Empire of the Ring

Cha In-soo and Cho Chul-hwan both eagerly wanted to be in charge of the force to be sent to Greenland.

“You’ve got the order under the name of the security company and also, it’s actually a facility security job, so the security company should play the key role. If they’re led by a bunch of rough Royal Bodyguards, wouldn’t they be spotted by others right away? It’s a no-brainer.”

“Why does it matter if they’re going to be undercover? Ultimately, the Royal Bodyguards will be stationed in Greenland. It’s a hundred times more effective for us to come out from the start.”

Even though it was colder than Kazakhstan, they both wanted to go to Greenland.

“Hey, hey! The Royal Bodyguards have a lot of work to do, so why don’t you leave it to us? You shouldn’t keep trespassing other people’s territory.”

“Why is that the realm of the security company? It’s the Royal Bodyguards’ territory.”

“You are so ignorant. How can you compare the security company and the military agents?”

Youngho, who was watching the two’s bickering, opened his mouth.

“Oh, please shush! Externally, it is disguised as a facility security operation, but we’re going to station the troops for the purpose of establishing a bridgehead anyway, so the Royal Bodyguards should be in charge of it. It’s true that we don’t have enough manpower in the security company.”

“There must be a limit to undercover. Wouldn’t there be a problem if the security company guards are overly armed?”

“It doesn’t matter if the Danish government permits it. It’s going to be okay because I mentioned it as an international security company, and I said in advance the company team is as good as military forces.”

“Why don’t you build a civilian military company then?”

Cha In-soo suggested creating a separate military company as it would resolve the problem of armament.

“You mean a mercenary company?”

“It’s not like a mercenary company. The civilian military can operate independently unlike a mercenary company. Especially if it’s a sensitive area with national interests, there’s not much political pressure.”

Usually, the cost of protecting global entrepreneurs and securing facilities for companies was more than ten million dollars a year.

Entrepreneurs with more than ten billion dollars in personal assets never hesitated to spend the expenses for their families and for the safety of their company.

In particular, to protect businesses in conflict zones, they entered security service contracts with private military companies.

This was because such companies had stronger firepower than regular security companies.

So it had already been a long time since private military companies earned more than 100 million dollars a year.

It was ironic that the U.S. military entrusted a private military company to protect its troops in Iraq. But if this was the way to reduce the cost of sending troops, it was not incomprehensible on the other hand.

“If the Kazakh royal family took the lead in creating a private military company, would it be more like a joke?”

“I just thought of it since we have to disguise the Royal Bodyguards as a security company. Just know that we have an option to do so. No one can know who the company belongs to if it’s based in a third country.”

“Is it? Find out what operations have been carried out by civilian military companies.”

“I’ve already researched them. It seems like they only contract to fight organizations or countries that would harm humanity. They never move for money.”

“It’s getting more and more attractive.”

“They have a very different standard than that of a mercenary company. They never respond to any morally reprehensible requests. That’s why the assessment of private military companies is also very positive.”

Private military companies carried out wars on behalf of certain countries, but if they could maintain high morals, the day was not far away when they would be spotlighted as a new business.

In this regard, Kazakhstan was one of the places that had all the necessary conditions to build a private military company. It was because there were a Kurdish militia group and a group that had just started out as mercenaries.

Kurdish people’s morality played a part in the idea of using them as militia.

Although they had lived a rough life of militiamen, they never did anything morally reprehensible.

Rather, they had done a great job of driving the IS out of Syria or Iraq.

Creating a private military company based on them would be like providing stable jobs for the Syrian Kurdish militiamen who were still coming into Kazakhstan.

***

Although Youngho was eager to set up a bridgehead in Greenland, military facilities already existed in Greenland.

To the northwest of Greenland was the Air Defense Radar Base, the core of the U.S. mainland’s defense.

The military base was the “Thule Air Defense Base,” located 1,600 kilometers from the North Pole and was the northernmost U.S. base.

The radar early warning system for the U.S. missile defense system was established there.

However, the maintenance of U.S. military bases was supposed to be left to companies based in Denmark and Greenland, but the problem was that the company that was in charge of the work was only a paper company, and in fact, the U.S. government was in charge.

Recently, Greenlanders took issue with it and called for a base relocation.

The reason was that there should not be such a military facility in a clean country like Greenland.

Since the issue had emerged in this sensitive time, the U.S. was in a very difficult position. If the base was moved, the air defenses in the north would be gone.

However, when the queen spoke, the possible backlash from residents disappeared. On top of that, Queen Margrethe also sternly said that Zeynep Security Service would be responsible for the maintenance and security of American air defense units.

One word from the queen, who rarely opened her mouth, had a tremendous ripple effect.

As it was a security company owned by the Kazakh royal family, the Greenland government officials did not oppose it. If they opposed this decision, it would be tantamount to challenging the authority of the Danish royal family. It was because opposing the queen would never help Greenland’s future as the autonomous government of Greenland’s one-third of the budget came from Denmark.

***

“I resolved your problem in one shot, Chief.”

-Do you know how much economic gain the Greenland people get due to our base there? They must be opposing our base to increase the land fee. Or perhaps the Chinese government has played a trick.

“Whatever the reason is, it is true that if I had not persuaded Queen Margrethe, the U.S. air defense base would’ve been removed from Greenland.”

-I’m not refusing to acknowledge your efforts, but we had already discussed it with the Danish government, and the Greenland residents made unreasonable demands.

“It’s a key U.S. air defense network, isn’t it? But I’ve heard that the U.S. has been using it for almost nothing.”

-Huh! That’s nonsense. What are you talking about when we paid the amount according to the agreement with the Danish and Greenland governments?

“Very well. I understand your position. How about talking about the reward for me?”

-You have a bridgehead in Greenland, and you’ve benefited from the full use of our ports, so what do you want from us? Then I’ll be the only one who gets in trouble.

“How can I put a man like my father in trouble?”

-Oh, what on earth do you want?

“I’d like us to use the Greenland base together. We’ll keep the facility safe in exchange.”

-It’s an unreasonable demand. We’ve never let another country to be in charge of the security of U.S. military facilities.

“I know there has been a precedent in Iraq where a private military company protected the U.S. troops. In Korea, guards guarding U.S. military bases have been civilians since long ago.”

-You’ve done a very thorough investigation.

“Well, when I was a child, I just saw civilians guarding the Yongsan Garrison with guns. By the way, I’m sure you don’t doubt Zeynep Security Service’s capabilities, do you?”

-Do you really want to leave the security to the security company?

“If the U.S. wants to, we can send the Royal Bodyguards under the guise of employees of our security company. You know they’re all from special forces, right?”

-Then it’ll be easy to talk about it.

Michael seemed relieved to hear that Youngho would send his troops undercover.

-Okay. I’ll talk to the Department of Defense and let you know the results.

“I hope this has a good ending.”

This paved the way for a perfect bridgehead in Greenland.

For the U.S., the Thule air defense base was a strategic base that could not be abandoned. In any case, the intervention of the Kazakh royal family, which was an ally of the U.S., was always welcome.

-I have a few things I need to discuss directly with you, Duke. Are you available?

“Shall I come to America?”

-Things will get bigger if you visit the U.S. Instead, I’ll move secretly.

“What’s wrong with Afghanistan?”

-It’s also related to Afghanistan.

“China is playing with it again.”

-That’s a little serious to call it playing. We’re also looking at a variety of issues but this is related to the whole of Central Asia. Why don’t we meet in person and discuss it?

“I’m staying in the country for a while, so come visit me any time.”

-I’ll visit the palace as soon as possible.

“All right. We’ll be preparing your favorite Ural trout.”