Chapter 38: That Time I Rode the K-Wave in South America

TL: Skye

Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!

My phone had been going off like crazy since morning.

A ringtone? No. Text messages? Not that either.

"What the hell is this?"

On the smartphone screen I checked half-asleep, notifications from Stagram, which I had signed up for to keep up with friends and definitely not to look at bikini photos, were pouring down like a waterfall.

[xxx-nim has requested to follow you.]

[ooo-nim sent you a DM: Hyung, I have so much respect for you! You're Korea's pride!]

[qkrtkd tagged you in a post.]

The notification count had surpassed 999+.

"Th-this... what's going on?"

I opened the app in a panic.

[@UJIN0813] On my account, which had nothing but a single selfie taken at a San Marcos beach, the follower count was...

"2.25 million?"

The follower count that had been at zero just yesterday had ballooned to 2.25 million overnight. And even at this very moment, the number was climbing in real time.

The DMs were even more absurd.

[Hyung, it's Jo Yeong-ho, your junior from the military. Do you remember me? Back when we used to haul mortars up the mountains together...]

[I want to immigrate to San Marcos. Please take me ㅠㅠ]

[Yu-jin oppa, I love you! Take me, wahhh]

[Yu-jin, is this for real? You actually became president?]

[President Choi Yu-jin-nim, please help our family. We have nowhere to go right now...]

"Huh..."

Just as I was sitting there in a daze, unable to make sense of the situation, there was a knock and Isabella walked in.

"Your Excellency, good morning. Would you like some coffee?"

"Ah, Isabella. Good morning... actually, not so good. Do you have any idea what's going on? My phone's been about to explode since this morning."

When I held up my smartphone, Isabella gave a faint smile and extended a tablet toward me.

"It seems you haven't heard the news yet."

"News?"

"Have a look."

The tablet screen displayed the main page of a Korean portal site.

[The Miracle of San Marcos, Korean National Choi Yu-jin!]

[Choi Yu-jin-related stocks? Korea Zinc share price surges!]

[Can San Marcos become the next Korea?]

"No way."

The further I scrolled, the wider my jaw dropped.

I had become a hero in Korea. And not just any hero, an absolutely massive one.

"How... how did this happen? I was told an indefinite news embargo had been put in place."

"According to Director Lucio, news about San Marcos was published in a daily newspaper in Florida. It seems that's how it spread to Korea."

"The United States?"

"There's a sizable population of San Marcos immigrants living in Florida, and we did substitute the reparations with food supplies. It appears the news leaked out during that process."

"Well, that part doesn't really matter, but..."

I pointed at a video whose thumbnail alone was enough to make me cringe.

[The South American Hero Born in Korea, Who Is Choi Yu-jin?]

"Why is this a thing?"

"Apparently the National Intelligence Service stepped in preemptively, concerned that negative public opinion might spread."

"Something seems a bit off about this..."

"Indeed. In my assessment, it fails to convey even a tenth of Your Excellency's greatness. Shall I dispatch agents to Korea immediately?"

"No."

Why would we send agents to another country?

Realizing that Isabella was operating on an entirely different wavelength, I shook my head.

"There is an upside, though."

Isabella held out a document.

"Official interview requests have come in from Korea's three major broadcast networks and newspapers."

"How is that an upside?"

"Because it's an opportunity to spread Your Excellency's greatness to your homeland."

"...Enough. Please just decline them."

"Tch."

Isabella clicked her tongue and held out a different document.

"And... we've received contact from the Korean government through official diplomatic channels."

"From the government?"

"Yes. They've expressed their desire to establish an embassy in San Marcos."

"An embassy... now that's actually tempting."

Korea and San Marcos had established diplomatic relations, but there was no embassy.

If an embassy were set up, it would help attract Korean tourists and likely boost corporate expansion into the country as well.

"Not bad at all. We should start looking for a good site."

"However, there is one issue."

"An issue?"

"They expressed concern about San Marcos being under martial law."

Ah, right. I declared martial law. I'd gotten so used to it that I'd completely forgotten.

"Hmm... that makes sense."

It certainly did. Even if I were the president of Korea, I wouldn't send my own citizens to a country under martial law.

"How about taking some time on this?"

"No."

I shook my head firmly at Isabella's suggestion.

"Now is the perfect time. We have to strike while the iron is hot. We attract Korean tourists and companies while the buzz is still alive."

"But with martial law in place..."

"Then we lift the martial law."

"...Pardon?"

Isabella's eyes went wide.

"Yes. The civil war is already over, and public safety has been completely secured. The arrest of the masterminds behind the terrorism is close at hand too. There's no reason for the military to remain stationed on the streets anymore, is there?"

"That's true, but..."

"If anything, keeping martial law in effect will only increase the burden on our citizens."

"But if the military withdraws, the public safety we've barely established could unravel. Considering the crime rates from before, I believe maintaining martial law is the right call."

"Our people aren't that bad. Honestly, back then they were stealing and robbing because they were starving, but now hardly anyone is going hungry. Let's put some trust in them."

"Hmm... understood. Then I'll discuss the martial law lifting procedures with Commander Pedro."

"Good. Let's do that, and also contact the Korean airlines to see if we can set up direct flights to San Marcos... actually, never mind. I'll handle that one myself with Senior Secretary Aman."

"Yes, sir."

I had no idea what kind of bolt from the blue this was.

***

A few days later, Yu-jin announced the lifting of martial law through an address to the nation.

[Dear citizens. As of midnight tonight, I am ending the national state of emergency and lifting martial law. The military will return to its original duties, and law enforcement will be handled by the police. There will be no more control in San Marcos. Citizens may walk the streets freely at night, and the press no longer needs to worry about the government's scrutiny. Furthermore, freedom of assembly and association will be upheld to the fullest extent...]

Yu-jin's expression overflowed with confidence. And for good reason, considering everything he had been through.

Although he was worried about the next administration and had been strong-armed into donating his retirement fund, so he couldn't step down from power just yet, it felt as though he had passed the first milestone on the road to retirement.

'Feels like I've made it over the first ridge.'

But there was one thing he had overlooked.

In the great Republic of San Marcos, martial law hadn't meant much to begin with.

For starters, with only one state-run broadcast station and one state-run newspaper, freedom of the press had never existed in the first place, and the National Assembly had been dissolved by former President Juan Marcos long ago.

Above all, the very concept of protests and rallies did not exist for the people of San Marcos.

After centuries of colonial rule and dictatorship, ordinary citizens gathered for only two reasons.

Either they joined a gang to commit crimes, or they got together on festive occasions like weddings to drink themselves silly and dance the night away.

Of course, the issue of public safety remained. The people may not have opposed the government, but San Marcos was still a nation located in Central and South America, boasting gangs as a local specialty along with a healthy supply of young men ready to become gang members at any moment.

However, Isabella and Pedro had made thorough preparations for this.

They created a new concept called the Special Police Company, dressing soldiers in police uniforms instead of military fatigues and stationing them at police precincts.

These officers, deployed in one company per each of Libertad's five police stations, were armed not with pistols and batons but with automatic rifles and machine guns.

They were police in name only, essentially a military force specialized in urban warfare.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

"We sent police personnel to the military, so we need to fill those spots back up."

Using the miraculous logic that sending 100 meant receiving 100 in return, Pedro selected a company's worth of capable personnel from the existing police force and absorbed them into a bizarre unit called the Military Police Corps.

In the end, whether martial law was lifted or not, armed men patrolling the streets remained exactly the same.

Still, there was exactly one thing that changed the way Yu-jin had intended.

"Hey, did you hear? The curfew's been lifted!"

"Seriously? So we can drink all night?"

The nighttime curfew that had started at 10 PM was lifted.

And so Yu-jin gazed out from the Presidential Palace at the glittering lights of Libertad late into the night, feeling deeply satisfied.

'It feels great giving the people their freedom.'

Completely unaware that machine gun-toting special police were watching over the night streets.

*

Having cleared the major hurdle of lifting martial law, Yu-jin's next order of business was to arrange accommodations like hotels.

The establishment of a Korean embassy had been confirmed and businesspeople and tourists would be coming in, yet there was no proper place to house them.

"This is a problem. We can lend the official residences to businesspeople, but there's no solution for the tourists."

"We've secured a few sites for now, so we could start construction immediately..."

While Yu-jin was deep in thought, Senior Secretary for Resources and Tourism Resa Morena raised her hand.

She had been Yu-jin's secretary and housekeeper when he was the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, and had remarkably placed first in her department on the Civil Service Competency Assessment, earning a dramatic promotion as a truly self-made success.

"Your Excellency, I have an idea."

"Let's hear it."

"How about making use of the empty houses?"

"Empty houses? Are there any?"

"We purchase the houses belonging to the gangs."

"...Excuse me?"

"These are landscape photos I took while conducting a separate investigation."

Resa pulled up photos on a tablet.

Lavish mansions built on scenic hilltops on the outskirts of Libertad came into view.

Swimming pools were standard, and the spacious gardens and marble-decorated interiors were nothing to envy from a five-star hotel.

"These are the houses where the gang bosses and their lieutenants from the Central Basin used to live. They're sitting empty with no owners now."

Resa showed the next photo.

"This is a mansion the gang members used as a hideout. As you can see, it's a modern building that hasn't been standing for long."

"Resa, don't tell me...?"

"We remodel the mansions and use them as hotels or resorts, and convert the city hideouts into guesthouses or hostels."

"Oh...!"

Yu-jin slapped his knee.

"Now that's a brilliant idea! Those guys are going to be out growing corn in the wilderness for the foreseeable future anyway, so the houses would just be a headache for them. If the government purchases them at a fair price, it's a win-win for everyone."

Yu-jin said this with genuine delight.

"As expected of Senior Secretary Resa."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Resa smiled bashfully.

However, SIA Director Lucio interpreted that conversation quite differently.

[His Excellency wishes to seize the real estate illicitly accumulated by those gang scum and put it to good use for the nation.]

The moment the meeting ended, he summoned his aide.

"Rally the agents right now and head out to the Central Basin."

"Sir? Why the Central Basin all of a sudden..."

Lucio covered his mouth and whispered coldly.

"His Excellency wants the real estate owned by those gang scum. No need for discussion. Tell them to hand over everything."

"Understood. Then what purchase price should we set?"

"Purchase price?"

Lucio scoffed.

"Why would we need something like that when we're recovering criminal proceeds into the national treasury? Have them sign it over as voluntary donations."

"Ah..."

"And if anyone refuses to hand it over, cut off their fingers and stamp the donation papers with their thumbprint if you have to. Understood?"

"Yes, understood."

The government of San Marcos was running full steam ahead once again today.

*****

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