[Breaking News - U.S. Negotiations Break Down!]
[Delegation to the U.S. Returns Empty-Handed! Head of Negotiations: “We are seeking a thread that aligns with the interests of both countries...”]
[U.S. Increasing Pressure by the Day]
[Lutnick: “The $350 Billion Investment in the U.S. Must Be Invested Where We Want, in the Way We Want!”]
[Opposition Party Throws Itself Down... “Breakdown of U.S. Negotiations Must Be Borne by the Current Administration!”]
In the end, South Korea and the United States failed to find common ground.
The United States demanded investment funds in the same manner as Japan, but the Korean government countered with conditions the United States could not accept.
The government said, “For the investment in the U.S. to proceed, an unlimited Korea-U.S. swap must come first,” and it was obvious who would benefit if a reserve currency and a non-reserve currency entered an unlimited swap.
“What the fuck. What’s a currency swap?”
The Oval Office.
Donald pressed the cola button and asked his aides.
Thomas, the undersecretary of commerce, barely held back his curses as he thought of the simplest explanation possible.
“It means exchanging Korean money and American money. Unlimited means, quite literally, without limit.”
“Then just do it. In return, tell them to bring the $350 billion investment in the U.S. right away.”
“Your Excellency... it is not that simple.”
Thomas almost let another curse slip.
The current master of the White House had the economic knowledge of an elementary schooler. Of course, not every president in history had been well-versed in economics, but this man knew little while possessing an enormous amount of pride—a truly hopeless case.
“If a reserve-currency country and a non-reserve country carry out a swap, it is disadvantageous to the reserve-currency country.”
“What the fuck. Why would it be more disadvantageous to our great America?”
“...Because our currency is far more stable. To put it simply, a swap is a kind of insurance. If an advanced country and a developing country conclude one, it is more disadvantageous to the advanced country.”
“Holy shit. Then we can’t conclude it.”
Donald emptied his cola in an instant and slammed it down on the table with a bang.
“But you know. This doesn’t feel good. Leaving me aside, there’s no way Korea doesn’t know this is an unreasonable demand, so why are they making it of us?”
“With all due respect... it seems the Korean side has already prepared for a long-term battle.”
“A long-term battle?”
“From what we’ve seen through several channels, they appear to have decided to endure the tariffs... It seems unlikely they will meekly stamp the paper like Japan did.”
Donald’s face flushed at once as if he had downed several bottles of liquor.
“Oh-ho. They want to go a round with me? Then we can’t handle this nicely.”
“Your Excellency. But they have their own position as well...”
“Don’t worry, Undersecretary Thomas. I’m an expert in matters like this. I’ll make Korea kneel soon enough.”
“What are you planning to do...?”
No sooner had the words ended than Donald picked up the internal phone.
“Yeah, it’s me. Dispatch Immigration Enforcement immediately. Georgia, was it...? Yeah, right, the place with lots of Korean factories. Raid it before the day’s over and bring me a few Koreans.”
The moment he hung up, Thomas nearly leapt out of his seat.
“N-no, you mustn’t. Your Excellency!”
“What do you mean, mustn’t? Are you saying I need approval to arrest Korean illegal overstayers who entered on tourist visas?”
“There is no way the Korean government won’t know that this is a political message!”
“Then all the better. Tell them to hurry up and offer the investment money! Japan stamped the paper, so why won’t those bastards?”
The blood drained from Thomas’s face.
He was serious. This man was truly trying to turn Koreans into illegal overstayers and use them like hostages in a negotiation.
“I’m very disappointed in you, Undersecretary Thomas. Aren’t you supposed to be the man who brings me better ways to pressure Korea, rather than standing here saying this?”
“...”
“You say you’ll defend illegal overstayers in America—why, I’m beginning to wonder which country’s undersecretary you are. Very disappointing. You may leave.”
Undersecretary Thomas’s fists trembled.
On the day he was reinstated after being fired once, he had made a decision. Whatever the circumstances, as undersecretary of commerce, he would avoid offending the White House as much as possible.
“Does Your Excellency intend to turn Korea into Cuba?”
But he could not do that.
“Because of the recent succession of retaliatory tariffs, India has begun to draw closer to China. The leaders of Russia, China, and India—countries that should never be able to align—are gathering in one place and showing anti-American moves. How can the international order run on pressure alone? The decision you just made will turn even our allies into hostile nations!”
Ignoring Thomas’s impassioned speech, Donald pressed the cola button again.
“Not cola. Bring me a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen.”
The secretary who opened the door handed Thomas a paper and pen, as if this were all far too familiar.
“Honestly, every last one of the people appointed under Baidon is like this. Tsk, tsk.”
“Your Excellency!”
“I’m tired of persuading you now.”
Donald shouted.
“You are fired!”
*
When the delegation to the U.S. returned empty-handed, news that could only be shocking to our people unfolded in America.
Immigration Enforcement stormed a Korean factory in the state of Georgia, and several hundred Koreans were taken away.
Their hands and feet were bound as they were loaded onto a barred bus, and the entire process was broadcast live across the United States in all its raw detail.
The U.S. authorities explained, “This was a raid on illegal overstayers who entered on tourist visas and worked in a factory,” but considering their identities and the surrounding circumstances, the probability that this had truly been an immigration crackdown seemed close to zero.
[A Catastrophe Born of Diplomatic Failure!]
Still, it seemed there were some people who believed only what they could see.
The day after the Georgia incident, the Daehan Party, which had been in ruins, raised its voice in criticism of the government. They looked as though they desperately did not want to acknowledge the reality that the United States was taking civilians hostage because tariff negotiations were not going its way, and instead attacked the delegation to the U.S. that had returned empty-handed, blaming it all on them.
What would things have been like? When India, Pakistan, and Israel armed themselves with nuclear weapons in succession and the international situation fell into chaos, if we too had laid down reactors.
While I was caught up in such idle thoughts, Prime Minister Lee Chanho entered the office with a bitter expression.
“Have you been well, Prime Minister?”
“As if I could be. Sejun, you put a bomb vest on Meilin and sent her to me, didn’t you?”
“I apologize. But it is absolutely necessary...”
Having caused trouble recently within the delegation to the U.S., and then caused trouble through Meilin as well, I was summoned to the Prime Minister’s Office like a drowned rat.
I did feel sorry. He had probably hoped for an apology and a withdrawal of my request, but in good conscience, I could not do that.
If my memory was correct, even after Donald’s administration, the wind of protectionism would not easily die down, and each time it blew, cattle and rice would be used as leverage against us. So we had to strengthen our competitiveness.
Lee Chanho sighed.
“Sejun, I find you very difficult to deal with. How should I put it... Just when I think we’re getting closer, you suddenly feel far away. And when I think you’ve drifted away, you’re suddenly close again.”
“If you would allow me by your side, Prime Minister, I would always like to be closer to you.”
“Someone who truly feels that way doesn’t make this kind of request in the first place. You know that, don’t you? If we touch agricultural products, our administration will become a lame duck in its first year.”
I smiled bitterly.
Twenty years ago, the Participatory Government had touched the opening of the rice and livestock markets, and thanks to that, the astonishing sight of progressive media burying it alive unfolded.
Even in Chungnam and Gwangju, which had been progressive strongholds, hundreds of thousands rose in protest. Public sentiment in the capital region had already been reduced to ruin over the issue of relocating the capital, so across all eight provinces, there was truly not a single person who liked No Muhyeon.
“Of course, I know I owe you a great deal right now. Thanks to your material and financial support, I managed to soothe the dissatisfaction of the bastards I couldn’t give positions to, to some extent.”
“Then doesn’t that make me an easier person to deal with? I have absolutely no desire for a position.”
“But I almost think the ones asking for proportional seats or nominations are better.”
“...Pardon?”
“Those fellows play the role of our rubber stamps just fine as long as we give them positions. But your requests, Sejun, are enough to make me worry about the safety of our administration. Instead of doing this, why don’t you take a position from me?”
“...Didn’t the general-presidential election only just end?”
“Our president’s district will soon enter a by-election. Everyone in the party is taking a number and waiting. They say even a stick could run in Gyeyang and get elected.”
That was true. It had already been a stronghold to begin with, but with the opposition party destroyed, the Gyeyang by-election was one where winning the primary meant winning the seat.
“So, if you have any intention of running, Sejun, I will actively recommend you. What do you say?”
“It is more than I deserve. It does not suit me either.”
“It is plenty worthy of you. To my eyes, it suits you very well.”
“If it is such a good district, there must naturally be many waiting in the party. A seat like that should, of course, go to someone for the party.”
“Ha-ha... As expected, you’re a man whose thoughts I cannot read. A man very far from me.”
I smiled and bowed my head carefully, and Lee Chanho gave a powerless smile as he fiddled with his pen.
“Prime Minister, this truly is necessary.”
I said.
“Not simply because it is an American demand. Opening agricultural products will be a tremendous help to our prices.”
“And what about food security...”
“If true food security is the issue, then at least lift the restrictions on corporate farming. A company called HBF recently succeeded in innovating the unit cost of cultured meat and is waiting desperately for commercial release. It has also obtained FDA safety approval.”
“...”
“Even the United States, where meat is overflowing, has already begun selling chicken commercially. There is no reason for us to hesitate.”
Lee Chanho’s face darkened.
Perhaps he remembered his old self, who had said he would kill No Muhyeon. Now that he was trying to do even one of the things No Muhyeon had done, the road ahead must have seemed pitch-black.
“Prime Minister, I believe this is our only chance.”
A ruling party with 190 seats and an opposition party in ruins...
If my memory was correct, this kind of political landscape would never appear again in Korean history.
“I believe the current momentum in state affairs is an opportunity given by heaven. You will inevitably be hated right now, but please do what is necessary for our future.”
As I said that, I held out to him the bag Meilin had been refused... now doubled into two bags.
“As you prepare for the by-election, there will inevitably be people who cannot help but be overlooked. Have the president push the people he truly needs in the election, and use this money to appease the less necessary ones.”
Indeed, if money did not work, one had to check whether there simply had not been enough of it.
When the bag suddenly returned as two, his eyes flicked toward them.