21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 56

June 15th, 2019 16:00 (Ethiopia Standard Time 10:00)

Ethiopia, the outer slums of Addis Ababa.

In an open field outside of Addis Ababa, 50,000 Ethiopian citizens and government workers sat around a large stage. On the stage, a peace choir of Ethiopian and Korean children sang the song “Arirang” in a soothing tone.

As the tranquil song rang out, a group of old men sang along with the bits they remembered from 60 years ago. Tears ran down their faces. These men had left their home country of Ethiopia, journeyed to Korea in the far East, and fought for democracy in the Korean War.

Ethiopia sent a total of 6,037 soldiers during the Korean War. Among them, 123 died and 536 were injured. After 1974, a communist government gained power in Ethiopia and accused those who fought in the Korean War of being rebels towards the communist government. Instead of being treated like heroes that protected democracy, they were fired from their jobs and had to hide their participation in the war. They were often forced to leave their homes and live in the slums. In 1991, an interim government was established. The veterans were given pensions again, but it was less than five dollars each month. That wasn’t nearly enough to live on, even after the veterans were thrust down to the lowest social class.

The bravery and sacrifice of the Ethiopian people allowed Korea to develop the fifth most powerful economy in the world, but the Ethiopian veterans were cast down to the lowest social class. Their descendants lived in poverty. After founding the Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War Participants, the Korean government decided to make Ethiopia their first stop.

When the singing was over, the children’s choir split in half and a middle-aged man walked forward to the stage. A moment later, he fell to his knees and bowed to the 50,000 Ethiopian citizens. The crowd began buzzing at the sight of the unusual greeting, but they seemed to understand the meaning behind it, and applause began to sweep through the crowd. After the middle-aged man got back to his feet, he took the microphone and spoke.

“Hello everyone? Thank you. I am Youn Hyun-jin, the representative of Korea.”

When the Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War Participants was established, ex-Minister of Welfare Youn Hyun-jin was appointed as the organization’s first leader.

“First, with all my heart, I would like to thank the veterans who risked their lives to protect Korea’s democracy 69 years ago, the citizens who supported us, and the deceased emperor Haile Selassie.”

In response, the crowd of Ethiopian citizens applauded.

“The Korean citizens and I all know that without the Ethiopian veterans, citizens, and emperor Haile Selassie, I wouldn’t be standing here today. You are the reason we preserved our democracy and grew strong. We are grateful, and we are also sorry. We feel guilt for coming too late. We should have thanked each veteran when they were alive, but now there are only 30 left, and we are sorry and ashamed.”

Director Youn Hyun-jin seemed to choke up during his opening words, and he took a second to breathe deeply before continuing his speech.

“Korea will work with Ethiopia from now on. Ethiopia sacrificed lives to protect our nation 69 years ago. You are a blood ally. We promise aid on a national level that we will do our best to make this nation happy and a great place to live in.”

When Director Youn Hyun-jin’s greeting was finished, the 30 veterans seated in the front cried tears of joy. An old veteran who left his nation at the tender age of 18 stood at the front of the crowd. He had suffered through a bitter cold he never felt, and watched as his friends died. He waved the Korean flag high in the sky with his left hand, because he had lost his right hand to a gunshot wound.

“My friends who are gone, your deaths were not in vain!” the old veteran shouted.

After the ceremony, the Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War Participants spent five days meeting with investment corporations and the Ethiopian government. They formed a memorandum of understanding to promote investment between the two nations. This allowed both nations to form a business partnership with the purpose of showing gratitude towards the veterans in the Korean War.

Policies for the Korean War veterans and their descendants:

. A 20,000 dollar payment for each veteran (10,000 dollars for deceased veterans, an additional 5000 dollars for injured veterans, and a monthly payment of 100 dollars to surviving veterans).

. Housing for veterans.

. Free education and the opportunity to study abroad in Korea for up to three generations of veterans’ descendants. If desired, aid would be given in seeking employment in Korea.

. Free flights for families of veterans.

. A commemorative building for Korean War veterans.

Policies for the Ethiopian government:

. Provide and exchange investment information for promoting the economy, and conduct joint research. (Establish facilities and technology for primary and secondary industries, and jointly create corporations for tertiary industries).

. Jointly promote various industries and investments. (Build five large general clinics across the nation, roads that connect each state, 100 elementary schools, and 200 water filtering facilities).

. Share investment attraction experience and dispatch experts: establish Ethiopian branches of corporations from Korea and build factories for cars, semiconductors, and other electronics. (Joint development, surveying of underground resources, and transferral of experts in medicine, law, and other fields).

The Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War Participants had chosen Ethiopia as their first target because of its attractiveness to foreign investors and its population. With its 96.63 million citizens, it was the second most populated nation in Africa.

It was also intended to restart the 5-year economic growth plan dubbed “Growth Transformation Plan.” The plan had been finished in 2015, and a GTP 2 couldn’t be enacted under the threat of war. However, the final reason for choosing Ethiopia was the special minerals that could only be mined in Ethiopia. This reason was carefully kept secret. Therefore, the Korean government used the investments and aid to gain control of development rights for as many natural resources as possible.

* * *

June 17th, 2019 19:30 (Ethiopia Standard Time 13:30)

Ethiopia Addis Ababa slums.

Two hundred children gleefully played soccer in an open park, using soccer balls given to them by the Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War Participants. Despite wearing poorly made shoes or being barefoot as they played on the rough dirt, none of the children had sadness on their faces. Everyone was smiling brightly. The reason for their joy was simple; the 1500 cobbled-together houses of the nearby shantytown would be torn down, and a large scale housing development would be constructed to replace them. These children were descendants of the veterans from the Korean War.

Employees from the Humanitarian Cooperative walked over to the playing children, their arms full. They were carrying snacks and candy prepared privately for the children. When one of the employees clapped his hands for the children to gather, all of them stopped playing soccer and gathered around. After they received the candy and snacks, their faces lit up. Some danced in delight, while others immediately tore into the food.

Chief Oh Eun-ah from the Humanitarian Cooperative saw a little girl who was holding her snacks instead of eating them. She bent down to ask the girl a question.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

The child put the snacks on the floor with wide eyes and signed towards Chief Oh Eun-ah. When Oh Eun-ah became embarrassed because she didn’t know sign language, one of the boys answered instead.

“She is going to take it back home to her sister.”

“Oh, how kind of you. I will give you more for your sibling as well, so you can eat them now.”

When the little boy conveyed the message via sign language, the girl carefully unwrapped the snacks and began eating.

“Why can’t she speak?” Chief Oh Eun-ah asked the boy.

“She’s been malnourished since she was little, so she can’t talk. Her younger sister is too weak to leave the house.”

Chief Oh Eun-ah swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked rapidly to get rid of the tears in her eyes so the children wouldn’t see.

“Where do you live?” she asked the girl with a smile.

When the boy translated in sign language for the girl, she pointed towards her house. Chief Oh Eun-ah called over another employee.

“Mr. Kang?”

“Yes, Chief Oh.”

“Bring a variety of snacks for her to take home.”

“All right.”

When Kang Hyun-ho handed the little girl a bag packed with snacks, she bowed her head repeatedly in thanks.

This might have been the happiest that these children had been in their lives. These children had inherited suffering because of what the communist government did to their grandfathers. As the kids returned to their homes, the employees of the Humanitarian Cooperative hoped that they would be able to live better lives from now on.

The next day, after making an official report to the Humanitarian Cooperative, Chief Oh visited the home of the girl she had met the previous day. Flies buzzed around the hut, and unwashed blankets covered a bed made of wooden planks. On top of the bed was a gaunt six-year-old girl.

The girl’s grandmother told Chief Oh that her father-in-law was an officer from the emperor’s personal guard. He went to fight in the Korean War in 1951, and he passed away on the eastern front when her husband was two years old. When the communist regime gained power in 1971, her husband couldn’t find a job because his father had been labeled a rebel. Therefore, he had worked as manual labor his entire life, but they were always too poor to leave the slums.

Her eldest son died from disease, and her daughter left two children behind to work in the city, so the grandmother took care of the children herself. The eldest child lost her voice from malnutrition, and the second was too weak to walk. Chief Oh and the other employees from the Humanitarian Cooperative all had tears in their eyes again, and their hearts tightened and ached.

When the girls’ grandfather returned home after an hour, Humanitarian Cooperative told them about the various sources of aid that were available to them. Chief Oh decided to take their six-year-old granddaughter to the hospital immediately. Also, she made notes to provide food, money, and other necessities to the family until the official reparations were paid.

As the first stage of the New Vision Committee’s plan got underway, the Humanitarian Cooperative for Korean War Participants expanded their aid from Ethiopia to Columbia, the Phillippines, Thailand, and South Africa.

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