Empire of the Ring

“Thank you so much for your role, Mr. Yaniv. I don’t know how to repay this gratitude.”

“We don’t need such an empty compliment between us. I’m glad that I played a role in this.”

“I should appoint you as our formal envoy in the future.”

“That’s fine. People won’t look at you nicely when you’re involved with a mob boss. I’m a person who’s suitable for behind-the-scenes jobs.”

“Did the president have any other requests?”

“He said he’d like to get along well with the new Kazakhstan. If everything’s stabilized, you might want to visit Russia first.”

“If we maintain a friendly relationship, of course, I should visit the neighboring country first. Please tell him that the first stop will be in Russia.”

“I see. He asked me to tell you that Nazarbayev is out of Russia and you’d know what he meant. What does that mean?”

“Please tell him I know what he means. I guess President Putin didn’t want any trouble caused by the former president of Kazakhstan. Since Russia already presented a statement of support for the revolutionary government, I should forget about the fact that Russia had accepted Nazarbayev in exile.”

“Alright, that’s a deal then. I hope the revolution comes to completion without any trouble. Call me whenever you need anything.”

“Please visit Kazakhstan soon. I’d like to treat you.”

“It’ll a burden for you if I go there now. I’ll visit you quietly when it’s over.”

“You’re always welcome to visit.”

There was a special statement in Moscow supporting the Kazakh revolutionary government.

Then Azerbaijan and other Caucasian countries; as well as Central Asian countries, issued a statement of support as if they had been waiting. Since a lot of their political movements were highly influenced by Russia, they had been waiting for Russia’s move. They were socially and economically subjugated to Russia that they even used Russian as their official language.

Russia’s statement of support meant something different from that of Western countries since Russia’s support of the revolutionary government had provided them a side effect with the support of 4 million Russians living in Kazakhstan. Putin must have made the decision because he could not ignore the support of Western countries.

As Youngho received a big gift, Putin requested not to raise a problem about President Nazarbayev who had exiled to Russia. Putin’s mention of Nazarbayev meant that he was in Russia and that there must have been a deal between the two.

Although Youngho gave a positive response to Yaniv, he intended to get the rest of the money that Nazarbayev managed to take with him. His misrule was responsible for the fact that Kazakhstan was still a developing country despite having abundant underground resources, so he must pay for his crimes. If he was clean, would his aides have dared to commit corruption? The corruption of bureaucrats prevented progress and deprived the Kazakh people of hope. It was never just a matter of shutting his eyes upon the matter.

“Duke, there’s no external stumbling block anymore. An early referendum is necessary for political stability.”

“We haven’t had a chance to fully explain it to the people yet, so maybe we’re in too much of a hurry?”

“We need to continue to expose it through the media so that people will get used to the idea.”

“If academia, culture, and the media didn’t have enough discussion about new amendments. If we confirm them quickly, it’ll be another source of conflict.”

“There is no undemocratic clause in the revised constitution that we are making. People who are ignorant enough to protest without alternatives will be judged by the Kazakh public. They’ll be condemned as an impure force to prevent a chance for Kazakhstan to live better and well. Also, the Russian support is very significant.”

“The Russian support doesn’t mean that we have the support of four million Russians living in Kazakhstan. They’re the ones who chose to live in Kazakhstan rejecting Russia and socialism.”

“So we need to let them know that the new constitution is far from socialism. What are the advantages of a revolutionary government? We have to push it now.”

“All right, let’s announce that the referendum will be held in a month’s time and promote the new constitution.”

Youngho had wondered if he should advance the voting period even if it was not for Eriksson’s opinion. There was not anything good about delaying it.

***

Although gradual reformation was intended, big corruption cases needed to be dealt with immediately. Those involved in large corruption cases had to stand in military courts one after another. The main reasons for the revolution were the eradication of corruption and political stability, and the moment the revolutionary government failed to carry out its main purposes, it would lose the public support.

Park Jong-il, who was watching a string of high-ranking officials standing in the court, pitifully looked at them and clicked his tongue.

“After 27 years of independence from the Soviet Union, they were bound to change a little, but is it possible that corruption has increased even more than it was during the Soviet era? I guess these are people who didn’t know the concept of a country. They’ve only been filling their pockets when they seized their high positions, so I’m sure things have gone right.”

“I’m not surprised. It’s alright. We’ll see our national competitiveness rise twice as much as we do now if we cut off the corruption in the officialdom. By the way, how’s the Kazakh national intelligence service compared to our state’s intelligence department?”

“I don’t know about any other organization, but the intelligence department is pretty clean. President Nazarbayev gave the police a domestic intelligence job, so they’ve been in the cold for a long time. Despite the poor conditions, they have consistently carried out overseas intelligence work.”

“What are the tendencies of the heads of diplomatic missions?”

“They served Nazarbayev, but they worked hard and tried to speak for Kazakhstan in other countries, except for some.”

It was a relief.

The officials who worked inside Kazakhstan were corrupt but the ones who worked overseas had no chance for corruption. They worked hard on the given tasks.

“The biggest problem was the police organization. It’s so bloated that I’m thinking to turn some of the police force to the Border Patrol. There are just too many policemen.”

“You want to give the police the job of the National Guard?”

“Yeah. Why don’t we leave only the Russian border to the police? There’s no immediate threat there. Anyone can watch. It’s about taking advantage of the overpowering police force.”

Police were among the groups that President Nazarbayev had excessively increased to take power for a long time. It was launched as an organization to maintain power, but it was no exaggeration to say that it was a breeding ground of corruption due to its size and low payment.

Notorious Kazakh policemen were busy taking bribes from people by threatening them with traffic fines and other charges. It was turned into a rotten organization, and Jong-il was suggesting not to dismiss them but to use them to protect the Russian border.

In Kazakhstan, the military had only 45,000 soldiers, while the police number was over 100,000. It was an open secret among travelers that the Kazakh police were more notorious than the Russian police. Traveler blogs always warned about Kazakh policemen.

No matter how small the salary might have been, the organization was already rotten to the core. If they were just dismissed, it would only create so many unemployed people. It was a great idea to take this opportunity to turn them into border guards.

“All right. I’ll talk to Maj. Gen. Kasim. Do you have anything else to talk about?”

“What do you think about giving domestic intelligence tasks that belonged to the police to the Kazakh intelligence service?”

“Of course we should. The police should be limited to patrolling. If we entrust them with intelligence work, it’s like leaving the fish to a cat.”

“Then, I will coordinate the intelligence work of the Defense Ministry to be unified into the Kazakh Intelligence Service.”

“What else?”

“The satellite reader has contacted us that China is moving a lot of troops to the border area. We need to know what these guys are up to.”

“I guess China is upset because Russia supports us. We need to send a police team to the Russian border and reinforce the forces at the Chinese border.”

“It takes more than a month to move from the Russian border to the Chinese border.”

“We should send the mechanized units first. We need to mobilize all of the armored vehicles of our state, too.”

***

Michael arrived in Kazakhstan in secret.

Youngho could not receive him at the airport due to the public eye, so he met Michael at his hotel’s guest room.

“You look great.”

“Chief, excuse me for not coming out to the airport when you traveled this far to see me.”

“What do you mean, you’re now in a position where you need to be cautious. By the way, it seems you finally managed to move Russia.”

“I mobilized Mr. Yaniv to persuade Putin.”

“Good job. We need to get along well with Russia for a while. Didn’t Putin attach any other conditions?”

“He asked me to choose Russia as the first foreign country for my official visit.”

“I see. Putin doesn’t want you to get too close to us.”

“Well, I guess his pride was hurt when the U.S. and UK declared their statement of support first before Russia did.”

“If he knew that you were a CIA agent, he’d freak out.”

“I hope he finds out about me properly. That way, he won’t be able to underestimate me.”

“He might have some ideas already. He used to be an agent of the KGB. He’s not stupid enough to know we’re behind you. There’s no case of revolution without a background.”

“I see. Well, we’ve had no discord against the revolutionary government so far. Thank you for your work, Chief.”

“If something goes wrong, I have to take off my clothes dishonorably, so I had to try hard.”

“Now you’d be summoned to Langley, Virginia soon.”

“That’s a hassle, too. I’ll probably head to take care of a farm when I retire, not the headquarters of the CIA.”

That was what Michael said, but he was an ambitious man. He always dreamed of being the director of the CIA headquarters. He would certainly become the head of the U.S. CIA if it was given to him. Then, it would add another strong ally to Youngho.

“What is the situation like in Kazakhstan?”

“The rotten smell all over the place, and I don’t know where to start from.”

“There’s a normal country that had been freed from a socialist system.”

“The whole country is messed up now that we have opened the can. We need to fix the unemployment rate right now and build up the awareness of citizens so that the country can stand up properly.”

“The U.S. was once a mess. It won’t be long before your problems are solved. Don’t be so impatient.”

“We can’t relax because of China and Russia. You have to change it by force, once and for all.”

“Russia is Russia, but China can be a huge threat. You always have to be nervous.”

“China is already building up troops to the border area.”

“I know. The Chinese government probably thinks that the revolutionary government is ignoring it.”

“I’m going to ignore it. I want to see how they’d react.”

“Are you trying to take risks now when what you need is stability?”

“China`s provocation is necessary for internal unity and reform. We need to give people a sense that they shouldn’t stay the way they are.”

“What makes you so confident?”

“I’m going to move Uyghur.”

“Hooh! I want to hear about it.”

“Not for free.”

“Are you asking me to release the gift package already?”

“I didn’t think you’d be empty-handed when you said you’ll visit me, but you didn’t say anything. I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

“Let’s talk about the Uyghurs first.”

“You know that mercenaries from the Serbian militia and our agents are active in Xinjiang Uyghur, right?”

“Then you must know that we can see that our intelligence fund is still supporting Uyghur.”

“I intend to supply Uyghurs with large-scale weapons.”

“How are you going to move weapons there in secret?”

“If you can use the weapons that the Chinese army is building up, there’s no need for me to move them.”

“What? You’re going to take their weapons?”

“You know I’m from the Special Forces, right? We’ve got a Foreign Legion that consists of soldiers who were discharged from the Korean Special Forces.”

“You’re going to do something huge like that? There could be a local war.”

“Why should we be nervous when it was the Uyghurs who stole the weapons? We wouldn’t be so sloppy to get suspected by China. I’ve never failed an operation before.”

“Stop beating around the bush and get to the point.”

“I’ll let you know in time. If Washington’s profit-oriented desk officials decide to go against China, it will end up hurting Kazakhstan only.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course, that’s why I’m telling you this.”

Michael was staring at Youngho’s face. He could not grasp Youngho’s intention.

It seemed that the poker face that did not work for Fatima but worked for Michael.