Russia was treated as shameless by the international community for trying to take over the northern cities, taking advantage of Kazakhstan's internal turmoil. As Western media were clamoring for economic sanctions over Russia if Kazakhstan were to be pressed any longer, Russia had to stop right there. Putin was afraid that the economy would falter, so he pulled out his troops.

He did not forget the lesson he learned when Russia was cornered due to several rounds of economic sanctions in the past. Countries in the West were also in a situation where they could not wait to see Kazakhstan fall into Russia's hands, as it would disrupt the supply of resources. There were so many countries that depended on Kazakhstan's underground resources.

"The atmosphere is ripe. What's the next plan?"

"We're almost there, but let's just watch it for now as bystanders. If we act now, we'll be treated the same as the northern cities."

"Why are you slowing down now? Weren't you about to start something soon?"

"We can't handle Kazakhstan with our power now. We still need to build up some strength."

"If the president steps down, there will be so many politicians who will want to take over the vacant spot. You're just going to watch that happen?"

"I've been thinking it over, and we still need more support base. Our only supporters are young soldiers. It's not enough. They asked me to be the center, but they never asked me to become the next president. Also, I'll never do anything like the presidential system unless it's a const.i.tutional monarchy."

The autonomous state could not possibly take over the entire country with support from young officers. If there was an election, the majority of voters would still support the president despite his misbehavior. That was why the state and military officers created border disputes to prevent the election from happening.

Under such circ.u.mstances, if Youngho took power with a few soldiers on his back, would he be recognized for his legitimacy? To be recognized by the people, he would have to resort to all kinds of pork-barrel policies to gain the people's hearts, but that was not what he wanted.

Various pork-barrel social security systems had only made Kazakh people lazy. They did not have motivations to live better. People who had been nomadic for more than a thousand years had their own way of thinking. They were only satisfied with having homes and just enough food to get by.

What he could do, for now, the first thing was to have the current president step down from power. Then, there would be no force to threaten the Arirang Autonomous State anymore since there was no one who would touch the state that had the military on its back.

"Tell me what you're going to do. I'm so frustrated."

"If he steps down, we have no choice but to go into a transitional system for the time being. We'll keep the prime minister system until we elect a new president."

"And if some weirdo gets elected as president what are we going to do?"

"President Nazarbayev, who dreamed of permanent power, didn't even raise a successor. He tried to slip in his eldest daughter into the position, but that's all behind us now. For now, there's no one who's talented enough to replace him."

"So, since there's no one competent enough to become the president, it's going to be your turn?"

"Park Jong-il seems to be losing his smartness these days."

"Yes. My brain doesn't function well these days as it used to be. So give me a good explanation."

"How long do you think the transitional government will last? Maybe less than a year or so? It'll just end up in the mire of corruption again. The prime minister, who had been in the corrupted political system for all his life, will not bypa.s.s the sweet taste of power. You can even tell what's going to happen, right? That's when we'll be on our way up."

Once the president was gone, Kazakhstan would have no choice but to go with a prime minister system for a while since its priority was to fix its current mess. Once its political situation was stabilized to a certain degree, corrupted officials would soon try to go back to their old habits. Politicians and bureaucrats who listened and learned from corruption would soon be snooping around the country's national budget again. Then the public who would not tolerate it anymore would riot, and that was when the military would step up and offer a helping hand to Youngho. Once the military asked him to step into power before Kazakhstan collapsed, he would pretend he could not help but to help.

However, he would make a proposal to the people. The cause of corruption was the imperial presidency, so why not switch to a const.i.tutional monarchy like Europe? After hearing his explanation, Park Jong-il looked puzzled.

"If we think of the poor people of Kazakhstan, don't you have to act now to straighten up the corrupt system?"

"People will only agree to my suggestion once they've seen trials and errors. It'll also be hard for them to cut off the old system because they're used to it."

"When we adopt the const.i.tutional monarchy, do you think corruption will disappear overnight?"

"I'm saying I'm going to change everything from top to bottom. If that's not possible, we should get rid of the government and give the role to a private inst.i.tution. That will be more efficient."

"Leaving the government's work to a private inst.i.tution means you're going to do outsourcing."

"Yes. Is there a law that says no?"

"You're crazy, you're leaving the government to a private company? I must step up and tell everyone never to support you!"

***

All the Russian troops deployed on the border were pulled out and the border force returned to the level of a usual border guard. The reason was that Nazarbayev had declared he would step down from power.

The president would step down as president without any strings attached when he found no breakthrough. Nevertheless, the people were looking at him coldly. By pus.h.i.+ng hard to maintain his presidency, he took out the card of martial law, which had only caused conflicts between the people.

He thought he had Russia on his back, but he had no place to lean on there since Russia was being pushed back by the international media. Even if he wanted to defect to Russia, it was questionable whether he would be accepted there.

In the TV screen, the one that once had great power as if Kazakhstan was his private country, was reading a statement with a voice that occasionally shook. All there was left was an exhausted, dirty, ugly old man who was trying to find a way to live.

When the president issued his resignation, the world media welcomed the arrival of democratization in Kazakhstan.

The whole country was in a festive mood as if it had met a new world. The Kazakh media, which had been controlled by the government, started pouring out articles exposing corruption in the previous administration day after day.

There were no bureaucrats who were in key government posts that were not involved in corruption. Those who suffered unfair practices from the authoritarian regime reported various cases of corruption to the press.

"If this article is true, there will be hundreds of people who deserve to be beaten to death. I wonder how this country has functioned normally."

" This is what happens when you don't actualize payments. Everyone survived on bribes to cover their living expenses."

"It turns out that the Prime Minister also received money from a construction company."

"No, this guy should stay in his seat for a while."

"It's reporting the specific amount that he received. He didn't receive it in cash. Since he made a bank transaction, he won't get out of this."

"Jeez. It's a big deal if there's no one to settle the situation right now."

"Looks like the ministers of each department are going to get fired."

If all of the ministers were to be fired, Youngho's plan could not be carried out since the government would collapse too quickly.

If the government collapsed before the state even prepared itself, it was more likely that Kazakhstan would split into small republics since no one would rely on anarchy. The good news was that regional governments were still there even if the central government collapsed. Since the people of the central government held its power, state officials had no place to commit a huge corruption. They were relatively clean although they were never honest bureaucrats either.

"As you said, if people fire everyone and send them to prison, the country will be paralyzed. What are we going to do? Man, it's a good thing that state officials are still there."

"If things don't get resolved in the next few days, we should meet with young soldiers and make a decision. At this rate, Kazakhstan will be torn apart."

Someone had to present a vision that it would be better to remain a member of Kazakhstan to stop the country from being torn apart.

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Youngho called Lieutenant Colonel Kabak and other young officers to the Arirang Autonomous State. Since the political situation became more entangled, they all rushed to the state.

In the meeting, there was one person to pay attention to, which was the chief commander of the Western national border unit, Karim. He was the one whom Cho Chul-hwan and Lt. Col. Kabak had been trying to get on their side. He was the general that young officers admired so much. He was a true soldier of strong character who greatly considered his soldiers and the duty of national defense only.

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally. I'm Lee Young-ho, the leader of the Arirang Autonomous State."

"I'm Karim, who's working at the border area. You've invited a pathetic soldier who only cares about honor, even though I refused to join three times. That's why I'm here today."

"It's an honor to meet the famous general."

"That's just an empty reputation. I wanted to meet you today because I heard that you love Kazakhstan more than many of us do."

"Well, that's been exaggerated. I just wanted to protect the Arirang state."

"You're being modest. How can I not know that you have been going through troubles for Kazakhstan? I've always felt ashamed because I had to sit back while someone like you is trying his best."

"How is doing your duty as a soldier shameful?"

"I'm ashamed to be here, but I was forced to come because Kazakhstan is only hanging by a thread. I'd like to add a little bit of strength."

"That's what I wanted to hear. Shall we move to the cafeteria first?"