Empire of the Ring

As Youngho told what he had conversed with Victor Jun, a lieutenant commander of the Kazakh Navy, Insoo and Jong-il were excited.

“It’ll be best if Victor Jun becomes the head of our Department of Defense. Coming from his naval background, people won’t have any problem with him. Also, he’d have some connections to the Kazakh military too.”

“The Navy has been always amicable to us and the Army also admitted the superiority of the light-armored vehicles we donated. We’re setting up a great foundation to our people.”

The light-armored vehicles were received well by the Kazakh Army. Although the Turkish electric vehicles were not as strong as the Russian armored-vehicles, they were still enthusiastically welcomed by the Kazakh soldiers.

“They would have felt like they were driving regular cars compared to driving rough Russian armored vehicles.”

“It must have been their first time seeing an armored vehicle that had heating and air-conditioning system.”

“Hahaha…”

The light-armored vehicle that was equipped with a CBR protection function, air conditioning and heating, and even run-flat tires was indeed a great addition to the army. In fact, the Kazakh Army was so in love with the vehicle that they requested Youngho to import more vehicles from Turkey. Because of Youngho, Otokar, the Turkish military vehicle company could get a new big customer, the Kazakh Army. As a token of appreciation, the company promised Youngho that it would provide the newest vehicles first to Youngho henceforward.

The reason why the Kazakh Army was interested in buying the latest weapons was because of what happened to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The Chinese government had become the object of resentment by Central Asian countries because of its martial law on Xinjiang. It was taken as an offensive gesture since there were many Central Asian people living in Xinjiang other than Uyghur people, and yet the Chinese government still decided to forcefully suppress people with its military power. Moreover, scenes of arresting and beating Uyghurs in Islamic attire were broadcasted on TV which made Islamic countries in the Middle East to turn hostile to China.

Even though people were protesting against the oppression of Uyghurs, China did not even bat an eye. The Central Asian countries soon realized that it was because they did not have military strength. Kazakhstan was one of those countries that felt anxious about its military position, and this must be the reason why the Kazakh Ministry of Defense had decided to buy Turkish light-armored vehicles.

The CIA considered that it was the best timing for Youngho and Jong-il to provoke China. Russia had no choice but to remain silent on the Chinese government’s oppression of Uyghurs because not only its citizens were not the target but also it did not want to interfere in the domestic affairs of China. Thus, Russia could not oppose America’s intervention on this matter.

However, Russia’s stance on the matter was not received well by many Central Asian countries. Since they had trusted the country, it was seen as Russia was neglecting them. On the other hand, the Western world was criticizing the Chinese government harshly and was siding with Central Asia. Therefore, the U.S. support of military equipment was not compromised.

As the U.S. took advantage of such a political situation, it scratched the itchy spots of Kazakhstan and was squeezing in between Russia and Kazakhstan.

“Michael must be overjoyed by now.”

“I should’ve gotten more drinks out of him.”

“The Kazakh government is now on America’s side. If this goes on, they’ll soon build an airfield for the U.S. air force.”

“Let’s take this as an opportunity and get more out of the U.S.”

“Just wait for now. Once the coastal guarding boats arrive, things will naturally follow.”

“What do you mean?”

As Youngho told him about free military equipment, Jong-il was intrigued.

“The U.S. won’t be happy to hear that the vessels from the land were not great. It’s about the country’s pride. If they kept making problems, the U.S. has got to send a few more vessels.”

Youngho had a scheme in mind. If he reported that the vessels could not be fixed by Kazakh technicians for lack of skills, the U.S. would certainly send technicians from the land. It was because the U.S. military had pride in their equipment and believed that their equipment would not break even after decades of use. If the vessels were not fixed after a few tries, it would send more advanced vessels for sure. He was not sure how to make it seem as the vessels were broken but it seemed like a great idea.

***

“You’re going to move to Azerbaijan through Georgia in the coast of the Black Sea?”

“That’s how it’s decided because U.S. battle equipment can’t go through Russian territory. Also, Kazakhstan is responsible for moving those.”

Youngho was on the phone with Michael to discuss how to move American military support equipment to Kazakhstan.

“Phew! We’ll have to use all of our freighters.”

Arirang Shipping was the only shipping company that had large enough freighters to move such equipment through the route of Atlantic-Mediterranean-Black Sea. No shipping companies would want to take the job because those military supplies would come with a risk.

Since Youngho was the one in charge of this, he could not ask the Kazakh government for a shipping charge. Even if the government was willing to pay, it was better for him to refuse it. The only way to save shipping cost was to ask Lieutenant Commander Jun to fill the gas tanks of his freighters.

“You know the U.S. government’s official stance is to make Kazakhstan responsible for moving those but the U.S. government will probably pay you for shipping. The authorities already know that the shipping cost is not going to be small, and it’s not going be a free supply if we make Kazakhstan pay for the shipping. They’d be concerned with Russia’s reaction but they can make it happen somehow.”

“I was going to do it anyways but it’d be great if the cost is paid.”

Youngho was applauding in his mind.

“I think you’d better step aside to not to be seen.”

Michael was concerned about Youngho’s relationship between Yaniv in Russia who was close to Putin.

“Arirang Shipping is not owned by me anymore, so there won’t be any risk of exposure.”

“Is that so? That’s great.”

The shipping would be more convenient if it could go through the Volga-Don Canal but the U.S. was not sure if Russia would open the route for the freighters. The authorities would rather not cause unnecessary conflict. Also, their official stance for not having the responsibility of moving the vessels from their side was decided in consideration of political pressure.

It was arranged that the equipment would be unloaded at the Poti Sea Port of Georgia and moved to Baku by land from there so that they could be shipped to Atyrau through the Caspian Sea. It was a complicated route but it was manageable.

Georgia and Azerbaijan would welcome it since they would be paid for allowing the loads on their land and Arirang Shipping would be earning money for the job in the slow season of winter.

Now everything was arranged, Youngho would have to go to New York with the Kazakh’s military staffs. The military supplies transportation operation that incorporated all of the Arirang Shipping’s large freighters had begun. Upon finishing his conversation with Michael over the phone, he began calling Jong-il who was the new owner of Arirang Shipping.

It was five days later when a commander of the Kazakh Army and his staffs arrived at New York Harbor along with Youngho. Since everything was politically arranged by the higher authorities already, taking over procedure could be done by the commander and his staffs. The Kazakh Army staffs were excited like a kid who was about to receive his Christmas present. They could not stop letting out exclamations as they looked through the military supplies stored in the open-air storage yard.

They indeed great gifts to the Kazakh Army.

The Kazakh officers who were looking at the supply list called Youngho. It was because they found some supplies that were not subjects of negotiation in the first place. They were supposed to only be combat support equipment but they just found self-propelled artilleries and towed artilleries. Moreover, there was a great number of old version mortars as well.

As Youngho could not close his mouth, Jong-il smiled as if he knew what was going on.

“It means that the U.S. government had reckoned that artilleries would be great for flat border areas and mortars would be great for mountainous areas. You know, those mortars could be used at Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir Mountains.”

“You mean they slipped in these since China is running wild and Russia is playing dummy now?”

Since Russia was not able to help out, the U.S. was determined to help Kazakhstan. Since the U.S. was not responsible for moving the supplies, Russia could not say anything to the Kazakh government when it was buying weapons.

“I guess they’re going to send a more proper military advisory group this time. It doesn’t take a lot to learn to use towed artilleries but learning to operate self-propelled artilleries will take months.”

It would give wings to the autonomous state if the U.S. military would come to reside in Kazakhstan.

“Why don’t we swipe some weapons for ourselves?”

Jong-il twitched his nose since he was excited about having new arms.

“What do you use the old ones for? The Countryside Force of the Arirang Autonomous State will use newest models at all times except when it’s doing a joint-operation with the Kazakh Navy. There are countries that would sell arms without asking a question.”

“France or Israel?”

There were several countries like France or Israel that were known to hand over cutting-edge weaponry for money.

***

Choi Sunkil’s face was bright as he looked through the supplies in the open-air storage yard. There had not been many shipping order in the off-season but now that he was in charge of delivering military supplies, his steps were light as a feather.

“Mr. Lee. We’ll have to make at least three trips to transport all of these.”

The supplies were quite a lot that they had to be transported three times for three 50,000-ton class vessels.

“They’d be unloaded at the Poti Sea Port in Georgia and loaded again at the Port of Baku, so please keep that in mind. The rest would be taken cared of by the U.S. government.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure everything is in place. The crew would be happy to have more work to do now.”

The crew would have to be sufficed with the basic wage if there was no work but as they received a commission for each sailing, they more than welcomed their new jobs. The crew might have some complaints about the company’s policy that only insisted on safe routes of the Atlantic Ocean, which was a little longer in distance, but in fact, they should be thankful that the company would choose only the safest sea routes.

Youngho’s group gathered at a pub near New York’s Harbor to discuss the priorities of the work.

“By the way. How on earth did you get to deliver military supplies?”

Choi Sunkil who just excitingly gulped down his beer asked.

Not knowing that Youngho and his friends were agents, he was bound to be curious.

“Since the Kazakh government does not have expertise in the shipping industry, I convinced the president that we’d be in charge of shipping.”

“Well, indeed. There are no other shipping companies in the Caspian Coast that have as many freighters as we do.”

“If we do complete this job well, the U.S. military might ask us to become a business partner.”

“I’ll do my best to suit the American military’s needs.”

Choi Sunkil, who was making a big speech about his philosophy in the shipping industry, suddenly lowered his voice and said.

“I received a strange request a while ago but I forgot to share that to you.”

“…”

“A UK military defense company requested to deliver military supplies to India but the routes are unstable. The delivery charge is quite charming though.”

“Why would they request that to us when there are other shipping companies in their country?”

“They said that it’s an unofficial delivery, so they did not want to hire well-known companies.”

Any transportation of military supplies had been unofficial. Since the United Kingdom and India had a complicated relationship, it was not a senseless story if they exchanged military supplies. However, it was not a job that one could just jump for. India was a religiously and socially complicated country with class disputes and ethnic disputes. It would be fine if the receiver of the supplies were the Indian government but if not, Arirang Shipping would be in the center of an international dispute.

“Well, you should reject it for now. Just tell them that we’re already fully booked. Meanwhile, I’ll go ahead and investigate on this with Park Jong-il and see if this will be a safe deal. India is such a complicated place, and if things go wrong, we might get involved in political matters.”

“I got that. I only care about the safety of the sea routes but I did not think as far as political issues. You two are younger than me but sometimes you feel like old politicians.”

“You’re flattering me too much. Mr. Choi, we are not as experienced as you. We just learned to be careful as we traveled around many wild countries.”

“I should be careful when taking jobs from now on and take the destinations of deliveries into consideration. If we get into political matters, the company would be at stake.”

“You won’t have to be too cautious but you can’t ignore those facts. Making money is not easy but our company has been successful all because of your hard work, Mr. Choi.”

The job of transporting military supplies should be done carefully, and the shipping company’s role in this was very important in this. Not every shipping company would receive this kind of request.

The job might open another market for Arirang Shipping, so Youngho wanted to show that the company was capable of more jobs.

Expecting the great future of the shipping company, he gulped down his beer refreshingly.