The stadium looks very sci-fi, like a flying saucer that landed in the center of Pingjing. The roof of the stadium is made of stainless steel and the exterior walls are made of granite. Whether it is daylight during the day or lights at night, it is illuminated and shines brightly.

Song Yi looked at the towering Ryugyong Hotel. Although it was not the first time he saw this hotel, he still felt shocked.

Before Song Yi was reborn, he set out from Andong City, entered North Korea via Sinuiju, and then went to Pyeonggyeong for a trip. At that time, the Ryugyong Hotel was finally completed with the investment of an Egyptian telecommunications giant. The entire hotel project cost 3.9 billion yuan.

In order to attract investment from Western investors, North Korea adopted a franchise model for the Ryugyong Hotel. The Ryugyong Hotel is only open to foreign tourists, and North Korean residents are not allowed to visit. This is because North Korea agreed to allow the hotel operator to open nightclubs, casinos and other leisure venues in the hotel.

Seeing Song Yi staring at the Ryugyong Hotel, Zhou Mengxian asked, "Why? Are you interested in taking over the Ryugyong Hotel?"

Seeing that North Korean officials were paying attention to his conversation with Zhou Mengxian, Song Yi smiled and avoided the topic. "As the saying goes, you can't chew too much. Now for us, if we can manage the Kaesong Industrial Park and Mount Kumgang International Tourism Zone well, we can turn losses into profits. Eshan's current financial situation can no longer support taking over the Ryugyong Hotel project."

Zhou Mengxian knew that Song Yi was a little rascal. When Zhou Zhengyong and Zhou Mengxian, father and son, visited Pyongyang, they were asked by North Korean leaders whether they could take over and continue to build the Ryugyong Hotel project.

Zhou Zhengyong and Song Yi agreed that Zhou Zhengyong wanted to first operate the two pilot projects, Kaesong Industrial Park and Mount Kumgang International Tourism Zone. If the Asan Group made money from these two projects, it would not be too late to invest in the Ryugyong Hotel.

Song Yi is the second largest individual shareholder of Eshan Group and still has considerable say in the Eshan Group.

On the surface, Mengxian was the entrepreneur representative of the South Korean delegation last week, but he knew that he had no say in the economic cooperation between North and South Korea. Whether the Eshan Group should start a new project or continue to invest in the original project required Zheng Enxuan and Song Yi to agree at the same time, so he could only make reasonable suggestions.

Zhou Mengxian felt that Song Yi had now taken over the reins, and he couldn't even have a say in the marriages of his two daughters.

He was quite satisfied with the marriage of his eldest daughter Zhou Zhiyi. Gu Guangmo was the future heir of LG Group and was now in charge of the Liangxi semiconductor factory project. He was young and promising, and he was also good-looking. Zhou Mengxian had nothing to be dissatisfied with.

However, he was not very satisfied with his second daughter's marriage. Chaebol families usually only marry within their families, rarely marrying politicians or businessmen. SK's Choi An-won marrying the president's daughter Song So-young is an exception.

Even though Song Woo-seok has been elected president, how many South Korean presidents can spend their old age in peace? If Joo Joo-yi marries Song Woo-seok's son Song Gun-ho, Song Woo-seok will end up miserable, and his second daughter Song Joo-yi will also be implicated.

But it's not just Song Yi, his wife Zheng Enxuan and eldest daughter Zhou Zhiyi all agree with this marriage. Zhou Zhiyi has a good relationship with Song Yuxi's daughter Song Jingyan, and has also met Song Jianhao and has a good impression of him.

Song Jianhao is a typical science and engineering man who has no intention of entering politics and is obsessed with work and research. In their words, even if Song Yuxi is impeached in the future, Song Jianhao and Zhou Zhuyi can stay in the mainland and live their lives.

Song Jianhao and Song Jingyan are now an investment bank elite and an LG Group executive respectively. As long as they don't make economic mistakes and accept bribes, they are not afraid of being criticized.

What Zhou Mengxian is dissatisfied with now is that his wife and daughter talk about Song Yi all the time. Song Yi's huge success in business has made his wife and daughter begin to believe in Song Yi's authority. Sometimes he once thought that Song Yi was the head of the family and he became an outsider.

Song Yi could feel Zhou Mengxian's frustration, but he could only adjust himself slowly, and he couldn't help. In order to better compete with Samsung, Lotte, and SK, Song Yi would also promote the merger of New Asia Media Real Estate Group and Eshan Group in the future.

Just like LG Group was originally formed by the merger of the Gu family of LG and the Xu family of GS. The Gu family and the Xu family helped each other for three generations. Later, the two families broke up peacefully. GS Group is also a large conglomerate ranked among the top in South Korea.

Although Song Yi said that he was not interested in the Ryugyong Hotel, he was actually a little interested. He had his eyes on the valuable gambling license of the Ryugyong Hotel. If the Ryugyong Hotel was allowed to open a casino, it could attract tourists from the United States, Japan, and South Korea to come and spend money and travel.

In fact, the main frame structure of the Ryugyong Hotel has been completed. It only needs to install glass curtain walls and interior decoration before it can be open to the public. The hotel is expected to have 3,000 rooms and can accommodate tens of thousands of tourists every day.

Song Yi planned to find experts in the construction industry after returning to Seoul and ask them to estimate the cost of continuing to build the Ryugyong Hotel and make a plan in advance, but there was no need to rush.

The DPRK representatives who attended the opening ceremony of Zhou Zhengyong Sports Center included Kim Dongshin of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and Huang Xuehai, a member of the Supreme People's Assembly. Huang Xuehai was born in Yeji City, Liaozhong Province, and is a descendant of DPRK revolutionaries. He is from the same hometown as Song Yi.

Jin Dongshen had dealt with Song Yi before and recognized him immediately. He introduced Song Yi to Huang Xuehai: "This is Song Yi. His grandmother is the youngest sister of Chairman Zhou Zhengyong. He is also a well-known entrepreneur in South Korea."

Huang Haixue was very happy and shook hands with Song Yi vigorously. "I witnessed Chairman Zhou Zhengyong's demeanor when he visited Pyeongchang a few years ago. He is a great entrepreneur who cares about the peace of the peninsula and intends to promote the unification of the peninsula. We welcome peace-loving people from all walks of life in South Korea to visit Pyeongchang and have friendly exchanges."

"Although we are geographically close, we have been far apart psychologically for a long time. Of course, since we are willing to visit each other more often, we are good friends. It is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar. I personally extend my sincere welcome to your Korean delegation." Huang Xuehai said to Song Yi.

Song Yi replied politely, "Thank you, Councillor Huang. My grandmother is Korean, my mother is Korean, and I was born in Yeji City, a border state. I like Korean food very much, so after graduating from high school, I chose to study abroad at Yonsei University."

"In my heart, Chairman Zhou will always be my role model to learn from and follow, and I also hope that the peninsula can maintain long-term peace. For both North and South Korea, they are not only neighbors who cannot move away, but also relatives connected by blood," said Song Yi.

Huang Haixue nodded with satisfaction. "I am also from Yeji. I joined the army in 1950 and served as a soldier in the guard company. I went to Bianzhou for investigation and study in the 1990s. It is developing very well now. In order to welcome the guests from the south, we have prepared wonderful song and dance performances. We can talk about work later when we have time."

No matter which country it is, the leaders’ speeches are always at the beginning of such events, and the opening ceremony of Zhou Zhengyong Sports Center is no exception.

There were four people who came on stage to give speeches, two from the DPRK and two from the ROK. The first to come on stage was Hwang Hae-hak, followed by South Korean Minister of Unification Kim, then Kim Dong-shin of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, and finally Zhou Mengxian, the honorary chairman of the Asan Group. Zhou Mengxian came on stage to speak as a family member of Zhou Zhengyong.

Zhou Zhengyong and Zhou Mengxian donated 47 million US dollars to build the stadium. At that time, Hyundai Group was already in debt crisis. No wonder other members of the Hyundai family, except Zhou Mengxian, did not agree with Zhou Zhengyong's decision, including Zheng Enxuan.

After they finished speaking, the singing and dancing performance officially began. The first song played by the North Korean orchestra was the old North Korean song "Nice to Meet You".

Zhou Mengxian, who was sitting next to Song Yi, had tears in his eyes. Perhaps he remembered the scene when he accompanied his father across the North Korea-ROK demarcation line and then carried out scalper diplomacy.

The DPRK originally planned to hold the opening ceremony of the Zhou Zhengyong Gymnasium in 2004. The reason it was brought forward to 2003 was that the DPRK rushed the construction schedule while ensuring quality and quantity.

Song Yi was enjoying the performance of the North Korean actors on the stage. They were wearing pink and white Korean national costumes, singing and dancing in the center of the stage to cheerful songs. Song Yi could not sing any of the songs, but good music could always resonate with people.

In addition to North Korean songs "My Country Is the Best" and "Run Towards the Future", Park also sang folk songs familiar to Koreans, such as "To J", "Journey" and "Hometown Where I Lived". No matter how popular KPOP is, it is not suitable to perform in this occasion.

The arrangement of this song is very rich. The prelude is a beautiful classical guitar, the first verse is joined by an organ, the second verse is joined by a Korean Xiqin, or possibly a Chinese erhu, and the chorus is joined by percussion, a bit like castanets. The high-pitched long notes of the female singer reminded Song Yi of Japanese enka. South Korea borrowed from Chinese and Japanese culture and then created its own style of pop music.

In the song "Hometown Where I Lived", Korean folk songs, Japanese enka and Western music are intertwined in a very harmonious way.

Huang Haixue closed his eyes and sang along with the song with great emotion. While the actors were being replaced, Huang Haixue said to Song Yi: "For Chairman Zhou Zhengyong, the North is his hometown. It is this attachment to his hometown that made him willing to invest huge sums of money to develop Mount Kumgang and the Kaesong Industrial Park. Although these two projects are not successful, they are still of great significance to the current North-South relations."

Song Yi understood what Huang Haixue meant. He personally agreed to retain the Kaesong Industrial Park and Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area projects. These two projects could provide North Korea with a few foreign exchange earnings in the future.

The wages of North Korean workers in the Kaesong Industrial Park are all settled in US dollars. If foreign tourists visit the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area, they can only settle in US dollars, euros, yen and RMB.

Song Yi thought carefully about Huang Haixue's words. He would not speak without purpose.

After Huang Haixue finished speaking, he began to concentrate on watching the performance. Finally, representatives of Pyeongchang University students and primary and secondary school students came on stage together and sang "Arirang" with the orchestra actors, which is also a reserved song in the North and South Korean art performances.

The South Korean delegation was arranged to stay at the best Koryo Hotel in Pyeongjong. The hotel has 45 floors and is 140 meters high. The interior decoration is very magnificent. After Song Yi moved into the Koryo Hotel, he felt like he was staying at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Many foreign heads of state chose to stay at this hotel when visiting Pyeongjong.

Zhou Mengxian reminded Song Yi, "Don't walk around at night, and don't go out without permission. If you need to hear any noise at night, don't be curious, just sleep peacefully in the hotel. The TV in the room can only receive a few limited channels, basically news programs, I don't think you will be interested."

"The waiters in the hotel are all carefully selected. They are one in a million in terms of appearance, figure, and academic qualifications. You must not have private contact with them. If a romantic scandal occurs, it will be a diplomatic dispute, which will be difficult to handle at that time." Zhou Mengxian repeatedly reminded.

Song Yi knew that Zhou Mengxian had good intentions. "Thank you, Uncle Mengxian. I understand. Since I'm here to attend my great uncle's memorial event, I will definitely not embarrass him."

The hotel arranged a dinner for the South Korean delegation. Song Yi really had no appetite, so he took a few bites, said hello to Minister Jin and Zhou Mengxian, and went back to his room to rest.

When Song Yi just returned to the room, he found Huang Haixue and Jin Dongshen just walking to the door of his room.

"Chairman Song, Councillor Huang wants to talk to you about the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Zone project. Are you available now?" Jin Dongshen asked Song Yi first.

Song Yi quickly invited him into the room, "It's convenient. I usually go to bed at 11 o'clock, and it's still early now."

Huang Haixue and Jin Dongshen sat down and motioned Song Yi to sit down first. The three of them sat on the fabric sofa and started chatting.

"I heard that Xinya and Eshan jointly developed a scenic spot in Huizhou City in the mainland, called Huangling Scenic Area. This scenic spot was just put into operation in October last year and received 20,000 tourists in just one week. Chairman Song obviously has his own experience in how to operate a scenic spot. In your opinion, what aspects of the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area are currently lacking and need to be strengthened?" Huang Haixue asked directly.

Song Yi did not hide it. "In fact, Mount Kumgang has very rich tourism resources. It is the most famous mountain on the Korean Peninsula. Many Korean tourists want to visit it, but it is not easy to do so. Personally, I think the primary condition restricting the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Zone is the inconvenient transportation."

"If you want to get rich, build roads first. Compared with expensive planes and cruise ships, traveling to Mount Kumgang by train is obviously a more economical way to travel," said Song Yi.

Kim Dong-shin hesitated. "Last September, the North and South held a working meeting to discuss specific technical issues and the groundbreaking ceremony for connecting the railways and roads between the two sides. The North and South held groundbreaking ceremonies for the factories connecting the Gyeongui Line and the Donghae Line railways and roads, respectively."

"However, it is not easy to implement these agreements, after all, it involves the security issues of both parties," explained Jin Dongshen.

Song Yi was of course aware that although the relationship between South Korea and North Korea had eased, the two sides were still in a state of war. After the war, the two sides only signed an armistice agreement, not a peace agreement. Both sides deployed heavy troops on the border, and there were many mines buried along the short 200-kilometer border. It was undoubtedly difficult to build a road under such conditions.

"Councilor Huang, if you want to reconnect the East Sea Line, it is of course not easy. In fact, we can simplify things. We only need to connect the Jujin Station to the Kumgangsan Youth Line, and ignore the northern and southern lines of the East Sea Line."

"South Korean tourists only need to board a train at Jujin Station and take a tourist train to Goseong County in North Korea. Then they get off in Goseong County and transfer to a tourist bus to enter the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area."

"The security check at Jujin Station is under the responsibility of the South Korean side, and the security check at Goseong Station is under the responsibility of the North Korean side. South Korean tourists entering North Korea by rail can only visit the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area and cannot go to Wonsan, Kaesong and Pyeonggyeong. They can only return by the original route. This will minimize the difficulty of security work for both sides and maximize the interests of the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area." Song Yi said.

Huang Haixue nodded in approval when he heard what Song Yi said. This was equivalent to building a temporary tourist line, and Korean tourists were actually restricted to a specific area. As long as the Gaocheng Railway Station and the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Area were well protected, hostile elements could be prevented from sneaking into North Korea.

"I understand your suggestion. Take a good rest today. We will convene a symposium with relevant departments and experts to see if this tourist line is feasible. If this tourist line is opened, the work of connecting the South Korea-Korea railway can be greatly promoted." Huang Haixue said excitedly.

This tourist line is also the first phase of the North Korea-South Korea railway. If this line is opened to traffic, the railway connecting Kaesong can be opened at that time.

For the current North Korea and South Korea, the first thing to do is to solve the problem of whether or not there is something, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not.

If the North Korea-ROK railway is always in the state of trial operation, symbolically connected as a face-saving project for politicians of both countries, then the full opening of the North Korea-ROK railway can only be a distant prospect...

Thank you all for your monthly tickets. It took me a lot of time to delete and reduce the content.

(End of this chapter)