1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 115



Only Krnovel

Episode 115

“Prime Minister, I am not a person with that level of ability.”

Prime Minister Lee Hwa-seong is silent for a moment and then speaks to General Lee Dae-sik again.

“General Lee. Even though you clearly had circumstances last time, didn’t you almost run for president? Even though you had circumstances, didn’t General Lee himself have the will to do it?”

“That, that is… … .”

The Prime Minister speaks in a sobbing tone.

“Can you help President Kim a little? If this general becomes the mayor of Seoul, he will be of great help to President Kim in running the state affairs.”

“Mr. Prime Minister, I am not yet a person capable of taking responsibility for nearly 8 million citizens.”

Prime Minister Lee Hwa-seong shakes his head and tries to persuade General Lee Dae-sik once again.

“General Lee, you have led the 600,000-strong Korean Army for nearly 20 years. And among those who have completed their military service in the Republic of Korea Army during those 20 years, I have never seen anyone who has criticized you, General Lee.”

“That’s because President Kim pays so much attention to his soldiers… … .”

Prime Minister Lee Hwa-sung shakes his head again.

“That’s not true. No matter how much President Kim paid attention to the welfare of the soldiers, if General Lee had not properly supervised the generals, would the soldiers have respected him as much as they do now? If you are someone like General Lee, the citizens of Seoul will definitely trust and support you. Don’t underestimate yourself too much.”

General Lee Dae-sik sits in thought for a long time, holding a drink in his hand.

Then he speaks to the Prime Minister with a look in his eyes that seems to have made up his mind about something.

“…Okay, Prime Minister. I will go home and discuss it with my family.”

Prime Minister Lee Hwa-sung says with a bright smile.

“I thought about it carefully.”

Before I knew it, it was already 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

The Prime Minister speaks to General Lee Dae-sik in a relieved voice.

“Go inside now. It’s getting late. You’ll have to hurry home and discuss things with your family.”

“Yes… I will come again, Prime Minister.”

The Prime Minister shook his head as he told them to go in.

“Don’t come now. How can someone who has to work hard for the citizens spend time visiting someone who is sick tomorrow or the day after? When I die, I will be satisfied if you light some incense at my funeral.”

The prime minister now looked more relieved than ever, as if he had fulfilled his role.

* * *

A week before the deadline for registration for the Seoul mayoral election.

In the Gongmyeong Party, Representative Lee Hae-chang had already completed registering as a preliminary candidate and was concentrating all of the party’s efforts on the Seoul mayoral election.

However, in contrast, the Liberty Korea Party has not yet decided on a candidate to run for mayor of Seoul, even though there is not much time left.

“Representative Min, we need to hold a primary election as soon as possible, even with the existing candidates. This can’t go on. If we delay any longer, it will be really late!”

Representative Jeong Myeong-seok persuades Representative Min Jeong-gi.

There are currently four prospective candidates for Seoul mayor from the Liberty Korea Party.

Clearly, in opinion polls, all four are now on par with Representative Lee Hae-chang.

But Min Jeong-gi knew.

‘With this much of a difference, we’re definitely going to lose in the main game because of the difference in recognition.’

And floor leader Jeong Myeong-seok was also aware of this fact.

But that doesn’t mean we can just waste time without choosing a candidate.

“Representative! The ruling party can’t just not nominate a candidate for Seoul mayor! We have to make a decision now!”

If we were going to hold a primary, today was the last day.

“Phew… … .”

Representative Min Jeong-gi finally makes up his mind and speaks.

“There’s nothing we can do. We’ve decided to hold a primary with the four candidates that are currently there in two days… … .”

Then suddenly the door opens and someone comes into the party representative’s office.

And that person was the person the two had been longing for.

“General Lee Dae-sik!”

“General Lee!”

General Lee Dae-sik came running, panting for breath.

“Haa, haa… I want to register as a candidate for Seoul mayor, is it too late?”

Representative Min speaks with a face full of smiles.

“How can that be! There’s still a lot of time left. Sit here and take your time filling out the paperwork!”

Prime Minister Lee Hwa-seong’s persuasion.

And after several days of talking with his family, General Lee Dae-sik finally decided to run for mayor of Seoul.

The Gongmyeong Party criticized him, saying, “He’s a hastily put together candidate,” and “Another former military candidate!”, but the repercussions were bigger than expected.

In particular, support for him was absolute among men who had served in the military during the time when General Lee Dae-sik was the Chief of Staff.

“Hey, did you hear that? I heard that Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik is running for mayor of Seoul this time.”

“Really? Then I have to go vote no matter what! You’re going to vote too, right?”

“Of course. What are you asking? I will definitely vote this time! I am the type of person who has never voted before except for the presidential election, but I will definitely vote this time!”

“Yeah. When we were in the military, he cared about us a lot. This time, I’m going to vote, rain or shine!”

The four prospective candidates from the Liberty Korea Party who were preparing to run for Seoul mayor all gave up their candidacy when they heard that General Lee Dae-sik was running.

If it were someone else, I don’t know, but if General Lee Dae-sik were to run, it would have been foolish to continue to insist on running and go to the primary.

In the end, the candidates for the Seoul mayoral election were decided to be Lee Dae-sik of the Liberty Korea Party and Lee Hae-chang of the Gongmin Party.

* * *

The Korean Party has rallied its ranks by nominating General Lee Dae-sik as its candidate for Seoul mayor.

And so began the two-week election campaign.

Both parties started an all-out war, risking everything.

Even though there are no local council elections, local elections are large-scale elections that elect several times more people than general elections.

It was natural that all the party’s power would be concentrated there.

In particular, the Seoul mayoral election was an election that the Komeito Party had to win, as its own presidential candidate had been lowered one level.

The Gongmin Party has changed its election strategy from always attacking President Kim Jong-guk to campaigning in its own style.

“Everyone! If you elect Lee Hae-chang of the Gongmin Party in this Seoul mayoral election, I will show you proper development of Seoul!

We will show you how Seoul, with a population of 8 million, is transformed into a true capital city with a population of over 10 million. We will integrate neighboring cities in Gyeonggi-do into Gyeonggi-do, and we will also redevelop apartments in Seoul and transform Seoul into a digital city, thereby increasing the currently undervalued housing prices in Seoul… … .”

The most important pledge of the Gongmin Party in this election was to definitely raise housing prices in Seoul.

It was certainly a promising promise that would resonate with people who own their own homes in Seoul.

But all of these became virtually meaningless when General Lee Dae-sik ran for mayor of Seoul.

General Lee Dae-sik’s popularity and appeal were beyond what the Liberty Korea Party had imagined.

And General Lee Dae-sik used a style of speech that was more like that of an ordinary citizen than a politician.

This created a considerable affinity for him among voters.

“Everyone, I am Lee Dae-sik, the candidate for Seoul mayor from the Liberty Korea Party. I will not make promises such as increasing the population of Seoul or raising housing prices. However, I will make Seoul a much better city to live in than New York, Tokyo, and Paris, cities we used to envy. I will make Seoul a city where you can smile and be happy just by walking around!

I will reorganize the Han River in Seoul and increase the number of spaces in Seoul where citizens can rest and smile, such as parks. I will also drastically improve Seoul’s transportation system! I, Lee Dae-sik, will make Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, a place where everyone truly wants to live, not a complicated and complicated Seoul!”

After 14 days of intense campaigning, the day of the election finally arrived.

“1999 Simultaneous Local Elections Voting time will end in one minute, and the exit poll results will be out.”

Behind the anchor, photos of candidates Lee Dae-sik and Lee Hae-chang appear.

“In particular, this time, the Seoul mayoral election has been a hot topic because former Chief of Staff and war hero Lee Dae-sik and Lee Hae-chang, who ran as the Gongmin Party’s presidential candidate in the previous election, are competing. Who among these two will be chosen by the citizens of Seoul?”

There are now only 30 seconds left until the exit poll results are announced.

The anchor begins to countdown.

“You’ll know the results in 30 seconds! 30… … ! 29… … ! 23… 12… 4, 3, 2, 1… … !”

The parties’ respective positions are reflected.

And finally the results are revealed.

“Oh, out of the 31 regional government seats across the country, the Korean Party is predicted to win in 29 of them!”

The expressions of the two party leaders are mixed.

The Korean Party is transformed into a festive atmosphere, and the Gongmin Party is transformed into a funeral atmosphere.

The party’s official tries to liven up the atmosphere somehow.

“Oh, I don’t know yet! Seoul might be one of the two places that the Liberty Korea Party failed to win. After all, isn’t Seoul the most important election?”

But after a while, even that small hope was shattered and broken into pieces.

“Seoul! Lee Dae-sik, the Liberty Korea Party candidate, predicted with 60.4%! Lee Hae-chang, with 39.6%! Lee Dae-sik, the predicted winner! Next is Gyeonggi. Liberty Korea Party… … .”

The results of the Seoul mayoral election were also almost identical to the exit polls.

Candidate Lee Dae-sik 61.4%, Candidate Lee Hae-chang 38.6%.

Although the gap was smaller than in the presidential election, this time too, it was a landslide victory for the Liberty Korea Party.

The Gongmin Party barely managed to save face by winning one seat in Nampo Metropolitan City, where the Liberty Korea Party did not field a candidate due to internal problems.

The Korean Party once again achieved a landslide victory in the local elections, sweeping all metropolitan areas across the country except for Nampo Metropolitan City, where it did not field a candidate, and Jeju City, where an independent candidate was elected.

In particular, the Liberty Korea Party has once again solidified its lead by winning the Seoul mayoral election, which was expected to be a difficult one.

“Citizens of Seoul! Thank you! I have now become Mayor of Seoul, Lee Dae-sik! As I said during my campaign, I am not a person who is good at talking. However, I promise you this. I will definitely carry out the promises I made to the citizens of Seoul for the next four years. I will work hard for the next four years to make Seoul a place where people want to live, a place where people smile just by walking by! Thank you, everyone!”

* * *

As the local elections were over and the weather was getting warmer, a huge bombshell exploded in the sports world.

Argentina, which was supposed to host the 2002 World Cup, eventually decided to return its bid due to economic problems.

Naturally, FIFA was put on emergency alert.

It was impossible to give up the World Cup, which was only two years away from being held.

Even though they tried to coax and persuade them, Argentina’s decision seemed set in stone.

“Are you really going to do this? There are only three years left, how can you find another host city? If you keep going like this, we will have no choice but to suspend the Argentina national team from the World Cup!”

The FIFA president shouts in a harsh voice at Argentina’s new president who made this decision.

But the new Argentine president’s attitude was resolute.

“Even if they suspend me, there’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry, but if we hold the World Cup in this state, Argentina will eventually be ruined. I can’t sell the future of my country for soccer. I’ll stop here.”

“Hello! Hello!!”

The chairman desperately called him, but the call was already disconnected.

According to original history, this World Cup should have been held jointly by Korea and Japan.

However, Japan did not pursue hosting the World Cup due to various economic issues, such as export competition with Korea, which is different from its original history, and Korea also did not pursue hosting any international sporting events after the 1992 Seoul Olympics due to a strong austerity budget in the mid-1990s, and the 2002 Olympics hosting went to Argentina.

However, Argentina, which hosted the 2002 World Cup, eventually gave up hosting the World Cup three years before it was scheduled to take place due to continued economic difficulties and the new president’s strong will.

President Blatter’s sigh fills the room.

“ha…….”

Argentina’s decision has already been made.

Even if I kept holding on, there was no way my mind would change.

‘We have to find another venue somehow… … .’