Chapter 127: The Future of Cultured Meat
—Mr. Lee, the head of the auction house association and the main culprit of the food crisis, has been arrested urgently.
—Mr. Lee is accused of bribing a branch manager of the agricultural cooperative and manipulating loan documents to obtain a large amount of money.
—Thirty employees, including four brokers who were at the scene, were also arrested on the same charge, and twenty others are on the run.
Those who opposed Yu Ji-ha always ended up like this.
At first, they seemed to have some advantage, but at some point, the tide turned against them and they were eventually destroyed miserably.
Unless they were as big as a nation, a bunch of mediocrities could never withstand him.
In that sense, the broker gang had picked the wrong opponent.
—They had nothing to touch, so they messed with the dictator. They were too arrogant.
—They didn’t touch the real economy until now, so they believed he wouldn’t intervene this time either.
—They planned to hoard the supplies and negotiate with Yu Ji-ha. Honestly, if smart farms hadn’t poured out pork belly, they would have succeeded.
—Yu Ji-ha is actually very wicked. He had countermeasures but let people vent their complaints.
—No, he waited to introduce smart farms fully. Look now. The media is going crazy over smart farm coverage.
The smart farm in Kamchatka Peninsula, which had resolved the crisis, received intense attention from the media.
Even the media outlets that had been harshly criticizing Yu Ji-ha subtly requested coverage, and the government arranged a separate flight.
And the truth about the smart farm was revealed one by one.
The Koreans were shocked by the fact that the smart farm, which was as large as a city, was completely unmanned, and so were the foreigners.
—Did they say they had been operating such a large scale without disclosing it until now?
—It’s likely that the spam that goes into North Korea is produced there.
—The scale is amazing, but the equipment and algorithms are more surprising. Especially, the culture room is a mystery how it was composed.
—A correspondent staying in Korea tried cultured meat and said he couldn’t tell it from real meat. Maybe it will overturn the entire global meat market.
—The price range is a bit high for that. Korea has a high food price, so it might be a substitute, but it’s not enough to appeal to the world.
What they didn’t know was one thing.
The price of 3,000 won per 100 grams of pork belly was deliberately set high because it couldn’t destroy pig farms.
Yu Ji-ha emphasized that point at the cabinet meeting.
“Persuade pig farmers within three years. When smart farms start pouring out supplies, we can drop pork belly to 500 won per 100 grams.”
“That much…”
“This is impossible to compete with.”
The bureaucrats who had encountered many surprising information were also quite shocked by this remark.
“That’s why you should persuade them by paying subsidies and arranging jobs. It would be better if you say it’s a smart farm management foundation under direct control of the president rather than a private company. Chief of Staff.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
Bae Sung-min, chief of staff, raised his head.
“How far has the relocation work of that company progressed?”
“Currently, most of the documents have been transferred and we are selecting a site in the southern region.”
“Finish it as soon as possible and start establishing the management foundation. I’ll leave this matter to you.”
Someone said that.
Yu Ji-ha wouldn’t stop at arresting a few unscrupulous distributors.
There were many rumors that there would be follow-up measures and in fact, the smart farm management foundation was being prepared under direct control of the president.
The reason why he didn’t entrust this to Silla Group was to employ many people.
When smart farms started operating in earnest, food products produced in traditional ways would not be competitive in terms of cost.
It was expected that farmers would go bankrupt in droves, so an agency was needed to absorb them.
He couldn’t leave people who had been farming all their lives on the street overnight, could he?
However, there was not only a rosy outlook for introducing smart farms.
—There are still many people who look for real meat even if it is similar to real meat. We have to consider them too.
—There is a saying that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. The president seems to want the state to manage the entire pork industry, but that could lead to a worse situation than this crisis in case of emergency.
—The smart farm looks amazing, but it can’t produce by-products like bones or organs, can it? We shouldn’t completely extinct the pig farming industry for that reason.
The chief of staff, Bae Sung-min, also had that concern.
“According to this plan, you won’t be able to enjoy your favorite gamjatang anymore, Mr. President. Are you okay with that?”
“…”
The cabinet members saw Yu Ji-ha close his mouth in silence for the first time.
He had a good appetite and ate anything that the Blue House chef made.
He rarely asked for anything special, but he sometimes asked for gamjatang.
Coincidentally, he liked the ones from the restaurants more than the ones made by the chef, so the secretary had to buy gamjatang for him.
Bae Sung-min felt a strange emotion as he saw his face stiffen completely.
‘He’s not a machine after all…’
He sometimes mistook him for a machine because he didn’t show much emotion.
A moment later, Yu Ji-ha opened his mouth after recovering from the shock.
“…Let’s keep a minority of farms since there are some preferences for real meat.”
It was an uncharacteristic decision for a dictator who always wanted efficiency, but sometimes he needed to show this side too.
There was a brief talk about the funds to be invested in the management foundation, but it didn’t seem to be a big problem since he had cut off many businesses.
“We can cover it with contingency funds without budgeting.”
This regime had not done much budgeting even though it had a huge burden of North Korea.
He could do it right away if he wanted to, since there was no parliament.
The reason for this was that artificial intelligence took over the budget review of all public institutions, public enterprises, and local governments.
It was finally realized what Yu Ji-ha had said before, that even ten thousand won had to pass through Lucia’s review.
As a result, local events that were criticized as irrational and wasteful of taxes were drastically reduced.
They couldn’t do things like tearing up good roads anymore.
He interfered so much that some local governments said it would be better to abolish the autonomy system altogether and he was actually doing that.
A while later, the topic of the cabinet meeting changed to surplus milk.
“It’s expensive to make butter with that milk. Is there something wrong with it?”
“The cheese made from our milk doesn’t taste good. It’s probably because the environment is different…”
The milk from cows that eat feed and the milk from cows that roam around and graze on grass can’t be the same.
Even considering that, Korean milk was bland and so was cheese.
The real problem was the surplus of milk itself.
At a price of over 4,000 won per liter, consumers had long turned their eyes to imported sterilized milk.
The worst thing was that the price of milk did not go down because of the linkage system.
As a result, consumers also turned away from dairy products and baking industries that needed milk.
Despite the fact that dairy farmers were decreasing, there was more and more surplus milk every year.
When the situation reached this point, the dairy industry, which had been guaranteed profits until then, suggested easing the linkage system, but Yu Ji-ha had no intention of doing so.
“The linkage system for raw milk prices introduced in 2013 is the root of all evil. We can’t let fifty million, no, seventy million people suffer to protect the interests of less than ten thousand dairy farmers. We will abolish the linkage system as of now.”
Finally, it came.
The bureaucrats were tense about what bomb-like words would come out of the president’s mouth next.
They were going to war with the domestic distribution industry from now on.
***
After Korea and Japan severed diplomatic ties, Korea almost cut off interest in Japan.
The number of times Japan was mentioned in the media decreased significantly and the government acted as if it didn’t exist at all.
If a Japanese diplomat made a remark about it at a UN meeting, they ignored it completely.
Despite this lack of exchange, Korea surprisingly held up well.
They prepared well and Yu Ji-ha’s existence was a pillar. That was the evaluation of economic circles.
—Korea doesn’t need Japan anymore. But Japan is different.
—Compared to Japan being rarely mentioned in Korean portals or media, Korea almost occupied foreign news on Japanese portals. It seemed like there was no other country than Korea in foreign news.
However, there were quite a few people in Korea who regretted severing ties with Japan.
Japanese food, culture, travel and so on were undeniably attractive.
But recently, Korea’s content had increased a lot.
The Tourism Agency had finished consulting with the Ministry of Land and was planning a product to travel to the Gema Plateau in North Korea.
Yu Ji-ha had originally said that he would close it for ten years to normalize the North Korean region, but that was slightly relaxed.
Although there were many restrictions such as strict limitations on items to be brought in and all garbage had to be collected, it was still possible to travel to the Gema Plateau.
It was already attracting all kinds of attention on TV and YouTube, whether they could film the tigers of the Korean Peninsula.
On the other hand, various games produced by Silla Entertainment also satisfied the maniacs.
Korea had been weak in otaku-type content represented by animation, but it became a big topic when a production tool using artificial intelligence was announced.
It meant that individuals could make animations using the production tool.
—All you need is your imagination. Try making an animation now.
Of course, it was quite difficult to go professional, such as having to do 3D modeling, but it was enough to arouse the desire to challenge.
Many creators showcased their own models and animations, which boasted quality that was not inferior to CG animations made with huge investments.
Japan reported this trend in great detail.
On portal sites, news from Korea had much higher clicks than domestic news.
In the midst of this, a pork shortage crisis occurred and cultured meat was announced, which made Korean TV dominate the Japanese TV.
This was because Japan and Israel were leading the research on cultured meat.
Except for TV Tokyo, other broadcasters were busy sending out special features on cultured meat every day.
―The mysterious cultured meat that perfectly reproduces samgyeopsal dissected!
―Can it match the taste of Royal Meat, the pride of Nitsin Research Institute in Japan?
The guest invited to this special feature was Professor Soichi.
He was a professor of agriculture at Tokyo University and one of the few people who could visit Korea.
Although the two countries officially severed ties, they did not completely cut off private exchanges.
President Yu Ji-ha seemed to hate Japan on the surface, but surprisingly he often complied with requests from civilians.
The extreme right-wing forces, including the New Japan Restoration Party, claimed that this was a conspiracy to dominate Japan, but Professor Soichi denied it.
The reason he came out today was to correct the prejudice that Japanese people had against Korea.
“Actually, I have visited Korea recently.”
“Eeeh~”
“That’s amazing. I thought Korea hated Japanese people completely.”
Professor Soichi sighed heavily at the ridiculous reactions of the panels.
“They are not hateful, but indifferent. You can’t find any news about Japan in Korean news. They are completely focused on domestic issues, unlike us.”
The atmosphere cooled down as he revealed the uncomfortable truth, and the host intervened reluctantly.
“Well, well, today’s topic is about Korea’s cultured meat. I ask you to focus on that.”
“Fine. Anyway, I visited Korea for research and coincidentally there was a pork shortage crisis. There was a saying in Japan that it was impossible, but I would like to call it a challenge.”
“A challenge.”
“Yes, a challenge. Because they broke through the crisis head-on. Any other country would have tried to lift the ban. But that person, Yu Ji-ha, was different.”
As soon as Yu Ji-ha’s story came up, the panels visibly became uncomfortable.
He was the protagonist of the severance and had caused a lot of friction, so they couldn’t have good feelings.
Not all Japanese people felt that way, but the panels of this special feature were composed of middle-aged or older people.
If they hired young people as panels, they might say something friendly.
Professor Soichi ignored such atmosphere and continued his story.
“He presented cultured meat from smart farms and completely captured the hearts of Koreans. Our media doubted whether it would taste good or have good texture, but I tasted it and it was not inferior to any brand.”
“By brand, do you mean something like Kurobuta?”
“I get invited to eat meat a lot because of my profession, but Korea’s cultured meat was not behind at all.”
“Oh, really?”
It was a bold statement from a professor at Tokyo University, so even the panels responded slightly.
But then an old entertainer asked out of nowhere.
“Isn’t that expensive? They poured out thousands of tons of supply in a few weeks. I’m worried that Korea might go bankrupt.”
“I hope they don’t ask us for help.”
Professor Soichi sighed again.
These people hated Korea so much that they didn’t know what was going on at all.
He turned on his tablet on the spot and showed them the homepage of the newly established Smart Farm Management Agency.
“It’s a direct agency of President Yu Ji-ha. Smart Farm Management Agency. If you go to their homepage, you can see how they made cultured meat with what kind of technology. First…”
Words like bioprinter, ultrafine particle nozzle, enzyme adhesive popped out of Professor Soichi’s mouth.
He explained enthusiastically whether the panels were confused or not.
“This is not a simple assembly. It compressed the process of growing actual muscles and fat and reduced the cost significantly.”
“But didn’t they set the price at 400 yen per 100 grams? That’s not cheap.”
One panel asked and he said impatiently.
“That’s a kind of grace period to consider the existing farms. If you look at this page, they plan to lower the price to about 65 yen in three years.”
“65 yen??”
“That’s amazing.”
The panels couldn’t help but be surprised by this number.
It was natural because Nitsin’s Royal Meat, which was rated as the most advanced in Japan’s cultured meat research, cost more than 2,000 yen per 100 grams.
Usually, costs go down as technology advances, but cultured meat research had limits because it required serum and stem cells.
“This 65 yen price means that they completely broke out of that limit. They made clean meat that doesn’t have to suffer from environmental problems anymore.”
This cultured meat would be very popular in Europe, but the relationship was so bad that the possibility of export was low.
The only places that could be exported were the United States, Russia, or the Middle East.
Now the panels were quiet and only the professor’s voice echoed in the studio.
“Cheap, clean, and tasty. A dream meat was born. And that’s not the end. This cultured meat technology can also be applied to tuna.”
“Eeeh?”
“Professor, you’re joking, right?”
Tuna was the most favorite fish of Japanese people.
But the supply was far short of the demand, so they mainly relied on the North Pacific fishing grounds, which were cut off by Terra Island.
The media cited this as one of the reasons why the middle-aged people disliked Yu Ji-ha, who took over the tuna fishing grounds.
Professor Soichi looked at the panels slowly and opened his mouth.
“I’m not joking. If you look at the contents of this homepage, you will see that they plan to produce not only pork, but also beef, chicken, fish, and even shellfish and other animal protein ingredients.”
“That’s just a plan, right?”
Someone shouted in protest, and he bit his tongue inwardly.
“Did anything that Yu Ji-ha said not come true?”
“…”
“Black metal battery, unobtanium ion thruster, artificial intelligence, diamond semiconductor… It’s hard to list them all. And now cultured meat is added to that. How about it? Japan is completely out of this flow. It’s obsolete.”
It was a harsh statement, but the backlash was not easy.
“I heard that we caught up a lot recently.”
“We already deployed railguns and added black metal armor plates to navy ships. Japan is not behind.”
“We are also making steady progress on ion thrusters. I think you are influenced by Korea because you visit there too much, professor.”
It was true.
Thanks to the emergence of powerful hypermen, there was also considerable progress in black metal and ether research.
But it was not well known that the hypermen suffered terribly behind the scenes.
The Matsuda administration desperately hid the fact that they caused a riot after being exploited.
So Japanese people could only see the successful side of Japan.
Professor Soichi emphasized with a final feeling.
“The future that Korea’s cultured meat will bring is clear. The UN climate agreement conference will start soon, right? The best way to reduce carbon emissions while maintaining the current economic scale is to reduce the number of livestock. That means we have to bow down to Korea, even if…”
Suddenly the audio went out and the last word was not heard.
But Japanese people who were watching this special feature could easily imagine that word.
The backlash rose like a fire in a stove.
―What? Reconciliation? Never.
―If Korea bows first, maybe. But no way.
―We need sincere apology and compensation from Yu Ji-ha at least.
Of course, Yu Ji-ha didn’t care about this situation.
His attention was focused on hundreds of fishing boats that filled the West Sea.
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