Chapter 130: Abolition of Conscription
Yu Ji-ha’s press conference had attracted a lot of attention.
Every time he made an announcement, it would shake up the related industries, so it was natural that people were interested.
But they say that if you are constantly stimulated, you become immune, right?
The journalists who were seated in the conference hall had seen so many shocking announcements that they were confident that they would not be surprised by anything.
“We’ve heard about bombs with the power of tactical nukes and a space program that can reach Mars in a month. There’s nothing more to astonish us.”
“I would be a little surprised if he suddenly said he was quitting as president.”
“Hey, that would be the end of our country.”
There were more than one or two countries that were eyeing Korea, so Yu Ji-ha had to be there for them to survive.
The journalists joked with each other, but when Yu Ji-ha opened his mouth, they doubted their ears.
“As of today, I am abolishing conscription. The military will no longer recruit new soldiers, and the service of those who have entered the training camp will be shortened.”
There were other issues such as defense budget cuts, but the headline that came to the journalists’ minds was only one.
—Korea finally abolishes conscription?
—The system that made Korean men cry and laugh for decades finally disappears into history.
There would be fierce opposition from various sectors, but Yu Ji-ha had never lost in such a fight.
If he made an announcement, it meant that he had done all the calculations beforehand.
Didn’t they confirm that in the Baeyangyuk incident?
Only the sound of typing echoed as a few more measures were announced.
The main theme was compensation for those who had suffered to fulfill their duty of national defense.
“I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have generously invested two years or more of your time to protect your country. I will never forget your efforts.”
Yu Ji-ha bowed his upper body from the podium and the conference hall became silent.
The people who were watching the press conference on TV also became solemn for a moment.
—He’s a dictator, but at least he knows how to show appreciation…
—He must admit that Korea’s conscription rate was abnormal. 97.8% is something you can’t even gather if aliens invade.
—Ha, I remember the two years of my life I wasted in the military. I’ll endure it if they give me a discount coupon for androids.
—Wake up. That’s all a show.
Various reactions followed, but a question arose.
How would he fill the gap if he abolished conscription?
Of the nearly 400,000 troops in the country, soldiers accounted for about 60%.
The manpower resources themselves had decreased, and they had declared that they would form a military centered on officers for more than 10 years, but there were still many soldiers.
Of course, these personnel would not be discharged all at once, but it seemed obvious that they would cause problems in various training, border patrols, and operations.
Wasn’t the Korean navy confronting the Chinese navy in the West Sea right now?
—I’m worried about facing China on the border line, but I don’t know if they have any countermeasures.
—Don’t tell me he just did it without any thought?
—Do you think Yu Ji-ha is that kind of person? He must have a detailed plan in his head.
—Yu Ji-ha’s head is not his head, but in the basement of Metaverse headquarters.
—By the way, if he abolishes conscription, he means reducing the military. A lot of officers will also be cut off.
—400,000 is a bit lacking for Korea’s level, but he’s trying to reduce it. Is he thinking of using artificial intelligence?
–-I can understand naval and aerial warfare, but how will they perform ground warfare? War starts with artillery and ends with infantry.
—They’ll cover it with drones and androids, and if they’re short, they’ll announce new weapons again, right?
As if waiting for that remark, combat walkers were announced.
People were unfamiliar with walkers in general, but they were surprised when robots with heavy bodies appeared.
“Combat walkers are designed to suit rough and rapidly changing combat environments unlike existing androids. They will no longer be incapacitated by a single rocket launcher.”
It seemed that they were bothered by the fact that androids were blown up by rocket launchers in Iran.
The size of combat walkers was similar to humans, but their frames were sturdy and their output was high enough to use various weapons.
“This is a scene where they operate a 40mm caliber K40 machine gun alone. You won’t have any problems with firepower at least.”
There was doubt about how they would change their center of gravity from human size, but their leg frames widened and formed supports.
They were basically walkers, so they didn’t seem to have any trouble transforming like that.
The combat walker, holding a huge machine gun, fired shells happily.
The aiming system was also accurate, as the target 2km away was completely destroyed.
The military enthusiasts who were watching the broadcast were busy sticking out their tongues and wondering if this was real.
—There’s no need for terminators.
—Wait, is that an ion thruster? Can it fly in the sky?
—From the way he said it, it seems hard to fly for a long time.
—Even if it can only jump a little, the tactics themselves will change. Future medium-heavy infantry is really killer.
—How do you counter that? Combat armored vehicles?
—It also has a small railgun, I don’t know if combat armored vehicles can handle it.
—It’s so sturdy that it doesn’t break easily, and it can be easily repaired in the field with transform… What’s the downside?
—Is it expensive?
—How many technologies are invested in there… Others are trying to secure even one of them by pouring in their budget, but he put them all in that small size.
The black metal frame, battery, ion thruster, artificial intelligence, and railgun were all the embodiment of Shinra Group’s technology.
Hwaryongjeongjeong was a small rocket that was planned to be equipped with a hafnium2 warhead.
The warhead was small, but it was equivalent to 10 tons of TNT.
It was a single robot that could fire large bombs that other countries had to use bombers and such to operate.
Korea or China had made some progress on hafnium2 explosives, but they were still far behind Korea, according to the reviews.
—From now on, if you mess with Yu Ji-ha, you’ll get those instead of drones or androids.
—Small countries would surrender right away if they got hit by one of those. How do you deal with that?
—The only way is to call in combat helicopters and fire anti-tank missiles from a distance.
—It would be so boring for the other side if they hid behind buildings and shot railguns.
—They’ve created a monster with no answer.
While Korean netizens showed positive reactions, foreign countries mostly showed negative reactions.
They claimed that the specs were too inflated.
—It’s impossible to produce that much output with the battery size that fits in that torso. Even with black metal batteries, it’s impossible.
—It would be a tin can if it got jammed. Do they have any countermeasures for electronic warfare? In that small size?
—The production process of hafnium2 explosives is quite complicated, so they can’t always carry them around.
—Are there only parrots here? Do you have anything else to say besides impossible?
—I’m suddenly scared. Making something like that means they’re going to fight someone.
—Well, they plan to abolish conscription and cut defense spending. Maybe it’s to fill the gap.
The firepower was excessive for a weapon system to fill the gap, and only Yu Ji-ha knew the real purpose.
And he announced the downsizing plan with a blank expression.
“Those who are currently enlisted will receive a shortened service. There will be no soldiers left in the military in a year, so downsizing is inevitable.”
It was an extreme measure that should be called dismantling rather than downsizing.
He planned to reduce the size of 160,000 officers to 30% in a year and leave only 10% in two years.
Those who had no choice but to stand up to his request, including retired generals, military suppliers, various companies, and regions that lived off the military, rose up.
***
—This is too much. Abolishing conscription and dismantling the military at this level.
—Do you know how much damage we suffered in the Second Korean War? President Yu Ji-ha can’t treat us like this.
—The smartphone allowance was already a blow, but if they abolish conscription, what will we live on?
—We already lack manpower, but how are we going to maintain the border with North Korea? Do they think they can solve everything with drones and androids?
—Let’s protest. If we go together, they will listen to us.
But there was no one or group who volunteered to do so.
They had seen Yu Ji-ha’s track record clearly so far.
He never fights.
He just pushes after creating an advantageous environment for himself.
The fact that he announced such an extreme plan by surprise meant that he had all the backup plans ready.
Still, there were people who couldn’t just sit still for their face, and they were retired generals.
They succeeded in meeting Yu Ji-ha face-to-face by submitting a petition at the request of their juniors.
But that didn’t mean that they got their arguments across.
Yu Ji-ha asked them a question that made them lose their words.
“So you’re saying we have to keep conscription for the sake of generals’ jobs?”
“…”
The retired generals looked at each other and brought out their prepared excuses.
They knew it would be smashed, but they had no choice.
“We need a minimum level of manpower to maintain security in North Korea.”
“Considering the reality of facing China on the border line, we need at least 300,000 for the border.”
“Shall we take a look at that?”
Yu Ji-ha’s trademark data logic smashing came out.
“First of all, most of the security in North Korea is handled by police and drones. Do you know why I didn’t reduce the police even though I introduced 1 million drones? It’s for this purpose.”
He showed them the actual security situation in North Korea and the retired general who made that claim was silent.
The border line with China was not a big problem either.
Most of the troops were concentrated in combat units and drones were in charge of the border.
“I’m going to replace those combat units with combat walkers now. Sky? We have Caliber drones for unmanned combat aircraft. Sea? We’ll bring in old platforms from Earth Fleet. Do you have anything else to say?”
It seemed like bringing up marines or special forces wouldn’t work either.
The former was already being questioned for its necessity within the military, and the latter was also losing its pie due to the emergence of androids.
Especially when an android unit dedicated to counter-terrorism was established in Pangook.
Yu Ji-ha added a fatal blow to the generals’ weak points.
“It costs nearly 500 million won per year to have one colonel. Basic salary, official car, official residence, secretary, driver… I wonder if they are producing results that are worth the expenditure. I can produce two combat walkers with 500 million won. Which one do you think is more efficient?”
Anyone would think that combat walkers were more efficient.
If they said that there was more than efficiency in the military, they would be smashed.
The military was something that had no use other than killing enemies, so what else did they need besides efficiency?
Yu Ji-ha said in front of the completely deflated retired generals.
“I can make a much stronger military with the money I save by reducing the size of the military officers to 10%. That’s efficiency, and that’s good for me. I won’t touch your pensions, so let’s end this here.”
Did he try to touch their pensions too?
The retired generals sighed in relief while being confused.
They thought that nothing would change for them anyway.
‘Why do we have to stick our necks out when the active-duty officers don’t?’
‘They promised not to touch the pensions, so it’s better to get out of here…’
The protest of the retired generals was easily quelled.
The active-duty officers couldn’t express their dissatisfaction freely for fear of being seen as disobedient, and the Military Mutual Aid Association was about to open their mouth but faced Yu Ji-ha’s preemptive attack.
“Your operating assets exceeded 10 trillion won last year, right? Submit all your transactions and loan records. And let’s dig into the hiring records of your subsidiaries.”
If Lucia was mobilized, she could make up a crime for someone who had lived in the mountains all his life.
And the fact that he mentioned it meant that Lucia had already moved.
In a few days, several corruptions were exposed and new suspicions of nepotism emerged.
When it was revealed that none of the Military Mutual Aid Association officers had not taken money, the public opinion, which was already cold, completely cooled down.
—If you think about it, those guys from the Military Mutual Aid Association are also complete leeches. They must have sucked the blood of the military for a long time.
—The military supplies they delivered were all crap and there was never a time when there was no performance issue. I hope they pull out the roots this time.
Yu Ji-ha didn’t pull out the roots, but destroyed the whole garden.
All the Military Mutual Aid Association officers involved in corruption were dragged to Terra Island and the organization was dismantled.
The operating funds and assets were all attributed to the national treasury and planned to be invested by artificial intelligence and returned to the officers.
As the Military Mutual Aid Association disappeared cleanly, the rest of the forces couldn’t even think of stepping up.
The only voices that came from the regions where the military units were located were that they would starve to death if this continued, but they only received sarcasm from netizens.
—You’ve been sucking the blood of soldiers for decades, it’s time to stop.
—You whined when they expanded the base area, you whined when they allowed smartphones, you whine until the end?
—There’s no North Korea now, so you can’t use security as an excuse.
There were many business owners who did business conscientiously, but there were too many cases of discrimination between soldiers and civilians that they couldn’t refute.
And other minor complaints lost their grounds with Yu Ji-ha’s declaration.
“Our society has demanded sacrifices from men for a long time. They dragged them to protect the country and treated them terribly. You know that better than anyone.”
Many men sympathized with his declaration.
It was not an exaggeration to say that a considerable shadow of Korean society was born in the military.
Military-style top-down culture, soaring suicide rate, social gap caused by spending two years in the military…
Yu Ji-ha put an end to that annoying system.
“Today, not only conscription but also reserve forces and civil defense are over. You don’t have to waste your time anymore. I thank you for your sacrifices and efforts so far, and I hope you will act as social members in the future.”
The press conference ended and cheers erupted throughout Korea.
Men in their 20s who were about to enter the military came out to the streets and shouted hooray for Yu Ji-ha.
“Fuck, I don’t have to go to the army!”
“Long live President Yu Ji-ha! Please keep being a dictator!”
The reservists were satisfied with receiving androids or electric car discounts, but the soldiers who were currently in the military were dying.
They were promised shortened service, but they had to roll in the military for at least a few months.
And these days, the front line was not Yanggu or Cheorwon, but North Korea.
“Mr. President, isn’t it crossing the line to have minus 10 degrees Celsius in autumn? Please take me out…”
“There’s nothing around when I go out on weekends…”
North Korea was undergoing reconstruction work centered on Megacity North, so there was nowhere for soldiers to play.
So Yu Ji-ha decided to use transport planes operated by Shilla Group to quickly bring out soldiers who went out on weekends.
As such, when complaints from soldiers disappeared, only active-duty military officers remained.
They were pessimistic about their situation.
Especially those who had devoted their lives to the military tended to be more so.
They had worked in the military as their home, but suddenly it disappeared.
What comforted them was an android who visited their unit as a job counselor.
“Join us in developing resources in Siberia now. The salary is thick and we’ll provide you with a place to live!”
“You can’t speak Russian? The world is good these days. We’ll give you Russia Premium for free. With real-time translation function, Russian girls are already your prisoners!”
It seemed like there was some lie mixed in, but anyway it wasn’t far from the truth.
Those who had families didn’t like it, but young officers were quite tempted and lined up for consultation.
Isn’t it the same situation as the western pioneering era?
If they just suffered for a few years, they could make a fortune and maybe hit the jackpot.
“You can come to Korea by plane on weekends, so you won’t be too lonely.”
“Why don’t you learn some Russian this time?”
The rest of the staff were given extra points for applying to the business that Shilla Group would expand in the future.
As such, when the shock was absorbed, the resistance was greatly reduced except for some officers.
The downsizing committee was established and received discharge requests, and unnecessary facilities were demolished.
It was not an ordinary thing to demolish a unit that had been rooted in Korea for decades, so the whole country was expected to suffer for a while.
The administrative organization, including the Ministry of National Defense, was also cut down significantly.
What took their place were drones and androids, and combat walkers that poured out of smart factories.
They were loaded on military transport planes and trains and scattered across the country.
And Starfield began to launch satellites in earnest.
On the surface, they claimed it was a Korean GPS, but its essence was a military satellite that implemented quantum communication.
There wasn’t much space left in the sun-synchronous orbit, but these satellites were not in low orbit but in geostationary orbit.
Quantum communication had the characteristic of simultaneous communication, so it was almost the same as having no delay rate from geostationary orbit.
They went up to geostationary orbit to avoid the surveillance of other satellites.
These days, there were so many civilian satellites in low orbit that the night sky was not dark.
As such, as the Korean military reduced its quantity and sought to increase its quality, neighboring countries showed great interest.
Especially Russia and China were interested, but if the former offered advice and trade proposals, the latter was close to anger.
—They are reducing their military while confronting our navy in the Yellow Sea? Are they sane?
—They seem to rely on unmanned platforms and hafnium2 warheads. We can’t just sit still. We have to show them that we are strong.
—Even if they have smart factories, they can’t produce troops in an instant, right? This is an opportunity for us when they are replacing their troops.
—If Wang Xian Shangjiang succeeds in the Yellow Sea, we can even promote him to Zhushou.
Many Communist Party State Councilors expressed their intentions to Wang Xian Shangjiang.
He pondered and pondered, but realized that he had no other choice.
China had failed miserably in the last Cross-Strait War and its national power had declined, but it was still not inferior to Korea in terms of pure military power.
Especially recently, they had built a railgun ship and even reverse-engineered iron beams.
If they neutralized the enemy fleet with a surprise attack and countered hafnium2 warheads with nuclear power, they could suppress Korea.
It would be difficult to make them kneel completely unless it was the United States, but it was enough to kick them out of Yujeon.
Wang Xian finally made up his mind.
“It is clear that we will have to face Korea someday if they do not give up their expansion policy. That time is now.”
A few bureaucrats crossed the sea and headed to Japan.
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