029 : container
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding.
I picked up my hammer and rang the bell hanging in the Jindalrae Ironworks. The people at the nearby ironworks glanced at me wondering what was going on.
“If you want to earn 80,000 won a month, everyone gather here.”
“80,000 won a month?”
“What? What’s the point of giving 80,000 won a month?”
Because the money was well over five times the average wage, people flocked to it.
The eyes of the people gathered were not good.
His eyes were wary, as if he were looking at a money-changing swindler. It’s hard to believe, but I’m curious and want to hear it.
“You all know that there is a big war in Vietnam right now, right? We are hiring people to work there. We have to build military facilities to protect our soldiers from a rain of bullets, and we need all kinds of technicians, such as welding, operating heavy equipment, construction, and loading and unloading.”
“Ew? Are you going to the battlefield?”
“It must be something like a miner sent to Germany.”
“Then should I call you Technician Powell? It must be several times more dangerous than the dispatched miners.”
“Of course not dangerous. Bullets are raining.”
I shouted exaggeratedly, and then he came out and made faces that were tempted by my words.
Yes, the townsfolk.
Be rich with my father.
“We will only select 200 people, and applicants will come from all over the country, so we will take the exam.”
“What test is it? Can I just lift the rice sacks?”
I heard that they took a test to lift sacks of rice when hiring miners from Germany, was it true?
Anyway, there are a lot of things to do, so that would be okay, but it wasn’t to the level I wanted.
He had to be a real engineer, not just a laborer.
They are noblemen who should become my father’s co-workers in the future.
“It is not a very simple test. Building the port and all sorts of facilities requires more skill than strength. Have you all heard of containers?”
“container?”
“What is a container? Is it fresh canned food?”
At that time, there was no concept of a container.
“I know very well. Isn’t it a steel box for loading ships?”
“Haha, President Kim Chun-seok has already passed. The boss is the examiner who selects other people.”
“Yes? Did I pass already?”
Father was startled.
How much more surprised would you be to know that I was here because of my father? Maybe, you never know?
“Your welding skills are very good. The slugs are also meticulously removed, and the shape of the welded fillet is optimal.”
I tapped the steel structure my father welded and continued.
“The test you will see is to make a special container. We provide materials, but only those who pass will pay the labor cost. If you are not confident, do not try. We will claim compensation for damages, let alone labor costs.”
“Compensation for damages?”
“What is a special container?”
When I mentioned damages, some backed off, and someone asked if I was confident in welding.
“It’s a 40-foot container, with double walls and insulation. I’ll give the material cost and blueprints to President Kim Chun-seok here, so he can be supervised.”
“Ugh! Is it that many?”
I handed the wad of money I had prepared to my father.
It would have been more convenient if it was a large denomination, but I couldn’t help it because 500 won was the highest bill.
Surprised by the thickness of the bundle of money, people murmured.
“Look at that money. I guess it’s not a bluff”
“What is bluffing… If it stands out more than that, why are you giving me that big money?”
What are you so surprised about? My father is an honest man.
I’m not the kind of person who would jump around with this much.
Ironically, thanks to the bundle of money, the dubious people’s expressions changed dramatically.
“This is the starting fee. If you buy materials and deliver containers, we will give you 30,000 won per unit.”
“You buy me 30,000 won each?”
My father is surprised that he has no sense yet.
Containers are expensive, and in the 21st century, a container with tolerable specifications costs well over 3 million won per unit.
It is a structure that uses 6-ton iron pillars as its frame and meticulously builds walls with 2-ton steel plates.
Even the container I want to make is a special specification that includes insulation.
In the 1960s, the price of insulation and steel sheets alone would cost 25,000 won.
“If you make it right, you will pay for it. I will draw the blueprints now.”
There was no such thing as a blueprint.
I specified the dimensions of the container and the thickness of the insulation in my notebook, and drew out where to drill the windows on the side.
‘You said it could be a house for people to live in if you load it with things, right?’
‘Right.’
When I tore up my notebook and drew a simple blueprint, my father whispered in his ear.
Also my father!
He had extraordinary hair and was quick-witted.
I never forgot anything once I heard it, and I immediately noticed that the design was confidential.
“Everyone, please follow the work instructions from CEO Kim Chun-seok. Mr. Kim personally checks the container quality and selects successful candidates. As soon as the container is completed, bring it to Pier 6 of Busan Port.”
“Where should the successful applicants go?”
“The successful applicants will be notified separately of the meeting time and location in a month. Keep in mind. Just two hundred.”
In the original history, both Powell soldiers and Powell engineers all departed from Busan Port.
You can call it to Pier 6.
“A month later?”
“Those who pass will go to the battlefield away from their families for at least one year. Be prepared and come.”
“How much is your salary exactly?”
“I will give you at least 80,000 won. Risk allowance will be calculated separately.”
“They even gave me an allowance!”
“Waaa!”
It seemed that none of them had any intention of going to the battlefield.
Well, at that time, to Koreans, Vietnam was not considered a battlefield, but a place like ‘El Dorado’.
In the early 1970s, a song called Kim Sang-sa, who returned from Vietnam, was popular.
‘Dongsik’s father, Seokdae’s father, Youngho’s father… I’ll make everyone rich.’
If I took them, there was a possibility that my childhood friends would not be born due to the butterfly effect.
I may not be born either…
What is it?
I’ve already vowed to change everything.
I am not afraid of the butterfly effect.
I will make this choice no matter how many times I am reborn.
It is better to disappear into dust than to repeat the same life as before.
“President Kim, when are you taking the exam?”
“You know my welding skills, right?”
“Give everyone. I’m going to get the materials and take the test, so if you’re going to participate, write your name here.”
My father had already acted as the examiner.
Yes, hold on like that and become a bigger boss.
“Boss, it’s hot. Would you like a drink?”
“Ah, yes. thank you.”
My mother kindly brought a cold drink from somewhere and recommended it to me.
Even though his father was going far away to earn money, his expression looked more excited than worried.
‘Look forward to it, Mom. I’ll let you live in a two-story Western-style house as you wish. It’s like a palace with a garden.’
I was thinking of paying a very high price for sikhye.
“You drank well. Then believe me.”
“Aren’t you going to check in the middle?”
“I don’t have time. When the container is properly completed, call the contact number on the business card. At that time, I will also pay for the material cost.”
You can trust the father.
No, it would be more accurate to say that there is no need for me to interfere because my father is organizing the first organization.
It’s because the more experience you have about what kind of person to select to rise to a high position, the better.
“Take a look. I’ll see you at Busan Port.”
“take care.”
I hurriedly moved on.
There were just a couple of things to prepare for.
***
I took a taxi to Yeonji-dong, Busan.
「The 20th Regional Support Group, 4th District, 8th US Army」
The official signpost was very complicated, but it was an American military camp called Hyaria Unit.
“Even at this time, the Hayaria unit was brilliant.”
The US military camp is still the United States in Korea, but the US military camp at this time was the scene of life where many people made a living.
If you go through the back gate, there are all sorts of American-made bonded clothing, accessories, and cosmetics stores, and on the opposite side of the road, a bar called the UN Club is open for US troops.
Canned food, canned beer, military uniforms, military boots, and medicines stole from military canteens or warehouses were of premium quality to Koreans.
“Among them, the fireworks were the best.”
Memories of that time came to mind.
It was only twice a year that ordinary people were allowed to enter the Hyaria unit.
It was American Independence Day and Thanksgiving, but it was regrettable to play all day long with fireworks, parachute demonstrations, officer wives’ bazaars, hamburgers and other American snacks that lasted for a long time.
Shall I say that I was able to feel the richness of America a little bit?
Maybe that’s why, compared to the Yongsan base in Seoul, the Hayaria unit was somehow well recognized by the people of Busan.
As a rear base, the Hayaria unit served as a terminal for receiving and sending supplies from the USFK.
The top commander of the unit was only a major, and should we say that the military discipline is so lax? It was anyway.
It was no exaggeration to say that all the luxuries of Busan, including TVs, liquor, and even butter, flowed through the PX of the Hayaria unit.
“Now, let’s go in.”
I strode towards the back door.
If you want to catch a tiger, you have to go to the tiger’s den, and it’s better to catch it alone.
Tiger skins are valuable only when they are intact, because it is useless if shared.
“stop! stop.”
“OK. OK.”
I stayed still until the sentinels rummaged through me.
“What did you come for?”
the large black man asked with a grin.
Most of the people who walked proudly through the back door were carriers who stole goods from the US PX, so they had this look on their faces.
“My name is Chan Su-wu, the most popular jobless person. A VIP visiting here called me.”
“VIP?”
“General Van Flint.”
I handed my business card to the sentry.
“Eh?”
“Report over the phone. Then I’ll ask you to come in.”
“… wait a minute.”
“okay.”
The sentry was terrified when Van Flint was pointed.
I waited leisurely in front of the guard post.
“Old story! Old rumor!”
The sentry repeated the old rumor over the phone and quickly ran out of the post.
“Mister, come in. Let me guide you.”
Completely different from before, the sentry gave me a moderate salute and guided me into the base.
“Here.”
The place they arrived at was an officers-only club called the Heaven Club. After answering the sentry’s salute, I trudged into the club.
It was a round hall that looked good enough for 100 pyeong.
A ceiling fan was spinning on the ceiling, and music unique to the 1960s was playing.
All kinds of liquor were filling the cupboard, and in the distance Van Flint was enjoying cigars and whiskey in front of the bartender.
It seemed like a high-end bar that could have been in Chicago.
Can a retired general have this luxury?
Well, this is American soil, not Korea.
“Welcome. Mr. Ooh.”
“hello? General Van Flint.”
“Come and sit down. I missed you anyway.”
He offered me a seat while enjoying a leisurely cigar.
“Were you alone?”
“Then you are alone. This is my personal bartender. His cocktails always satisfy me.”
The camp bartender was introduced as if it were a personal bartender.
It was like saying that no matter what I said, it wouldn’t leak out.
Even though he was a retired general, he was treated like a VIP at the camp. Big-time politicians were different no matter what.
To be honest, if I had known that the gentleman David had introduced me to during his time as a World Bank official was Van Flint, I would not have bothered to meet the Galp branch manager.
I was definitely lucky in this life, to think that rejecting a relationship aroused this nobleman’s curiosity.
“By the way, what’s a busy lobbyist like you doing here?”
“I’m not a lobbyist, I’m just an entrepreneur running a small factory.”
“Haha, there’s no need to look around. Don’t we know each other’s true identity?”
“I am not a lobbyist. General.”
Lobbyist, I don’t play the role of a pawn in the political world. Always working for my own benefit.
“When was the wedding ceremony, do you keep calling me General?”
Van Fleet changed the topic with a hook.
He was like a nobleman who had gone through all kinds of battles before and after childbirth.
“Then what shall I call you? He was the last commander-in-chief of the Korean War, a big-time politician in charge of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, a diplomat surpassing the US Ambassador to Korea, and also a writer. ah! You are also the chairman of the Korea Foundation.”
I also jokingly tuned in.
Americans only give points to humor.
After exchanging jokes with each other, the relationship that had a sense of distance becomes a friend.
Of course, this was possible because this man was a historically respected military man and had a disdain for racism.
“Ha ha ha ha ha. Good good. Call me whatever you like.”
In particular, Van Fleet’s love for Korea was exceptional, so he created a foundation called the Korea Society and was active until his death.
Perhaps because he lost his son in the Korean War, he showed a special attachment to Korea and helped Korea in many ways as an unofficial ambassador between Korea and the United States.
It is said that he helped chaebols advance overseas due to his close friendship with high-ranking officials in Europe as well as in the United States.
“By the way, how did you know I was here?”
I laughed out loud, then stopped and asked a question.
“Shouldn’t I ask why you’re here first?”
“… Okay, let’s change the order. Why did you come?”
“I heard that the dispatch of Korean troops is on the verge of an agreement. In the midst of many young people fighting for their lives, a merchant like myself is trying to make money. However, I hope that business will help the soldiers and my country.”
“!!!!!”
Van Flint put down his glass as I continued.
It was an expected reaction.
‘The land of Korea, where my son gave his life, should be as great as his unfinished future. That was the reason I loved Korea, and now I can die watching it.’
It is said that it was a will that Van Flint left when he died in the early 90s, but it seems that the words were true.
