1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 166



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Episode 166

“No, what are you talking about! My father’s surgery has been postponed!”

A middle-aged woman complains to her nurse after being suddenly told that her surgery has been pushed back.

The nurse bows her head repeatedly, apologizing.

“sorry…….”

The woman grabs the nurse and asks.

“No, what on earth is the reason? Don’t just say sorry, tell me why the surgery was delayed! Everyone here knows that my father is in a hurry!”

“That, that… because of the strike this time… … .”

“Wow, there’s a strike… … ?”

As the nurse was about to tell the story of the strike, a doctor who was far away noticed her.

The nurse quickly closes her mouth and lowers her head.

“I’m sorry! Anyway, the surgery schedule needs to be rescheduled as soon as possible… … .”

A woman sits on the ground, crying and shouting.

“No! What are you talking about, doctors going on strike? If my father doesn’t get surgery, it won’t be strange if he dies tomorrow, so how can you do this?”

Then the doctor in charge of the surgery approaches her and tells her to make up her mind.

“Patient, you agree with this medical reform, don’t you? You’re not the 5% that opposes it. You agree with holding a knife to our throats, so who on earth should we operate on?”

A middle-aged woman stands up, grabs the doctor by the collar, and cries.

“No, I don’t know about that, why does my father have to suffer more because of you guys’ rice bowls!!”

But the doctor ignored the middle-aged woman’s cries, shook her off, muttered to himself, and went his way.

“Fuck. If you want to have surgery so badly, you should join me in opposing it.”

* * *

And finally, Monday arrived.

The strike was implemented.

Participation rate 27%.

It was only a one-day strike and the turnout was not that high, but many problems began to arise on the ground.

Important surgeries scheduled for that day began to be postponed, and three emergency patients even died.

There is a strike and a cabinet meeting on Tuesday the next day.

I asked the Minister of Health and Welfare, who seemed to be already in a state of panic.

“Are you saying that you will definitely go on a second strike?”

The second strike will last for three days, from Tuesday to Thursday next week.

Perhaps, with more people expected to participate this time, the medical gap was expected to be worse than before.

Minister Lee Cheol-gyu answers in a weak voice.

“Yes… they’re strong on that side.”

“You’re definitely crossing the line.”

The minister looked at me for a moment, then spoke to me.

“Excuse me, Mr. President… … .”

“What is it?”

What he meant was a temporary rollback of these reforms.

“How about withdrawing the policy first and talking to the other side?”

Everyone is shocked by the talk of policy withdrawal.

It is not just anyone else, but it is rare for a State Councilor to make such remarks about the reforms I am undertaking.

But he continued his story as if he had made up his mind.

“If things continue this way, a serious medical gap will be created and countless victims will arise.”

‘… … .’

He had a point.

If we step back now, we can prevent a temporary medical gap.

‘But if I back out now, what happens later?’

However, the problems that arise from not carrying out this reform in several years or decades will come back even bigger.

– Mr. President, if we don’t treat this festering wound while it is still small, it will eventually get bigger and cost us more.

This is what Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol, who was in charge of me, said when I visited for the inspection last time.

When that time comes, no one will be able to solve the problem, and there will be a medical gap that is incomparable to what it is now.

‘This is a problem that needs to be solved now. It can’t be left unattended any longer.’

“What you said makes sense, Minister. But I have no intention of talking to people who threaten the lives of our people like that any longer.”

First of all, countermeasures come first.

“All government medical institutions, including military hospitals and police hospitals, should be opened to the public for the time being.”

All resources available to the government had to be utilized.

“And as soon as the strike starts, give the order to return to work. And… … .”

I hesitated for a moment, then started talking.

“From now on, we will be as strong as they are. The expansion of medical school enrollment, a policy that does not need to be passed as a bill, will be implemented as of today. And our response to the next strike is… … .”

* * *

It was good to talk about it at the State Council meeting, but I thought that a better way would be to speak directly to the people through a public announcement.

I started making an announcement to the public that very day.

The cameras started rolling and I started talking with a slightly desperate look on my face.

“Citizens, this is Kim Jung-guk. I am not here today to talk at length. I will tell you a somewhat sad story briefly. We have suffered a lot of inconvenience due to the general strike of doctors this Monday, and there have also been unfortunate incidents where several emergency patients have died.”

I took a sip of the water next to me and then continued talking.

“However, in this situation, the medical associations have announced a three-day general strike next week. The government can no longer tolerate this situation. The government declares that if any doctors participate in the three-day general strike next week, their licenses will be suspended for three months.”

A super-strong punishment called a license suspension.

It was the strongest response.

“And if they continue to participate in protests after the suspension, we will permanently suspend their medical licenses. In addition, we will severely punish doctors who participate in this strike by applying the crimes of sedition and incitement.”

I looked at the camera one last time and appealed to the doctors.

“Doctors, it is not too late. Call off the strike and come back now. This is your last chance. If you really go on a second strike, the government will not negotiate with you any longer.”

It was a public announcement made on a Wednesday morning while people were still working at their offices, but by lunchtime the story was already known to the entire nation.

And this was the same for office workers who ate at restaurants.

“This time, it won’t be easy for the doctors either, right?”

“That’s right. It seems like the President’s will is no joke.”

People from other companies agree with that statement.

“That’s President Kim Jong-guk. He’s the kind of person who does what he has to do.”

One more person agrees with that statement.

“They have to go out because they’re so powerful. They act like they’re some kind of noble.”

-bang!

Kim Won-gi, the chairman of the doctors’ association, overheard the conversation at the next table in the restaurant, slammed his desk down and walked out.

Then he soon sits down in front of the restaurant, smokes a cigarette, and swears.

“What the hell do you little shits know! You stupid little shits!”

Then he throws his cigarette on the floor and heads straight to the conference room.

When we arrived at the conference room, everyone else was angry too, and the atmosphere there seemed like it was going to explode at any moment.

Chairman Kim barely manages to control his emotions, which seem ready to explode at any moment, and then grabs the microphone to speak.

“Guys, are we just going to sit by and watch this situation unfold? Are we just going to suffer because the government is threatening us in this way?”

I hear the members’ angry replies.

-Absolutely not!

-If we keep doing this, we’ll end up having to give up everything else too!

-Where else can we replace ourselves like other professions? If we go on a full-scale strike anyway, the government will bow its head and come out!

As people’s stories draw to a close, Chairman Kim grabs the microphone again and incites the crowd.

“Everyone! The government has already crossed the line. We must change our methods and fight back! I ask all doctors, including members of our doctors’ association, that from today onwards, we will indefinitely refrain from all medical practice until the government apologizes and withdraws all policies!”

Indefinite strike on all medical practices.

There was talk of going to all-out war with the government.

However, when the talk of indefinite duration came up, some members were a little confused.

“Mr. Chairman. But isn’t indefinite a bit too much? Are you really planning on going to all-out war with the government?”

Chairman Kim Won-gi strikes the podium with his fist.

“Everyone! Don’t be afraid! Where are we like ordinary people? We are doctors! No one can replace us! If we unite with one mind and one heart, the government will eventually be helpless.”

People cheer once again at the powerful speech of Chairman Kim Won-ki.

Then someone speaks.

“Really, are you guys going to abandon all your patients?”

People’s sharp eyes turn to the source of the voice.

The voice came from a man who appeared to be in his mid-40s with a messy hairstyle.

Chairman Kim Won-gi glares at him and asks.

“Who are you? You don’t seem to be a member of our group.”

The man with the bushy hair stands up and speaks.

“I am Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Korea University.”

Chairman Kim Won-gi thinks for a moment, then points his finger at Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol and shouts as if he just remembered something.

“You! You’re the doctor in charge of the Blue House! Did you receive something from the Blue House? So you were asked to come here and instigate the people!”

Professor Lee Hyung-cheol was clearly the presidential physician at the Blue House, but he was not the personal physician.

However, when the president came to Korea University to receive treatment, he was the one in charge.

Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol raises his voice and shouts at Chairman Kim Won-gi.

“Incitement? Who is inciting right now? No matter how much we are being treated unfairly, we are doctors. Is it right for doctors to take patients hostage?”

People around him criticize Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol as if they were going to lynch him at any moment.

“What the heck! What? Hostage! You said everything!”

“What’s wrong with going on strike to get our rights?”

“If the government is concerned about patients, why don’t they just apologize and withdraw the policy? Whose side are you on?”

Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol speaks while looking at the doctor who asked whose side he was on at the end.

“Whose side are you on? Why are you asking that? Of course, I am on the patient’s side! Of course, I do not agree with all of this policy. However, not sitting at the negotiating table when the government wants to negotiate and waging war with the government like this is not something I should do as a doctor, or even as a human being!”

Everyone becomes quiet at Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol’s rebuke.

And after a while, Chairman Kim Won-gi’s voice, full of anger, is heard.

“Get out of here right now!!”

At Kim Won-gi’s order to leave the conference room, Professor Lee Hyeong-cheol picks up his bag from the desk and turns around.

“I was going to go out anyway. The air here is so stuffy that I can’t stay.”

“What, what did you say… … !”

And then, just in front of the exit door, he turns around for a moment and speaks to the people.

“When you first became doctors and swore the Hippocratic Oath, was it like this?”

There was sadness in his voice.