Chapter 118: No Need for a Collar and a Muzzle
After the fair, the Silla Group achieved an enormous amount of export performance.
It was a supply contract worth more than 80 trillion won by simple calculation, and it was a real contract, not an MOU as some articles pointed out.
The reason why the work was pushed so quickly was because Arma mentioned the pressure from the United States while meeting with the buyers.
“As you know, the US side is not happy about this.”
“Th-that’s right?”
“So we are having trouble with the semiconductor supply. The quantity is not coming in properly.”
“…What do we have to do to get the supply on time?”
“The only way is to sign this contract quickly and keep the order. If the program changes, the order will be pushed back.”
“Oh…”
It was convenient to solve most problems by bringing up the United States.
They couldn’t ask the US if they had any doubts.
Another unusual thing at the fair was that there were no people wearing suits and carrying document bags.
Usually, there are agents and brokers who intervene in these weapon procurement contracts.
Even relatively transparent countries like the United States could not completely exclude them, and they were more common when the price and technology level of the weapons were higher, and when the politics of the buyers were chaotic.
However, Korea’s weapon exports were carried out solely by Arma, so there was no room for intermediaries to intervene.
They couldn’t lobby in Korea because it was illegal, and many of them gave up their business because they didn’t want to be dragged to Terra Island, as President Yu Ji-ha had the final decision.
However, in cases where the buyer was chaotic and there was a behind-the-scenes power, Arma also passed it over lightly.
Saudi Arabia was exactly that case.
The crown prince Muhammad was the VIP and the biggest customer of this fair.
He didn’t know what he would buy, but it was clear that he would spend the most.
In fact, after the fair ended, he signed a weapon supply contract worth $20 billion.
It was mainly unmanned ships, but he also showed a deep interest in the K-3A2 tank, which only existed in the catalog.
Yu Ji-ha met him personally.
“A railgun tank. Do you use batteries for both mobility and firing?”
“Mobility is by ion thrusters, and firing is by batteries. As you know, railguns consume a lot of power, so despite the small size of the shells, there are not many HEAT rounds. About…”
“About…?”
“About 40 rounds.”
The crown prince Muhammad smiled and stroked his beard as if he expected a poor number.
“Isn’t that reasonable compared to other tanks?”
“The problem is after the power is consumed. It takes time to charge, so you have to replace the battery. You have to retreat from the battlefield.”
“That’s something to consider depending on the tactics.”
But even considering those things, the specs were too flashy.
The engine equivalent of 2,000 horsepower, with a top speed of over 120 km/h and a cruising range of up to 1,000 km.
Each tank had a reconnaissance drone that could capture enemies in real time by constructing a 3D battlefield, and could also receive data.
The most amazing thing was firepower.
It mounted a 60-caliber railgun that boasted power to penetrate any armor in existence.
It was a system that pierced through pure kinetic energy, so it was hard to stop unless it was made of black metal.
These days, there were attempts by various countries to adopt black metal armor, but it took a lot of time to adopt it on the front line.
The price of over 10 billion won could be an obstacle, but it was not a problem for Crown Prince Muhammad at all.
“My friend. I have benefited a lot from drones. I stabilized Yemen and expelled mercenaries who only sucked money. This tank will be similar, so let’s buy five battalions first.”
According to Saudi Arabia’s tank unit organization, about 70 tanks belonged to one battalion, excluding armored vehicles such as armored recovery vehicles.
So Crown Prince Muhammad paid 3.5 trillion won just by looking at the catalog.
Yu Ji-ha also pushed another catalog lightly.
“What about this drone? You seemed very interested.”
“The maneuverability and fuel efficiency of the Caliber drone were certainly impressive. But what I’m worried about is…”
“You mean there are places that don’t like Saudi Arabia arming itself with Caliber drones?”
“I trust you understand without me mentioning it.”
Where would Saudi Arabia spend its fourth-largest defense budget in the world?
It had introduced some European weapons systems, but mostly bought American ones.
But the US seemed to dislike losing its customers to Korea and exerted all kinds of pressure.
The excuse they gave was that fully unmanned aircraft were dangerous.
“We have a lot of training with the US military. We have ground support missions and close air support missions. They say we can’t trust unmanned aircraft and we should exclude them.”
“So it would be okay if there was a pilot?”
The catalog that Yu Ji-ha handed over was the KF-31, which was about to have a launch event soon.
This fighter was a joint project with Russia and was originally unmanned, but it was designed to allow a pilot to board.
The Caliber drone could be seen as a derivative improvement of this unmanned aircraft.
For a moment, Crown Prince Mohammed’s face brightened, but soon hardened.
“I’m sorry.”
It seemed that he had received an implicit pressure that Korean aircraft were not allowed, so he had no choice but to fold at this point.
The US’s encirclement was tightening around him.
They were not fools, so they would never confront each other head-on.
What power did the US have?
The economy and finance that became the market of the world, the excellent soft power, and the US military stationed everywhere were their power.
This cohesion was very strong, and many countries such as the Soviet Union and China challenged the hegemony, but they fell out of favor.
But Yu Ji-ha had the power to destroy that cohesion from the root.
Without anyone knowing.
‘I didn’t want to go this far…’
If they came out petty, he had no choice but to use petty methods too.
He called Arma after the meeting was over.
“I need to kill someone.”
Murder was simple and effective.
Of course, the US decision-making system would not be shaken by the death of a politician or two.
What is the strength of democracy?
But it would be enough to pour cold water on the late-stage presidential race.
Yu Ji-ha calmly ordered the death of an American.
“Should I inject tetrodotoxin H?”
“I’d like to use something else this time. Didn’t you say that candidate had a heart condition?”
“He had a stent procedure. He was attacked a lot by the Republican candidate because of that. He claims he’s fine, though.”
“He’s old and has a history of surgery, so it won’t be strange if his heart suddenly stops.”
“I’ll make sure his heart stops only.”
“Don’t let it get caught. The US is busy investigating me these days.”
He heard that they searched even Shin Ha-yoon, the granddaughter of Hanseong Group who he sent to the US.
There wouldn’t be anything coming out, but he had to be careful.
Yu Ji-ha checked and approved his plan.
***
Logan Bryant was the current Democratic presidential candidate and almost heard the word confirmed election.
No matter which poll he looked at, his approval rating was close to 60% and he elicited enthusiastic responses at every campaign site.
This was a strange phenomenon that happened even though the current president’s approval rating was not bad.
Various research institutions analyzed that preempting a hardline policy against Korea was the secret of his popularity.
—A leash and a muzzle for a mad dog. There is no more concise campaign slogan than this.
—Recently, many Americans feel threatened by Korea. Even at this moment, Korea is pouring out various high-tech products, many of which are incomprehensible even in principle.
—Therefore, Korea’s expansion must be stopped. If soft methods don’t work, then somewhat coercive means must be used.
—And this threat was felt more seriously by the Democrats than by the masses.
If Yu Ji-ha had been satisfied with maintaining a friendly relationship with Russia, they would have decided that there was no need to control him.
But Yu Ji-ha crossed the line several times.
He dared to attack Tsushima Island, and then he attacked Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, causing great damage to the US’s reputation.
It revealed that the US’s influence in that region was not much.
The Republicans seemed to be secretly glad that the situation did not expand to the Arabian Peninsula, but the Democratic senators strongly protested.
—There can be no war in the Middle East that we do not approve of! Summon President Yu Ji-ha immediately!
—He pushes 300 million people into the Middle Ages and calmly builds a megacity? Does he know what the lives of the people there are like?
—At this point, I have to ask one thing. Is President McKinley a lackey of Korea and Russia? Why is he only dithering and not intervening?
President McKinley rebutted that it was a wasteful political offensive, but it didn’t mean much since his term was ending.
The US political circles claimed that everything would go smoothly if Yu Ji-ha accepted just one thing.
—Let’s bring back the US troops in Korea. By stationing 30,000 troops, both countries can return to their previous relationship.
But Korea refused to re-station the US troops.
“It’s not like we kicked them out, they left on their own and now they’re talking nonsense.”
That was part of what President Yu Ji-ha said to the US envoy at the time.
In the past, even if he was the president of Korea, he would never have been able to say such a thing, but the situation had changed a lot.
President McKinley wanted to just let it go since it wasn’t his mistake anyway, and the Democrats flipped out again.
Anyway, that remark was the reason why the Democrats decided to sanction him directly.
They couldn’t do anything right away because the Republicans opposed it, but they would definitely take care of him when the regime changed.
They were not considering a military option.
The military power of Korea and the Human Alliance was still inferior to that of the US, of course, but there were many unknown areas.
They also had to consider the domestic opinion that wanted to stop the war.
—How many wars have happened recently? The Yangtze War, the Korean War, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Dokdo and Tsushima battles, and the Middle East War…
—Three of them are related to Yu Ji-ha. Is this a coincidence?
But this did not become a major opinion.
They could not adopt a conspiracy theory without clear evidence.
At least there was some justification for attacking the three Middle Eastern countries.
So the Democrats cautiously decided to surround Korea and Yu Ji-ha.
In their stronghold of economic fields.
They had collapsed Japan in the past with things like the Plaza Accord, so Korea was an easy opponent compared to that.
Even if they were armed with all kinds of high-tech products, Korea’s basic strength was still far away.
—Let’s leave the military confrontation to China and Japan and we’ll dismantle Korea’s economy one by one.
—First of all, it would be good to touch on memory semiconductors. It won’t have a direct impact on Shinra Group, but it’s an area where a lot of research personnel are employed, so it will have an impact on Korea as a whole.
The representative politician who advocated this leash and muzzle theory was Logan Bryant.
He sighed after finishing his successful campaign in Texas.
It was Texas, which was a Republican stronghold, so he couldn’t help but be nervous, but fortunately they didn’t threaten his campaign bus.
“It’s all because of their anger at that guy.”
A campaign staff member chimed in with his words.
“Texans must feel it better than anyone else. They suffered significant damage in various industries.”
Texas had attracted many companies with low taxes over the years.
But in recent years, those companies started leaving or going bankrupt, and it was all because of Yu Ji-ha and Korea.
NASA’s budget shrank and various plans were canceled, and nuclear fusion-related companies gave up their technology altogether.
The place that took a direct hit from this was Houston.
Of course, the economy was still strong with oil and other industries, but Texans were wounded in their pride.
—It’s sad that we can’t hear the voice of an astronaut calling Houston anymore.
—It’s all that Korean guy’s fault. What if he stole our companies’ nuclear fusion research?
It was just a rumor, but it showed how bad the perception of Yu Ji-ha was.
Bryant, the candidate, took advantage of this and did not emphasize that he was a Democrat, but only highlighted the need for control over the mad dog.
“It’s a sad situation, but if a dog barks viciously at people and even bites them, don’t you think it needs control? We are all Americans. And we have the power to control the mad dog.”
Americans, especially Texans, hated control, but they did not resist much because it was not their position.
Bryant finished his campaign and went to the hotel to get some sleep.
But he and his campaign staff did not know.
That a very small insect-shaped drone had sneaked into the room.
And that the drone had injected a clever poison into his heart muscle and soon he died peacefully.
The commotion happened in the morning.
The campaign staff who came in to wake up the presidential candidate shook his body when he did not get up, and soon checked his breathing.
“He’s not breathing…”
“The candidate is dead! Hurry up and notify the party and the police!”
***
When a leading presidential candidate died, the police rushed in and the whole state of Texas turned upside down.
The Democrats were also in trouble and started discussing countermeasures in Congress.
—How can a candidate die when there’s not much time left for the election? This is an assassination!
—There was no suspicious circumstance in the hotel’s access records. It’s sad, but we have to be calm.
—Is it sad? Isn’t it a good day for you when the Republican candidate is elected?
—What are you talking about?
The members of both parties argued in Congress and the US political scene fell into chaos.
That was because Bryant was a neutral figure who had quite a few sympathizers in the Republican Party.
He was also considered to be on the right side of the Democrats, so he was able to get a lot of support.
Usually, if the trade policy is neutral, it is easy to get criticized as a bat, but he got a sandbag saying that he would maintain Yu Ji-ha and was able to get good scores from the media’s questions.
—How are you going to develop America?
—There were good times. The US and Korea were strong allies and had a solid trust. We’re going back to that time.
—It sounds sweet, but wouldn’t it be a shackle for Korea? President Yu Ji-ha won’t accept that proposal.
—I admit that Korea has achieved rapid growth recently. But they lack basic strength. The newly acquired territory is unstable, the economy depends on individuals, and prices are rising. We have to pay attention to that point especially.
—Are you going to control China’s exports that have a huge impact on Korea’s prices?
—I’ll leave it to your imagination. But I think you’ll agree that we need various means. The opponent is a mad dog.
—You’re claiming that they need a leash and a muzzle. I see.
He openly advocated for muzzling, but no one pointed it out. That was the confidence that America had.
The annual budget of over 7,500 trillion won was not easy to come by, and it was more than 10 times that of Korea.
If it weren’t for Yu Ji-ha, they wouldn’t have been able to compete at all.
Then Bryant died.
The cause of death was not revealed yet, but the fact that the place was a hotel in Texas was a big issue.
Some claimed assassination and even suspected Yu Ji-ha.
—Who benefits most from the death of a candidate who advocated for muzzling the mad dog? Of course it would be the Republicans, but Yu Ji-ha could also be a suspect.
—Provide evidence before you doubt. How did Yu Ji-ha in Korea assassinate Bryant? By using military drones?
Of course there was no evidence and the assassination theory itself was only claimed by some.
It was a well-known fact that Bryant had a bad heart condition.
And when the autopsy results came out, those who claimed assassination shut their mouths.
“Presumed sudden death due to cardiac arrest. No other medical findings.”
Now the ball went back to Congress.
A leading presidential candidate had died, so they had to decide whether to hold or postpone the election as it is.
The latter would not be easily accepted by the Republicans.
The Republican Committee asked for an alternative candidate, but some said it was too late to replace him.
Some states were about to start early voting.
Some even suggested extending the current president’s term by a few months and holding primaries again.
No matter what plan it was, there was no precedent, so the members were troubled.
Meanwhile, Yu Ji-ha, who made America noisy, calmly summoned domestic semiconductor-related companies.
It was to entrust them with the production of diamond semiconductors.
Silla Group could do it, but it would take too much time.
Han Sung Electronics and others had some closed foundry facilities left, so he planned to use them.
The equipment was old, but the manpower was scattered all over Korea.
If he gave them the design and controlled them properly, Korean semiconductors would rise again.
Shin Joo-ho, the chairman who was summoned after a long time, brought experts and entered Sangchunjae.
Yu Ji-ha greeted them and offered them seats.
“Haha, you even care about this old man who is losing his strength.”
“Old man? You still have a lot to do.”
Shin Joo-ho looked at Yu Ji-ha with a complicated gaze.
He thought he was a smart young kid, but he turned out to be a beast hiding his claws.
‘It seems like yesterday when he advised me seriously that a secretary should be a man…’
He didn’t know when he got so much power.
What was more surprising was that the president’s seat looked so natural to him.
Well, who else could sit there if not him?
Shin Joo-ho clenched his hand holding the cane and Yu Ji-ha handed him a tablet.
“This is a semiconductor… I don’t know much about it. Take a look.”
“What do I know? Here, you take a look.”
They passed the tablet screen around like that and almost at the same time their eyes widened.
“Mr. President, this is…”
“Can you produce it?”
“The process is not that complicated, so it’s possible, but this is…”
“What is it?”
Shin Joo-ho raised his voice and an executive said in a tense voice.
“It’s a diamond semiconductor… The one that the Electronic Research Institute gave up on a few years ago…”
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