1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 148



Only Krnovel

Episode 148

“You say we shouldn’t nominate a presidential candidate. What are you talking about, Mr. Representative? Even so, if we are the first opposition party in name only and can’t nominate a presidential candidate, what reason is there for the party to exist?”

Rep. Oh Baek-seung strongly protests to Representative Lee Hae-chang.

“That’s right! Representative. No matter how much you lose, shouldn’t we at least nominate a candidate?”

Another member of the National Assembly also agreed with Rep. Oh Baek-seung’s story.

CEO Lee Hae-chang continues speaking while calming the people.

“Please calm down and listen to what I have to say. It’s not something else. Congressmen, honestly, are you confident that you can beat President Kim Jong-guk in the current presidential election?”

When asked whether this representative can defeat President Kim Jong-guk, everyone became dumbfounded and was unable to answer.

Everyone said that, but I didn’t have the confidence to beat President Kim Jong-guk in the current situation.

There have been three major achievements in this term alone: ​​the successful hosting and victory of the World Cup two years ago, the recent victory in the trade war with the United States, and judicial reform.

Even if the economy was in a recession, South Korea’s economy was doing so well that it could be called the greatest boom in the half-millennium history of the Korean Peninsula.

Representative Lee Hae-chang speaks while looking at the silent lawmakers.

“No one can beat President Kim Jong-guk in the election right now. Even if President Lee Jung-hwan returns alive, it is impossible now.”

Rep. Oh Baek-seung wants to say something, saying, “But isn’t this wrong?”

“No matter what… … .”

The representative cuts off Rep. Oh and continues his speech.

“Congressman Oh, think about it. President Kim Jung-guk is retiring and the 2010 presidential election is definitely worth aiming for. Do you think the current approval rating of the Liberty Korea Party is entirely the approval rating of the Liberty Korea Party? There is bound to be a gap in the approval rating between President Kim Jung-guk and other candidates of the Liberty Korea Party.”

Another member of parliament again questions the representative’s opinion.

“Then, can I pay it this year and then as well?”

The representative shakes his head.

“I’m not saying we should just give up. I’m saying let’s gather our strength and move on after six years.”

Rep. Oh Baek-seung asks with a puzzled expression.

“Shall we join forces again after six years?”

“Don’t you know how much money and manpower is consumed in one presidential election?”

Only then do people begin to understand a little what I’m talking about.

Rep. Oh Baek-seung asks again to confirm.

“Six years from now, let’s gather all our money and manpower to participate in the 2010 presidential election. Is that it?”

CEO Lee Hae-chang nods.

“That’s right. Even if we run a candidate this time, if we make a mistake, we might not even get 15% of the votes. As you know, if we don’t get even 15% of the votes, it will be difficult to even recover the election expenses. If that happens, our party… … .”

The representative paused for a moment, but the other members present knew all too well what it meant when election expenses were not recovered.

Representative Lee Hae-chang breaks the silence and asks the lawmakers again.

“Is it okay for everyone to agree not to run a candidate in this presidential election?”

None of the members raised an objection.

And all the multi-elected lawmakers were dreaming of different dreams.

‘If it were the 2010 presidential election, I would too… … .’

* * *

AEU regular meeting held in Indonesia.

I arrived last night, spent the night at the hotel, and then drove to the conference venue to attend the meeting that started in the morning.

The chief secretary takes a serious call from Korea on his cell phone.

Then, after a while, he hangs up the phone and reports to me directly about the contents of the call.

“Mr. President, this hasn’t been reported in the media yet, but the Gongmin Party has announced that they will not be fielding a candidate in this presidential election.”

“You’re not putting up a presidential candidate? Why isn’t the main opposition party putting up a candidate?”

The Chief of Staff reports on what he received from Korea.

“The ostensible reason is to resist the president’s dictatorship, but the real intention seems to be to gather strength for the election six years from now.”

I understood immediately what he meant.

It seemed likely that the intention was to gather money and manpower and mobilize them all in 2010.

“It seems like they are trying to win the next election by not running a candidate, while also highlighting the image of resisting dictatorship and gathering as much money and manpower as possible.”

“Yes, that’s right. It seems that rather than confronting the president head-on, he is likely to run against another Saenuri Party candidate in the next election.”

“You’re quite clever.”

If this happens, the election campaign itself will lose much meaning and I think it will have a negative impact on democracy, but we cannot pressure the other side to nominate a candidate if they do not.

‘This, really… I feel sorry for the next candidate of the Korean Party.’

The employee who was driving at that time informed me that he had arrived.

“Mr. President, we have arrived.”

“Okay. Let’s get off for now. Let’s finish talking about this when we get back to Korea.”

After adjusting my clothes, I got out of the car and went inside the conference hall, where the leaders of the AEU countries asked to shake hands.

I greeted them warmly, shaking their hands one by one.

“Hello, Mr. President. Nice to meet you.”

“Prime Minister, it’s been a while!”

“How long has it been since this happened, Mr. President!”

Normally, for regular meetings, it would be the foreign minister or the prime minister who would attend, but today, perhaps because I said I would attend, heads of state from most countries attended.

However, in China, only President Jiang Zemin did not attend, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs attended on his behalf.

“I don’t see Chairman Jiang Zemin.”

The chief secretary shakes his head and answers.

“Yes. I think he may not have been able to come because the situation in China has been so chaotic recently.”

“Is it getting worse?”

Director Oh answers in a serious voice.

“Yes. Some experts say that it is now possible to calm down the situation. What is particularly serious is that some military units have turned their backs on the Chinese Communist Party.”

“It’s much more serious than I thought… … .”

“Our companies also stopped most of their factory operations and returned to Korea with only a minimal number of employees.”

“Yes. First, tell them to keep an eye on the situation in China. Pay special attention to the area around the border with China.”

At that time, President Megawati of Indonesia, the host country of this regular meeting, noticed me and approached me.

“President Kim Jong-guk!”

He remembered meeting him on the international stage several times already, as this was his last year in office.

I greeted her again with a bright expression.

“President Megawati, it’s been a while!”

She greeted me with a bright expression and expressed her gratitude.

“Mr. President, thank you for coming all the way to Indonesia!”

“Hahaha. No. Of course you should come in person.”

The regular AEU meeting will start soon, but everyone is trying to get their own benefit by talking about this and that.

But today, it seemed like everyone’s mind was elsewhere than at a meeting.

During the meeting, the chief secretary approached me and whispered to me in a small voice.

“Mr. President, the Prime Minister of Thailand has requested a one-on-one meeting.”

We’ve already received more than ten requests for one-on-one meetings this morning.

“You can make other arrangements, but first, you must make a meeting with President Megawati. But it must be private.”

I prioritized the meeting with the Indonesian President over other meetings.

Because the most urgent issue right now was Indonesia.

* * *

“Mr. President! It is an honor to have you hold this meeting first!”

Indonesia was an important diplomatic partner even before the earthquake.

This was especially true in this history.

Indonesia has a large population of 240 million, the 4th largest in the world, and has developed quite a bit through trade thanks to the AEU, unlike its original history.

Originally, Indonesia’s GDP per capita in 2004 was a miserable level of just over $1,000, but it has now improved considerably to over $4,000.

In particular, Korea and Indonesia have a fairly close relationship as many factories from Korea have expanded into Indonesia.

“Indonesia is also an important diplomatic partner for Korea. I apologize for not being able to meet with you more often.”

She answered with a hearty laugh, as expected of a womanizer.

“That’s right. Hahaha. Korea and Indonesia are extremely important partners!”

I briefly chatted with her about some pre-planned conversations and then got down to the main topic I had prepared.

“President Megawati, the reason I came here is because I feel like I have to tell Indonesia a little bit of a sad story.”

Her eyes change to one of anxiety.

“Oh, you’re not saying you’re going to do anything related to trade, are you… ?”

I shook my head as I spoke.

“No, it’s not that Korea is doing something. It’s that nature is trying to do something to Indonesia.”

She makes a face as if she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

“Nature? What do you mean?”

I showed her a file that I had printed using my smartphone’s functions, detailing the damage and locations of the 2004 earthquake, and talked to her about it.

“Would you like to take a look at this? This is information on an earthquake that our government recently observed.”

“Earthquake information? No way… … .”

Her eyes begin to tremble with anxiety.

I took the file in my hand and started explaining it to her.

“Our government has predicted that it will hit around the end of this year. The expected earthquake will hit all of South Asia and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka. And the expected intensity is… … .”

I paused for a moment, then pointed to the progress written on the paper as she trembled nervously.

It had the numbers 9.3 written on it.

“9… 9.3… … ? The expected progress!”

“Yes, that’s right. We are expecting a literal earthquake and an unimaginably large tsunami. To be honest, the casualties are even more unimaginable.”

“… … .”

She stares into space with anxious eyes, unable to say anything.

If it had come from another country, she probably wouldn’t have trusted it that much.

But currently, Korea is a country that is considered the best in the world when it comes to technological prowess.

There was no reason for him to come to me and tell me such lies.

She breaks the silence, looks at me and asks in a serious voice.

“Is this really true… …?”

“Yes. Our government agencies have made several observations, but it is certain.”

As I firmly stated that I was certain, her gaze wavered even more.

I drove a wedge into her like that.

“The scale of damage predicted by our government is at least 300,000 deaths.”

When the number 300,000 is mentioned, she shakes her head in disbelief.

“Wow, that’s ridiculous. 300,000 people… … .”

“This is also a conservative estimate. If the scale were to increase, we don’t know how many people would actually die.”

Earthquakes may occur that are stronger than those recorded in history.

In that case, it was impossible to even dare to predict how many people would actually die.

Sweat forms on her forehead.

I guess they came to talk about economic cooperation, but it was obvious that they would be shocked to hear about this national emergency.

“President Megawati, I understand that your term ends in October of this year. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore this catastrophe.”

President Megawati, deep in thought, asks me a favor.

“… President Kim Jung-guk. To be honest, Indonesia is not yet capable of dealing with a disaster of this magnitude on its own. Can’t Korea help?”

She asks with an anxious look in her eyes.

I reassure her and say,

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to help you, so why did I mention this? If Indonesia suffers such great damage, it will be a great loss for Korea as well. We will also actively help.”

Her expression brightens when I tell her that I will actively help.

Of course, I didn’t intend to help you completely for free.

However, I had no intention of receiving such money at excessive interest.

“Really? Thank you!”

“First of all, countermeasures are important, and everything else is important, but we need to make it public that such earthquakes are predicted. So that the Indonesian people can prepare for them themselves.”