1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 26



Only Krnovel

Episode 26

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As the new year of 1981 arrived, the political world was busy preparing for the National Assembly elections.

As politicians who had been banned from politics during the Yushin era and those who had been imprisoned outside the government were all released, numerous political forces began to emerge.

During the constitutional amendment process, local elections were changed from a multi-member district system, in which two or more members are elected from one district, to a modern single-member district system, in which one member is elected from each district.

The proportional representation lawmakers who were appointed by the president were changed to vote for the party.

The modern electoral system, which was not properly established until the 1990s, was taking hold much more quickly.

The ruling party the president belongs to, the Korea First Party, also known as the Korea Party.

The party’s history was short, only one year, and the number of members was not that many. However, just a few months before the general election, the Liberty Korea Party was crowded with people trying to get nominated by any means possible.

The reason was simple.

This is because President Kim, who was elected with an overwhelming approval rating in the previous presidential election, has been running the country while maintaining his approval rating well up to now.

“I don’t know how many complaints I’ve been getting lately, asking to take a picture with the president so they can get some benefit from him.”

Representative Choi Hyun speaks to me over breakfast.

I tried to avoid interfering with party affairs as much as possible, but since information sharing and cooperation between the ruling party and the Blue House were necessary, I would invite them to the Blue House and have meals and meetings.

CEO Choi, who had been beating around the bush talking about nothing, gets to the main point when the meal is almost over.

“Mr. President, the election is just around the corner. Do you have any candidates in mind?”

There were quite a few candidates lining up here and there, including the party and the Blue House.

This was especially true because the election was held so soon after the presidential election.

Moreover, in the case of the metropolitan area, which is more sensitive to public sentiment, the provincial and city party offices were paralyzed with people trying to get nominated.

Of course, there were some candidates I liked, and there were some I really wanted to see become members of the National Assembly.

However, if I include a candidate I like, this will eventually become an intervention in party affairs.

“It’s okay. There are candidates I like, but if I were to recommend a candidate, wouldn’t that also be political intervention and party interference?”

“But wouldn’t it be more flexible in running state affairs if there were lawmakers who were on the same page as the Blue House?”

CEO Choi tries to persuade once more.

Perhaps, within the party, they were just waiting for the president to speak.

“No, sir. Instead of what I recommend, how about we introduce a bottom-up nomination system for this election?”

“Bottom-up nomination?”

In 2023, both the National Assembly election and local election were to adopt this bottom-up nomination system regardless of political party, but at the time, the term bottom-up nomination itself was unfamiliar.

“So far, most political parties have nominated candidates to local regions, right? This time, instead of that, we are accepting candidates from local regions and having local party members directly vote or conduct opinion polls to hold primaries.”

CEO Choi speaks while resting his chin on his hand and drinking the coffee that was served as dessert.

“Hmm… Bottom-up nomination… It’s a bit unfamiliar, but it’s a method that’s a bit closer to democracy.”

President Choi responds positively.

Originally, this person was someone who lacked popularity and such, and he was not someone who was completely closed off.

“But Mr. President, if that happens, I think there will be one problem..”

I knew what CEO Choi was going to say.

Bottom-up nominations still had one major drawback in the future.

“Are you talking about young politicians who are like political newcomers?”

“Yes, that’s right. This system may reflect the party members’ party sentiments and public sentiments, but it is fundamentally bound to be advantageous to politicians who have been active in the region for a long time.”

It was just as Prime Minister Choi Hyun said.

Bottom-up nomination reflects public sentiment, preventing an unexpected candidate from running in one’s own district, but it has the side effect of making it so that once a candidate has established himself in that district, he or she continues to be nominated over and over again.

To put it a little roughly, it was like becoming the so-called local leader.

However, South Korea has already created ways to compensate for this side effect through several elections.

“How about giving a penalty to multi-term lawmakers? Or maybe giving bonus points to young politicians or new politicians who challenge in their local areas?”

“Penalties and bonus points… If you plan it well, it could be a complementary measure to some extent.”

CEO Choi nodded and seemed to understand to some extent.

“Of course, I know it won’t be easy even if you give penalties and bonus points. So, how about assigning proportional representation candidates to political newcomers or young politicians who are unlikely to get elected in their respective regions but are absolutely necessary?”

“They say proportional representation is used as a gateway for newcomers or young politicians… Hmm… I’ll have to talk to the people in charge about the details, but I’m sure the public will respond well to it.”

At the time, proportional representation seats were held by multi-elected lawmakers or sold for money.

That is why it was something that other party representatives might object to.

The nomination of proportional representation seats was a very important opportunity for the party leader and leadership to exercise power and line their own pockets.

However, Prime Minister Choi Hyun was a little different.

And this proportional representation was also one of the reasons why I asked Prime Minister Choi Hyun to be the party leader.

Prime Minister Choi Hyun’s greatest strength is that he has not a single shred of personal greed.

That is why this person was absolutely not someone who would sell his proportional representation seat for money.

‘The leader of the ruling party… is walking around in such an old coat…’

There has never been anyone who fits the nickname of Cheongbaekri so well.

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Just as domestic history changed, a major trend in world history also changed.

Jimmy Carter, who should have lost if things went as planned, ended up being re-elected as the US president.

In the original flow of history, he should have lost the election due to his failure to rescue the hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran, but with the help of South Korea, he was able to successfully rescue the hostages and be re-elected.

And Ambassador Bruce, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Iran, was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea in recognition of his contribution to rescuing the hostages.

Since Korea was a major diplomatic partner of the United States, the ambassador usually came with quite a bit of experience. It was essentially a promotion for him.

For Korea, it was a great advantage to have Bruce as ambassador.

He was fundamentally very friendly towards Korea because he had received help from Korea during the hostage crisis.

He also had a great affection for President Kim because he knew that he had ordered the hostage rescue incident as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency at the time.

Today was the first day he was inaugurated as ambassador and paid a courtesy call on President Kim Jong-guk.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ambassador Bruce. Thank you for coming. Welcome.”

“Mr. President, nice to meet you. I am Bruce Freeman, the U.S. Ambassador. I have been very helpful to you in the past. Thank you very much.”

The American ambassador cordially thanks the Korean president.

Considering the difference in national power, it was a sight that would have been unimaginable even ten years ago.

“Hahaha. No. What did I do? This guy did more than that. Director Kim.”

Kim Yeon-seok, the director of the National Intelligence Service who had been waiting outside the reception room, comes out. He was the man who had directly commanded the previous Iranian hostage rescue incident.

“Ah!! That time!”

As soon as Ambassador Bruce sees the curb, he is delighted and hugs him.

“Hahahaha! Thank you so much for that time! If it weren’t for you guys, me and the embassy staff might have died!”

“Euuuup..! No, Ambassador. I was just doing what I had to do.”

“Please come to the embassy later. I will definitely buy you a meal.”

After the reunion between Ambassador Bruce and the President, I sat down with Ambassador Bruce to discuss the current state of diplomatic affairs.

“Ambassador Bruce. What are the recent developments in China and the Soviet Union?”

I wasn’t asking because I was curious about this information.

If you just searched, you could find out about trends in the US or the Soviet Union.

However, this was only a preliminary step to extract other important information.

“Recently, the Soviet Union has been in a state of confusion due to the change of its Secretary General. China also seems to be trying to reform and open up since Deng Xiaoping took power.”

“Is that so? Then what is America’s position?”

“We are trying to talk to the Soviet Union as much as possible. The President has said that it is very dangerous for the Cold War to continue as it is. The United States welcomes China’s reforms and opening up.”

‘Should I start dropping some more bait?’

“Ambassador. This may be a bit out of the blue, but… if this is really the case… and I’m just using an example of a really case, but… if there were a war between South Korea and North Korea, what would be the position of the United States? Would it fight alongside South Korea as an ally?”

“Of course. Didn’t you save us from Iran? But we are resolutely opposed to South Korea invading North Korea first or anything like that. And as long as there are US troops in South Korea, they will never invade first.”

He repeated the same sentiments that the United States has always expressed.

“Then what if, instead of a full-scale invasion, there were terrorist attacks or localized provocations against Korea?”

“We must prevent a situation that leads to an all-out war. The U.S. position is that unless North Korea launches a full-scale invasion, the current situation should be maintained as much as possible. If the Korean War breaks out again, it could lead to a world war.”

“Is that so? I am against all-out war caused by terrorism or localized provocations. Ambassador, what if that terrorism is directed at me?”

“Terrorism targeting the President? What is that? Mr. President. Is something wrong?”

Bruce asks in a serious voice.

He probably just came to say hello, so he must have been embarrassed to hear this story.

I laughed and lightened the mood.

“Haha. The atmosphere has become too heavy. I’m sorry, Ambassador. I did that because the position of President requires you to always think about what-ifs. Please understand.”

“I see. I thought you heard some intelligence reports that North Korea was going to invade the South or commit a terrorist attack against the President.”

Only then does Bruce’s voice relax a little.

‘The US position is ultimately to maintain the status quo…’

In the event of a war with North Korea that will occur someday, the problem will not be North Korea itself.

The problem was ultimately the Soviet Union and China.

‘When war eventually breaks out, the United States will have to tie the hands of the Soviet Union and China···.’