Seok-won slowly looked over the New Year appointment list, then picked up the Montblanc fountain pen set to one side.
The nib glided smoothly across the paper. After finishing his signature in a clean, flowing hand, he closed the leather approval folder.
Then he held it out to Yoon Gi-hun, who was standing in front of the desk.
"Go ahead and issue the appointments as they are."
Yoon Gi-hun, who had become the new CEO of Bluehole Investment after completely separating from the Daehung Group, accepted the folder respectfully and bowed his head.
"Yes. Understood."
After Yoon Gi-hun left the chairman's office with the approval folder in hand, Seok-won leaned back deeply into the plush leather chair.
He closed his eyes and rested for a while, feeling worn out. Then the intercom installed to one side rang.
Beep.
[Chairman. Minister of National Defense Ahn Yong-guk is calling. What should I do?]
Seok-won opened his eyes, straightened his upper body, and pressed the intercom button to reply.
"Put him through."
[Yes.]
Seok-won took advantage of the brief pause to pick up his mug and take a sip of the coffee that had gone lukewarm.
Just as he felt his head clearing a little from the caffeine, the phone rang, and Seok-won picked up the receiver.
[Chairman Park. This is Ahn Yong-guk. I hope I'm not calling at a bad time when you're busy.]
"Not at all. But what brings you to call?"
Minister Ahn Yong-guk let out a low chuckle on the other end of the line.
[I've just come out of the Blue House.]
With just that one sentence, Seok-won understood why he was calling and leaned back in his chair.
"Sounds like you heard that I decided to make a donation to the ongoing FX project and the new destroyer construction program."
[Hahaha. That's right. It hasn't even been that long since you donated K2 tanks and six new high-speed patrol boats to the military. And now you're helping us again on this scale. I really have nothing to say except thank you.]
"If it helps the military even a little in its efforts to keep the country safe day and night so that people like me, and all our citizens, can sleep soundly, then that's enough for me."
[Thank you for thinking of it that way. The President never misses a chance to praise you, Chairman Park. Now I can clearly see why.]
Listening to the stream of praise, Seok-won smiled faintly.
"As far as I know, the final aircraft hasn't been selected yet. Is that correct?"
[Yes. We've finalized the evaluation method, and we plan to request final proposals from the four companies that made the shortlist soon.]
"Then, when do you expect the FX aircraft to be finalized?"
[Since the IMF foreign exchange crisis broke out and delayed the project schedule quite a bit, we plan to move the procedures along as quickly as possible and finalize the selected aircraft by the first half of next year at the latest.]
Although he had persuaded the President to decide to build an artificial island at Ieodo, there were still countless obstacles to overcome.
Once construction began, it was obvious that both Japan and China, whose interests were entangled in the matter, would react angrily and try to interfere.
They could cite Okinotorishima to establish a justification against Japan's objections, but if Japan were to send Maritime Self-Defense Force or Coast Guard vessels to obstruct the construction, it would not be easy to respond.
'Given the structure of the Korean military, where an abnormal amount of power is concentrated in the army, dealing with Japan at sea is even more difficult.'
China might not be a match for Korea right now, but once time passes and it gains more power, it will undoubtedly become a considerable burden.
'Unlike Japan, which possesses several Aegis destroyers known as the strongest, the Korean Navy's strength is so weak that its main combat ships are only 5,000-ton-class destroyers, much smaller and more lightly armed, not to mention that it doesn't even have a single Aegis ship.'
The Air Force was in even worse shape. Even if a standoff were to break out in the waters near Ieodo, the mainstay KF-16 fighters had too short an operational range to respond properly.
To ease those concerns, Seok-won had personally proposed to support the FX project, which was struggling with budget issues, with several trillion won of his own money and to have naval destroyers built and donated.
"I've heard that the project has been facing a lot of difficulties because of budget issues."
At that, Minister Ahn Yong-guk let out a small sigh and spoke as if venting his frustrations.
[Since it's you, Chairman Park, I can say this, but the budget problem has really put us in a difficult position. The secured budget is only four trillion won, and with that, it's nowhere near enough to purchase the number of latest twin-engine fighters we want.]
But reducing the number to be procured was not an option either, because that would leave the Air Force with far too few modern fighters to properly defend the nation's airspace.
'So what they chose was to keep the numbers the same, but lower the unit price to fit the budget by stripping out options.'
Because of that, they purchased only the bare minimum of spare parts, including engines, and even though they could have introduced the latest AESA radar, they instead installed a cheaper mechanical radar to bring down the unit price.
'Because of these circumstances, the F-15K that Korea introduced through the FX project ended up becoming the last F-15 fighter equipped with a mechanical radar.'
But now that he had decided to get involved, he had no intention of just standing by and letting things stay that way.
[The project was originally for 120 aircraft, but because of budget issues, it was cut down to 40, which really demoralized the Air Force. Thanks to you, Chairman Park, it's been increased back to 80, and everyone is absolutely delighted.]
"I'm glad to hear that."
Adjusting his grip on the receiver, Seok-won spoke.
"Once the aircraft type is finally selected, you'll move straight into negotiating the main contract, right?"
[That's right. If we want to avoid any further delays to the project schedule, we'll have to.]
"When that time comes, don't worry about the money and sign the contract with the full options."
[Excuse me?]
"Since you're bringing in a large number of aircraft, make sure you also purchase plenty of spare engines and parts."
[Uh… if we do that, we'll go way over the budget.]
Minister Ahn Yong-guk replied, his tone clearly troubled.
"Don't worry. I'll make up whatever shortfall there is."
[H-However, the excess amount could easily go over one trillion won.]
Even at those words, spoken with a sharp intake of breath, Seok-won replied calmly.
"I already said I'd support the FX project with four billion dollars, so even if the amount increases a bit from that, it's not like my bank account is going to take any serious damage. So don't worry about it."
Hearing him speak so casually about sums not in the hundreds of millions but in the trillions, Minister Ahn Yong-guk was both taken aback and, once again, made keenly aware of just how immense Seok-won's wealth really was.
[If you really do that for us, it would be incredibly helpful, but… I can't help wondering if we're asking too much.]
"If the Air Force and Navy become stronger, that also helps my businesses, so there's no need to say that."
[I also heard that you're planning to explore for oil and natural gas in the waters near Ieodo.]
"If word leaks out, it could make building the artificial island more difficult. So I'd appreciate it if you kept it confidential."
[Of course. I'll keep my mouth zipped tight, so please don't worry.]
If Japan or China were to find out that he planned to move into offshore oil fields and natural gas exploration after building the artificial island, they would undoubtedly try to stop him, even if it meant risking a direct confrontation.
That was why he had to keep everything absolutely secret until the first stake was firmly driven into the ground.
"And about the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin–class destroyer that I said I'd donate. How about making it a bit bigger?"
[…You mean increasing the displacement?]
"That's right. It's bigger than the previous Gwanggaeto the Great–class, but even so, calling it a destroyer when its full-load displacement is only 5,500 tons is honestly on the small side, isn't it?"
[That is true, but…]
"I'll cover the additional budget for this as well, so let's increase it by about a thousand tons."
[A thousand tons?!]
At the voice that nearly jumped an octave, Seok-won asked back,
"Would that be difficult?"
[The keel-laying ceremony for the lead ship has already been held, but construction progress remains minimal. If we delay building a little and rush through a design change, it shouldn't be impossible. However, if we increase the displacement by as much as a thousand tons, even on the low end, it will mean at least an additional 700 billion won in budget.]
"So it's cheaper than fighter jets."
Seok-won joked, as if it were no big deal.
"And I'd like the extra space secured from the increased displacement to be allocated first and foremost to improving the crew's living conditions."
Compared to other advanced countries, it was already widely known that the working and living conditions aboard Korean naval vessels were extremely poor.
Because they crammed in far more weapons than the ship's size could comfortably support, right up to the limit, they had no choice but to reduce the space set aside for the crew's amenities.
'Even so, this is the 2000s. Korea isn't some underdeveloped country, yet they're making six people live in cabins so cramped their shoulders practically bump into each other. That's just too much.'
He wanted the soldiers, who devoted the brightest years of their lives to the military in service of their families and their country, to be able to serve in at least a little more comfort.
[Understood. We'll reflect your views as much as possible, Chairman Park.]
"Thank you."
With that, the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin–class destroyers, which were originally planned to be built as six ships, would now be constructed as seven ships, each with a much larger hull.
After talking a bit more, Seok-won ended the call and set the receiver down.
Then, lightly tapping the desk with his fingertips, he muttered to himself,
"No matter how much we bring up Okinotorishima, there's no way Japan will just quietly let us build an artificial island at Ieodo."
It was obvious that they would find some pretext or another and try to stop the Korean government from building the artificial island.
"The only country Japan can't push around is the United States, so I should tell Landon to grease the wheels in advance and make sure the White House and Congress take Korea's side if this turns into a clash between our two countries."
As he was organizing his thoughts, the phone he had placed on the desk began to vibrate.
Clearing his mind, Seok-won immediately answered the call.
"Hello."
[It's me. Debra.]
Hearing the voice of Debra, who had now become a well-known reporter at CNBC, Seok-won smiled slightly and replied in fluent English.
"Judging by your call, it looks like you received the package I sent."
[Is everything in the materials true?]
At her serious question, Seok-won nodded.
"Do you really think I'd send you fake materials? If you don't believe me, you can verify them through other channels."
[Whew… I still can't believe that WorldCom committed accounting fraud.]
"Enron did it too."
[…You sent me this because you want me to run it as a story, right?]
"That's right. But if you don't feel like it, you don't have to."
[What reporter would dislike a scoop?]
Debra let out a snort as if the idea were ridiculous, then lowered her voice slightly.
[Of course, I trust you, but the network still has to verify it internally, so I won't be able to run it as a story right away.]
"Do that."
Seok-won replied without much reaction, since he had already expected as much.
[I need to go over the materials you sent one more time in detail, so I'll hang up now.]
"Alright."
[Oh, and thank you for giving me this scoop. If you have something like this again, don't give it to anyone else. You have to bring it to me first!]
At Debra's words, which subtly revealed her ambition in the workplace, Seok-won burst into laughter.
"Haha. Alright."
[See you next time.]
Debra ended the call after leaving a cheerful kissing sound.