Empire of the Ring

Young Koreans were pouring in dozens of people every day on direct flights.

Between Almaty and Incheon, Air Astana had been operating a flight twice a week, but now it was operating six flights a week since the two countries had more exchanges.

As that was not enough, even K and A airlines in Korea each provided jumbo jets three times a week going back and forth from Korea to Almaty, and Astana. Other airlines were increasing their lines to Kazakhstan as visitors in Kazakhstan, which had been increasing since the new government was established. It was because of the construction work of roads and railroads and the building of power plants and factories that were increasing in various parts of the country.

Merchants and businessmen also frequently visited the country as daily necessities factories were also being built everywhere.

The goods produced in such factories were cheaper and better quality than Chinese imports. It was a positive phenomenon, even though it would take a few more years to dominate the market against Chinese goods.

When the national computerization work was completed, public services were several times faster than before, and Internet networks were established in most areas except for the remote areas where nomadic people lived.

Even in the remote areas, solar panels had been supplied, so people could watch TV using satellite antennas.

For the education of the children of nomadic families, schools were built in certain areas for educational benefits, so that no one would be left out.

With this expansion of public infrastructure, the country absolutely needed people with advanced education, so the Kazakh government offered to provide young Koreans with permanent residency if they got a job in Kazakhstan.

For young Korean people suffering from unemployment, Kazakhstan’s offer was good news. With Kazakhstan’s permanent residency, people could receive any benefits such as education, medical service, and even social welfare except for the voting right. So, people would even receive living expenses if they were unemployed.

Youngho, who was looking at the number of applicants for permanent residency, raised his head to his surprise when he saw that there were a considerable number of people in their 30s and 40s.

“Mr. Prime Minister, did you accept those in their 30s and 40s?”

“I accepted them all because, in most of the cases, the whole family was moving. People in their 30s and 40s who are experienced will be helpful for us. They’ve all come from good companies in Korea.”

“Well, that means there will be a lot of demand for new homes.”

“Korean mid-sized construction companies have come in and are building apartments, so that won’t be a problem.”

“Please make sure Korean construction companies have reasonable apartment prices. If necessary, put a price cap on the amount.”

Youngho gave a brief account of what he remembered as a Korean resident who felt relative deprivation due to the speculative boom in Korea and excessive housing prices.

In order to prevent the overheated housing market from spiraling to surrounding new homes, prices needed to be tied down by a policy from the beginning.

In a country with large land like Kazakhstan, one could build a single house rather than living in an apartment building. But if a multi-family residential building in the city center was built and sold at a high price, social losses would be huge. It was not intended to penalize Korean companies, but to maintain stability in housing prices.

“Although apartments are convenient, they are too uniform. They hurt the city`s view. Try to encourage the construction of townhouses outside the city rather than apartments.”

“There are some examples of Korea, so I will encourage related ministers to come up with the best plan. And we need to operate a language school for Koreans, but we don’t have enough facility even if we used all of the rooms in the state university.”

Although Koryoins could work as interpreters, not many of the 100,000 Koryoins could speak Korean freely.

Koreans entering the country would need to learn some Russian and Kazakh anyway.

“I’d rather ask them to come here after learning the language from Korea. Isn’t it an opportunity for Kazakh people to enter Korea as language teachers, too?”

“I’ll have to consult with the Korean government.”

“The language problem will be resolved with time. Even if it’s a little inconvenient, you learn the language as you live here. The important thing is to understand the culture of Kazakhstan. I hope there’ll be no conflict between Koreans and Kazakh people.”

The influx of Koreans was hardly worrisome compared to the acceptance of the Kurds.

The number of Syrian Kurds was about 2.5 million, of which nearly two million were in the northern region alone.

Not all of them would migrate, but it was a huge number of over a million, even half of them decided to move. It was an overwhelming number, but there was no way to increase Kazakhstan’s population without such an opportunity.

Especially, when they were a great additional force for Kazakhstan and the royal family, they should be received at all costs.

They would be more than any physical barrier to the royal territory if they were settled on both east and west along the Ural River.

In addition, the migration would boost economic growth by one to two percent for Kurds alone as there would be new buildings, development of land, and new factories.

The mere thought of it made him full.

***

“Tell hard-liners that they’ll keep the Kurdish forces if they decide to move to Kazakhstan.”

-What are you talking about all of a sudden? I thought we’d stop the hard-line kids from coming.

“Tell them that we’d be making a separate, special unit that consists of only Kurds. I’m planning to leave the Chinese border to them. That way they can keep their own military power going.”

-That’s tempting, but how are you going to handle all these Kurds?

“There’s no way to increase our population if it’s not now. I think it’s better to accept them at all costs.”

-That must be Eriksson’s idea.

“Stress that if they swear loyalty to the royal family, they will be free to live in Kazakhstan.”

-They’re not 100,000 to 200,000. It’s a million units. It’s like a national migration.

If such huge number started moving, they should move under meticulous planning like military operations. They could not be introduced in a month or two, but it would take at least half a year.

“I’m ready, so don’t worry. Let’s make contact first. We should sugarcoat the migration as much as we can so that they’ll change their minds.”

-All right. Let’s do it. To make the world turn upside down.

The movement of Kurdistan, which stood at one million or two million, was a matter of the world’s attention.

If a country other than Kazakhstan accepted Kurds, it would be unreasonable, but Kazakhstan did, and it would be different because of the fact that Kazakhstan was already a country of 120 ethnic groups and that there was Princess Jelyan, who was also a Kurd.

“The U.S. made a lot of efforts with the Kurdish forces in Syria. I’m sure it’s in trouble because Russia got in-between. The U.S. might try to take away the weapons it supplied to the militia.”

-I sure hope not. The weapon is not flowing elsewhere, but if it is taken to Kazakhstan, it will be used to check China and Russia.

“I’ll try to convince Michael. He’ll take our side, but I’m afraid the high-ranking officials are going to be stubborn.”

-You said that there’s a Georgia assistant secretary in the State Department. Can you ask him to do something?

“He’s not going to be able to do anything about this because this issue is directly related to U.S. national interests.”

-Still, we’d better try.

Whatever weapon the U.S. supplied to the Kurds, Youngho was planning to take all of them when they withdrew from Syria.

“And if you can bring the hard-line leader to the royal territory, please bring him with you when you return.”

-I haven’t even met him yet. It’s too early to tell.

“If you say that Jelyan wants to meet him, he will come. And when he sees the royal territory, he will change his mind.”

-Okay. I’ve got an appointment, so I have to go out. But start with the Assistant Secretary of State.

“I’ll talk to Richard from the Department of State and let you know how it went.”

Youngho intended to give the militia and hard-line leaders a position that would fit the Kurdish population. They should come into the system so they would be seen more often to high-ranked officials and Youngho, and then they would soon realize the reality of life and grow high self-esteem as members of Kazakhstan. If they had a role to play in the country, they would naturally assimilate into the new world.

The position of the assistant secretary of state for European affairs was nothing short of a leader of a decent country.

He had another diplomatic power that was different from the U.S. Intelligence Service, so Youngho was not in a position to talk to him freely, but Youngho had a unique relationship with Richard.

He was a friend to Michael, the Director of Intelligence Service, as they were military colleagues. Also, because he was born in a Georgian immigrant family, he was personally looking forward to the recapture of South Ossetia.

“Minister, it’s been a long time.”

-Your Highness. I was about to call you anyway.

“I hope I didn’t embarrass the United States. Michael must be in a lot of trouble, so I’m hesitant to call him.”

-The intelligence department has blushed with Turkey, but it doesn’t matter to us because Turkey still has a smooth relationship with the State Department.

“Are you moving apart from the Intelligence Service?”

-I’m sorry to hear that you’ve put the State Department on the same line with those ignorant fellows.

“If I told this to Michael, the two departments will drift apart from each other.”

-Hahaha… It doesn’t matter. I keep telling them, but they never get it. Even the Kurdish issue is resolved because of you, not the Intelligence Service.

“I requested here and there to try to control Turkey’s airstrikes, and Turkey took it as if it had been waiting.

-That’s the kind of diplomacy I want to learn from Turkey, too. Now, the situation in Syria is getting a little bit better. But you don’t believe that Turkey has stopped the airstrike because of Putin, do you?

It seemed that Turkey did not promise to stop the airstrike only because of Russia.

On the outside, it looked like Putin had a big part in the decision, but on the inside, Turkey satisfied both the U.S. and Russia by gauging the timing of the ceasing of the attack.

In other words, it had employed a proper diplomatic strategy.

“Richard, we need your help to move the Kurds.”

-You heard my answer already. The Turkish government didn’t just decide it at the request of Russia. You played a big part too. The United States will cooperate fully with the Kazakh royal family.

“Wouldn’t there be any problem if we took the weapons of the militia when they come out of Syria? Those weapons are given by the U.S.”

-That’s none of the State Department’s business, and what’s already been given are considered as expendables to us anyway.

“Thank you for your cooperation. When Kurdish migration begins, please visit Kazakhstan. We have a lot to talk about.”

-I look forward to the day.