The Chosonjok
Annam City's foreign population accounted for thirteen percent of the total. It was the highest concentration among all local governments.
The largest group, by far, was the Chosonjok.
In some districts, the perceived ratio felt closer to half.
The man and woman sitting in the front seats of the car ahead of me were part of that demographic.
"Mr. Joo Sung-hyun. Be careful how you behave in front of our boss."
The guy with the peony tattoo on his neck tried to intimidate me clumsily, but I just smiled.
My single remark that I would "clarify things myself" had made them eager to bring me to the boss. It wasn't necessarily an intelligence problem; it simply meant they lacked decision-making authority. They were thinking, *Can I handle this on my own? If he says he'll clarify, shouldn't I just take him there? Though, he's a public official, so there probably won't be any real issue…* That was likely the logic that got me into the back seat.
"Since you're warning me to mind my behavior, it seems I would cause you trouble if I misbehaved in front of this 'boss' of yours. At least, that's how you see it. You're not in a position to receive direct orders from the boss, are you?"
Just henchmen.
Or, in their own words, *jjongae*—little ones, lackeys.
"……." (3 / 84 / 4 days ago)
"Oppa, what is this… this reckless bastard?" (43 / 86 / 22 hours ago)
The henchmen glanced at me, but I ignored them, gathering only the necessary information.
The car was a fifth-generation Grandeur, an older model. The interior had cheap tuning LEDs attached, and the cabin smelled strongly of a Black Ice air freshener. Yet, both of them carried the latest flagship smartphones. Checking their wallets, they seemed to carry a thick stack of cash.
'A wealthy woman. I don't know who, but she has money.'
Even these not-so-bright henchmen were being paid well enough to carry cash. The gender was female. With ninety-nine percent certainty, she was Chosonjok like them.
"The boss who sent you introduced a Lao surrogate named Saina to Kim Ho-chang, correct?"
"Hyeran-ah. Don't answer." (3 / 84 / 4 days ago)
"If the two of you weren't Chosonjok, I might have assumed the mastermind was an expat community or a church. Some churches in Annam and Suwon are aggressively pushing Southeast Asian missions. …But you are Chosonjok. So the boss must be Chosonjok too."
"Is it okay to bring this guy?" (43 / 86 / 22 hours ago)
I could narrow it down bit by bit.
They were likely brokers operating under the guise of an immigrant center or a multicultural counseling office. Or perhaps without any sign at all, introducing foreign women to hostess bars. Introducing a surrogate to Kim Ho-chang was probably a side business. Infertility clinics also secretly arrange surrogates, but entertainment brokers are faster.
"You're Chosonjok, yet your network stretches to Laos. That means you've been in the business for a while. In the entertainment industry, right?"
The Chosonjok man and woman no longer responded.
They both just wore stiff expressions.
However, the girl (likely a prostitute) was fiddling with her smartphone, seemingly communicating with someone. They were just henchmen, so they couldn't make decisions. They were probably asking someone higher up—maybe not the boss, but a close aide—what to do.
But I was already in the car.
I had no intention of getting off.
"I just want to clarify that I have no intention of interfering with your business. …However, if you stop the car and make me get out, I will find out who your employer is within three hours and go directly to them."
I needed to see who this female boss was that sent them.
The Chosonjok man and woman kept glancing at me.
I could guess how they perceived me in their minds, but…
There was something I hadn't anticipated.
'Gochin?'
I had assumed my Chosonjok friends would take me to Wonjuk-dong or Seonbo-dong…
The main bases of the Chosonjok. Most Chosonjok working as brokers were there.
But the car stopped in a dense cluster of office buildings in Gochin New Town.
It was even in front of the courthouse.
The sign I saw as soon as I got out was quite impressive.
K-INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE
"Crossing borders, connecting families."
"Meet a sincere and warm wife safely through legal procedures."
"Introducing reliable partners from China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos."
"One-stop service from paperwork to wedding!"
It was an international marriage agency.
K-International Marriage. I knew the company.
It was the largest in Annam City, and ranked first or second throughout southern Gyeonggi Province.
There were even old bachelors coming all the way from Jeolla or Chungcheong provinces to get a Vietnamese wife who could help with farm work…
I hadn't expected the henchmen to bring me here.
But I wasn't entirely wrong.
"Let's go."
The female boss of K-International Marriage was Chosonjok.
And a famous one at that.
…
Once inside, even the company reception was extraordinary.
"Welcome, customer." (42 / 984 / 11 months ago)
The receptionist was, first of all, a prostitute.
Aside from the Chosonjok accent, she gave off a hotel desk vibe?
Blouse, pencil skirt, nude-tone nails, but the perfume was strong.
And the way she scanned me up and down quickly…
It wasn't an unpleasant scan, but a skilled one. It meant she had done this habitually. And a prostitute with a partner count of 42.
'Room attendant background.'
She was from the room attendant series. Scanning was basic for helpers.
Of course, she might have worked as a helper in a room in her youth and then quit to get a proper job as a receptionist at a reputable international marriage agency… Maybe. Prostitutes don't sell their bodies forever, after all.
One person could be a coincidence.
But there wasn't just one prostitute working here.
"Soyeon-ssi, that person isn't a customer."
"Huh? Then?" (42 / 984 / 11 months ago)
"The boss said to bring that person to Consultation Room 1, Room 1."
A female employee who looked Vietnamese. She was also a prostitute.
As I followed the Vietnamese prostitute, leaving the Chosonjok one behind, I encountered other staff members who were also prostitutes. Roughly half the staff were prostitutes.
Not natural prostitutes who became prostitutes because they loved sex too much, but prostitutes who I suspected had worked in the entertainment industry.
It wasn't a multicultural leading enterprise. It was a multicultural prostitute enterprise.
This couldn't be a coincidence.
"You can wait here."
Guided by the Vietnamese prostitute, I arrived at Consultation Room 1.
Looking around, it was just a counseling center designed to instill hope in men hoping for international marriage.
There were many photos of successfully matched couples.
Korean men in their 40s and 50s with brides who looked to be in their 20s and 30s from Chosonjok, Mongolia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Uzbekistan…
There was even a VIP line for model-type brides from Ukraine or Moldova. Though they would be hard to meet in reality.
The business had been operating for 10 years. It seemed they had received many awards.
Annam Mayor's Certificate of Appreciation, Gyeonggi Governor's Award, Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Speaker's Certificate, Minister of Gender Equality and Family's Certificate, Multicultural Family Support Merit Award (jointly by MOGEF and MOJ), Korea International Marriage Agency Association's Best Company Award, Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association Special Award…
These were proofs that they were a reputable agency contributing to the stable settlement of multicultural families and operating as a legally registered business.
But if it were truly a legal company only arranging international marriages, they wouldn't have tried to restrain me.
I already had a hypothesis forming in my head.
Just then, I sensed someone at the consultation room door.
The boss had arrived. As soon as I heard the doorknob turn, I spoke first.
"Boss. Actually, I was troubled on the way here. I was just doing a background check on one surrogate at the request of Kim Ho-chang, a local figure in Annam City. If I get caught, it's a disciplinary offense, but if you think about it, it's just an errand. Why send thugs to warn me?"
The boss didn't enter. She wanted to listen first?
"Afraid I'd steal your business? No way. K-International Marriage is quite large in this industry, where most are small, shit-sized companies. The money I received was ten million won. That wouldn't even cover a low-cost rural package here."
No matter how I looked at it, I hadn't infringed on their livelihood.
Then there was only one reason they were picking a fight with me.
"Representative Kim Ho-chang trusted me, but you didn't. That's why you reacted sensitively. …The fact that someone appeared who could prove the innocence of the Lao lady who worked as a massage girl felt like a potential risk to you."
A potential risk that could threaten their future livelihood.
"You must have judged that I was emerging as a competitor… or that your network was exposed to me. You couldn't just leave it alone. So you sent the thugs you keep around to warn me…"
"I never told them to threaten or warn you."
A gentle voice came from behind the door, and it opened.
The woman who appeared was the boss of this place.
"The kids who brought the teacher here. They're younger siblings I knew indirectly when I was in Yanbian. I felt sorry for them, so I'd give them some allowance occasionally. But those kids did something I didn't order. If Mr. Joo Sung-hyun was displeased, I'm sorry."
Born in 1991. Impressive beauty, youthful face.
Except for her slightly fast speech and different stress placement (so↗rry), she didn't sound Chosonjok at all.
But that woman was Chosonjok.
Ordinary people might not know, but as someone who had worked in the City Council Office, I couldn't not know.
That woman had visited the City Council several times as a successful female entrepreneur of a 'model multicultural enterprise'… When Han Chae-kyung, who is now in Thailand, went to multicultural festivals, the promotional booth installed by that woman was always there.
"Boss Ri Su-jin?"
"You know me."
"Actually, a few years ago, I took a photo for an alley safety campaign poster with your younger sister. It was essentially a forced conscription, though."
"Oh my. We have a connection."
Ri Su-jin, boss of K-International Marriage.
A Chosonjok who came to Korea with her younger sister right after graduating from Yanbian University and started international marriage agency work.
She herself was a successful businesswoman, while her younger sister had naturalized and become a police officer.
"I'll really apologize. My siblings did something I didn't order. I told them that wandering around like that only breeds misunderstanding among Koreans and deepens prejudice, but it's not my heart's desire. I hope you can understand? I'm just a business person, and I don't want to have a falling out with a teacher who works for the city hall."
Ri Su-jin apologized with a smile for the rudeness of her siblings. She even showed a bitter smile at the part about "breeding misunderstanding."
Bright smile, thin metal-rimmed glasses, and long black-brown straight hair.
Except for the slightly grating Chosonjok accent, she had a friendly and soft counselor tone…
Her dignified appearance was such that a late-40s rural bachelor dreaming of international marriage would fall for her and lose sleep.
But her main profession was separate.
Prostitute broker.
"Mr. Joo Sung-hyun?" (999 / 2,071 / 10 years, 3 months ago)
And she herself was a former prostitute. The numbers were truly not easy.
Anyway…
Her main profession was supplying foreign women to brothels. The international marriage agency was just a cover.
"We are illegally arranging surrogates, and you are illegally profiting while doing background checks. Wouldn't it be better if we just turn a blind eye to each other?" (999 / 2,071 / 10 years, 3 months ago)
Chosonjok Ri Su-jin, wanting a smooth conclusion like a true businesswoman.
"Yes. That seems good."
I thought the same.
Though the standard for smoothness might be a little different.