21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 316

September 4th, 2023, 15:30 (Kurdistan Standard Time 09:30)

Kurdistan, Republic of Ari Doubayajut

China’s minority races: the Tibetans, Uighur Muslims, Huis, Zhangs, Mongolians, and 10 other minorities declared independence from the support of the Corean government on June 15th, 2022. The Kurdish, the world’s largest nomadic race, also known as the gypsies in the Middle East, declared their independence under the name of the Republic of Kurdistan on February 1st, 2023 with the Ararat Mountains as a foundation with an Ararat local militia. Other organizations that had been fighting for Kurdish independence in Iran and Iraq started to gather here as well to bolster the numbers.

* The Kurds were an Iranian ethnic group with a population of 30-40 million. Despite maintaining their own culture, language, social structure, they didn’t have a nation of their own and were scattered across the middle eastern mountainside. The main system of belief was Sunni Islam, and many of the people were now settled in areas along the Middle East. The Kurdish people spoke Kurdish, and 4000 years ago they settled in Kurdistan, which was slightly smaller than Corea with an area of 80,000 square kilometers. The Kurds were subject to Arabian rule during the medieval ages and were once more ruled by a foreign power afterward. Once the First World War was over, it was divided into four areas and handed off to Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey under the Sykes-Picot treaty between France and England. The imperialist powers had promised the Kurds independence but it was broken, prompting the independence movement for the Kurdish people to continue to this day.

* The Kurdish people did form a country under the name of the Republic of Ararat along the Ararat Mountains on the eastern side of Turkey, but the nation fell after being invaded by its neighbor three years later.

*The Kurdish people were now scattered across Turkey (14.7 million), Iran (8.1 million), Syria (1.7 million), and other nations.

Apart from Syria that had been busy fighting a civil war for the past 10 years, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey all opposed the Kurdish independence and started to take military action against it.

The Republic of Kurdistan officially sued the UN Security Council for the loss of their nation and the sacrifice of 40 million of their people for the profits of world powers. The nation claimed that for over 100 years, the Kurdish people had been suffering from living a nomadic life in four surrounding nations without one for their own and now demanded to have their independence recognized by the international governments, so they can finally settle and contribute to world peace.

The UN Security Council was called in for a hearing and the member nations took a vote on the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence. The U.K. and France, which were directly related to the tragedy of the Kurdish people, did not want to admit their wrongdoing and started to negotiate with other members in secret. The resulting votes were 12 against, 2 nulls, and 1 for. The U.S. and Russia had given up their right to vote while the only nation that voted for was Corea.

The Corean government had voted for Kurdish independence and independently decided to aid the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence. The decision to aid the country financially and deploy troops were supported by many Corean citizens. It was an opportunity for the Kurdish people to alert the international community about their suffering for the past 100 years and turn their nation into a fully independent nation.

The citizens of Corea were empathetic to the Kurdish cause due to the nation’s history of being under a 35 year-long Japanese imperialistic rule and fully supported the central government’s decision. Congress and the senate swiftly drafted up and passed the bill.

On April 10th, 2023, the Corean government started to send financial aid to rebuild the Republic of Kurdistan and deployed 30,000 troops to perform recovery projects and keep the peace independently from the UN. Corea had sent out troops to various locations across the world multiple times, but it was the first time soldiers were being deployed to an area where they would have to engage in battle. Therefore, only volunteers from soldiers, N.C.Os and C.Os were sent to the area. The forces being deployed were the size of a corps consisting of six engineering brigades from different corps, the 55th mechanized infantry brigades under the capital corps’ 55th mechanized infantry division, the 11th marine mobile brigades, 1 aerial brigade, communication forces, and medics.

Once Corea’s forces arrived in the Republic of Kurdistan, Iran and Iraq stopped their military movements to invade the nation, but not Turkey.

However, the Turkish government was still making suspicious activities. The Republic of Kurdistan was claiming territory along the eastern regions of Turkey at the Ararat mountains. These territorial disputes made Turkey protest against the Corean government and relations soured. Since the 2002 World Cup, the two nations had had close relations with each other, and it became closer after the 2018 “Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War veterans” aid and large investments from the Corean corporations. However, the issue with the Republic of Kurdistan worsened their relationship, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Corea attempted to improve it through various efforts, but territorial disputes were something that could not be resolved easily through diplomacy.

The Turkish ruling party was an alt-right party, and it claimed that the nation should cut all diplomatic ties with Corea and commence an attack against the Republic of Kurdistan.

Iraq and Iran, who had sat behind the scenes, started to make military movements after seeing Turkey doing so.

There was a hidden reason the Corean government became so active towards the politics within the Middle East and supported Kurdish independence compared to the past despite worsening relations and potentially causing interference in domestic affairs. At the Ararat mountains, there were large caches of liquid metal ores that were the main material used to create liquid metal alloys. The alloy was only manufactured and produced in Corea, and it was used in weapons, plasma power plants, and other high-tech equipment.

The Corean government had imported the liquid metal ores from African countries in secret, but the supply could not meet the demand. The Corean government needed another supply source, and it attempted to use the Republic of Kurdistan’s declaration of independence near the Ararat mountains with its heavy caches as an opportunity.

Whether this would either profit or harm Corea was unknown, but ominous winds started to blow in the Middle East with the Republic of Kurdistan in its center.

The citizens of Doubayajut were mostly Kurdish, and it was a border city near Turkey’s Ari state, but when the Republic of Kurdistan gained independence, it became the nation’s capital among the 35 cities within the country.

Vrooooo~ Vrooooom~

The Doubayajut roads under the Ararat mountains, also known as deadlands, were full of convoys of armored vehicles and heavy equipment with the Corean flags in place driving down the roads heading towards the city’s suburbs.

The convoy was from the peace forces of Corea that were deployed to rebuild the Republic of Kurdistan on May 1st. The peace forces were focused on expanding the roadways leading out of Doubayajut and establishing major infrastructures in the area. There were also 1,000 professionals from private companies with them.

There was also unofficial mining going on in the middle of the Ararat mountains by the engineer brigades.

“Sergeant Oh, sir! We’ll go through today safely like yesterday, right?” Corporal Park Soo-il under the 11th engineer brigade’s 55th battalion thought about the time he was attacked by an unknown organization while mining near the Ararat mountains and grasped the cross on his neck.

“Corporal Park, how could you be so scared while wearing the protective suit? You won’t die from having a few pellets shot at you,” Staff Sergeant Oh Kyung-min, the platoon’s commander, answered him as if he had this conversation numerous times before.

“Sir, pellets still hurt when you’re hit. I was struck on the left shoulder and I thought I was going to die from the pain.”

“How did a sissy like you sign up to come here!”

“Ha ha ha, I wanted to earn some money before I get discharged, sir.”

“Don’t you make enough just by serving back home?”

“It’s not enough for me to start my own business after I get discharged, sir.”

“Impressive. You’re already thinking about starting a business at your age. What is it going to be?”

“Well, I was going to start a personal business in the...”

While the two men conversed aboard the transport vehicle, the 11th engineer brigade’s 55th battalion arrived at the mining site in the heart of the Ararat mountain. The 55th engineer battalion and 300 civilians had been mining the liquid metal ores every day for the past 3 months.

Only a small number of forces were stationed here to stand by and watch for 24 hours a day. The mining site was the size of Yeoui Island and it was equipped with a forge to process the liquid metal ores. The heavy equipment made it look like a small steel mill. The liquid metal ores would go through initial processing and 10 heavy, 5-ton trucks would transport them to the airport in Doubayajut. Thanks to the Kurdistan government’s silence, the planes could fly them back to Corea.

* * *

September 5th, 2023, 17:00 (Russia Standard Time 11:00)

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia (the President’s office)

President Putin had been uneasy every day as his term would be over by the end of the year. He wanted to get Hokkaido and make it Russia’s territory, so he could make changes to the laws to run for a third term. President Putin waited for the answer of the Corean government through the embassy in Corea.

“Any news from Ambassador Titov, minister?” President Putin asked in a scolding tone to Minister Valeri Karpin from the foreign ministry before he could even take a seat.

Minister Karpin answered the president in a stooped position, “Not yet, sir...”

“You should have checked on that matter when I asked you to come here... How could you perform as a minister if you’re that oblivious?”

President Putin was from the KGB and a tough man, but he never spoke rudely to the ministers before. The fact that he did so reflected his mental state.

“Mr. President, I’m sorry, sir.”

“Notify me immediately when Ambassador Titov contacts you. How is our attempt to contact Kim Jong-un going?”

Just like the New China Republic, Russia was highly interested in Kim Jong-un regaining consciousness after 8 years. It was unknown as to why both Russia and the New China Republic were interested in Kim Jong-un, but one thing was for certain. It would not be good news for Corea.

“We are attempting to find a way to contact him in secret. However, the Corean government’s intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch on him, his sister, and his supporters, so we are progressing with caution, sir.”

“Are you working with the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service)?”

“Yes, we are working with them jointly.”

President Putin pulled out a cigar and stood up after lighting it.

“In case Corea does not hand off Hokkaido as promised, Kim Jong-un will act as a key figure to stir chaos within the country. We must contact him at all costs and persuade him to accept our offer.”

“Yes, sir.”

President Putin pulled a long drag from the cigar and smiled unpleasantly while blowing out white smoke.

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