The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 45

45. Exporting Coups

Dong Hoi, Vietnam.

Representatives from North Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh’s special envoy and a Soviet envoy, along with the U.S. military operations commander and the South Vietnamese leader, gathered for an unofficial meeting.

The Soviet envoy stated,

“If the United States uses weapons of mass destruction, the Soviet Union will immediately intervene and initiate war on all fronts, including the Korean Peninsula!”

The U.S. commander responded,

“Whether to escalate or cease fire depends on North Vietnam. South Vietnam and the United States hereby request an immediate ceasefire.”

“Ceasefire?”

“A period of respite for both North and South Vietnam, demarcated by a ceasefire line at Dong Hoi.”

“A respite…”

Dong Hoi was a central city in Vietnam, a country that stretched long from north to south, with a narrow east-to-west dimension.

“Is that why Dong Hoi was chosen as the meeting place?”

“Exactly. If a ceasefire isn’t agreed upon, there are only two options to quickly conclude the war.”

Ho Chi Minh’s envoy flared up.

“Don’t speak such nonsense! Why divide the sacred Vietnam into north and south!”

“It’s merely returning to the state before the war, with North and South Vietnam facing each other at the 17th parallel. If a ceasefire line is established, the U.S. military will completely withdraw over two years in return.”

“U.S. military withdrawal!”

“Instead, 50,000 South Korean troops will maintain the peace as peacekeeping forces along the ceasefire line, maintaining regional security.”

The tense atmosphere quickly shifted with the mention of the U.S. military withdrawal.

“Let’s take a break.”

Ho Chi Minh’s envoy and the Soviet envoy had a private discussion in another room for quite some time.

They contacted North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh and received instructions.

The meeting resumed after a longer-than-expected delay.

Ho Chi Minh’s envoy stated,

“We will consider it positively if one condition is added.”

“What is the additional condition?”

“A guarantee of safe passage for all our soldiers fighting in South Vietnam to be relocated to the North.”

They feared that communists who had come out in the open in South Vietnam would be eliminated after the ceasefire.

The U.S. commander said,

“Of course. We guarantee safe passage to the North.”

“The United States must document the agreed-upon conditions.”

“Certainly.”

North Vietnam decided to consider the initial offensive a failure and to watch for the timing of the U.S. military withdrawal.

At least a two-year ceasefire period was secured.

*

White House.

President Johnson announced the following in the briefing room:

“North and South Vietnam will immediately cease fire, creating a ceasefire line bordering Dong Hoi in central Vietnam, and sign a treaty in which North and South Vietnam will not violate the mutual ceasefire line.”

The reporters’ hands moved quickly at the bombshell announcement.

“Also, the United States has agreed with Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam to completely withdraw from Vietnam over two years, conditional on the ceasefire.”

He then held up a copy of the signed document.

“You can see the signatures of the leaders of North and South Vietnam, and mine, here, can’t you?”

Camera flashes went off everywhere.

Flash!

Click!

A reporter asked,

“If the U.S. military withdraws, won’t the ceasefire line be meaningless? Has Vietnam been abandoned?”

“South Korean troops will be stationed there to serve as peacekeeping forces. American youths will no longer have to shed blood in Vietnam.”

The headlines of news around the world that day were the same:

– Vietnam Ceasefire, U.S. Military Withdrawal

As this article was released, the popularity of the ruling party in the United States soared.

In particular, the content of the article supported the Vietnam withdrawal theory of presidential candidate Senator Kennedy, and it was evaluated as bolstering his political power.

Of course, the biggest beneficiary of this measure was South Korea.

The Dong Hoi ceasefire line was narrow, and unlike the Korean ceasefire line, it was adjacent to the sea on only one side, making it easier to guard.

If the guerrillas in South Vietnam withdrew en masse to the North, only the areas where the front lines were clear would need to be defended, so 50,000 people would not even be needed.

In addition, with the know-how of defending the ceasefire line with barbed wire, and with the latest U.S. military logistics, weapons, and supplies being handed over intact, half of the South Korean army would be sufficient.

The President instructed that 30,000 troops be assigned to defend the ceasefire line with barbed wire, and 20,000 troops be organized for maintaining order and engineering, to carry out reconstruction projects with Hyundai Consortium companies.

Shortly after, an interview with the U.S. Secretary of State was published in a Korean newspaper.

– As a follow-up measure to the additional dispatch of South Korean troops to Vietnam, the U.S. military in South Korea is operating tactical nuclear weapons to prevent North Korea’s misjudgment and adventurous provocations.

The North Korean leadership was thrown into turmoil by the news of tactical nuclear weapons.

It was a strong warning that the United States could use tactical nuclear weapons aimed at the North Korean leadership at any time, even for small provocations.

Kim Il-sung summoned Kim Jong-il and raged.

“What is this! It’s like trying to remove a wart and ending up adding one! You are responsible!”

“Supreme Leader, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We must also develop nuclear weapons…”

Kim Il-sung threw a lit Cuban cigar at his face.

“Are you out of your mind! Do you want to be hit by the Yankees’ [Americans’] tactical nuclear weapons!”

“…….”

Kim Jong-il is appointed as the ambassador to Poland, and Kim Pyong-il returns to Pyongyang.

The failure of the Pueblo incident brought about enormous butterfly effects.

*

Pohang.

The construction of the first Pohang Iron and Steel Works plant was in full swing.

President Park Tae-joon gathered employees on the Yeongil Bay beach.

President Park set a goal of turning the plant entirely over to our hands upon completion and achieving a surplus in the first year.

It is common to build an integrated steel mill in the order of an iron-making plant, a steel-making plant, a rolling plant, and a hot-rolling plant, but Pohang Iron and Steel chose a backward method of building from the hot-rolling plant in reverse.

They judged that they could import semi-finished products, manufacture finished products for export and sale, and reinvest the money earned here in plant construction.

It was an unprecedented adventure in the world, a brilliant idea to compensate for the weakness of woefully insufficient construction funds.

Engineers and executives alike shook their heads, saying it was impossible.

Even if the steel mill is completed, it is standard practice for global steel mills to go through at least three years of trial and error and conduct trial operations to coordinate the production of marketable products.

In preparation for this, President Park had dispatched engineers to Japan to train in all processes even before the steel mill was built.

Nevertheless, engineers and executives were focusing on shortening the trial operation period.

This is why everyone was gathered on the beach where the waves were crashing.

“Everyone, Pohang Iron and Steel’s seed money is part of the compensation funds from Japan. It is the blood tax of our ancestors and the price of blood. Every bolt, every shovel of cement is the bones, flesh, and blood of our ancestors.”

The venue became solemn.

“We must repay the country by making Pohang Iron and Steel, which was built with the price of our ancestors’ blood, a success. What is to the right of Pohang Yeongil Bay?”

The employees all turned to the right at once.

The blue waves of the East Sea rippled.

President Park pointed to the sea and shouted.

“If we fail to achieve production independence in the first year, come out here and join me in the blue sea!”

“…….”

“Right face! Let’s rush in as if we’re going to die, and if we fail, let’s fall into the sea and die!”

Pohang Iron and Steel’s founding motto was ‘Steelmaking for the Nation.’

It meant repaying the country by making steelmaking a success.

The employees nodded at President Park’s determined resolution.

From that time on, all employees devoted themselves to the construction of the steel mill as if they were at war, and began to build Pohang Iron and Steel day and night as if they were fighting.

In just three years after the groundbreaking, Korea produced its first molten iron.

Pohang Iron and Steel completed the heavy plate plant and hot rolling plant in the first year out of a total of 22 plant facilities in the first phase, producing semi-finished products into finished products and succeeding in achieving a surplus in the first year.

In just one year of operation, it realized a surplus of 24.2 billion won [South Korean currency], which was more than enough to offset the foreign investment costs at the time, and has continued to generate profits ever since.

It wasn’t shoddy just because it was done so quickly.

Due to its characteristics, the blast furnace that produces molten iron generally has a lifespan of no more than 15 years, but the first blast furnace is still operating normally even after 40 years.

It also boasts the world’s highest productivity in terms of cost-effectiveness.

*

The President drove the first section of the completed Gyeongbu Expressway, the Seoul-Suwon section.

The escort vehicle sped along the highway, which was as smooth as the autobahn.

The first tollgate appeared.

The traffic police sidecar controlled the road, so the tollgate was also clear.

The President and the escort vehicle smoothly exited without slowing down like a হাইপাস [Hi-pass, an electronic toll collection system in Korea].

Boom-

But the President suddenly ordered.

“Stop the car!”

As the stop order was issued over the radio, the escorts, wondering what was going on, made an emergency stop and pulled over to the shoulder.

Squeak-

The bodyguards who got out of the car ran to the No. 1 car.

“Your Excellency, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

The President asked.

“Look at this, why are you just passing through the tollgate?”

“Yes?”

“If you use public facilities, you have to pay. Why are you passing without permission!”

The escorts all bowed their heads.

“We are sorry, Your Excellency!”

Then, one of the vehicles hurriedly made a U-turn and paid the full toll at the tollgate.

He received a loan and obtained budget approval from the National Assembly, but the changed conditions afterwards were quite different from Chairman Wang’s time.

In exchange for taking responsibility for the Vietnam ceasefire line, he was receiving large-scale dollar support from the United States.

Construction began simultaneously in five sections based in Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, Cheonan, Suwon, and Seoul, with the goal of shortening the construction period by more than half.

On the other hand, they began designing the Honam Expressway, Yeongdong Expressway, West Coast Expressway, Jungbu Expressway, and East Coast Expressway, which would connect the entire country like a checkerboard.

They focused on producing construction equipment.

A large-scale cement factory and an oil refining chemical plant in Yeosu were also in operation.

From the time Pohang Iron and Steel began producing semi-finished products, the cycle of the heavy chemical industry began to operate.

It was reminiscent of the time when Japan enjoyed a boom as a logistics base during the Korean War.

It was a move worthy of a chaebol [large South Korean conglomerate] chairman.

But the President had an even bigger picture in mind for the additional dispatch of troops to Vietnam.

It was a change or advantage over North Korea.

The President met with President Chung, who was at the construction site.

“You’re working hard, President Chung.”

The President had advised President Chung that the more the president stayed away from the construction site, the more shoddy the construction would become.

President Chung was even renting a helicopter to visit factories and construction sites across the country.

“Welcome. It’s fun to see the construction progressing day by day.”

“That’s right. That’s the fun of construction.”

“Where are you going?”

“I stopped by on my way to the provinces. I wanted to discuss an important issue with President Chung.”

“What is it?”

“I have something to export.”

“Is there anything else to export besides ships?”

“Yes. I need to export coups.”

“Yes? Exporting coups?”

Exporting coups was the first word he had ever heard, even throughout his regression!

“Haha, why are you so surprised? You’re someone who has a knack for driving exports. Aren’t we a country that has to export everything?”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Would I have come all the way here to joke? Let’s talk in my car.”

So the two discussed the big picture of the Vietnam reconstruction project and national security.