My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 396

In fact, China produces enough nickel for its own needs. Despite this, the fact that they’re entering into contracts while paying a premium suggests their aim is to undermine the Korean market.

“First, I apologize. I understand the Korean ambassador to the United States made a significant error.”

At those words, Rodney Zzai offered a wry smile.

“Well, I doubt you came all this way simply to deliver that apology, right?”

If they went through such a complicated process just for that, it would be disappointing. He already understood the situation and knew they were desperate.

‘So that’s probably just a token apology.’

Thinking it was an insincere apology, Rodney Zzai became even more reluctant to listen.

“I accept the apology.”

However, he skillfully accepted it. And Park Do-joon, watching Rodney Zzai, became convinced.

‘Just as I thought.’

Even though it’s just an empty gesture, he still accepted it. That means it’s a calculated political move to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Park Do-joon stood behind Yoon Tae-min like an aide and subtly prompted him. He had anticipated Rodney Zzai’s response and prepared actions based on various possibilities, just in case.

‘Plan B?’

Yoon Tae-min immediately recognized the signal.

“I am sorry for the serious mistake caused by internal issues.”

“Domestic issues?”

“Serious conflicts persist between factions within Korea. And that person is not aligned with our faction.”

“What are you saying?”

“Actually, we’re facing some challenges because of that.”

As the story of factional issues arose, a dark memory flashed through Rodney Zzai’s mind: people being brutally killed for not belonging to the same tribe or power group, and countless others unable to resist.

‘Korea isn’t that bad, but…’

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, but misunderstandings about the conflict in Korea began to take root in his mind.

“And frankly, that faction isn’t interested in the relationship with Madagascar at the moment. You can see that from the Korean Embassy in Madagascar’s response.”

“Response? Are you saying their secret approach was because of them?”

At those words, Yoon Tae-min smiled awkwardly, as if troubled.

‘This is an internal matter.’

Therefore, even Rodney Zzai couldn’t question or ask why the Korean Embassy acted that way.

He could only conclude that the conflict between them was so severe that they were neglecting official diplomatic channels. Absolutely none of his concern, so there’s no reason to delve into it.

‘What’s important is to consider the benefits that can be gained by exploiting it.’

That’s what politicians do. And now it’s time to offer the bait of that benefit.

“Frankly, our side wants to negotiate more actively with Madagascar. On the other hand, they want to focus on Indonesia rather than Madagascar.”

“Indonesia?”

At those words, Rodney Zzai felt slightly insulted. Even if Indonesia is poorer than Korea, it’s still better off than Madagascar. Their economic ranking is 17th in the world, in contrast to Madagascar’s 120th.

Unlike Madagascar, where both the country and its people are poor, at least Indonesia is a country where the state is rich even if individuals are poor.

“As you know, Indonesia has had conflicts with us for a long time.”

“I know that.”

It’s no secret that Indonesia is demanding the technology of the KF-21 [Korean Fighter eXperimental 21st century] without paying for its development costs. They even ordered submarines from Korea but haven’t even made the down payment.

Even though they have the funds to contribute, they’re buying fighter jets from other countries or creating mock-ups similar to the Korean KF-21 fighter jets, putting on a show of abandoning the joint development.

“And currently, that faction is insisting on sourcing nickel from Indonesia.”

In fact, there are nickel mines in Indonesia. However, since those aren’t newly operational mines, most of the production is already under contract.

“We don’t have time for that, so we want to get it from Madagascar. Most of your supply is already reserved.”

It’s not always wise to deceive the other party when negotiating. In this situation, if you bluff by saying, ‘We can also get it from Indonesia,’ Madagascar will say, ‘Then buy it from there.’ Because the global supply of nickel is scarce, the one who controls it has the upper hand.

“So?”

“Frankly, you are in a favorable position. Indonesia has maintained economic cooperation with Korea for a long time.”

Although the current Indonesian regime is making gestures of severing ties with Korea while giving the middle finger, that’s not entirely untrue.

“Hmm.”

Rodney Zzai nodded, as the explanation about the other faction trying to work with Indonesia was sufficient.

“So, can I assume that this faction wants to purchase nickel from us?”

“Yes, but currently, the faction in this embassy is firmly controlled by the other faction, so they are obstructing our official meetings.”

“Ha, how can a politician in one country…”

Of course, there are some understandable aspects. The struggle for power is like that. However, from the perspective of Rodney Zzai, who is trying to escape poverty and desperately needs economic power, he couldn’t view those who try to seize power even if it means destroying their own economy in a positive light.

Those kinds of people started wars, caused revolutions, and made millions of people suffer in poverty.

At least for him, such actions were unacceptable, no matter what other politicians might do.

“Are you aware that the times we requested meetings were always scheduled for inconvenient times?”

“Yes.”

“And you probably know that it’s an international discourtesy. I apologize for that as well. It seems those guys were trying to upset Rodney while simultaneously canceling meetings.”

“I wondered about that.”

Meetings between key figures of both countries aren’t arranged simply by requesting a meeting. They must exchange information, adjust schedules, and decide on a meeting time.

‘And now, fostering animosity towards the opposing faction is important.’

Apologies sometimes create animosity towards the other party. More precisely, they greatly contribute to fostering a sense of solidarity with this side.

Isn’t there a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

“And in the process, traces of surveillance on Rodney Zzai have been discovered.”

“What?”

At those words, Rodney Zzai frowned. In Madagascar, where the embers of chaos still smoldered, such actions were more than serious; they were practically a declaration of war.

“Otherwise, how would they have requested meeting appointments only at times when Rodney Zzai absolutely couldn’t be available? And that’s why they ignored your country’s reply.”

In reality, Rodney Zzai’s side didn’t simply ignore Korea because of its economic power. So they replied, ‘We would like to discuss other appointment times.’ But it was the Korean Embassy that ignored it.

“I see. Disappointing.”

He simply said it was disappointing, but Park Do-joon could read his true feelings in his eyes. Diplomats are trained to hide their emotions and use so-called diplomatic rhetoric.

You can’t shout ‘Fuck you!’ in a meeting between diplomats. People only say ‘We express our regret’ in problems between diplomats or countries, so they sneer, ‘Is all you can do is express regret?’ But as a diplomatic term, regret is similar to saying ‘You son of a bitch. You know that?’ In other words, the next strongest tone is something you can’t say unless you’re prepared for an economic war or a real war.

‘And disappointment carries quite a significant weight.’

Park Do-joon, who knows diplomatic rhetoric well while profiling, understands the word disappointment. Disappointment isn’t really the end of disappointment, but rather a strong feeling of ‘I can’t beat these bastards, it’s driving me crazy.’

“But to fight them, we need some help.”

“What kind of help?”

“They are actively operating in areas where Indonesia is involved. On the other hand, as you know, we have nothing.”

In fact, Madagascar has diplomatic relations with Korea, but at the same time, it doesn’t have a particularly strong relationship.

“So, we need proof that we can and will have a good external relationship.”

“We cannot decide on the export of nickel as we please.”

Business is business. Exactly that kind of approach. Of course, it’s true that Rodney Zzai harbors animosity towards the opposing faction, and through this, he’s more favorably inclined towards this side, but at the same time, the trading partner is the country of Korea. In other words, if they sell nickel, it’s not a factional issue but a national issue.

‘He’s smart after all.’

Park Do-joon was able to confirm this as he watched Rodney Zzai draw a clear line. If he were a strongly dictatorial person, he would have actively shown interest in exporting in order to crush the opposing faction that had soured his mood.

‘But well, I expected it.’

He designed multiple psychological tactics in preparation for any possible situation. If it didn’t work before, it can be tried next time. In fact, the next card is the most powerful.

“Requesting help doesn’t mean asking you to sell it. I’m asking you to officially request the transfer of a Pohang-class corvette [a class of South Korean warships] to Korea.”

“Pohang-class corvette?”

“It’s a 1,220-ton corvette at full load displacement.”

“Hmm, I don’t know much about it.”

That’s understandable. No matter how capable he is, there’s no way for him to know about something that doesn’t even exist in his own country.

“In simple terms, it can be seen as a warship capable of mounting anti-ship missiles. It also has limited naval operation capabilities.”

Of course, a month-long operation in the Pacific is out of the question. But at least it has the ability to patrol or conduct search operations when the weather is good.

“A missile ship?”

“A 76mm naval gun is also installed.”

At those words, Rodney Zzai showed interest. As a politician of a country, he couldn’t be uninterested in weapons, so in some ways, it was a natural reaction.

“Are you saying you’ll give that to us?”

“Yes, Indonesia has requested the transfer of the ship, but we… no, Korea is viewing it positively. The opposing faction wants to import nickel from Indonesia on the condition of the transfer.”

At those words, Rodney Zzai’s eyes gleamed. He may not know much about the navy, but he knows the utility of missiles. Moreover, the 76mm naval gun isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Right now, Madagascar’s naval power consists only of patrol boats, and the only armament that can be mounted on patrol boats is heavy machine guns. Adding a 76mm naval gun would make a huge difference.