Empire of the Ring

“I think you’ve now come to your senses.”

“What do you mean? I’ve been out of my mind so far?”

“Certainly. When you launched a new government, you should’ve turned on the construction industry to create many jobs, but you’ve been only focusing on the defense industry. People would have thought that was a little strange.”

“The defense industry, too, is nothing short of building the heavy industry.”

“Of course it is. But when the economy gets better, the defense industry naturally develops.”

“Who doesn’t know that? Russia and China are showing their claws on both sides. How can I just watch that? We don’t have the minimum defense yet.”

Park Jong-il’s point was not wrong either.

It was true that he had been focusing on reinforcing the nation’s military capabilities although he also pushed for both a built-in road and a nuclear power plant. However, it was an inevitable choice because of Kazakhstan’s geopolitical position.

“Do you know how envious you were when you went to Turkey this time? There were foreign tourists standing in line. The natural view of Kazakhstan is much better than Turkey’s, but people are not interested in coming here.”

“Just wait for it. Almaty will be just like that soon with the natural environment as beautiful as Switzerland.”

“Well, in that case, it would be necessary to nurture the tourism industry in order to revive domestic consumption and attract foreigners. I heard that Kazakhstan is very popular among Korean tourists these days. Should we send an advertisement to Korea?”

“Hey, why don’t you target West Europe instead? There’s a direct route to Europe, and it’s easy to access.”

“Don’t you need to develop Almaty first before that?”

“There’s a resort around Almaty, and there are a lot of things to see. There are already enough things for tourists now.”

***

Preparations were underway to annex Kyrgyzstan.

Already, there had been gun battles between Kyrgyz and Uzbek troops at the border they shared, resulting in casualties. In the wake of the invasion of Kyrgyzstan by Uzbek forces, the Kyrgyz government even asked Kazakhstan for help.

Since the Commonwealth of Independent States of Central Asia was a military-economic alliance, each country had the basis for intervention in the event of war. So, Kazakhstan’s southern border troops were sent to the disputed area as a peacekeeping force.

So, the government complex in Astana had begun to come up with follow-up measures.

“Your Highness, we have vowed to mediate, but there is a high possibility that Russia will intervene.”

“It’s not a war situation but a frequent border conflict. What’s the point of intervention? And there’s no justification for Russia to intervene.”

“If Russia was stubborn that it will mediate, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) should accept it. That’s what was stipulated in the alliance rules.”

“First, call the Russian ambassador. If necessary, I’ll call Mr. Putin directly and draw a line.”

“We will first consult with the Russian ambassador at the government level. We’ve already sent troops to mediate, so Russia wouldn’t be so stubborn to intervene.”

“Sure. If you can’t resolve this by talking to the Russian ambassador, then I’ll step up myself.”

In preparation for Russia’s possible intervention, Youngho called in the Russian ambassador and drew the line that Kazakhstan would be the country to mediate the dispute.

Russia said it would leave it to Kazakhstan for the time being because Kazakhstan had already sent its troops. The reason for Russia’s decision in staying quiet was that it was being subject to Western economic sanctions due to the Ukraine crisis, so it was difficult to intervene even in the case of a CIS country.

Russia was in a position where it would refuse to intervene even if it was asked to do so. Also, Kyrgyzstan was not directly bordering Russia, so even if the Russian troops were to be sent to Kyrgyzstan, there was no way to approach the land without going through Kazakhstan.

“Jong-il, I think it’s time for you to step in.”

“I was going to appear after things got a little worse.”

“That will only make people’s feelings worse in both countries, and I can’t control that later. It’ll be for the best if the Uzbek army would withdraw from the line.”

“I’m sorry for the people of both countries, but our role will stand out more when there are more casualties.”

“Oh, come on. If a lot of Kyrgyz people get hurt, it can’t be easily taken care of. Once the emotional gap deepens, we won’t be able to deal with that easily in the future.”

Now in Kyrgyzstan, there had been constant voices criticizing the incompetence of the current government over the Uzbek military’s incursion into the border. Demonstrators denouncing the government had been sweeping the streets in big cities all day long, making them nothing short of anarchy. It was a sign that the people’s pride was still alive, but Kyrgyzstan could not help but lose to Uzbekistan because of its lack of strength.

At this point, Kazakhstan’s intelligence service would mediate first, followed by the presence of the Kazakh royal family’s intervention. This would buy the hearts of Kyrgyz people, by showing the smooth handling of the government’s work to the people disappointed by their current government. It was to increase the value of the royal family’s existence.

“The Kyrgyz government has left us with the border issue, and now we have to convince the Uzbek government. Just tell the Uzbek government to back off first. It’ll step down if we promise to adjust the borderline as it wanted it to be in the future.”

“What if the Kyrgyz people rise up against that?”

“We need to reach a national consensus. The place where many Uzbek people live has always been their land. The Kyrgyz people understand if it’s just to correct the mistakes of the Soviet Union for not drawing the border correctly. They’re disputing because of their pride. If Kyrgyzstan yields a bit, Uzbekistan will suggest something in return.”

“Okay. I’ll take the lead, so just give me a good support.”

“Suggest a partnership for the One Belt One Road project to the Uzbek government.”

“Is there anything else besides that you can do?”

“That’s a huge deal in itself. If that road is connected, Uzbekistan will make a lot of money as it will be a tourism line.”

“What if they want to import our military supplies?”

“What do you mean? If they get armed, it’ll be a problem for us.”

“Hey, they’re not going to be a match for us no matter how armed they are. Let’s just give them some light armored vehicles. Wouldn’t that make it easier to reach a consensus?”

“Alright. That’s up to your decision.”

The border issue should be taken care of very carefully because it was a matter of people’s self-pride because there were Kyrgyz people living in the Uzbek villages in the Kyrgyz territory. They were complicatedly interrelated, and many would not want to leave their hometown easily.

***

“Why don’t you withdraw the border guards and send the royal armored division?”

“Would the Kyrgyz people have less doubt against us if we did?”

“The border conflict is now starting to get resolved, and the continued presence of heavily armed border guards in Kyrgyzstan doesn’t look good. Since the royal armored division belongs to the Kazakh royal family, people won’t have so much wariness against them.”

Prime Minister Kasim was calling for the withdrawal of the current border guards and replacing them with a soft-looking royal armored division. That was because the Kazakh government did not intend to withdraw from Kyrgyzstan’s territory.

The border dispute between the two countries was not over, and Kyrgyzstan’s domestic security was almost absent, so the Kazakh military would be staying in the territory under the pretext of keeping the status quo of the two disputed nations in the form of a peacekeeper.

At the same time, Kazakhstan intended to make a good impression on the Kyrgyz people, by providing military aid to civil authorities and keeping the security of the land.

Just like in Kazakhstan before, Kyrgyzs people were distrustful of their government officials and military personnel. It would be a shocking sight to see the appearance of the royal guards, who were stern and well-behaved, which would be quite contrastive to the weak troops of Kyrgyzstan.

“And one of the other reasons for replacing the border guards with the royal armored division is for Her Majesty to have a cause to go to Kyrgyzstan. Her Majesty will have to make an appearance to console the soldiers that are suffering in another country.”

“Hahaha… Mr. Prime Minister is blowing my troubles away at once. I was concerned about it because there was no reason for us to visit Kyrgyzstan.”

“If you and the Queen visited Kyrgyzstan and showed people how the royal family takes care of its people and the poor and orphans of Kyrgyzstan, you will be able to win the hearts of the people in a single moment.”

“Is there anything else you can do to get a little bit more exotic?”

“Your Highness, you still don’t know the influence of the Queen.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“If you hold the power, the Queen holds the people’s hearts. You will witness how influential Her Majesty’s every move is to the Kyrgyz people. Also, you are only thinking about annexing Kyrgyzstan, but there’s also another option to leave it as a federal state.”

‘Was Fatima’s presence so great?’

Youngho only thought Fatima as nothing more than a symbol, but it seemed people’s perspective on her was different than he thought.

Kyrgyzstan was a country full of mountainous regions, so if grain aid stopped, people would starve to death.

In this situation, if the queen visited and showed compassion, that would be quite impressive to the people of Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, if the queen’s visit to the streets of Kyrgyzstan could quiet the demonstrations, Kasim believed that Kyrgyzstan would want to be Kazakhstan’s federal state. According to him, there was no reason to get criticism from the international community by annexing Kyrgyzstan when it could be a federal state instead.

“So, you want to make sure that Kyrgyzstan serves the royal family just as the Commonwealth serves the British Queen.”

“Exactly. That way, we can allay people’s opposition. No matter how poor it is, it’s still an independent country. People won’t support the annexation so easily.”

“Wouldn’t you have to follow it when it’s decided by a national vote?”

“But there must be some opposition to annexation. If the opposing group gets armed to fight against us, the meaning of annexation will be tarnished. I know you might feel hasty, but it’s better for the future to resolve this smoothly and slowly as much as possible.”

The remarks of Kasim seemed to have been made out of long concerning and distress.

There was nothing to gain for Kazakhstan to annex Kyrgyzstan if there was severe resistance.