TITLE: Chapter 403
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Once, the Parents' Association, alongside groups like the Mothers' Volunteer Corps and the National Salvation Veterans' Association, wielded immense power, earning them the moniker of the regime's 'Red Guards.'
They traveled the country staging protests and fiercely cracked down on those critical of the regime.
But those days were long gone.
After it was revealed they had received money from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) to stage government-orchestrated demonstrations, the leadership was arrested, and the members scattered.
Later, when the regime changed and President Park Si-hyeong – their spiritual pillar and guiding light, so to speak – was imprisoned, the Parents' Association effectively collapsed.
However, some factions remained and continued their lonely struggle.
For a month now, having set up a tent in Gwanghwamun Square, they had been demanding President Park Si-hyeong's release, Kang Jin-hoo's arrest, and the regime's resignation, conducting a 10-million signature campaign.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government sent a warning notice stating that if they didn't voluntarily remove the tent, it would be forcibly dismantled and they would be billed for the costs, but the Parents' Association resolved not to back down.
In front of their tent, they continued their illegal protests and signature campaign.
“Release President Park Si-hyeong, the most incorruptible president in history!”
“Impeach President Heo Chang-min!”
“Arrest Kang Jin-hoo, the North Korea-sympathizing commie!”
While most people pretended not to see and walked by, a young man passing by commented.
“What kind of commie is so close to the U.S. President?”
It was a well-known fact that Kang Jin-hoo was close friends with President Ronald. Thanks to Kang Jin-hoo, Korea-U.S. relations were stronger than ever before in history. But that didn't matter.
An old man wearing a combat cap who heard this shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Hey, hey, hey! Young man, you'll get yourself in big trouble saying things like that!”
The surrounding elderly people quickly gathered and chimed in.
“President Ronald and the Americans are all being fooled by that bastard!”
“That's right, that's right. How many times have we been fooled by those commie bastards?”
“Don't you know the 'peaceful offensive' tactic? Haven't you even served in the military?!”
It was an astonishing logic that the man who had made the most money in the world through capitalism was spreading communism.
The young man who had spoken fled as if escaping, but the elderly people's conversation continued.
“These days, the world is full of lies. You can't trust the media at all.”
“Everything in the media is fake news created by the regime, and only what's said on truthful 'A-Tube' channels is real! But people only watch the news and read newspapers, so they don't know.”
“I saw on that A-Tube channel, 'God of Backseat Gaming' or something, that Kang Jin-hoo's money is flowing into North Korea's nuclear development fund.”
“Ah! The Jang Gyu-jin channel mentioned that too! They say he's using all that money for communist reunification, so what on earth is the NIS doing?”
“What do you mean, what are they doing? They're all in cahoots!”
“If a nuclear missile hits Seoul, we're all dead.”
“Tsk tsk, when that happens, it'll be too late for everyone to regret not listening to us.”
The very person supposedly funding this nuclear development lived in Seoul, where the nuclear missile was expected to land... But this, too, was not a very important issue.
Anyway, that North Korea-sympathizing commie was making good money, was friendly with the U.S., and met with leaders from around the world.
What could this possibly mean?
It meant that the entire world, except for themselves, was being deceived!
That's why they had pitched their tent in Gwanghwamun Square, undeterred by pressure from the Seoul city government, protesting in this sweltering heat, striving to reveal the truth.
But contrary to their efforts, Kang Jin-hoo continued to thrive. It reached a point where the new association president lamented that while they might be able to topple the regime, dealing with Kang Jin-hoo seemed difficult.
It was no exaggeration to say that 99 percent of the reason the Parents' Association had fallen so far was because of Kang Jin-hoo.
If they had one modest wish now, it was only Kang Jin-hoo's arrest. If not that, they at least wanted to see him kneeling and begging profusely for forgiveness.
With such feelings, they mustered their strength again today to hold their unpermitted, illegal protest, when another group of protesters appeared in Gwanghwamun Square.
They wore headbands tied tightly and held pickets that read: "Give us back the pristine Saemangeum!", "Stop the environmental destruction of Saemangeum!", "What's with this reckless civil engineering development?!", and "Kang Jin-hoo, apologize to the people!"
In recent days, Saemangeum had become the biggest topic of conversation in South Korea.
After Kang Jin-hoo unveiled the Saemangeum development plan, self-proclaimed experts appeared daily in the media to voice their opinions on the success potential of the new Saemangeum city. The prevailing opinion was that since Kang Jin-hoo was involved, it would succeed.
But that was precisely the problem.
No homeowner wants their property value to drop. Thus, homeowners in Seoul and the metropolitan area expressed great concern.
But among them, those particularly enraged were multiple homeowners with dozens of houses in the metropolitan area and speculators who had bought land in the planned development area.
After Kang Jin-hoo announced the development plan, housing transactions in the metropolitan area came to a complete halt. Some homeowners listed their properties at slightly lower prices, but sales were not easily made.
Housing prices are more downwardly rigid compared to other investment products. Currently, sellers and buyers were in a waiting game, so prices hadn't dropped significantly yet, but if the development materialized, a crash was as clear as day.
While housing prices managed to hold somewhat steady, land prices in the planned development areas, which had previously soared, were now halved. Despite this, there were no takers.
Facing the risk of losing their entire fortunes, these people protested in front of OTK Company, but Kang Jin-hoo paid them no heed, and so they ended up coming to Gwanghwamun Square.
They couldn't exactly demand compensation for their speculative investments, so they latched onto environmental issues for now. In reality, Saemangeum had little environment left to destroy... but that wasn't important.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and even if the destination is different, if the direction is the same, one can become a travel companion. From the perspective of the Parents' Association, which had been waging a lonely struggle, it felt like gaining a massive army.
At some point, the two factions joined hands and protested together.
“Arrest Kang Jin-hoo!”
“Stop the Saemangeum development!”
The Parents' Association was no longer alone.
***
Pros and cons clashed over the Saemangeum development, and fierce protests erupted.
While the Taegeukgi (Korean flag) fluttered in Gwanghwamun Square, I meticulously reviewed the materials on the National Assembly members I had received from Taek-gyu and Chairman Im Jin-yong. For each person, their past statements, articles, preferences, and weaknesses were densely recorded.
I pondered with my arms crossed.
“What concept should I go for in the hearing?”
“Can't you just be yourself?”
“What's 'being myself'?”
Taek-gyu seemed to think for a moment, then said.
“Being an asshole?”
“What, you bastard?”
“Just do it like last time. Let's get some memes that will go down in constitutional history. We can start an emoticon business with them.”
“……”
Don't start an emoticon business with other people's pictures.
As I was busy preparing this and that, the day dawned before I knew it.
I hurried with my preparations early in the morning to go to the National Assembly Building in Yeouido. Ellie tied my tie, fixed my hair, and then gave me a light kiss.
“You look handsome today too. Women will fall for you.”
I chuckled.
“Not a chance.”
Taek-gyu patted my shoulders firmly with both hands.
“Don't feel pressured.”
“I don't feel any pressure at all.”
“Just remember that the future of Saemangeum rests on your shoulders.”
“……”
Ah, suddenly, pressure I didn't have before is starting to build.
***
The economic hearing began.
If someone were to ask me what a hearing is, I'd want to say it's the art of waiting.
On the news, they only show about 10 minutes at most, selectively broadcasting scenes of shouting and rebuttals, so it looks incredibly fast-paced and exciting, but in reality, most of it is waiting.
There's time for questioners and respondents to change, breaks in between, and meals when the time comes. I sat quietly in the back, observing the hearing.
My turn was last. Isn't it a rule that the main character appears latest?
Lee Eung-gwan, the Blue House Chief of Staff for Policy, who sat before the assembly members before me, was getting absolutely thrashed.
The Liberty People's Party members had prepared thoroughly. Each time they questioned, they presented various data and statistics, grilling the government on its economic failures.
High-tech industries were doing well, and per capita GDP had surpassed $30,000, but the economy as felt by the people showed no signs of improvement.
Most serious were real estate and household debt.
Since the current administration took office, real estate prices in the metropolitan area had recorded unprecedented growth rates. No matter how much they blamed the previous administration and speculators, this could only be seen as a policy failure.
“The economic indicators are not bad. Exports, centered on semiconductors and batteries, are strong, and exports of steel and materials for the California reconstruction project are also on a continuous rise.”
Then, Assemblyman Jeong Min-wook said, as if shouting.
“The economy felt by ordinary people right now is the worst. The employment rate is falling, and unemployment is rising. The government keeps saying things will get better if we wait, but it sounds like something a person with Ripley syndrome would say.”
Ripley syndrome is when one believes their own lies to be true.
Actually, the government's position wasn't entirely incomprehensible. The economy is governed by psychology. If the government were to say the economy would worsen, people would immediately reduce consumption, leading to a truly dire situation. Therefore, no matter how bad the economy was, they had no choice but to say it would improve.
Chief of Staff Lee Eung-gwan said, as if making an excuse.
“We are working hard, but I admit there are areas that don't meet the public's expectations. As several honorable members have pointed out, we will continuously monitor the economic situation and consider more detailed support for vulnerable groups.”
While the Liberty People's Party members shouted and pressed for accountability, the New Politics Party members defended them as much as possible, as if they were lawyers defending a defendant in a criminal court.
Birds of a feather flock together; the ruling party sides with the Blue House, of course.
Reprimands and criticisms from opposition members, excuses and rebuttals in response, encouragement and warm words from ruling party members, finger-pointing and shouting matches between ruling and opposition members, and so on.
Everyone seemed to be trying their best to get enough screen time for the news.
In the meantime, it became lunchtime. Half a day had passed just waiting for my turn.
“……”
If this was the case, they should have called me in the afternoon. What are they doing, making a busy person sit here like this?
After lunch, the Chief of Staff for Policy and the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy were thrashed again. It was almost painful to watch.
Both of them rose from their seats after being thoroughly torn apart, and finally, my turn came.
I sat in the prepared seat in the center. The assembly members seated in front stared at me with the eyes of hawks eyeing their prey. Just by their gazes, I could tell how much they had all waited for this moment.
The first to speak was Assemblyman Kim Chan-wook of the Liberty People's Party.
“Is it true that you requested the government to divide the Saemangeum area and create a city?”
“Yes, it is.”
“What is your intention in ignoring the already established administrative district and trying to separate only the Saemangeum area?”
“Because I believe it is more efficient for carrying out the development.”
Assemblyman Kim Chan-wook raised his voice as if he had been waiting for this.
“This is tantamount to usurping land from local governments and ignoring local residents! Is it even conceivable to divide and merge administrative districts for corporate convenience?”
I calmly refuted.
“Why would it be inconceivable? Wasn't Sejong City itself created by carving out land from Yeongi County, Gongju City, and Cheongwon County?”
“Ah, anyway, this is something that requires a referendum to ask for the residents' opinions!”
Even if a referendum were held, I was confident of winning. From the local governments' perspective, it would be better to proceed with development quickly, even if it meant giving up some land, than to have no development at all.
The problem was time. I was already busy as hell; when would I have time for a referendum?
I said, unfazed.
“As I understand it, Changwon City, your constituency, integrated Masan and Jinhae without a referendum. According to your logic, did Changwon City usurp the land of Masan and Jinhae and ignore the opinions of their residents?”
Assemblyman Kim Chan-wook was flustered by my words.
“Wh-what are you talking about? Is that the same as this?”
“Then what's different?”
Assemblyman Kim Chan-wook said, veins bulging on his neck.
“After the integrated Changwon City was launched, Changwon City has developed even further! The population is steadily increasing, and the year before last, it was even selected as the number one happiest and most livable city.”
Where on earth do they conduct such surveys? Did they survey Changwon city officials, perhaps?
“Just as Changwon City developed further after its integration, as you said, Saemangeum City will do the same.”
“So why are you making it a city to proceed? If you're going to do it, just do it!”
I looked at the faces of the assembly members seated there. Not all New Politics Party members were in favor, nor were all Liberty People's Party members opposed.
Each member was likely busy calculating in their heads according to their own interests. The most important thing in their calculations was the sentiment of their constituents.
There was no need to make everyone an enemy. If you can win over a general from the opposing camp, you can increase your allies and weaken the enemy's forces.
I said with a smile.
“Changwon is a city with a highly developed manufacturing industry. Saemangeum, like Changwon, is located in the south. The role of Changwon's excellent manufacturing plants is essential in developing Saemangeum into a high-tech industrial city. In other words, Changwon can be called the most important partner in the development of the southern coastal region. OTK Company plans to actively cooperate and develop Saemangeum and Changwon in conjunction.”
At that, Assemblyman Kim Chan-wook, who had been red-faced with bulging veins, suddenly lowered his voice like a gentle lamb.
“Ah…… is that so? You had a plan all along.”
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