Empire of the Ring

Eriksson and Kabak, commander of the Royal Armed Division, left for India with Mittal.

Normally, Park Jong-il would be the one who would be in charge of this kind of occasion, but because he had gone to the United Arab Emirates, Kabak followed them.

Kazakhstan and India had already established ambassador-level diplomatic relations, but there had been only a few exchanges. It was because there were not many political and economic exchanges between the two.

However, the two countries’ relations were rapidly escalating due to a border dispute with China.

Youngho, who acquired a new card to pressure China, felt more relaxed now.

Since the U.S. and Russia were not in the position to take the lead, he thought it would be Kazakhstan’s fight alone, but he had met another strong ally in an unexpected place. Now he did not need to lean on other strong powers to check China.

According to Mittal’s words, India was even willing to go to war against China.

China would be in a position to digest border disputes in both Pamir and Bhutan.

The Chinese leader would not be able to neglect any border.

“Your Highness, I don’t think it’s necessary to share our cooperation with India with the Cabinet members. I’d like to keep this between me and the Secretary of Defense only.”

“…”

“It’s not that I don’t trust other ministers, but I think it would be better for us and for India to keep it as confidential as possible for now. If our cooperation is known to China, it could be a fatal blow.”

“I’ll keep it quiet if that’s what you’ve decided, Prime Minister. We need to make sure that it is kept quiet by the royal officials.”

Prime Minister Kasim, who had been a military leader for a long time, recognized the importance of the cooperation and wanted to carry it out cautiously.

As Prime Minister Kasim was cautious and responsible in every given work, Youngho was able to leave state affairs to him while he did other businesses outside the country.

The smooth relationship between the government and the National Assembly was also possible due to persistent efforts by Cabinet ministers under Kasim, and it was entirely Kasim’s credit that Youngho had been able to lead the political situation without a single discord since the first day of the revolutionary government.

“Your Highness, the issue of changing the name of the country mentioned earlier has been reduced to one name at a public hearing. Out of many proposed names, ‘the United Empire of Central Asia’ has the highest approval rating.”

“It’s an Empire, not a Kingdom? Great Britain, which has a lot of federal states, also calls itself a Kingdom. Isn’t Empire too grand? It could be seen as we’re greedy for all of Central Asia.”

“I don’t think it’s a problem because it depends on how you interpret it. You know Russia was used to be called Imperial Russia too. In fact, it’s not too much to call us an empire in terms of our size. Kyrgyzstan has already become our federal state, and sooner or later, Tajikistan will become our state, too. Since Uzbekistan is almost economically relying on us, it would be safe to name our nation ‘the United Empire of Central Asia.'”

“Don’t expect too much from Tajikistan. The border dispute with China is still not resolved yet. I’d like to delay the name change a little more. It’s too premature for us to use that name.”

“I understand your concern.”

In a narrow scope, Central Asia consisted of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Xinjiang Uygur. In a broader scope, it also included Tibet, Mongolia, China’s Qinghai Province, and Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Kasim’s scope of the United Empire of Central Asia was a narrow view excluding Turkmenistan and Xinjiang Uyghur.

“Your Highness, no matter what, Uzbekistan must be included in the union.”

“Tajikistan is still far away. We’ll be overwhelmed if we incorporate Uzbekistan.”

“Uzbekistan has a population of 30 million. Isn’t that a tempting number?”

The sound of 30 million people widened Youngho’s eyes.

Billions of dollars were being poured into settlement funds to accept a million Kurds, and if Uzbekistan could be made a federal state of Kazakhstan, the population would grow by 30 million people at no cost. If that happened, Kazakhstan would have a population of more than 60 million, which would pave the way for a great nation in name and reality.

“And the cabinet members decided to have a nickname for our nation since the United Empire of Central Asia is quite long. Would you like to hear it, Your Highness?”

“You’ve already come up with a nickname for our nation? What is it?”

“It is the Arirang Kingdom.”

“You want to use ‘Arirang’ as a nickname for our nation?”

“The name of the royal territory is Arirang, and all the hotels, shipping company, and the island owned by the royal family are named Arirang too.”

“We just picked that name because it was convenient.”

“All cabinet members agreed that the name also goes well with the sentiment of Central Asian people.”

If Park Jong-il overheard this conversation, he would make fun of their naming sense.

Still, Youngho felt good hearing that the word “Arirang” suited the sentiment of Central Asian people.

Having been living in Kazakhstan for a long time now, Youngho realized that the languages of Kazakhstan were quite similar to the Korean language. It was widely believed that the invasion of Genghis Khan brought in Mongolian. Whatever the truth was, it was exciting that there were some languages that had similar sounds and meanings to Korean.

That was why Cabinet ministers did not feel uncomfortable giving the nickname ‘Arirang’ to the United Empire of Central Asia.

***

Park Jong-il, who returned from the United Arab Emirates after accompanying Crown Prince Al-Sarki, was proud to report that Kazakhstan would be able to use the port of Abu Dhabi as a designated port for the Kazakh Navy.

“Did he say that he will offer a dedicated dock?”

“How many times do I need to tell you? The UAE government was eager to announce it to the public, so I struggled to dissuade the officials to keep it a secret.”

“I’m sure the government of the United Arab Emirates was trying to announce it to target Iran.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

The United Arab Emirates was currently in dispute with Iran over the sovereignty of an island in the Persian Gulf, and it wanted to lean on Kazakhstan’s naval power rather than reinforcing its frail naval forces. They intended to use their relations between Iran and Kazakhstan as Kazakhstan needed a naval port and the United Arab Emirates needed a shield.

“I’m going to give Iran a little heads up. If we place two Aegis destroyers there, Iran might take it as a provocation.”

“The Iranian government must know the Kazakh Royal Navy is there for the protection of merchant ships going back and forth between the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Would it really take it as a provocation?”

“We have nothing to lose for being careful. We need to get rid of any misunderstanding in advance.”

“I know the man in charge of the Iranian intelligence service, so I’ll make a call.”

“What on earth is there on that island that the two countries are fighting each other?”

“It turns out it’s where a lot of oil and gas are buried.”

“Are you serious?”

“Why do you look so surprised?”

“The Persian Gulf must be a safe zone for us, so we can continue to use it. If Iran and the Arab world kept clashing with each other, we’d better look elsewhere. Why don’t we take this opportunity to mediate this situation?”

“They’ve been offended by the territorial issue for a long time. I don’t think they’ll listen to anyone now. And the Arab is a powder keg. Let’s not get in the way as much as we can.”

“You know you always make more out of a risky business. Hey, I know you’ve been out, but I need you to go back to the Middle East now. Go visit each side and convince them. If arbitration goes well, you’ll become a global celebrity.”

It sounded like an impromptu plan, but Youngho was only adding a few words to Eriksson’s words.

Eriksson suggested using the current situation where Iran, which had been uncomfortable with Western countries over its nuclear armament attempts, was boldly giving up its nuclear weapons and offering a reconciliatory gesture.

With the lifting of sanctions targeting Iran, it had been trying to develop its economy, which had been heavily under-funded. The oil fields that had been developed were slowly bottoming out, so Iran needed to develop a new one.

However, it was not easy to develop a new oil field. This was because the chances of successful genetic exploration were only 20 percent.

Likewise, the United Arab Emirates spent a huge amount of money on building super-rich cities—including Dubai—and was in need of funds.

It was the best for each side to develop and share an island where it was confirmed to have a great amount of oil reserves.

Eriksson’s analysis was that the two countries were waiting for someone to mediate their dispute.

Saudi Arabia, the regional stronghold, was less qualified as a mediator as it was leaning toward the Arab world, and it would only cause more confusion if Western countries stepped in as there had long been hostile relations.

That was why Kazakhstan could be the most suitable mediator.

The Kazakh Royal Family and Iran had already been partners due to the railroad project to the Persian Gulf, and the United Arab Emirates had become a new partner as it provided its port to the Kazakh Navy.

Now that both countries had become allies of Kazakhstan, Youngho must make sure that the two countries reconcile for Kazakhstan’s sake.

There were only a few cases in which either side made concessions in borderline disputes or territorial disputes. This was because most of the areas that contributed to the conflict were places where the history of the two countries was still alive and well.

While either party made outrageous claims, most of them felt irrevocable because they once had their own past.

If it was a place of economic value that anyone would aspire to, it was inevitable that each country would risk national fortune for it.

While Third World countries would resolve this through armed conflicts, Western European countries solved it by co-prosperity. They would choose to share each other’s benefits rather than continuing to have an uncomfortable relationship along the border. Of course, many preconditions must be followed for that to happen.

The idea that territorial disputes between Iran and the United Arab Emirates could be resolved was seen as possible by Youngho because he was positive that it could be resolved in a way that the two countries could share their interests as in the case of Europe.

It was also calculated that if the agreement was reached in a smooth manner through the intervention of Kazakhstan, the benefit in return would be enormous.