Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Middle East Tour (1)
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‘Now I can finally breathe easy.’
I had been on edge, wondering if Stalin’s final move would be deploying the Soviet Army outright.
Fortunately, Stalin had made the ‘rational decision,’ just as he always had.
He opted for an indirect intervention strategy, sending friendly young men like Vladimir Putin.
Sure, it was like covering your eyes to avoid seeing the ox, but without that kind of face-saving measure, things would have escalated into a direct confrontation.
Russian thinking never seemed to change, no matter the era.
With the signs of escalation gone, Europe could be left off my worry list for the time being.
Sure, some people would die, but when had that not been the case?
While the great powers were distracted by war, I reached out to the Middle East.
My target was the dollar, the world’s key reserve currency.
Why target the dollar instead of a nation?
That required some explanation.
Six years ago, in 1944, the Allies agreed to establish the Bretton Woods system.
Gold was fixed at $35 per ounce, and each country’s currency was pegged to the dollar.
Even Korea, with its independent economic sphere, was no exception.
With the world’s second superpower, the Soviet Union, accepting Bretton Woods, I couldn’t stand alone against the tide.
From that point, the dollar fully replaced the pound as the world’s key currency.
We accepted dollar hegemony, but we never thought the system would last forever.
‘The Bretton Woods system is structurally unsustainable as long as the U.S. tolerates deficits.’
At its core, Bretton Woods was an economic framework premised on U.S. sacrifice to bind the Western world together.
The fact that this giveaway system had run for nearly 30 years was proof of America’s might.
Anticipating the inevitable collapse of Bretton Woods, it was time to think about the post-Bretton Woods era.
And while we were at it, secure some national interests for Korea.
I planned to get ahead on petrodollars, something America hadn’t yet considered.
‘Petrodollars were what propped up U.S. hegemony after Bretton Woods.’
Petrodollars meant receiving oil payments exclusively in dollars.
Through petrodollars, America maintained the dollar’s shaky status after the gold convertibility suspension.
I intended to preemptively exploit the gap between the non-existent petrodollars and the Bretton Woods system.
That didn’t mean harboring grand ambitions to make the won the key currency.
Korea and the won were far too small for that.
Even if I wanted to, the Korean economy couldn’t sustain it.
Becoming a key currency required running deficits, and Korea wasn’t a country that could grow while enduring deficits.
‘For now, just laying the groundwork is enough.’
Dipping into Arabian oil would make America freak out, so suggesting the OPEC idea to Saudi Arabia would suffice.
To take the lead, I pushed forward with a Middle East tour.
My ministers expressed concerns, but it wasn’t like war was breaking out in the Middle East right away—it was unnecessary fuss.
I visited Mecca and met with the Saudi king.
“ It is an honor to meet Your Majesty, guardian of the two holy mosques.”
The middle-aged King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud before me was the founder of Saudi Arabia, having waged conquests across the Arabian Peninsula to create the modern kingdom.
He was no ordinary man, judging by his demeanor or his achievements.
“ We sincerely welcome our guest from the distant East.”
I held a brief summit with King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud.
Aside from our shared trait of authoritarian rule, the king showed interest in ‘Korean-style democracy.’
The reason was simple.
To handle the rebels rampaging under the guise of Korean-style democracy, he needed to understand it.
I gave the king a detailed explanation of the concept.
He listened for a while, then clapped his knee.
“ That’s a method even an absolute monarchy could use.”
Korean-style democracy?
If so, would the Saudi monarchy transform into Korean-style absolutism?
That sent chills down my spine in its own way.
Anyway, apart from pushing rigid Wahhabi doctrine, he was reasonable, so we even chatted informally.
The king joked—half-seriously, perhaps—that if I converted to Islam, he could give me a princess.
“ That would be disrespectful to both Her Highness and my wife.”
I politely declined the king’s proposal(?).
He hadn’t been entirely serious anyway and didn’t seem too disappointed.
We soon got to the main point.
What I really wanted to say in Saudi Arabia was this.
“ Your Majesty, sometimes when doing business, don’t transaction fees feel wasteful?”
“ Indeed they do.”
I proposed trading Arabian state-owned oil in kind, and the king pondered it briefly.
He was clearly weighing relations with America against the benefits.
“ Your Majesty, remember one thing: what serves your interests.”
The king accepted my proposal, which subtly hinted at backroom payments.
Saudi Arabia would receive needed goods at favorable prices and pocket kickbacks, while we saved on dollar fees.
A win-win deal with no losers.
As our conversation wrapped up amicably, I told the king this.
“ In the long term, oil will dictate everything in modern civilization. When that day comes, Arabia’s power as an oil exporter will rival that of any great power.”
“ How wonderful that day would be.”
“ It’s not far off. A nation should control the resources from its own land.”
At this time, Saudi Arabia was already clashing with oil companies over prices.
“ I eagerly await that day, but I have no intention of breaking sacred contracts.”
The king said that, but his eyes had completely changed from before.
Given a chance, Saudi Arabia would devour the Seven Sisters on its own.
After Saudi Arabia came Iraq and Syria.
There, I proposed long-term oil purchase deals.
Unlike in Arabia, I didn’t hold back here.
Iraq and Syria weren’t in America’s sphere.
This region was the toothless remnants of British and French influence.
Britain and France weren’t worth worrying about unless under the free world banner.
“ How about settling in won?”
“ Won? Not pounds or francs?”
Iraq and Syria hesitated over the proposal.
“ No need to overthink it. Depositing won funds in the Bank of Korea allows us to provide stable economic aid and exports.”
The model was the Korea-Iran oil barter system.
The Qasim regime accepted after deliberation.
“ If it stabilizes trade, we’ll do it. Since we trust Korea, please supply goods at friendly prices.”
“ Of course.”
With Iraq accepting, we decided to offer the Qasim regime a gift.
“ In response to this deal, we’ll send a policy advisory team.”
The Qasim regime, pursuing Korean-style democracy, expressed repeated gratitude.
Syria seemed amenable at first but balked at won payments unexpectedly.
Once the Ba’ath Party took power here, I’d try again.
After Syria and Iraq came Egypt.
I skipped Israel—to avoid aggro from the Arabs—our future nuclear-sharing ally.
Instead, I sent Lee Kyung-ho, the top man at the Intelligence Agency, to Tel Aviv to meet Israeli officials.
I met with Egypt’s real powerholder, Nasser.
“ Congratulations on retaking Suez. If I’d known it would turn out this way, I wouldn’t have tried to stop you.”
“ Just luck. Without help from Arab brother nations, it would have been dangerous, as you warned, Prime Minister.”
Nasser, shaken by the recent war, was noticeably more humble.
I would be too, in his shoes.
Israel’s combat prowess had been shocking.
Impressed by my previous advice, Nasser sought various counsel.
“ Prime Minister, what I realized from this war is that Israel’s army vastly outclasses our Arab forces. Our armaments aren’t that different, yet we couldn’t compete. If we brought in foreign advisors, would things improve?”
Of course not.
I knew the weaknesses of Egypt and the Middle East coalition forces.
The reason Middle Eastern armies were weak was simple.
Lack of political education.
Neither officers nor soldiers had any sense of fighting for their nation.
So, at the slightest disadvantage, they’d abandon weapons and flee en masse.
To make an army proper, first instill and convince them of the ‘reason to fight.’
The next step was training.
Arab armies bought weapons well enough with money but were terribly negligent on training.
Not understanding their roles in combat led to chaos in crises.
They were like the Qing army in the Sino-Japanese War, metaphorically.
To fix it, rigorous repetitive training was essential.
I passed this advice to Nasser.
Even if it made Israel shit bricks, I didn’t care.
Post-nuclear Israel, compared to the entire Arab world, wasn’t worth our outreach.
Cold, but true.
Before national interests, there were no eternal friends or foes.
My summit with Nasser ended relatively successfully.
I secured his cooperation in building ties with Arab nations.
In return, we agreed to help with future Suez Canal expansion.
‘Libya’s Great Man-Made River project too—Arabs have money-making opportunities galore.’
A construction boom, over 20 years ahead of our timeline, was on the horizon.
Should’ve brought the chaebols.
“ Your Excellency, since you’ve come to Egypt, you must see the pyramids.”
I appreciated the suggestion.
But as I started to decline, I caught my wife’s sparkling eyes.
Ah...
One offhand remark from Nasser after the summit, and I was dragged to the pyramids with my wife.
She showed no fatigue from the grueling Middle East tour, still full of energy.
She dragged me everywhere without rest.
“ Prime Minister, look at this.”
Nothing special to see, but she eyed everything with curious fascination.
I felt like I’d die being pulled around by her.
Unable to resist her insistence, I toured the Great Pyramid, rode a camel.
Hoping for a break, she sent subtle signals.
Her suitcase had been suspiciously large; she wore lingerie I’d never seen.
“ When are you coming?”
She asked in a soft, coaxing tone.
Thinking back, had there been any nights in the Middle East without our bedroom duties?
For a young wife, long trips changed nothing—it was routine.
Same in Syria, Iraq.
I briefly regretted choosing the energetic Baek Ha-yeon as my wife.