1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 119



Only Krnovel

Episode 119

I threw aside the file that the chief economic advisor handed me without even looking at it when he told me about the pardon.

“That’s enough. It’s probably the same list anyway. There’s no need to look at it.”

It will probably be a request for special pardon on Liberation Day.

Starting from the beginning of his term in office, he has been posting the same content every time, as if stamping it with a seal.

The only thing that has changed is the people, but for the most part the charges and such have been the same for 20 years.

The President’s power to pardon.

It was one of the most powerful powers the president had, the power to exempt those who had been sentenced from serving the remainder of their sentences.

However, except for writing about some people who were unjustly imprisoned as so-called political prisoners during the early days of President Lee Jung-hwan’s term, I hardly ever used the right to pardon for 20 years.

The chief economic advisor fidgets and picks up the fallen file and hands it back to me.

“Mr. President, wouldn’t it be a good idea to at least give it a look? We’ve been asking for years now. The Danjeong Group in particular has been asking us tirelessly.”

“Ha, I understand.”

After his continued requests, I finally had no choice but to get the file from him and check the list of requests for pardon.

‘Well, there is also the position of the chief economic advisor… … .’

It’s not like I’m taking a bribe or anything.

Since the chief economic secretary plays various roles in relations between businesses and the government, this type of complaint will probably come up frequently.

But as expected, as soon as I opened the file, I was overcome with annoyance.

[Sejun Financial Managing Director Min Tae-seok / 2 years and 7 months remaining in prison / Assault after drinking / Victim’s facial bone sunken / Agreement completed]

[Danjeong Group Chairman Jeong Man-ho / 6 years and 5 months remaining in prison / bribery, faulty construction]

I handed the file back to him and said firmly,

“That’s enough. There’s nothing more to see from the first page. Why are you making such a fuss about pardoning these incompetent people…?”

“Mr. President… … .”

The chief economic adviser spoke to me pitifully, but I spoke to him firmly again.

“Chief, please give a firm warning to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. If they list this kind of thing again, the next time, the companies on the list will be banned from any technological cooperation with the National Technology Agency, and the National Wealth Fund will not invest even a single penny.”

As the chief economic advisor pleads, I ask you once again.

“Mr. President, then, wouldn’t it be better to at least include Chairman Jeong Man-ho on the list of pardons? Danjung is still the 6th largest conglomerate in South Korea. With Chairman Jeong Man-ho gone, Danjung Construction has virtually come to a complete halt. And don’t you know? There are more than one or two employees at Danjung Construction. They are already effectively unemployed.”

I spoke firmly this time too.

“No. Bribery is a problem, but poor construction is definitely not something that can be overlooked. If we hadn’t caught the poor construction at that time, hundreds of people might have been injured and killed.”

The chief economic advisor sighed after hearing my story and then confessed his true feelings.

“Ha, actually, I didn’t want to tell you… Mr. President, in fact, it seems like Chairman Danjeong is intentionally not proceeding with the Danjeong Construction project.”

“What do you mean? Are you deliberately not doing business?”

I didn’t understand.

Even if the chairman is serving a prison sentence, it is ultimately his company.

Even if he served time in prison, it would still be the same for him to benefit from it, so I couldn’t understand what he meant by not running the company’s business.

“Yes. It seems like they are openly protesting against the government. They are threatening things like, ‘If you don’t pardon me, all my employees will starve to death and become unemployed.’”

“Haha… these are some really cool little shits… … .”

As the curse words burst out of my mouth, the chief economic advisor looks flustered.

“Mr. President… … .”

I immediately apologize to the chief economic adviser and tell him that it was not what he said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to you, sir. I was just so angry at the time. Don’t worry about it.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and lost myself in thought.

‘Whew, what should I do with this… … .’

They were protesting for amnesty, even threatening the people’s lives.

It’s understandable to just put up a list like this and go and talk to government officials, but this is way over the line.

“Chairman Jeong Man-ho, first contact the Ministry of Justice and tell them to move the prison.”

“Huh? Prison? Where… … .”

“Tell them to transfer you to Shinuiju Prison.”

“Uh, Mr. President, over there… … .”

Sinuiju Prison was a recently built prison that primarily held murderers and other low-quality criminals.

It wasn’t particularly different from other prisons, but because it was located in a very cold region and transportation was relatively inconvenient, it wasn’t easy to meet a lawyer.

For this reason, the Sinuiju Prison replaced the original historical role of the Cheongsong Prison, and was an even more hated prison than that prison.

“I no longer consider a person who takes hostage the people as a human being. He behaved like an animal, so I should treat him accordingly.”

* * *

The legal team director of Danjung Group bows his head to Chairman Danjung and apologizes repeatedly.

“They said it won’t work this time either. I’m sorry, Chairman.”

“What? I really did talk to you properly!”

“Yes… I tried to persuade the chief economic advisor and even threatened him that I would not proceed with the project as the chairman had said, but it was no use. I think the president’s intentions are strong.”

Chairman Jeong Man-ho throws the cup on the table at the wall and shouts.

Shards of glass from a broken cup fly everywhere.

“Fuck, I’ve already been here for four years, so you want me to stay here for another six?”

“I’m sorry, Chairman… I’ll try another route first… … .”

“Where else can I go? I won’t even meet with the Chief of Economy, the Minister of Justice, or the Chief of Civil Affairs!!”

The director somehow manages to answer.

“Well, I’ll meet with the Vice Minister of Justice. The Vice Minister of Justice is a classmate of mine from the Judicial Research and Training Institute. I’ll try to talk things through.”

The chairman sighs and gestures for a cigarette.

“ha…….”

Even though the director motioned for the chairman to give him a cigarette, he remained silent and did not take one out.

Chairman Jeong yells at the director again.

“What are you doing! I asked for a cigarette!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Before I came to meet the chairman, cigarettes and such were all confiscated after being inspected… .”

Chairman Jeong glares at the guards outside and speaks.

“What is this? You all want to do this with me, what is this!”

But the guard didn’t even blink an eye.

This is because the punishment for being caught in an audit is much greater than the money received for providing convenience.

“Haa… I’m really going crazy.”

Chairman Jeong sighs and holds his head.

The thought of staying here for another six years just makes my head spin.

Until the early 1980s, when President Kim Jong-guk was in power, if someone with some money was sent to prison, they could spend the whole day meeting with their lawyer.

Even during working hours in prison, it was possible to serve as an emperor by doing easy work like watering flowers.

However, starting from the second term of President Kim Jong-guk, it became virtually impossible for the emperor to serve in hard labor or serve in prison.

Strict surveillance of correctional authorities was put in place, and it became almost impossible to bribe correctional officers to do something.

Meeting with a lawyer was no longer possible all day like before.

It could only be done in a set space during a set time each week.

And that space was not a comfortable space like the lawyer meeting rooms of the past.

It was a small space with only two hard chairs and a hard desk.

Although there were no guards accompanying them or anything, body searches had become more thorough recently when they came in, so there was no room for food, cigarettes, or entertainment.

The legal team director asks in an impatient voice, looking at his watch.

“Mr. Chairman, there are only five minutes left for the meeting.”

Chairman Jeong speaks to him in a resigned voice.

“Ha… Okay. First, go meet with the Vice Minister of Justice and talk to him.”

“Okay. Then I’ll come next week.”

“Okay… Go ahead.”

However, the reason lawyers can come and go like this is because the prison is in Seoul.

The only remaining privilege for the wealthy was that, because of their usual residential area, most of the prisons they were admitted to were in Seoul.

The lawyer leaves, and the guards follow him back to the dormitory where the five live together.

But suddenly, the guard drags him away from the dormitory to somewhere else.

‘what?’

“What? Where are you going?”

The guard put Chairman Jeong in the car without saying a word.

“What is it? Shouldn’t I tell you?”

“2345 Jeong Man-ho. I sympathize.”

“No, what do you mean by empathy?”

The prison guard sits next to me and talks calmly.

“Transferred to Shinuiju Prison.”

“What… …? Shinuiju Prison?!”

Chairman Jeong struggles to get out of the car.

“Oh, no… …! I’ll just stay here! It’s so cold there!”

“It’s already been decided! Just keep quiet and get on!”

The guard spoke in a cold voice, subdued him, and put him in the car.

And as soon as the car started moving, Chairman Jeong’s eyes turned to despair.

* * *

Businessmen knew.

Even though President Kim Jong-guk appears to be pro-business, the moment he commits a crime, he becomes like Count Asura and will never grant any pardons or other benefits.

At least among the families of corporate leaders, there was a growing perception that if they committed a crime, they should somehow be released on probation.

Everyone knew that once the sentence was confirmed, they had to give up and accept it.

Of course, this applies not only to the conglomerates, but also to everyone, including the wealthy, celebrities, and sports players.

That is why there has been an increase in cases where people try to get suspended sentences by taking advantage of preferential treatment.

[Hondeok Group 2nd generation Choi Min-gu assault instigator sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years and 1 month. – Tongil Newspaper]

I handed the newspaper to Representative Min Jeong-gi, who was drinking with me, and told him to look at it.

“Representative Min, look. Does this make sense? If you commit a crime, regardless of whether you have a lot of money or not, you should pay the price equally. Is this a normal country where people get away with a lot of money in criminal cases?”

Representative Min also answered in an angry voice while drinking alcohol.

“That’s right. There is no corruption like this one. However, since it is so difficult to touch the legal profession, I am at a loss as to how to resolve it.”

That was right.

The legal profession had to be approached with great caution and caution, as touching it could have resulted in repercussions.

“That’s right. But that doesn’t mean we can just sit by and watch as retired prosecutors continue to receive billions of won in preferential treatment and commit absurd acts.”

With the lack of pardons, it became increasingly important to receive suspended sentences, and lawyers who received preferential treatment often made billions of won a year in profits.

Representative Min sighs.

“Ha, it can’t be helped that capable lawyers get paid a lot, but the problem is serious when they get paid that much not simply because of their legal skills, but because of their connections based on their past experience as a prosecutor.”

Representative Min takes another drink and asks me.

“Do you have any plan in mind, Mr. President?”

I cautiously told him a story I had been thinking about for a long time.

“For now, we are waiting for a little opportunity. However, this issue needs to be dealt with as if it were a special operation, just like when I first implemented the real-name financial transaction system in the early days of my term.”

Representative Min looks at me and smiles.

“It seems like you have a D-Day in mind.”