Empire of the Ring

Chapter 254: Preparing for the Future (3)

Three Korean doctors entered the arrival lounge of Atyrau International Airport in Kazakhstan. They came as an advance party, so they did not bring their families yet.

As Park Youngsun waved at them, a gentleman with white hair smiled brightly. Different from his stubborn-looking face, his smile was warm. He looked like a guy that Youngho could get along easily.

Park Youngsun introduced both parties.

“Well, I’m honored to finally meet you. I’m Kim Dong-sung.”

The white-haired guy smiled big as he shook his hand with Youngho. He seemed to be an easy-going man.

“Dr. Kim. I’m just grateful that you decided to come here. I hope you like Arirang. autonomous region.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Anywhere, people is all the same.”

“This is a very cold place, I’m a little worried about that. Well, I know you had a long trip to get here, but we’ve got to move soon. It takes about an hour to the farm.”

The three men were not even surprised to hear that they had to travel for one more hour. They must be thinking that they were going to drive, but what Youngho meant by travel was flying.

The group moved to the domestic terminal to get on the light airplane that Youngho brought. He wanted to drive to the airport, but because the road was slippery due to snow, he had no choice but to bring an airplane. He did not want to surprise the doctors, but there was nothing he could do. The airplane was a bigger one since it was an eight-seater but most of his guests in the past were frozen up in front of his light airplanes. Doctor Kim Dong-sung’s group was no exception. It was not a surprise.

As the airplane that Kim Il-kwon piloted left the runway, the whole group got nervous and grabbed the arms of their seats. To relieve them, Youngho explained.

“Dr. Kim. This airplane is safer than a car. We’ve also got an awesome pilot, so you don’t need to feel nervous at all.”

“You’re saying we’re going to be on this plane for the entire time?”

He did not seem to be excited about the airplane. Youngho felt a little awkward, but everyone would feel the same at first. Park Youngsun, in fact, acted the same when he first got on the airplane. The doctors would do fine in time.

As Kim Il-kwon maintained low altitude, the doctors’ group could not take their eyes off the endless field. Anything would look more beautiful when looked down from the sky. They would freak out on what kind of warlike, the law of the jungle was going down there.

Kim Dong-sung could not stop making exclamations.

“It is amazing. So, all of this land beneath us belong to the autonomous state of Arirang?”

“They’re going to be. They’ll be given to us when I complete developing them into pasture or farmland.”

“Wow, does that mean you can expand the territory?”

“That’s right, but it’s not an easy job.”

“You shouldn’t reject free land. I would develop any land if it was given free.”

Kim Dong-sung was excited to see the vastness of the farm. Coming from a small country, Korea, it was understandable why he was so astounded to see the size of the farm. He had no idea that there was not enough water to develop the land yet.

“Mr. Lee. Then, would I also be able to own some land if I develop it?”

“Well, you won’t get approval from Kazakhstan, but if you develop land within the farm, I think I can arrange something for you. Dr. Kim, do you want to develop land?”

“Of course I do. It’d be stupid to not own free land.”

“Well, who would stop you if our new doctor wants to do it. You can take anywhere and try to develop it. In exchange for that, please take care of the farm’s patients with devotion.”

He would realize how stupid he was after a few days, but he seemed to be an enthusiastic person.

The farm’s hospital was not equipped with many medical devices, but the facility was great. There were empty surgery rooms, doctor’ offices, wards, and other subsidiary facilities.

After taking a tour of the hospital, Dr. Kim’s team was quite satisfied. Dr. Kim said that it was located in a great place since it was not far away from the residential towns and the building could have some additions in the future as well.

The hospital had all the basics, so what Youngho had to do was to order medical devices, so that it could start operating as a normal hospital.

Even though the doctors were only visiting for now, as soon as they saw patients coming in, they rolled up their sleeves and began to help out with the patients. They looked busy, so Youngho and Park Youngsun stepped outside the building.

“They must be curious about the patients.”

“It’s part of their job Mr. Lee. Would you walk away if people were being robbed? You have the strength to help them. My friend is just doing it because he can do it.”

Youngho nodded. If someone was in trouble, Youngho would gladly reach out and help him, not because he was compassionate, but because he was confident.

“Can a surgeon see regular patients too?”

“Doctors are trained to see all categories of the medical field throughout their internship and residency periods. Not to mention, they’re doctors who have experiences in remotest places. I’d say, they can handle pretty much any patients.”

“Well, that’s great news. Those kinds of doctors are always welcome here.”

They also looked around the houses and residential places. They seemed to like the farm since every facility was pretty new and well-organized, but Youngho worried that they would get disappointed as soon as they saw the land beyond the stone walls that surrounded the towns. Although they came as volunteers, they would want to have a good environment for their family members.

“He’s a social butterfly in the medical field of Korea. The people he came with this time used to be my students from college. If they like this place, they would bring some more doctors.”

Since the population of the farm was less than 5,000 people yet, if many doctors worked together, they would be able to handle patients with ease. They could do their volunteer work during the weekends as they wanted to.

Youngho thought that it would be a waste of time if they wanted to travel to remote regions to volunteer. It would be better to come up with an airplane shuttle system that could transport patients from other regions to the farm. Whatever it would be, Kim Chun would come up with the best way.

In many cases, kids would learn from what they’ve seen. With the doctors residing on the farm, the young kids of the farm would have an interest in becoming medical professionals. If that would be the case, Youngho thought that it was worth to invest in building a huge general hospital. His mind was busy, thinking about the future of the farm.

“Dr. Park. Please convince them. I’ll promise to give them the best equipment and treatments for them. Having them here is an investment for the farm’s future. I have nothing to lose.”

“They’re already determined to come here. Don’t you worry about them changing their minds.”

Lately, Youngho came across many occasions to visit the presidential palace.

At President Nazarbayev’s call, Youngho hurriedly left to Astana. The president had accepted Youngho’s request for a private meeting. Since it was not an official visit, Youngho could meet her late in the night, when the president’s day was over. This meant that they could talk as long as they wanted to.

Whether it was for a good occasion or a bad occasion, it was a basic courtesy to bring a gift to the president for a meeting. The best gift that Youngho was confident about was, of course, Zeynep Wine. This was not only a great gift that anybody would not feel overwhelmed about but also had a great taste.

The old president who enjoyed a few sips of wine opened his mouth.

“Did you request to meet me, to make this wine as the official wine for the governmental banquet?”

At the president’s remark, Youngho, who had been nervous, sighed in relief. It was a president’s signal for Youngho to speak comfortably.

“How dare can I desire that, Mr. President? There’s awesome vodka made in the eastern part of the country. But, if you would do that for me, I wouldn’t reject your offer.”

Youngho made an effort to get along with him.

“Hahaha. I’m going to mention it to the government to consider it. So, what surprising news do you have for me today?”

They talked until they finished a whole bottle of the wine and opened a new one. As Youngho carefully poured the wine in the president’s glass, Nazarbayev asked a question with a smile on his face.

“So, what are you getting out of this?”

“I just want the Autonomous State of Arirang to stay in peace for many more generations to come. Moreover, I’d like to see Kazakhstan becoming a powerful nation over the globe, Mr. President.”

“America must be gaining something from this too, isn’t it?”

The old president already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Youngho’s political perspective.

“I think you can take it as an action to hold Russia and China in check and that’s all there is to it. I don’t think the U.S. will try to interfere with political issues inside the country like Russia does. This is my personal narrow view, but the U.S. probably wants Kazakhstan to stand as an independent country.”

“Russia would feel like it has a bone stuck in its throat if the U.S. sent us a military advisory group of only a handful people. There are going to be all sorts of pressures, but it’s an intriguing offer that I want to take even if I suffer from Russia’s pressures. Russia will also try to provide us with weapons, so it won’t lose its influence over us. We haven’t been receiving any decent weapons from Russia apart from old conventional arms in the meantime.”

“Mr. President. Kazakh citizens are not fond of Russia now. Developing a diplomatic relations with the U.S. could bring up your reputation even more.”

“Are you trying to flatter me?”

“Well, if you feel flattered by me sir, I would make up even better words for you. I’ll keep doing it, as long as the Autonomous State of Arirang exists in Kazakhstan.”

“Hahaha…”

There were many kinds of combat support equipment: Vehicles that carried communication devices, multi-purpose tactical trucks, light-armored vehicles, Jeeps, river-crossing equipment, heavy equipment such as bulldozers, field hospital vehicles, and even field kitchen vehicles. For private equipment, there were: night vision goggles, helmets, bullet-proof vests, and so on were included.

If these kinds of equipment were supported by another country, a military advisory group was sent to teach how to use them.

When the U.S.’ reason for supporting weapons was to repay for mineral trades from Kazakhstan, no one would dare to have problems with it. The old president maintained his poker-face, but it was certain that he was quite interested.

Now that Youngho had done his job to get the president hooked, the rest of it was up to the American government.

“In fact, if you rejected this idea, I was going to get some old weapons from my friends in America.”

“What are you going to do with old weapons?”

“Naval equipment is in pretty good shape. I’ve seen some old vessels that could be as effective as Russian brand-new naval ships.”

“Oh, and I did, you know that?”

The president’s eyes got bigger since he had been trying to strengthen the naval power.

“I used to be a Korean Navy. When I served, the majority of ships we used were the ones built in 1940 in America. Though old, those old vessels could easily beat North Korean naval ships.”

In fact, those vessels retired when Youngho entered Navy, but he had heard that they were used until a few years before he was enlisted. Their reputation was still great among his seniors.

“So, you’d like to get those vessels for the Arirang Autonomous State?”

“No one’s going to suspect when an autonomous state tries to strengthen its military power. Russia will not say anything about it.”

“Then what?”

“I’ll pretend to use those for a while and donate them to the Kazakh Navy. If the Navy says it can’t handle the Caspian Sea, the Arirang Autonomous State will take over the sea. Well, of course, it can only happen when you approve of it.”

The old president held his sides with laughter at that point.