Empire of the Ring

“So those are your followers?”

Jong-il who came back from his business trip to find a base place in Almaty, laughed as he listened to what happened while he was gone.

“One of them is a deputy department head. He’s older than we are. Be polite.”

“His will to get military training is impressive. Should I give him the agent training too?”

Jong-il got excited as a kid who found a great toy.

“Let the Countryside Force soldiers train them, not the security service guards. They’d almost kill people with their hard training.”

There was a time when the security guards trained the doctors of the autonomous state to teach them how to use guns. Although they needed to teach them strictly so that they would not have security accidents with guns but the doctors were too exhausted to do other activities that day.

“You know you’ve got to learn right when you learn. Or else, they’ll forget. I’ll tell them to go easy on them.”

“The autonomous state will get busy with S Corporation’s joining.”

“Well, at first, everyone is motivated to jump in. I hope S Corporation will stay the same until the end.”

Youngho only hoped that the large company would not disappoint him. The only thing that he was concerned with was the S Corporation was a general trading company that earned money from trade brokerage commissions. He was not sure if S Corporation would make an actual investment for mineral resource exploration and development.

Kim Chun was exuberated as large corporations kept on settling down at the autonomous state. They were not only large corporations but global corporations.

“Boss. What do you think about building an office building for our business partners? I think the site next to the road construction office would be perfect.”

“That’s a great idea. It’d be better for them to have their own place rather than being crammed in our administration building. You can go ahead and work on it. Also, can you please look for a Koryoin high official who’s in mineral or grain-related field?”

“Are you looking for someone to introduce to S Corporation? Then, how about the congressman, Kim Roman?”

Kim Roman was a congressman and who was a racial representative of Kazakhstan and the chairman of the Koryoin organization.

“Wouldn’t there be a trouble if a politician gets involved in the business?”

“Oh, you won’t find a better person for this job. He’s also a businessman and his reputation is great in Kazakhstan. He’d be way better than officials who have no idea about these kinds of matters.”

Youngho once met Kim Roman briefly at the presidential reception when H Corporation’s highway construction project was signed.

“Alright. Commissioner Kim, could you then, contact him for me?”

Koryoins in Kazakhstan had preserved the Korean language and culture despite living apart from Korea for long. They were playing the central role of Korean culture in Central Asia by making a running Korean Radio station and TV channel—and engaging with the press to inform about themselves and Korean cultures. All of these were the result of Koryoin businessmen and politicians’ efforts.

In the beginning, they showed more North Korean culture but since Kazakhstan established diplomatic ties with South Korea, they were now leaning more toward South Korean cultures. The spread of Korean pop culture had a major influence on their change. There were so many influential Koryoins in Kazakhstan. Among them were politicians such as Vio Letta Kim, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and Yuri Choi, a Senator, and businessmen such as Kim Vladimir of a billionaire, and the owner of a copper mining company and many others.

Although the Koryoin population was only about 100,000 in Kazakhstan, their efforts made them remarkable people in society.

Because Youngho was benefited by their existence many times, he wanted to actively benefit Koryoins in the Kazakh society as much as possible.

Many Kazakhs preferred Koryoins over Russians, Ukrainian descents, or German descents. It was because they were both Asians and Koryoins were known to be polite people. Ever since the research that Kazakhs and Koreans shared the same racial root in history came out, they were maintaining a close relationship with each other.

***

“Is that what we’re going to drive here? That looks like a military armored vehicle.”

“It’s a light-armored vehicle made in Turkey. It can be used for military or civil purposes. You’d be safe inside even if a tiger shows up outside.”

They would be safe anywhere in Kazakhstan if they drove the ten-seater light-armored vehicle.

“What? Are there tigers in here too?”

“I heard that they show up in Siberia. I’ve never seen one here.”

Kim Sung-ho’s face turned pale at Youngho’s words. He seemed to realize where he was, indeed a remote place.

Youngho would definitely send them with guards when they went out of the state but Kim Sung-ho had no idea about that.

“Mr. Lee. There are no specific places that we have to go. We just wanted to look around and get to know more about Kazakhstan.”

Now he did not seem to want to travel around Kazakhstan without someone who knew the country well. He now could see why the stone walls around the state were double and triple-layered.

“There’s a ship at the Port of Atyrau that goes to the airport regularly. You can travel anywhere in Kazakhstan through domestic flights anytime you want. But, you need to receive that gun training. All of the kids here receive that training when they enter high school.”

Only the high school graduates who entered the special school used to receive military training, but now it was expanded to every high school student. Youngho thought that it was necessary in order for them to protect themselves outside the stone walls of the state.

Serbian youths would grow big as an adult when they reached 16 and they were capable of receiving the military training.

“We are only temporary residents but we’ll do our best to fulfill our duty as the residents of the autonomous state. I’d also like to learn how to fly if time permits.”

Kim Sung-ho, S Corporation’s deputy department head was strong-willed. So, Youngho also asked the two followers for their opinion.

“Do you agree with your deputy head?”

“Yes, Mr. CEO. We’d be glad to receive military training and drive the light-armored vehicle ourselves.”

“You can report to the Countryside Force if you want to drive the vehicle. I won’t receive the gas money from you.”

“Mr. CEO, we’ve got enough expense budget assigned by the headquarters.”

“I can’t be so stingy to my guests.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The followers answered him in unison like military soldiers.

“Deputy Head Kim, is your family staying in Korea? I heard that S Corporation would pay for your family’s living cost when you go work in foreign branches.”

“I was concerned for my kids. They’re only in elementary school and I thought to move around, which might confuse them.”

If the autonomous state was in Europe or in North America, Kim Sung-ho would have brought his kids at once, but it was Kazakhstan.

“I’ve got to tell you this. The autonomous state’s education is more advanced than the public education of the States. If you want to bring your family here, they’re more than welcome.”

“Thank you for your consideration. I’ll think about that.”

His face was stern. It seemed that Youngho’s offer did not really appeal to him.

“Tomorrow is Saturday and the doctors will go on a picnic outside. If you’d like to experience Kazakhstan’s nature, you guys could come to the square early in the morning. Deputy head Kim, you could come with us too.”

Tomorrow was gold collecting day.

Youngho wondered how the followers would react after seeing the gold mine.

***

“Mr. Lee. It’s been three weeks since you haven’t been keeping your promise.”

Dr. Kim Dong-sung showed up at the square with a smile on his face.

“If you can’t collect the amount of gold to make a ring, I’ll give you some of what I’ve hidden away.”

“Hahaha… You should’ve done that way before. Tell me what you’ve been hiding behind from me.”

“I’d say probably about five to six tons.”

“How many kilograms?”

“Five to six tons of gold, I said.”

“Oh, you’re joking. I didn’t see any other gold mines there.”

Youngho thoughtlessly spilled the truth, but the doctor did not seem to believe him. He was lucky. Youngho shrugged it off.

“Anyway, I have a lot of things hidden around here. You shouldn’t be worried. This will be the last time going to the mine to collect gold this year. It’s getting cold, and camping outside won’t be a good idea soon.”

The autonomous state’s winter was coming already.

It was October already and the temperature would go down below zero in no time.

Tonight would be quite chilly as well.

It would take them about five hours before they reached the mine.

S Corporation’s employees were excited to see nature at first, but they soon grew tired of driving on the rough road. Kim In-hwa even felt sick. It would be convenient to fly on the light airplane but there were too many people.

Because it was their last trip to the mine this year, even elementary kids joined the trip. The residents of the autonomous state did not understand why the doctors and nurses were so passionate about collecting gold. It was because alluvial gold was not uncommon in streams of the Caucasus regions, and Central Asian regions. Collecting alluvial gold was a waste of time for them since no matter how hard they collected the actual gold, what they would get was very small. Spending that much time on something more productive would be more profitable.

“Mr. Lee. Why are you going on a picnic so far? You said this is a very dangerous place. It also feels like it’s going to get very cold at night.”

Kim Sung-ho was worried. He was sick of the endless vast plain and his buttocks were hurting.

“That’s why we’re taking the light-armored vehicle. If you stay inside the vehicle at night, you’d be warm.”

“I’m afraid to camp outside there tonight. I almost caught a cold last night because I came outside with T-shirts on.”

“There’s a lodging facility in the mining village, no need to worry about that. I’m going to make a fence around the campground and install yurts next year. It would be a much nicer environment next year.”

“It looks like you go to the same place every time when you go on a picnic.”

“You must be curious, but wait until we get there. You’ll see why.”

Youngho greeted the workers of the mine and went up to the stream where there was alluvial gold. Everyone was now equipped with weird looking bowls and boots. The followers’ eyes were widened after they found out what was going from a kid.

“Mr. CEO. Are you sure that we can take the gold we collected here from home?”

“In here, the first person who claims something gets it.”

“You’re not going to change your mind tonight, are you?”

They were highly motivated now. It seemed that there would be many people who would not be able to sleep because of the back pain tonight.

“Collect to your best ability. It’s all yours.”

The two followers excitedly went to talk to Kim Sung-ho. After listening to them, his face was no different from them.

The stream was about twenty minutes away from the campground. Kids raced to the stream ahead and the adults all looked like they were imagining different things. If they were lucky, they could even get gold that was about as big as a kid’s fingernail.

The first one who let out an exclamation was Kim In-hwa.

She had picked up a piece of gold that was about the size of a grain. Kim Sung-ho also groaned a while after her. He also picked up something.

Everyone was searching for gold. All of them were bending their waists and it was interesting to see them highly focusing on their work. The labor went on for three to four hours.

It was time to go back to the campground but they did not seem like they wanted to stop. It had now been four hours but many were so immersed in collecting gold that they felt like they had spent only an hour there. Especially, the followers and Kim Sung-ho were deeply engaged in their work.

They could be only stopped when the Countryside Force guards grilled them to go back to the campground. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with what they had found. The kids did not use the panning bowls but collected little lumps of gold by hand and that seemed to be more effective. Kim Sung-ho could not hide the excitement from his face. He must have collected a lot of gold.

“Mr. Lee. I collected too much. I think I might have to leave some here.”

“You can take it all, don’t feel bad about it.”

“Can anyone move here at any time?”

“Well, not individually but group immigration is something I can arrange any time.”

“Mr. Lee. You said about the immigration of my family yesterday, right?”

Kim Sung-ho seemed eager. Youngho had suggested moving to the state yesterday, and he was sorry that he did not answer right away.

“Yes, I did. They’re welcome anytime if they want to move to the state.”

“As you said, I should bring my family members to the state. Even kids’ hands would be helpful in collecting more alluvial gold.”

“Hahaha…”