Empire of the Ring

Most of Koryoins who were in Kyrgyzstan lived in big cities.

When they first started moving to the country, they majorly farmed to make living. However, they moved out to bigger cities to look for jobs because of the limited amount of farmland in the country.

Another fundamental reason to move was the education of their children.

Koryoin parents worked hard so that their children will be able to have better lives than themselves in a foreign country. Among them, there were some people who became rich and influential in Kyrgyz society through their business skills even though they were first-generation immigrants.

During the Soviet Union era, there were many job opportunities for them but as soon as Kyrgyzstan became independent, they were discriminated by the native Kyrgyz people.

Any new job opportunities were only open for Kyrgyz people and Koryoins had no hope. Inevitably, most of the second and third generations of Koryoin immigrants left to Russia, Europe, and Northeast Asia to seek for an opportunity and they never returned.

Even in other foreign countries, they were offered less preferred jobs with low salaries because of their foreign status. They could not buy airplane tickets to visit their home after sending money to families in Kyrgyzstan.

Many of them were not married either. Their difficult lives had made them consider having a normal family which turns out to be a dream that was unachievable.

This was the current reality of Koryoins in Kyrgyzstan now.

It was the day after Youngho and Jong-il met the kimchi lady again. Her name was Kim Camila. When she saw the two, she apologized to Youngho for doubting him. She had called her son last night and heard that there was really a place called the Arirang Autonomous State in Kazakhstan.

“Are you sure that we don’t have to worry about where to live and what to eat anymore?”

“I can guarantee free land and house, also we’ve got plenty of job opportunities.”

“Can you put that in a legal document?”

The Koryoin lady still could not trust Youngho and Jong-il, but what she was asking was not a big deal to him. He had provided houses for the residents for free anyway and as for the farmland, he was going to divide and distribute it to farmers when the right time came.

Youngho liked how she confidently asked for what she needed.

“That is absolutely possible.”

“Oh my, if you can do that, I’ll provide kimchi for free for you forever.”

“You don’t have to. I should be thankful since you decided to move to a remote place. Could you please spread the word and tell other Koryoins that they’re also welcome if they want to move to Kazakhstan?”

Now she was extremely excited that she even promised to offer kimchi for life to Youngho.

“What if they want to move now?”

“We still have dozens of empty houses now, so we can handle that many families. Also, it will take them several months before they’re ready to leave. Who’s going to want to move in the winter?”

It was not an easy decision to leave a hometown.

People with properties would have wait until they were sold. In Kyrgyzstan where there was not a lot of economic activity, it would take them a while until their properties were settled. Moreover, all people knew how harsh Kazakhstan’s winter could be. They would not want to move in the winter.

“The problem is the Kazakh government…”

“There’s no reason to oppose people’s immigration since they will increase the total population of Kazakhstan. Also, why would the government dislike it when these are Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan?”

“I’m just worried that the government might think that the state is receiving too many Koryoins.”

“You know, they are only a few thousand Koryoins at max. I bet the government wants every Koryoin scattered in Central Asia to come to Kazakhstan.”

“…”

“They’re diligent and they have high enthusiasm for education. How many ethnic minority groups had actively supported the Kazakh government’s policies so far except for Koryoins?”

The Kazakh president had already told Youngho that he would not care about any of the autonomous state’s activities as long as the state lived under the government’s rule. It did not seem that the government would refuse Koryoin immigrants especially when the country’s main problem was its little population. Not to mention, Koryoins were dearly loved by many Kazakhs.

***

“We’re planning to open an office in Bishkek. Our agents will manage new Koryoin immigrants there. Commissioner, could you make sure that we have enough houses for new immigrants?”

“We’re getting more residents all because of the road survey team. It’s terrific.”

Youngho was just on the phone with Commissioner Kim to discuss the housing of the new immigrants. Kim Chun was excited to hear that there would be new immigrants, especially they were Koryoins just like him.

“First, could you let the Kazakh government know that the autonomous state will be taking Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan? You can proudly say that this is going to be investment immigration.”

“Should we arrange moving trucks now?”

“I told them that they should only bring clothes that they’ll use and reduce their belongings as much as possible. We’ll worry about the trucks later. What we need to focus on now is to have the houses ready.”

“Don’t you remember how the Serbian immigrants still kept their ragged belongings when we warned them to reduce their belongings multiple times?”

Youngho had forgotten what happened when the Serbian immigrants first came. It was not easy for them to abandon their belongings. One immigrant even brought an old wine pot and it was broken in the middle of their moving.

It seemed that trucks were not a great idea due to the rough roads. Rather, trains sounded better to move people’s belongings even if it took a long time to get to the autonomous state.

Since Koryoins would have to come to Bishkek anyway to register their immigration at the new office, renting a lodging facility for them also sounded like a good idea.

“How many houses are empty now?”

“We have 34 now.”

There were quite a lot of empty houses since all of the H Corporation’s employees had just moved to their dormitory as well as foreign power plant project teams.

Youngho thought that he could start receiving immigrants right now.

After his conversation with the commissioner, he spoke to Jong-il who was standing next to him.

“Jong-il. Let all of the agents stand by at Bishkek, and in Osh, I think we should set up a temporary lodging place for Koryoin immigrants.”

“I already told them to come to Bishkek except for three agents who are staying in Almaty. I’ll arrange the lodging facility.”

The capital of Kazakhstan—Almaty, was the biggest city in Central Asia. Jong-il sent five agents to reside in Almaty, which was the least possible minimum number of people. But in a time like this, the number of agents was quite short.

“Man, we’re getting more and more work lately but we don’t have men with skills. We need to find a way to increase our agents.”

“We can find skillful men from the Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan this time. We can only trust our people.”

“Those young guys are the same as local Kyrgyz people. Do you still consider them our people?”

“We share the same blood. We can convince them that. We can’t receive Koryoins from Kazakhstan anymore.”

It was fine when the autonomous state took immigrants from foreign countries but the state could not receive people within Kazakhstan because the Kazakh government would not be happy about it.

Youngho thought that there was no way to increase the population of the state but he found Koryoins from a very unexpected place. Moreover, if they were well-off, he would have not cared for them but they were suffering greatly in Kyrgyzstan. Since he would be able to help Koryoins, who shared the same root as him, his heart was light.

***

When Youngho returned to the administration building of the autonomous state, the road survey team had just arrived there too. The team could have taken a flight from Almaty but the people had traveled with the Countryside Force guards because they felt safer to stay with the guards.

Their missing accident was reported to the Kazakh government as a mere happening where they got lost in the mountains. It was because exposing what had really happened did not seem to be a good idea. Since attracting people’s attention could also attract the IS to the autonomous state.

The staffs of H Corporation’s road construction consortium could not believe that it was Youngho and Jong-il who saved the survey team from the IS organization.

The consortium was considering to ask help from the Korean government if Central Asian countries were not supportive for the search and rescue of the Korean people but it was unbelievable that the two flew to Kyrgyzstan and rescued the abducted team in no time.

Im Min-soo the president of the consortium asked for a thorough explanation.

“Mr. Lee. Could you please explain how the rescue took place? I need to report this to my company and the Korean government.”

“You can tell your company the truth but it’d be better to just tell the government that the survey team got lost in the mountains. If the Korean government contacted the Kazakh government for a reasonable explanation, our state will be the one that will suffer between the two.”

“The Korean government will hold us responsible for not informing the truth early if this gets out of our hands.”

“You know, the Korean government might grill us but it will never solve any problem for us.”

Korean embassies in foreign countries were notorious for their mistreatment of Korean people. Youngho did not expect anything from the Korean government. Many Korean officials did not care about their own people’s lives just like most Kyrgyz officials.

They worked for money rather than a sense of duty. If this was heard by Korean politicians, this would be only used as their political tool, not to benefit the Korean people working overseas.

Youngho had never heard of any self-made Korean overseas who received the Korean government’s help during their hard time.

“But it’s the IS that’s after us. You won’t be able to save us every time.”

“I’m going to make sure that the organization can’t touch any of the Korean people here. As long as the Countryside Force guards are with you, no one can harm you.”

“The technicians in the survey team told us that it was only you two who came to save them…”

“The Countryside Force guards and our intelligence agents all worked together to rescue them. The only reason we were able to work together with them was that we used to serve in the Korean Navy Special Forces but other guards are also well-trained soldiers.”

“Okay, I believe you, Mr. Lee. I’d like to provide every staff that is going to the construction site with defensive weapons. Would that be possible?”

Since most of the normal Korean men had served in the military once in their lifetime, they all could handle guns. That sounded like a good idea.

“That’s a great idea, Mr. Im. I’ll talk to the head of the Countryside Force and make sure to provide guns for the Korean staff as well as a simple gun training since many people might have forgotten how to use guns.”

The security guards of Zeynep Security Service would be happy to hear that they had more trainees now. As strict instructors, they were the ones that had been even harsh on Youngho and Jong-il. It seemed that the Korean staffs would be the next people who would suffer from their training.

When the IS had its base in Central Asia, the autonomous state could not be safe even though it was located in a remote place. So, the leadership group of the state announced that it would offer outdoor military training for the state’s special school students who were on their winter break. The voluntary training was received by the students so well that most of the students enrolled for the training, except for a few sick people.

It was because the training also offered group wolf hunting experience.

Just in time, Szechenyi called Youngho that he and Princess Isabella would visit the state by the time the military training was in session. He was glad to hear that since he could show off the military strength of the autonomous state before the princess.

When she returned home, she would tell the Danish royal family that the autonomous state was not only a wealthy state but also a state with strong defensive power.

Since Princess Isabella was older than Szechenyi, Youngho wanted to settle their wedding before this year passed. The coronation would take place in the spring and the wedding could be held by the harvest time in the fall next year. The two big events could promote the autonomous state to the whole world.

Before that, the state needed something to show to the world but most regions were still empty since they were not yet developed.

Youngho needed Kim Chun to discuss such a matter.

He was a resourceful and crafty guy.

How Szechenyi’s wedding would look like must be already in his head.