probably President Chiang who’s going to lose. You’re going to have to continue to rule the Republic of China.”

“You know very well, sir. I will not deny responsibility. But my father has grown very old. His health has worsened since this defeat.”

“President Chiang is six years younger than me. What are you talking about in front of me?”

“Ah, no… … .”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Huh! Please. Don’t you know my father well, teacher? Even if it’s just for old memories… … .”

“Look, Mr. Jang, this is a place to represent the country. So why should I think about old feelings?”

“I will step down from all public office. So… … .”

“No, isn’t that your country’s internal problem?”

“… … .”

If you say it like this, I have nothing to say.

If I hung on any longer, I would have really been in trouble, but I couldn’t do that in front of Zhou Enlai.

“Think about it carefully. We’ll discuss the issue of dealing with war criminals last.”

“All right.”

“Then, let’s leave the war crimes issue for discussion later and move on to the war reparations issue.”

“yes.”

“yes.”

“We, the Government of the Republic of Korea, demand that the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China each pay 20 billion dollars as reparations to the EATO allies that participated in the war with the Republic of Korea.”

“Ugh!”

“ha…….”

Zhou Enlai and Chiang Ching-kuo groaned and sighed.

Because the amount was higher than expected.

It might have been understandable for the Republic of China, which had a relatively developed economy, but it was an amount that was difficult for the People’s Republic of China, which only began to develop properly after Mao Zedong’s fall, to afford.

“Mr. Kim, there are too many. Don’t you know the situation of our republic very well?”

“Sir, so do we. $20 billion is too much.”

“Stop it. I’m not asking you to give it all at once.”

“sure?”

“Why don’t you pay some of it in a lump sum and the rest in installments?”

“Installment?”

“Yes, you can pay in installments over a period of 10 to 20 years.”

“But there are still a lot… … .”

“If you would do that… … .”

Here too, the positions of the North and South have changed.

$20 billion is a huge amount of money in this day and age.

However, given the size of the Republic of China economy, and if they were allowed to pay it off in installments over a long period of time, it would not have been impossible to pay it off.

On the other hand, it was a huge amount of money that the People’s Republic of China, which did not engage in much foreign trade, could not even imagine affording.

“Mr. Kim, you know very well the state of affairs in our republic, don’t you?”

“So, isn’t that why you’re asking me to pay in installments? Of course, interest will be charged according to international financial market standards.”

“100 million!”

“No, why not? Then I can pay in installments without any interest?”

“No, Mr. Kim. I’m telling you, I really can’t afford it even if I wanted to.”

“Why not? How much oil is coming from the Seungri oil field?”

“If we consume it domestically, there won’t be much left?”

“What’s missing? We understand that there is more than enough to meet domestic demand.”

“… … .”

“If it’s really inconvenient, we can accept crude oil as well, so please understand.”

“Ha, I understand.”

For now, I had to do as I was told.

Even if I have to hold onto your trouser legs and ejaculate later.

“What about Representative Jang?”

“I’ll pay somehow. If possible, please extend the installment period.”

“Haha! If you just pay the interest properly… … .”

“… … .”

Even if the interest was burdensome, it was important to immediately repair the economy that had been worsened by the war.

“Then, I understand that the compensation will be paid in that manner.”

“yes.”

“yes.”

“Don’t make such faces. If people who don’t know you see us, they’ll think we’re some kind of evil criminals.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

The two people simultaneously stuck out their mouths as if to say, ‘Isn’t that so?’

“There is something you two need to know. Our Republic of Korea will not use this compensation money for any other purpose than replenishing the ammunition we expended in this war.”

“I know your country has consumed a lot of ammunition, but isn’t that too much?”

“No, are we going to eat all the compensation?”

“yes?”

“More than half of the compensation will go to the allies who fought in this war. So stop doing this with money.”

“… … .”

“If you understand that, let’s move on. You must also give up your territory. Let me start with the Republic of China. Give me Taiwan, Representative Zhang. You expected that much, right?”

“Yes, to some extent.”

“Then, I understand that there is no disagreement about Taiwan. Also… … .”

“Again?”

“Then? Were you planning to end it all in Taiwan?”

“… … .”

“Hong Kong East will move its border 30km eastward and 10km northward.”

“Whew! Okay, I understand.”

“finally…….”

“No, sir! The last one?”

“Don’t interrupt me.”

“… … .”

“Please give me western Guangdong.”

“Western Guangdong?”

“Yes, it’s from western Guangdong.”

“No, isn’t that too much?”

“What’s too much? It’s a land where it’s difficult to function anyway since it’s surrounded by our EATO allies.”

“But not the entire West!”

“What if it doesn’t work? Should I order them to advance again?”

“… … .”

Chiang Ching-kuo really wanted to cry.