1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 150



Only Krnovel

Episode 150

“Hochang, try this.”

Linda brings some bread she baked herself at home and gives it to Ho-chang.

“No, why did you bring so much?”

“This is about all I have. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“I’ll eat well.”

Ho-chang, an engineer from Korea, accepts the bread she gives him and expresses his gratitude.

Since the earthquake calmed down, the Indonesian people have become more friendly to people from Korea.

Hochangdo has also stabilized in terms of earthquakes, and it is time to return to Korea, but I have received so many items from the residents that I have been worried lately.

“Ho-chang! Are you inside? We cooked some meat, eat it.”

This time, another Indonesian resident brought a beef dish he had cooked at home.

“Haha… I really want to become that pig before I go back to Korea.”

Although Hochang felt slightly burdened by the excessive kindness, he felt that the actions he and Korea had taken toward them were being repaid, so he did not feel burdened at all.

Political dynamics in Indonesia have also changed significantly since the earthquake.

Former Indonesian President Megawati, who lost her re-election bid amid criticism that her government had sent thousands of migrants and wasted taxpayer money on earthquake preparedness, has seen her popularity soar since the quake as she has been hailed as a hero for saving lives.

Her popularity was so great that opinion polls showed that over 70% of people wanted to hold a new presidential election.

Of course, there was no need to mention President Kim Jong-guk’s popularity.

They were deeply moved by the fact that a foreign leader had saved them from a crisis, even while being cursed at for nothing, and in the current atmosphere, it seemed that even if President Kim Jong-guk ran in the Indonesian presidential election, he would be elected.

Meanwhile, President Yudhoyono, who has called earthquake preparedness a waste of taxpayers’ money and said that a powerful country like South Korea is lying to serve its own interests, has seen his approval ratings hit rock bottom.

The worst titles began to be given to him: an incompetent president, a president who does not care about the lives of the people, a president who does not care about himself more than the leaders of other countries.

President Yudhoyono also contacted South Korean Ambassador Hong Sung-min several times a day in an attempt to become closer to President Kim Jong-un, whose popularity is currently at an all-time high in the Philippines.

“Ah, Ambassador… …! How can I contact President Kim Jong-guk today?”

“President Yudoyono, didn’t I clearly tell you that President Kim Jong-guk is busy right now and it is difficult to contact him?”

President Kim Jong-guk is currently intentionally not answering President Yudhoyono’s phone calls.

But this wasn’t a childish reason for being upset.

This was to allow Indonesia to charge a slightly larger receipt.

“But please say it again. Please.”

Ambassador Hong Sung-min sighs deeply and answers.

“Okay, I’ll talk about it, but I’m a little confused that you’ve been criticizing Korea so much before, but now you’re saying this.”

President Yudhoyono apologizes, sweating profusely, at Ambassador Hong’s words.

“I’m really sorry about that. I really didn’t think an earthquake would happen. I’m really, really sorry.”

The president of a country apologizes and begs for forgiveness to an ambassador, who is neither the president nor a minister of another country.

This shows the current situation of President Yudhoyono.

Even if this apology were to leak out, there would be no public opinion in Indonesia that sympathizes with him at present.

“And the item you sent was returned. Don’t send things like this. If government officials in Korea receive something like this, they’ll be in real trouble.”

President Yudhoyono once sent 300 million won in gold bars as a bribe to Ambassador Hong Sung-min in an attempt to somehow win him over.

This time, President Yudhoyono apologizes while sweating.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know much about Korean culture, so I think I made a mistake.”

There are repeated situations where it is unclear who is the president and who is the ambassador.

* * *

“Mr. President, I received a call from Indonesian Ambassador Hong Sung-min early this morning.”

As soon as the chief secretary arrives at work, he comes straight to my office and reports to me.

“Is this, by any chance, related to President Yudhoyono?”

“Yes, that’s right. President Yudhoyono keeps begging me to meet him just once.”

I took out a cigarette, put it in my mouth and spoke.

“It looks like things are pretty tense over there.”

“He seems very anxious as his approval rating is hitting rock bottom while former President Megawati’s popularity is at an all-time high.”

Cigarette smoke fills the office.

“I guess you’re trying to use me to raise your approval ratings a little bit.”

“There is currently a poll in Indonesia that was conducted for fun, with the president as the subject, and you beat former President Megawati and came in first place.”

‘First place? I never thought of that.’

I answered with a big laugh.

“Hahaha. Is that so? After I retire in 6 years, I’ll have to go live in Indonesia.”

“Then I will also go to Indonesia.”

He answers with an expression that makes it hard to tell whether he is serious or joking.

‘Anyway, what should I do… I should slowly accept what I have to accept.’

In any case, the receipt for this earthquake must be claimed from the current president, President Yudhoyono.

If I ignored him for any longer, he might lose his mind, so it was time to meet him around this time.

“Mr. President, what should we do? How about meeting each other soon?”

“Yes, please. Contact me now. Make a summit. Let’s go to Indonesia. Now, it’s time to start requesting receipts.”

* * *

President Yudhoyono was overjoyed upon receiving the call from South Korea and played up the media by saying that he and South Korea have good relations, saying that they had discussed cooperation since the earthquake.

After that, he again played with the media by saying that he had a close relationship with President Kim Jong-guk and that he would be having a summit with South Korea in Indonesia a week later.

“It seems quite urgent. There seems to be a bit of media play. We don’t know what will be said yet.”

I talk to Director Oh while reading the newspaper on the plane to Indonesia.

Director Oh nods and answers.

“Public opinion is that former President Megawati should become president again. It seems that she thinks that if she fails to control the current atmosphere, she may be dragged around for the rest of her term or, in the worst case scenario, may have to step down.”

Then a flight attendant approaches and tells them to prepare for landing.

“Mr. President, we will be arriving shortly.”

A short while later, the plane lands at Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport, and as we disembark, we are greeted by countless salutes.

Sure, the welcome was quite grand during the AEU, but this was definitely an even more enthusiastic welcome.

And soon, President Yudhoyono, who had been waiting, came running barefoot to welcome me.

“President Kim Jung-guk! Welcome. Did you have any difficulties getting here?”

“Yes. Thank you for such a grand welcome.”

“No. You are a hero of Indonesia. This is expected. Go!”

He seemed to be trying to make me feel good by sugarcoating it as much as possible.

Each of us gets into our car and heads to Merdeka Palace, the office of the Indonesian President.

But on the way to Merdeka Palace, there were literally crowds of people at every stop along the way.

I asked Ambassador Hong Sung-min, who was there to provide local guidance, about the people outside.

“Ambassador, what on earth are those people? Why are they all gathered here in such large numbers?”

Ambassador Hong shrugs his shoulders and answers proudly.

“Mr. President, all those people came out like that because of you.”

“Yes… …? Is it because of me?”

I looked at him with slightly bewildered eyes and asked back.

“Yes, it is true. Would you like to hear it?”

As he opens the car window slightly, he hears people shouting ‘Kim Jung-guk,’ ‘Kim Jung-guk’ in awkward pronunciations.

I burst out laughing, a little embarrassed.

“Hahaha. I heard you were popular, but I didn’t know it was this popular. I feel like I came back after winning an Olympic medal.”

“Can it be compared to an Olympic medal? To them, the President is literally a hero.”

In Korea, I was used to hearing such cheers whenever there was an election or whenever I moved around.

But I never imagined that I would receive such cheers overseas.

‘A hero… … .’

* * *

“After going to Korea and checking, we concluded that there will probably not be any more aftershocks strong enough to cause any more casualties.”

As word spread that there would be no more strong aftershocks, cheers from Indonesian government officials could be heard here and there.

Although human casualties were minimized, material damage was enormous due to the tsunami and other factors.

We need to start recovery work quickly, but we haven’t started properly yet because we’re worried that there will be more aftershocks. This will allow us to start recovery work properly.

After this, there is a lot of talk about earthquake response and economic cooperation between the two countries, and then a private conversation follows shortly thereafter.

As soon as the time for the private conversation came, I hit President Yudhoyono on the nail on the head.

“President Yudoyono, it seems you have been worried recently about your approval ratings.”

He bows his head deeply.

“I am ashamed. This is all my fault. If I had trusted President Kim Jong-guk, the damage could have been reduced even more. But it seems that the people have recently turned their backs on me.”

He spit out words of regret.

But honestly, I didn’t care whether he was truly sorry or not.

I smiled and whispered the devil’s word to him.

“Mr. President, I will help you. I will help you raise your approval rating and win back the hearts of the people.”

His face brightens for a moment, but soon he looks at me with anxious eyes and asks.

“Is there anything you want… … ?”

‘If you’re just quick-witted… … .’

Perhaps because he has only sucked the waters of diplomacy so far, his words did not seem very credible.

“As expected, you are quick-witted. Mr. President, there are two things I want.”

“Two things? Please tell me.”

I’ll start by telling you a quick story.

“I hope that Korea will be given favorable terms for importing nickel produced in Indonesia for the next 50 years.”

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel.

Nickel, in particular, is one of the minerals whose value will increase further in the future after the era of electric vehicles.

If you secure good conditions in advance, it will definitely bring you a lot of benefits later.

“Nickel… It is definitely one of the minerals produced in large quantities in Indonesia.”

The corners of his mouth go up slightly, as if the conditions are weaker than he expected.

He pretends to think for a moment, then accepts.

Of course, nickel is still an important mineral, but its price and importance are relatively low compared to before the electric vehicle market became active.

“Okay! How many Indonesian people did Korea save? I promise to provide Korea with better conditions and quantities for nickel exports than any other country!”

I bowed my head and thanked him.

“Thank you. Korea and Indonesia will have a closer relationship in the future.”

One conditional offer has been reached.

But he still seemed to be relaxed.

There was one more condition that I hadn’t mentioned yet.

President Yudhoyono asks about the following conditions:

“What is the one remaining condition? Please tell me.”

I paused for a moment and then told him what I had been thinking.

“President Yudoyono, we in Korea hope to deploy a Korean military base in Indonesia.”