Seoul's Spring, Part II
On a certain day of a certain month in a certain year, in front of the Seoul Government Complex, Sergeant Park Hyun-woo stood in formation, staring out at the vast sea of humanity stretching before his eyes.
"Sergeant Park, aren't we completely fucked, sir?"
Corporal Kim Chung-ho spoke to Sergeant Park Hyun-woo, his face pale with dread as he took in the overwhelming crowd.
"Fucked? Like hell we are..." Hyun-woo replied, his tone casual. "They said we'll get leave if we just get through this. Grit your teeth and bear it. What's the worst that could happen?"
"But looking at the atmosphere, it feels like something is definitely going to happen, sir... What was it? Back in the day, that protest about holes in cow brains... Ah, I can't remember the name. But what if they just charge in like back then and beat the living shit out of us?"
"You worry too much, you little shit. Look at the era we're living in. You really think they'd go that far? We just need to hold our ground here and think about what we're gonna do on our leave."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo spoke in a light, almost joking tone, trying his best to appear calm. But in truth, he was just as anxious. The human wall standing before him was filled with a savage, murderous venom in their eyes. And it was only natural.
"I seriously don't know what those politician bastards are doing, sir..."
"Hey, watch it. Soldiers are supposed to be politically neutral."
"Does that even matter in a shitshow like this, sir?"
"True. *Sigh*... I don't know what those fucking lunatics were thinking, trying to slash the disabled veterans' pensions."
For this crowd of protesters, comprised mostly of disabled veterans and discharged servicemen, their very livelihoods were about to be cut. Although the Ministry of Economy and Finance vehemently denied it, everyone here knew the truth.
The real reason the pensions for disabled veterans and welfare for discharged soldiers are being slashed is to pour that budget into women's welfare.
"Housing support for single-female households, employment support for women in their 30s and 40s with career breaks, living expenses for single unmarried women, and... wait, what the fuck? Why are they subsidizing cleaning services for bitches who live alone?"
"Is that all? Think about the civic groups and government-sponsored organizations clinging to those subsidies like maggots. The money they're pocketing could probably build five cities the size of Seoul in that ruined Northern Territory."
"They're completely beyond comprehension, sir."
"It's because doing that shit gets them votes and lines their pockets with kickbacks."
"They really are a bunch of motherfuckers, sir..."
"If I ever become a politician, I'm gonna take every last one of them and..."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo drew the edge of his hand across his throat in a slicing motion.
"The broads? Or the sweet, old pig politicians backing them up, sir?"
"Both!"
Park Hyun-woo answered gleefully and chuckled.
"People like you should be in politics, Sergeant Park."
"Make sure to vote for me if I ever run for office."
"I'll even drive the campaign truck and stump for you, sir."
"You've got a big mouth, you know that?"
Young men had flooded into the Northern Territory in massive numbers—some seeking opportunity, some by command, some voluntarily, and others by force. The resulting political vacuum in the south was rapidly absorbed by women, backed by middle-aged and elderly male politicians.
The 'tilted playing field' had tilted so far that it was now a vertical cliff. Some journalists claimed, 'The fault lies with men for failing to unite.' But other journalists countered: 'Physical reality dictates political reality.' As if to prove this point,
"It's hard to make a living, life is tough as hell, and what if we can't find a job? Everyone's too busy desperately trying to survive, so it's hard to unite. And whenever we try to gather, they throw a massive fit. That's why we just keep getting beaten down."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo lamented.
"They say it's all because we don't vote and don't unite, sir."
"What a load of shit... Hey, who votes more diligently than guys our age?"
"That's what the politicians said, sir."
"Ha... Just a few years ago, those bastards were barking about how the world would change if only young guys voted. And do you know what they said when our voter turnout actually went up?"
"What did they say, sir?"
"They said we were voting the 'wrong' way!"
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo snickered, utterly dumbfounded.
"It's all a fucking excuse. Once they actually got the votes, they realized that catering to a handful of young guys is completely useless. Why put on a desperate clown show to win over a tiny, incredibly demanding demographic when it's way easier to just play safe, cater to women and old folks, and sweep up their votes instead..."
Park Hyun-woo chuckled, letting out a hollow, bitter laugh.
"In a democracy, if you don't have the numbers, you're just a loser no matter what you do. They trample on these losers, use them as punching bags, paint them as the bad guys to throw stones at, and everyone else claps and cheers."
Park Hyun-woo cackled again, then continued.
"And they say we can't unite... Fuck, all those bastards who used to unite and protest back in the day only did it because they had the luxury to. If they were about to go to jail, some powerful local figures would pull strings to bail them out. They had people funding their banners, megaphones, and even their food and drinks while they protested. And if their lives were really about to go down the drain, they'd get hooked up with some cushy job... while the rest of the random mobs just found jobs and lived fine, right?"
He kept going.
"That's true, sir."
"Exactly. You need a fucking backer to unite. If a bunch of guys with no backing try to gather—assuming they even can—what's going to happen other than getting crushed? Getting a job after protesting was only possible in the old days. If we did that shit now, we'd literally starve to death."
"True. They do say protesting costs money, sir."
"Exactly. If those bastards who criticize us for not uniting saw the actual bill for organizing a protest, their jaws would drop. It's all money, money... and time. There's no one with the time and funding to lead young men like that. And even among those civic groups who do this for a living, not a single one is on our side."
"Come to think of it, there's that saying: 'They might be sons of bitches, but they're our sons of bitches,' sir."
"Yeah. That's the problem. We don't have our son of a bitch. No son of a bitch to listen to us and have our backs... God, what a fucking dogshit world... Hey, you got a smoke?"
"You never have any cigarettes, Sergeant Park."
"Hey, I buy you plenty of stuff when we go on overnight leave, don't I?"
"I'm just joking, sir. But is it really okay for us to leave the formation?"
"Who cares? I bet those bitches over there don't even know."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo pointed toward the female battalion commander and the female officers standing behind them.
To begin with, the soldiers deployed alongside Sergeant Park were not professionally trained in riot control or public order like the riot police of the past. Their home base wasn't even anywhere near Seoul.
With the vast majority of male police officers and soldiers deployed to the Northern Territory, a massive protest led by military veterans had erupted. The female police officers, female soldiers, and the handful of male soldiers left in the south were utterly incapable of suppressing them.
In the end, those who had despised men turned back to them the moment they felt threatened. Once the situation spiraled beyond their control, they drafted male police officers and soldiers from the Northern Territory in droves to use them as meat shields.
"I seriously don't know what those fucking useless bitches actually do..."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo quietly bitched about them as he slipped out of formation with Corporal Kim Chung-ho.
The officers commanding the troops brought down from the Northern Territory were the female officers stationed in the south. Naturally, having been pampered by the cushy rear-line culture and the doting of "sweet" middle-aged male superiors, they had no idea how to lead troops, and the containment efforts were a complete disaster.
"If those bitches hear you, Sergeant Park, they'll make us run laps in full gear, sir. Probably with books stuffed in our rucksacks too."
"Honestly, I'd prefer that. If I'm laid up in the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, at least I won't have to look at this disgusting shitshow."
"You might actually die doing that, sir."
"Sigh... In a world like this, maybe dying is better than having to watch this garbage. You got a light?"
"Come on, sir, don't talk like that. Even rolling in a field of dog shit is better than being dead. Here's your light."
"Thanks."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo leaned in as Corporal Kim Chung-ho flicked the lighter. The tip of the cigarette flared like a firefly before dimming, and a thin wisp of smoke drifted lazily into the air.
"Phew..."
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo took a deep drag, his cheeks hollowing out. Perhaps it was because the dry smoke was too harsh, or because his own situation was so pathetic, or because the protesters' plight was so miserable, or perhaps it was simply the exhaustion of facing down the crowd outside for days on end. His eyes stung, and a single tear squeezed out.
In stark contrast, the female soldiers glaring from the back of the formation had incredibly clean, well-pampered faces, their eyes flashing with haughty facial expressions.
"By the way, sir, what happened to Private First Class Yoon Sang-ho?"
"Ah, Sang-ho? His leave got canceled."
"You mean the reward leave we're supposed to get after this is over, sir?"
"On top of that, he's got a ten-day restriction!"
"What on earth did Private First Class Yoon Sang-ho even do wrong, sir...?"
"His crime? Being born a man!"
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo laughed hollowly.
The official reason for canceling Private First Class Yoon Sang-ho's leave was 'conflict with civilians.' While Yoon Sang-ho was dozing off in formation, passing female civil servants had hurled abuse at him, saying things like, "Look at these military parrots dozing off while sucking sweet honey in Seoul," "It's so funny watching these military parrots fight among themselves," and "Korean-man military parrots can't even play the role of a house dog right." Infuriated, Yoon Sang-ho had gotten into a verbal altercation with them.
"And those bitches we call officers didn't even try to cover for their own subordinate..."
Naturally, the female officers commanding them pinned the blame entirely on Yoon Sang-ho. Although Yoon Sang-ho desperately pleaded that the women had insulted him first, the female officers dismissed him with haughty facial expressions. Because of this, Yoon Sang-ho's mental state had completely shattered, and his face looked practically lifeless.
"Well,"
Sergeant Park Hyun-woo smiled cynically.
"I never considered those bitches to be soldiers in the first place."