[해외감동사연] 이란이 종전 직후 누른 번호, 미국도 중국도 아닌 대한민국이었다ㅣ454조 재건새장의 충격 반전

"The door to the negotiating room opened. It was the moment the 106-day war ended." In the split second the Iranian chief negotiator put down his pen to sign, the eyes of the twenty-three people in the conference room turned to him in unison. He said nothing. He slowly rose from his seat and walked toward the door, and the first thing he pulled out of the hallway was his cell phone. It was not the United States. It was not China. It was not France, nor Germany. The country code he dialed was just two digits. Plus 82. It was South Korea. 300 billion dollars. 454 trillion Korean won. At the moment the market for the reconstruction of the century, to be built upon the ashes, opened, we reveal why Korea was the first country on Earth to be called upon. We now unveil the shocking full story. 📌 The True Story Behind South Korea’s ‘Dramatic Reversal of Trust in Middle East Reconstruction’ Covered in This Video [A 454 Trillion Won Reconstruction Market] Following the end of the war between the United States and Iran, a reconstruction market worth $300 billion opened up in the Middle East. Iran’s oil refineries and gas fields, damaged energy infrastructure in Kuwait and the UAE, and projects halted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz all became targets for restoration at once. [A Situation Where China Seems to Have the Advantage] At first glance, looking solely at the numbers, China held an overwhelming advantage. Financial power, local manpower, existing networks in Iran, and even oil trade maintained throughout the war. Wall Street infrastructure experts considered it a given that China would become the prime contractor. [But the First Call Was Plus 82] Immediately after the signing of the armistice agreement, the first number the Iranian chief delegate dialed was neither China nor the United States. It was South Korea’s country code, Plus 82. This single phone call was not merely a diplomatic gesture, but embodied the trust built over 50 years. [Korea Did Not Leave Iran] Since 2017, Korean construction companies have been unable to secure new orders due to U.S. sanctions against Iran. However, DL E&C did not completely close its local branch in Iran. Even during the nine years when it could not earn money, it did not sever ties with the local community. [China Earned Money, Korea Waited] China profited by purchasing Iranian oil at discounted prices even during the sanctions period. In contrast, Korea chose a path that adhered to the sanctions while maintaining trust with Iran. China made money, while Korea waited. That difference determined the direction of the first phone call immediately following the end of the war. [Memories of the South Pars Gas Field] Korean construction companies have carried out key projects such as the South Pars Gas Field, the Isfahan Refinery, and the Tabriz Petrochemical Plant. Notably, at the South Pars Gas Field, the section handled by Korea was completed ahead of schedule. [The Country with the Blueprints] The blueprints, piping designs, locations of underground utilities, and records of the entire construction process for the Isfahan Refinery remained on the servers of Korean construction companies. Korea was prepared to restore sites tomorrow that new contractors would otherwise have to start from scratch with surveys. [A 2.3x Difference in Reconstruction Speed] In reconstruction projects following war or sanctions, if the original contractors rejoin the process, the speed increases by an average of 2.3 times, and costs are reduced by 41 percent. It was a completely different matter for someone who knew the land, the underground, and built the factory to renovate it, compared to someone seeing it for the first time starting from the survey. [The Pitfalls of the Chinese Package] China proposed a package that bundled funding and construction. On the surface, it was attractive. However, there were cases like Angola, Zambia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan where relying on Chinese funds led to falling into debt and sovereignty risks. Iran did not want to repeat that path. [Korea’s 50-Year History of Construction in the Middle East] Since the 1970s, Korean workers have headed to the deserts of the Middle East. They worked amidst the sandstorms of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Kuwait, and the dollars they sent became the blood of South Korea's industrialization. The Middle East was not merely a market for Korea; it was a land where the nation's survival depended. [Letters Written in the Desert] Korean workers toiling in the Middle East wrote letters to their families in the 50-degree desert. Their hands trembled as they wrote that they were okay and doing well. The factories, roads, and plants built by those hands became the reason why Korea is being called back 50 years later. [A Number Never Erased for 10 Years] Although official business operations halted during the sanctions period, Korean technical teams maintained contact with Iranian engineers. W...