Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 97



Only Krnovel

#97. Little by little, I unpack the bundle.

A few days later, Lee Kang-cheol invited key figures, including the Senate Presidency, and Yu Gwan-sun’s bereaved family to explain the design of the newly issued currency.

Then everyone was thrilled and repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

“I never thought you would think so much about our brothers. On behalf of my brothers, I would like to thank you very much. “My brothers and Hoyoung will be very happy in the afterlife.”

“no. “The truth is that our government is trying to take advantage of the Vice Chairman’s family.”

“yes? “What do you mean by that?”

“From now on, I plan to use your six brothers as exemplary examples of noblesse oblige from generation to generation. “There is no modeling fee, so you know that.”

“Uh-huh! “Please feel free to use it!”

“ha ha ha!”

“Hehehe!”

As laughter erupted at Lee Kang-cheol’s joke, the atmosphere became warmer.

And Kim Won-bong also said he was grateful.

Uncharacteristically, his eyes were red.

“Thank you. “My dead wife will really like it.”

“He was a great man.”

“I don’t know if my reputation had any influence.”

“Yes, it had an impact.”

“yes? No, I feel sorry for other people.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. “It had a negative impact.”

“Well, then… … .”

“ha ha ha!”

“Hehehe!”

As expected, there was a burst of laughter, but honestly, this was only half serious.

At least in this era, Kim Won-bong’s reputation is in the top ten, but there is an atmosphere of slight reluctance within the government.

However, due to Kim Won-bong’s actions after liberation, controversy arose and he did not receive the Order of Merit until the expeditionary force came over, but Park Cha-jeong was already recognized for his contribution and received the Order of Merit in the 1990s.

In fact, this means that he was recognized as completely separate from Kim Won-bong and was included in the draft.

Lee Kang-cheol next turned his attention to Yu Gwan-sun’s older brother Yoo Woo-seok, her uncle Yu Jung-mu, cousin Yu Ye-do, and her son Han Pil-dong, who were invited as bereaved family members.

All four of them participated in the independence movement and were designated as persons of merit for independence, so it could not be said that they were a truly remarkable family.

Lee Kang-cheol looked at them and thought that they were really like sweet potatoes or onions.

The more we dug, and the more we peeled away, the more independence activists emerged.

My uncle Yoo Jung-mu was also caught for the March 1st Movement and was initially sentenced to 5 years in prison, but his sentence was later reduced to 3 years and he was imprisoned at Seodaemun Prison before being released at the end of his term.

His daughter and Yu Gwan-sun’s cousin, Yu Ye, was also a third-year student at Ewha Girls’ High School and participated in the March 1st Movement at Pagoda Park with Yu Gwan-sun. Afterwards, she went back to her hometown with Yu Gwan-sun and joined her family in the Aunae Market Movement. I had to join in and run away until I was liberated.

After liberation, she also worked as a local director of the Enlightenment Movement and the Patriotic Women’s Association.

This young man who attended wearing military uniform was Han Pil-dong, Yu Ye-do’s son.

After graduating from Yonhui College, he studied abroad in Japan and was forcibly conscripted as a student soldier. He escaped and served as a lieutenant in the Chinese army before joining the liberation army.

Also, in the original history, he joined the ROK Army, participated in the Korean War, and was retired as a colonel.

And now, he had re-enlisted in the ROK Army along with Jang Jun-ha, received the rank of major, and was receiving education.

It could be said that this was a family that knew nothing but the country.

“I don’t know how I can repay your family for the dedication, sacrifice, and loyalty they showed to our Republic of Korea.”

“no. “I was just doing my duty as a citizen, but I don’t know what to do when I am treated so undeservedly.”

Yu Jung-mu answered as the adult of the Yu family.

“The problem is that the obvious is never easy.”

“Still, it’s a bit burdensome to go up to paper money. Although Gwansun was an exceptionally spirited child, there are many other great people… … .”

“At a young age, I was imprisoned for shouting for independence, and as if that wasn’t enough, I even died in prison. That’s it. “I am being promoted to the head of your family, and the government wants to honor that wish in some small way, so please do not hesitate.”

“All right.”

“And our government plans to discover families whose entire families devoted themselves to the independence movement and designate them as ‘patriotic families.’ “The first family will be the Vice Chairman’s family, but the second family will be your family.”

“Thank you.”

After finishing speaking, Lee Kang-cheol turned his attention to Han Pil-dong.

“Major Han Pil-dong!”

“Major Han Pil-dong!”

“You have a seat, so answer comfortably. “How about it, is education worth it?”

“At first, I was a bit confused because there were so many new things, but now I have adapted and am working hard.”

“ha ha ha! I believe you will do well. “I will be watching, so work hard.”

“thank you.”

And I said this to Kim Gu, who was smiling happily.

“Chairman, would you like to wait a moment?”

“hmm? “What are you waiting for?”

“One day, the Chairman, you will also be on the drawing board. “It is embarrassing to list a person who is alive now, so he was excluded from the nominations in the first place.”

“Hey, what are you saying! “I just wanted the government to pay attention to our governors.”

“ha ha ha! “It will be a while later, so don’t worry about it.”

“huh?”

“ha ha ha!”

This happened after Kim Gu passed away.

It’s not something you should worry about.

* * *

May 28, 1947.

Gurori, Dong-myeon, Siheung-gun, Gyeonggi-do.

Segi Electronics factory under Segi Holdings in Guro Electronics Industrial Complex.

As three years had passed since the restoration of the Korean Peninsula, industrialization was gradually taking place.

And finally, today, transistor radio was released.

“Oh oh! Is this okay? It just hits my taste. ha ha ha!”

Lee Kang-cheol burst into laughter when he saw the first transistor radio released.

“How are you okay?”

Jin Su-han, CEO of Segi Electronics, an elderly man wearing work clothes, asked cautiously.

This gentleman is also a former head of the TV division at Eunsung Electronics.

“Yes, it came out much better than I expected.”

“ha ha ha! “It’s just a radio.”

“Hey, where is this anyway? “When I saw the vacuum tube radios used in this era, I thought I was going to faint.”

“ha ha ha! These are the times, right? “During this time, radio was one of the few items on the property list.”

“There are a lot more houses that don’t even have that.”

“It’s not that there are a lot of houses that don’t exist, it’s that there are almost none. A radio is something that only rich families have. Looking at the records, it appears that at the time of liberation, North and South Korea combined had about 220,000 vehicles.”

“Huh, it’s less than you thought? Anyway, it’s amazing. “Why in the world does it become this small just because it uses transistors?”

“Of course. “With the introduction of the transistor, the world of semiconductors actually opened up.”

“Oh, is this also a semiconductor?”

“haha! “People often think of semiconductors as long, centipede-shaped black chips, but IC chips are those that integrate these transistors.”

“Oh, I see.”

“This would have been developed at Bell Labs in the U.S. by now. Because it was originally like that in history. And the three developers even received the Nobel Prize for this. “It is an item that has had such a great impact on our humanity.”

“Hmm, if we developed it now in the U.S., wouldn’t we have to rush faster than we thought?”

“Completing development in a research center and mass producing it like we do and actually using it in a product are two different stories as heaven and earth. Transistor radio became common in 1957 by Sony of Japan. Of course, it was made by Texas Instruments before that, but it was not commercialized properly. In short, we are at least 10 years early.”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t this be leaked overseas?”

Lee Kang-cheol asked as his expression became serious.

“haha! Don’t worry. Although it is an early transistor, it will take a long time for other countries to try and catch up. And if they chase us, we can just run away. Rather, since it needs to be exported to the United States and other countries, we recommend sending it to embassies, etc.”

“ha ha ha! okay. So what happened to the sales channel?”

“First of all, the government decided to purchase 1 million units. They said it would be distributed not only domestically but also to special administrative regions in Manchuria and Japan. And we will also sell it to the private sector.”

Radio broadcasting is really important.

This is because it is, in fact, the only means of communicating with the people.

Even though there were newspapers, they were slow, less than half of the people could still read them, and even fewer of those who did read them could understand them properly.

“How much is the commercial price?”

“I plan to receive about 5,000 won based on the newly issued currency. In other words, it is 50,000 won by modern standards.”

“So will there be enough for civilians to live on?”

“Recently, income levels have risen a lot, so it’s enough. “Sooner or later, most homes will have two or three of them.”

“That’s good, but that doesn’t mean we can give up profits.”

“ha ha ha! This has a huge operating profit margin. “Because the cost is less than 2,500 won.”

“ah! ha ha ha!”

“Besides, we plan to charge twice that amount for the export type, so don’t worry about the company.”

“ha ha ha!”

When Lee Kang-cheol thought about earning dollars, he burst out laughing.

“ah! How’s the TV going?”

“The prototype has been released, but it will have to be in May of next year before it can be mass-produced. According to the schedule, pilot broadcasts will begin in the second half of next year, and broadcasts will begin in earnest in 1949. However, it is important to note that it will take quite some time for TV to become widespread.”

“I know that. By the way, it’s a color TV, right?”

“Of course. “How do people who watch digital broadcasts see black and white?”

“haha! That’s right. “Can I see the prototype?”

“Please come this way.”

When Lee Kang-cheol went to another room with the guidance of the CEO, he saw several televisions.

“Oh oh! “This is a TV with a sliding door!”

“ha ha ha! “If you are the President’s age, I think you may have seen it when you were young.”

“of course. It was in our house until the lower grades of elementary school. Wow! “Is this a rotary channel method?”

Grumble! Grumble!

Lee Kang-cheol was excited and turned the channel knob.

“you’re right. “We can make button-type products as much as we like, but we will have to use them later when other countries follow suit.”

“Hahaha! You are doing well. That’s how we unpack the bundle little by little. Wait, this screen is quite big, isn’t it?”

“Yes, the model with sliding doors is 24 inches. It’s a size that didn’t even appear on black and white TVs in Korea during the history. “They asked me to make it as big as possible, so I decided to make it in two models, 24 inches and 20 inches.”

“For the time being, there will be no country to oppose, right?”

“of course. With this level of technology, it would have been solved in the late 1960s in the United States. So there is no comparison.”

“ha ha ha! great! very good!”

Lee Kang-cheol praised President Jin Soo-han and encouraged the employees as he toured the factory.

And instead of trying to go back, he turned around and opened his mouth again.

“You know that security must be thorough, right?”

“of course. All departments related to technology are equipped with CCTV, and entry is not possible unless you are from the expedition team. And we are thoroughly informing related employees about security.”

“The territory has expanded a lot and we have quite a few resources, but we still have to make a living through technology. As these products begin to be released, people who will try to steal the technology will appear one after another. “Always be careful, be careful.”

“I understand, Mr. President.”

* * *

Eventually, when transistor radios began to be sold, the response was explosive.

The people’s financial situation was much better than expected.

When the transistor radio that doubled as a tabletop clock was released, Segi Electronics was able to make a lot of money.