KOREA
GANGNAM, SEOUL
GLOBAL VENTURES KOREAN BRANCH
‘President, is this okay? What does President think?’ the employee looks at the beautiful woman and gulped.
He feared the woman would disapprove heavily.
The woman looks at the file and snorted.
‘Change the terms and let them offer a bit higher for that. Don’t make their work easier for them. Push a bit higher.’
The employed nodded and smiles.
‘At least she is not yelling’ the employee thought in his mind and quickly exits her office….almost like running actually.
The woman look at the employee sighed and said to herself.
‘Am I that scary?’ she asked herself.
Then she exits her office and in front of her office there is a reception desk and she look at the woman on that reception desk, checking some files and arranging appointments for her.
The moment the woman on the reception desk realizes that President Lee is looking at her, she quickly greets President Lee.
‘Administrator Kim please looks over the company. I’ll be accompanying the Chairman today.’
‘Chairman will be coming today?’ And Administrator Kim was pale in the face. The Chairman is a foreigner.
No one really knows his nationality.
He looks like Asian but also looks like Caucasian and that was confusing and he was very tall.
6’6 tall, handsome, charming, powerful, elegant, sophisticated and very charismatic…a perfect ladies man.
Not to mention he is crazily rich.
But when he was angry, weirdly enough, the chairman glares look like unsheathed sword, his voice no matter how low the volume is, it sounds like an executioner angry shout and each gestures bring dread toward their heart.
Fortunately, the Korean Branch did not do any big blunder this year. Maybe that is because they are newly established.
Sometimes, they wish the Chairman doesn’t make his trip to Korea to often but everyone knows that the redevelopment in Gangnam is solely on the Chairman Company and this multinational company they work at is one of the most trustworthy companies in the world.
Global Ventures Corp also does not skim anything and did everything by the book. It is a company trusted by many even though they only began operating for one year.
None of their promises were broken and their job is always up to par. Their reputation is good.
‘Administrator Kim? Did you hear what I said?’ Hearing this word, Administrator Kim was startled from her useless lamenting.
‘Yes, President Lee.’
Lee Na Eun.
She is a President of the Korean branch. But even though she is the president of this large branch she once used to be the secretary of the chairman.
Some even speculated she and the chairman have a thing. Though it was never verified many people think like that since they are awfully close.
Not to mention they were perfect for each other. The Chairman is young and handsome, while President Lee is charming and capable.
Lee Na Eun is really beautiful almost like an actress. With long silky hair, white complexion, S line body, she was the definition of modern faced beauty.
She was also slim and tall. She is also capable, outgoing and have a good personality.
Really…..she invokes envy.
As Lee Na Eun reaches the parking lot, she quickly reminisce her meeting with the Chairman.
A year ago.
In a conference in Seoul.
The young man charismatic, tall and handsome and emit a powerful aura with each steps. At the time, people of Goryeo blasted him for having an interest in the new nation of Korea.
The conference was to reveal his intention and defend himself from the accusation that is levied against him by the people of Korea.
Global Ventures at the time was helping people like her.
People who was impoverished. People who became orphans. People who suffered from the 150 Days Reign.
People who survived the war between the people of Joseon and Goryeo. People who were resisting the elected leader by the US military and Empire of Japan Military.
But some began doubting the reason why this global company wanted to help Korea. To be occupied by a foreign power again is not what the Koreans wanted.
She was also the few people that wanted Global Venture not to come to Korea.
Because he’s not Korean. There is not a trace of Korean blood in him. No one knows his nationality.
A mutt. That is the term for people like him. She was influenced with the thoughts of her family which always hated the foreigners.
She was a North Korean and was taught that the foreigners intention is all bad intention. An ultra-nationalist and hated in every way of every culture that is not Korean in nature.
And for that reasons, she believes his effort was purely an effort to manipulate the Korean soil.
In hindsight, none of the accusation levied on him was true and most of it was erroneous.
Even though, The Global Venture did profit with their involvement in bringing the nation up, they did not manipulate nor did any harm to the Korean people and interest but instead is helping Korean grows stronger even through the interference of the Oda Imperial Family of Japan and the United States.
The Russian Tsar on the other hand supported the new nation but it was purely backed by profit interest relationship.
At that time Na Eun remembers some of the chairman words in his two hours oration of scathing remarks to nationalism and patriotism and the hope that contains in the new world of globalization.
Standing on a podium high up on the stage he began by denouncing dogmas and nationality.
‘We are very defensive, and therefore aggressive, when we hold on to a particular belief, a dogma, or when we worship our particular nationality, with the rag that is called the flag. In worshipping their nationhood men worship themselves and scorn others, and that is not a healthy thing. It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way around. National identity is the last bastion of the dispossessed. But the meaning of identity is now based on hatred, on hatred for those who are not the same.’
He was speaking of his stance as an anti-nationalist through and through. And he was very adamant about it.
While others might follow up with consoling words like. “Even so, I admire your nationalist pride” but the Chairman did not.
He keeps bashing nationalist and nationalism in general. To him, the very notion of it was idiotic.
It was almost like his eyes see further than this world. Like nationalism in his eyes was a trifling matter, a matter so insignificant that even wasting time on it was a blasphemy.
He said
‘Extreme nationalism objectifies and dehumanizes those from other countries.’
For him, in the new world where the nations were divided by race, it was just another form of ethnic segregation.
If they were to become a global enlightened civilization, then one should learn the word togetherness.
“IT’S NOT RACIST TO BE PROUD OF YOUR COUNTRY!’ One of her sunbae yelled during his passionate speech and the Chairman Azief yelled back.
‘No, but it is fucking stupid to think it makes you a better man.’ He surely is not shy in cursing and the force of his conviction was realty intimidating.
Then he continues with the reality of humanity changing environment of our present situation as humanity as a whole.
‘With the technology of communication we possess, it forces all nations to reconsider traditional ways of thinking about national sovereignty. Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it. Our true nationality is mankind!’
This was the part of the speech that impacted her the most.
At the beginning she was hurling insult and protesting with pickets. But the more she heard, the slower the curses became.
The pickets no longer up in the air.
Her eyes full of anger are now calm. And she wanted to listen like the voice of that man has some hypnotic power that makes people believe him.
Then lowering his tone he said his word like a reminder and a warning
‘All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers… Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born. You all know as well as I, patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either my country, right or wrong, which is infamous, or my country is always right, which is imbecile. Nationalism is an infantile thing. It is the measles of mankind. Why must I cling to the customs and practices of a particular country forever, just because I happened to be born there? What does it matter if its distinctiveness is lost? Need we be so attached to it? What’s the harm if everyone on earth shares the same thoughts and feelings, if they stand under a single banner of laws and regulations? What if we can’t be recognized as Koreans, or Indians, or Japanese, or Chinese, or Norwegian anymore? Where’s the harm in that? No one can object if we declare ourselves to be citizens of the world. Is that any less glorious?’
He ask this hard question, making the people there question their own belief and values and to evaluate themselves.
Then the Chairman preaches about togetherness.
‘To become a true global citizen, one must abandon all notions of ‘otherness’ and instead embrace ‘togetherness’. The world is no longer white, black, yellow and brown. Through love, tribes have been intermixing colors to reveal a new rainbow world. And as more time passes, this racial and cultural blending will make it harder for humans to side with one race, nation or religion over another. Therefore, practical wisdom should be used to abandon any cultural, social, religious, tribal, and national beliefs of alterity altogether. This is the only way mankind will truly evolve. Segregation is a word of the past. Unity is the key to a peaceful future.’
Hearing his two hour speech, denouncing the nationalist, denouncing the narrow world view, standing there on the podium like a lone philosopher, fighting with his word, screaming it with his voice, screaming it to the people to see past their colors, their differences and their ethnicities and see what is in front of them right now.
A new future for them to write.
A blank paper is in front of them now and they can draw anything they like. Telling them, that they can rise together.
Spreading love and hope.
He even relate to the religious people in the crowd by speaking about God.
Na Eun realizes then that the man on top of the podium, speaking every word like it is the law of the Universe, was a skilled orator.
‘We are not sheep or cows. God didn’t create fences for us or boundaries to contain our nationalities. Man did. God didn’t draw up religious barriers to separate us from each other. Man did. And on top of that, no father would like to see his children fighting or killing each other. The Creator favors the man who spreads loves over the man who spreads hate. A religious title does not make anyone more superior over another. If a kind man stands by his conscience and exhibits truth in his words and actions, he will stand by God regardless of his faith. If mankind wants to evolve, we must learn from our past mistakes. If not, our technology will evolve without us. And that will spell our doom. A philosopher once said “So it is the human condition that to wish for the greatness of one’s fatherland is to wish evil to one’s neighbors. The citizen of the universe would be the man who wishes his country never to be either greater or smaller, richer or poorer.” I stand by him on his opinion. Patriotism is nationalism, and always leads to war.’
Then with a low tone he finishes his oration with a message of hope.
‘Somebody….somebody must trespass on the taboos of modern nationalism, in the interests of human reason. In the interest of humanity future. Business can’t. Diplomacy won’t. It has to be people like us.’
And then the people in the crowd some of them was even converted there and then. Na Eun a one of them.
Each of his word was like a truth they have been hiding and now that it is out in the open, Na Eun could see that most of her arguments wouldn’t hold up if it was hold to scrutiny.
It was not like she doesn’t know this but never before have someone stood there on that high podium and scold them like that man is doing right now.
With passionate speech and the right gesture, everyone was entranced. People who support him was cheering, people who objected him was tongue tied.
In his two hours oration, he outlined all possible good of embracing togetherness and answer all accusation levied against him.
So, when the Global Venture began its first recruitment for Korea Branch, she joins the audition and get one on one interview with Azief.
Believing in her, she was appointed to Vice President based on her resume and her interview and then a few months later, when the previous president was transferred to South Africa she take the helm of the Korea branch.
As she was thinking of past memories she finally realized she has arrived at the airport. Smiling, she parks her car and enters the airport.
***