Empire of the Ring

"You know, Israel never admitted that it has a nuclear power, but most countries believe that. So I was thinking, why don't we make other countries believe that we have nuclear power?"

"Are you going insane finally? How do we make it look like we have a nuclear weapon that we don't have? Kazakhstan will be isolated if we tried that."

"Who's going to have a nuclear weapon? We're building a nuclear power plant. Don't you think we'll need a reprocessing plant anyway?"

"We'll be suspected at the moment we start building a reprocessing plant. Any fuel rod from our nuclear energy plant will be disposed of without reprocessing."

"The U.S., Russia, and China said they would cut back on nuclear weapons, but they still have hundreds. There's no law that says only they get to have them."

"We are a member of the international nuclear agreement. Even if it's made in secret, we can't let other countries know about it. It'll be useless."

"I don't want to be recognized as a country with a nuclear power. What's there to gossip about it? We'll just open it only in the worst-case scenario."

Everybody knew that the desert area in the middle of Kazakhstan used to be a nuclear test site in the Soviet era. Although it was said to have conducted a nuclear test underground, they did not allow people to come close within a radius of 50 kilometers from the site due to radioactivity. Despite that, animals that lived around the area were born deformed. That was why Kazakhstan declared denuclearization when it became an independent country.

The major reason was that Russia wanted to continue using the central desert as a nuclear test site even after independence. To prevent that, Kazakhstan had no choice but to dismantle its nuclear program.

Park Jong-il expected a little bit of a nuclear weapon hidden in Kazakhstan.

He had visited all the secret bases scattered across the country because he had the authority to access military secrets as much as possible by the status of the intelligence chief. They were Kazakhstan's secret bases, but in reality, they were storage areas for intercontinental ballistic missiles that were installed during the Soviet era.

The secret bases had been maintaining its facilities due to Russia's pressure, so they were in good shape that they could be used as missile bases at any moment.

"Compared to Russia's and China's armed forces, our forces lag far behind. We don't have a lot of soldiers, and weapons are full of old stuff. Looking into them makes me feel drained."

"That's why we're holding an arms industry fair and building an arms factory in the royal territory."

"When are we going to catch up with other countries at this rate? I'm telling you, we need to prepare nuclear weapons secretly. There are lots of engineers in Kazakhstan, who used to make nuclear weapons in the Soviet era."

"Why are you so obsessed with nuclear weapons?"

"I'm not saying we should use them. We're just going to keep it for the sake of the future. Don't you think you'll be relieved to have such weapons for just in case? You know, even after you die, Leon and my son will be safe."

"What if our kids get involved with fire?"

"Man, is that why you can't do it? You're kidding me."

Park Jong-il's opinion was not completely ridiculous.

Powerful nations had already made all of their nuclear weapons in the past and only destroyed some of them enough to make them look good, and vowed never to use the rest.

No one believed it, but they could not do anything about such weapons now.

The powerful nations meant to prevent countries that were out of control from having nuclear weapons, but they did not prevent Israel or Pakistan from getting their nuclear weapons.

Even North Korea, which was insane, had conducted several nuclear tests and was urging other countries to recognize it as a nuclear power.

If he could, Youngho also wanted to have a nuclear power. He was just worried that Kazakhstan would be isolated internationally.

"It's rather simple to make them right?"

"Even the North Koreans are making it. It won't make sense that Kazakhstan, that has Soviet-era nuclear engineers, can't make it."

"How did you know the nuclear weapons engineers were in Kazakhstan?"

"I only learned about them while I was doing research on them."

He looked flustered, which was quite suspicious.

Youngho only thought that the number of weapons research engineers in the royal territory was increased, but it was not the case. They were nuclear weapon engineers hired by Jong-il.

"When did you start preparing this?"

"What did I prepare? I just hired any weapons engineers who worked in the Soviet era."

"How good are those engineers?"

"I heard that the nuclear technology that time was at its peak. If it's not strategic nuclear, tactical nukes don't go into the atmosphere, so you don't need high-level technology."

"Are you confident they'll keep secrets?"

"It's the secret between the royal family and us."

"Don't you need to do experiments to test the weapons' performance? How are we going to do that?"

"If it's made with the advanced technology from the Soviet era, we should just trust its performance. You don't have to take that kind of adventure by testing them in the open air if you can prove it in the lab."

"Dude, you've really studied about it."

"I studied a little to convince you."

"Who's going to be in charge of the production?"

"Cha In-soo, who's detail-oriented, will be perfect for the job. You'll know if the security company that he's in charge of takes responsibility and keeps a watchful eye on the production, no one will be able to sneak in like a rat. If it gets known to the outside, it'll probably be wrapped up as a nuclear power plant lab."

"Have you guys decided already without consulting me?"

"Oh, how could we deceive Your Highness?"

"Man, this is so suspicious."

"Let's pretend that we don't have it like Israel."

Jong-il seemed to be trying his best to make it seem that the royal family had no involvement in the development of the nuclear weapons because if it became known to the West, it would be difficult for Youngho to keep his seat.

***

It was entrusted to a Korean company to build a nuclear power plant and the Aegis destroyer. The nuclear power plant would be known to the public, but the building of the Aegis destroyer would be kept in secret for now. The destroyer ordered in Korea this time had a capacity of 10,000 tons and cost more than 1.1 billion dollars, so Youngho ordered two vessels for now.

As for Koç Holding, the Kazakh government ordered three 3,000-ton class frigates. Even the frigates were not too weak at all in the ocean. During World War II, most of the convoys were about 1,500 tons. Compared to that time, ships now had an incomparable strength. Frigates had the anti-ship anti-aircraft missiles function as its basic and were capable of defending submarines with anti-aircraft defense weapons, so they were low-cost, high-efficiency vessels even in the era of the Aegis destroyer.

3,000-ton frigates were ordered to carry anti-submarine helicopters and to secure space to install missile launchers.

The head of South Korea's H Shipyard that would build the Aegis destroyer and his staff and the head of the Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration visited the royal territory.

"It's a great honor to have the head of Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration here."

"Your Highness, thank you very much for leaving the Aegis destroyer to the Korean company. We'll repay you with the best quality."

"If it's of the highest quality, is it possible to have a nuclear propulsion engine?"

"With current technology, it can only be mounted on larger ships. But even if it's not a nuclear propulsion engine, it has the ability to sail at a maximum speed of 9,900 kilometers. It is powered by a gas turbine engine and a diesel engine, so it also has a maximum speed of 30 knots."

"So, you're saying a separate tanker should go along with the ship if it were to go on a long-distance trip."

"A nuclear engine is only suitable for a vessel that's the size of a cruiser. The UK has developed a small nuclear engine, but I've heard it's not yet commercialized."

"I'll take care of that. Please make a strong ship. The U.S. Aegis destroyers' bodies are said to crumple like paper when they collide with merchant ships."

"The sides of a vessel are built a little weak to decrease the weight of the vessel. It's more of the fault of management, not the fault of the producer."

When Youngho saw the article that the U.S. warship—the strongest in the world, collided with a merchant ship, he suspected if U.S. defense products were really trustworthy. Later, it was revealed that naval soldiers were negligent on their duty.

"I thank the Korean government for making a difficult decision. It's like military secrets."

"Korea and Kazakhstan are brotherly countries now. We'll keep any secrets for Kazakhstan. South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration can provide missiles if you asked."

"Brotherly countries…"

Youngho did not like to be associated with the Korean government at first, but now as the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it—it was quite satisfying to be favored that way.

"I heard that all Korean companies have agreed to attend next year's arms industry fair, and it's all because of the encouragement of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration."

"Your Highness' secretary couple visited Korea for a honeymoon, so I made some boastful remarks about that. They're quite intelligent young couple."

Suh Min-seok had told Youngho that he and his wife, Kim In-hwa met some officials on their honeymoon in Korea. It seemed that they contacted the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

"Your Highness, the reason I'm here is to suggest a joint arms project between Kazakhstan and Korea."

"You're doing something that Korean arms companies are supposed to be doing."

"We cannot let private companies deal with sensitive weapons that reveal the strength of the Korean military because it's controlled by the government."

It was very refreshing for a high-ranking Korean official to come forward himself to promote a business project. Most of the time, the job was given to a working team.

"I see. You're saying Kazakhstan is an exception."

"Yes, you must already know that Korean weapons are superior."

"I'm well aware of that."

"I heard that most of Kazakhstan's weapons are Russian."

"We have old-fashioned weapons that we received free of charge from Russia. So we're building a local assembly plant here in partnership with the United Kingdom in order to completely change the weapons system."

"Korea wants to be part of that. Can we join?"

"We always welcome Korea`s state-of-the-art weapons. Then, can we have a technical partnership?"

"We will come up with institutional devices to enable technical partnership for all, except the core components."

Now, Youngho had never rejected a Korean company wishing to make its foray into Kazakhstan. It was a little strange for the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to come to Youngho and talk about weapons export. There must be another reason.

"You could've talked to our ambassador in Korea to discuss this matter."

"The ambassador of Kazakhstan told us to talk to you."

"It must be a controversial weapon."

"I should be careful even when talking loud about it."

"Could it be…?"

"As you imagined, we'd like to develop a nuclear weapon these days. That's something we can't do in Korea. Of course, it's a weapon we can't have, but we'd like to have a trustworthy ally to lean on."

"Sounds like you're going to lean on Kazakhstan. We don't have a nuclear weapon. And Korea is under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, isn't that right?"

"We don't know when the U.S. might withdraw from Korea. How can we fully trust the U.S?"

"Why do you think the U.S. is pulling out of Korea?"

"The U.S. may have a big deal directly with China over Korea. This is a scenario in which the U.S. military withdraws in exchange for North Korea's giving up of its nuclear weapons program."

"Will the U.S. let Korea act independently?"

Korea was in a position to play the role of a recluse in Northeast Asia. Youngho wondered if the U.S. could abandon Korea. Crucially, it was an axis of the U.S. economy, and it would also affect U.S. national interests. It was an unbelievable story.