1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 57



Only Krnovel

Episode 57

“We are recruiting Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik to our party.”

“What? Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik? Will that work?”

YS is shocked by Supreme Council member Hyun Tae-soo’s absurd remarks and asks again.

Of course, if we recruit Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik, who was a war hero and had high public trust, there may be hope in this impossible presidential election.

However, the personality of Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik was so strong that everyone sitting here knows it.

It was impossible for him to betray Kim Jong-guk and suddenly come to the opposition party.

“Let me bring it over and see.”

“Commissioner Hyun. Is there any good way?”

TJ, who was listening, asks.

“Actually, President Lee Dae-sik and I have been close friends since we were young. And he really helped us a lot during difficult times at home. Given his personality, it wouldn’t be easy for him to refuse if I asked him to do something.”

Chief Hyun Tae-soo is a hometown friend of Lee Dae-sik and has known him for over 50 years. In particular, during the difficult times when President Lee Dae-sik was young, Hyun Tae-soo’s wealthy home provided him with a lot of help.

“Hmm..”

Both TJ and YS are troubled.

If Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik had joined their party, it could have been a ray of light in this election that seemed to have no answer.

However, it was clear that if they recruited President Lee Dae-sik and had him run for president, their standing within the party would be significantly reduced.

“You don’t have to worry, representatives. If this president becomes president, he will have a hard time leading the state without cooperation with the party, unlike Kim Jong-guk.”

Although he was certainly an excellent soldier, he had no experience as a politician.

He thought that it would be easy to control him even after he became president.

YS and TJ exchange glances.

They both seemed to agree that there was no other way at the moment.

The two nodded at Commissioner Hyun Tae-soo.

It meant to proceed with the recruitment of President Lee Dae-sik.

These two decided to temporarily give up their power and support Lee Dae-sik in order to deal with the great figure of Kim Jung-guk.

###

“Mr. President, Chief of Staff Lee Dae-sik would like to meet with you briefly.”

“Really? Tell them to come in.”

After about two hours, President Lee Dae-sik came into the office with a very serious look on his face and greeted me.

“It’s been a while, Mr. President. Please sit down.”

“yes.”

A moment later, a secretary comes in and places two cups of coffee on the table.

“Listen.”

“thank you···.”

‘What is it? What’s going on?’

As always, President Lee Dae-sik looked like a true soldier, but there was a hint of anxiety on his face.

“So what’s going on today? Is there something going on in the military?”

“I came because I wanted to speak to the President privately.”

“To me…? That’s a big deal. Please tell me.”

“that is..”

He pauses for a moment.

This was not befitting of the president.

He wasn’t usually the type to speak so hesitantly.

“It’s okay, just tell me.”

Only when I ask him to speak again does the president get to the main point.

“Actually, the Democratic Party of Korea has asked me to run as their candidate for this presidential election.”

“From the Democratic Party? Wow… That’s amazing. Those people are also making such suggestions to President Lee Dae-sik.”

If the usual President Lee Dae-sik had received a call like this, he would have probably cursed and hung up the phone.

But there must be another reason why you came to me like this.

“But the person who made that suggestion to me is a friend who has been close to me since I was young. I received a lot of help from that friend when I was having a hard time… So… .”

I understand what you are saying.

Perhaps he was talking about repaying a favor received in the past.

And given President Lee Dae-sik’s personality, it would not have been easy for him to refuse this offer, so he probably came to me.

I took a sip of my coffee and asked him.

“Mr. President. What would you like to do?”

“To be honest, I think running in this election would be a betrayal of the President. But… I received too much help from this friend as a child for him to turn down a favor he asked me to do.”

He is a person with a personality like Guan Yu.

He was a person who had strong loyalty, but also felt a need to repay the help he received.

‘You are the only wonderful person in the world..’

Even to a man like me, he was such a cool guy.

“Mr. President, don’t worry about me. Then run for president.”

“Mr. President… That’s not what I meant···.”

He is taken aback by my words.

I smile and tell him the truth.

“Haha.. I’m not saying this because I’m upset. Rather, I wish this president would run for president.”

“Yes..? What do you mean?”

There was one big concern ahead of the recent presidential election.

The approval rating is simply too high.

Some may wonder what the problem is, but when looking at approval ratings from other countries, one cannot help but think that public opinion has been manipulated.

Public opinion at home may improve, but if he is elected with this level of approval rating, it could give other countries the impression that the election is being rigged.

That’s why I was hoping that rather than a side candidate, a somewhat competitive candidate would emerge.

“In this election, I hope that the opposing candidate will be a competitive candidate. For a constructive society, it is not a good thing for one candidate to win by a landslide.”

“.. .. .. Mr. President.”

I continued speaking with a smile.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll do whatever the president wants. I’m not that weak. Even if the president steps forward, it won’t be easy for him to beat me. Hahaha.”

“.. .. ..”

“Oh, right. Since we’re here, let’s hear about how the military barracks improvement project is going.”

A presidential election is a presidential election and state affairs are state affairs. We cannot neglect state affairs just because it is a presidential election.

###

President Lee Dae-sik is impressed by the appearance of President Kim Jung-guk.

He clearly knows that he will be a strong opponent, and in a way, he does not get angry when the person he raised says that he will run as the candidate of the opposing party, but rather consoles himself by saying that it is okay.

And then we immediately get into the work conversation.

‘What a great person…’

“This president… This president…!”

“Ah.. Sorry.. I was thinking of something else for a moment..”

“What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about something that has already happened after you became president?”

“Ah.. no.. that’s not it.”

“Haha. Just kidding. Just kidding.”

President Kim Jong-guk laughs loudly.

Then he asks again about improving the barracks.

“So how are the barracks improvements going?”

“Ah.. Yes. The military barracks improvement work is progressing without a hitch. The old barracks facility improvement work is also progressing, and the military food improvement is also progressing without a hitch.”

“Good. I don’t know about anything else, but please improve the military food supply as quickly as possible. Improving the barracks is important, but providing good food for soldiers is more important than anything else.”

“Yes, I understand. I will do my best.”

“The soldiers’ salaries should be increased as much as possible to match the starting salary of regular office workers, but it is still not easy to increase the budget to that level.”

President Kim Jong-guk nearly tripled the salaries of military personnel last year alone, despite opposition from the National Assembly.

However, because the existing monthly salary was so low, it was not enough for the salaries of ordinary office workers.

“You devote three years of your life to your country as the brightest youth, so shouldn’t the country at least provide you with some minimal compensation?”

The general was originally very interested in private soldiers.

In the past, when he was the commander of the 26th Division, he changed the soldiers’ meals from bland meals made with shit soup and old government rice to high-quality meals that only the middle class and above could eat.

But even he could only admire the way President Kim Jong-un paid such meticulous attention to his soldiers.

‘.. .. .. ..’

Many thoughts cross his mind.

And after a while he decided.

As soon as I got home, I immediately called my friend Hyun Tae-soo.

“Taesu.. It’s me.. I’m contacting you because I have something to tell you.”

“Oh, you’re a big eater. You’ve decided! You’ve thought it through well! Inma.”

Supreme Council member Hyun Tae-soo’s voice rose two notes in joy.

“Okay. So when are we going to do the admission process? Should we do it right away?”

“.. I’m sorry, Taesu. Let’s pretend this never happened.”

“Hey. What are you talking about! I said it would work out, and I already told the party everything. What does this make me?”

“I’m really sorry. I’ll carry the debt I owe you with me for the rest of my life. But I don’t think I can ever fight with the President. I’ll stop now.”

His voice was firm.

“Hey..! Hey..! Lee Dae-sik!! Lee Dae-sik hey..!!!”

He hung up the phone coldly despite the desperate voice of Commissioner Hyun Tae-soo calling him.

He himself was not a person without political ambitions or anything like that.

When I got a call from Hyun Tae-soo, deep down I felt a bit tempted.

But the more I talked to President Kim, the more I felt like I had no intention of fighting him.

It was because no matter how many times I thought about it, I could not come up with a picture of a better Republic of Korea than that.

‘Yeah… how can I be better than that person…’

That’s why he had no choice but to make this decision, even if it meant betraying his old friend.

###

The opposition party’s last card, recruiting President Lee Dae-sik, also ended up falling through.

The Komeito Party eventually went through a primary process and nominated YS as its presidential candidate. However, there was no way to defeat the Komeito Party.

After the failure of President Lee Dae-sik, they tried to recruit Prime Minister Lee Hwa-seong, but he was rejected outright.

“Prime Minister Lee. I am Kim Jung-pil.”

“Why are you calling all of a sudden?”

“Can’t you run for our party’s presidential candidate? If things continue this way, President Kim Jong-guk’s dictatorship will begin.”

Prime Minister Lee Hwa-sung paused for a moment and then spoke in a voice that sounded extremely angry.

“Mr. Kim Jung-pil… I will tell you something carefully.”

“What.. what..? Mr. Kim Joong-pil..?”

It was common for politicians to be called by the highest position they had ever held, even if they were not incumbent.

However, the fact that he called him Mr. Kim Jung-pil instead of President or Prime Minister meant that Prime Minister Lee Hwa-seong was extremely angry.

“If you contact me again for something like this, I really won’t leave you alone! I’m hanging up now!”

“This Prime Minister..! This Prime Minister..!!!”

So, right before the election.

Finally, there was a campaign speech at Gwanghwamun in Seoul.

People were gathered endlessly in front of the square.

It was just as good as when the Pope visited in the past.

I went up to the podium, looked at the crowd, and began my final speech.

“Everyone. This is Kim Jung-guk.

Three years ago, we once again achieved the task of unification through fratricide between our own people. Many people died and were injured in the process, but thanks to that noble sacrifice, our people have now become one. Now, we no longer have the terms North and South Korea. Now, only Korea remains.

I am not interested in other things. The only thing I want is to make this country, the Republic of Korea, great. We built the Republic of Korea from the ruins of 1953. And now it is time to develop once again.

I have kept all the promises I made to the people six years ago. Our economy has grown significantly due to the development of the information industry, automobile industry, and fashion industry. Next year, GDP per capita will surpass the promised $5,000 and enter the $6,000 range. We have significantly increased our defense budget and achieved unification through overwhelming military power, and we are faithfully carrying out barrack improvement. In addition, we have also abolished the birth control policy for long-term national competitiveness.

I can’t tell you all here what I’m going to do in the next six years. But I can promise you this one thing. If I’m elected, I’ll make sure that in six years, no matter where you go, you’ll hear that South Korea is a developed country.

Dear citizens, please give me another chance to work. I still have a lot of work to do. Please give me your overwhelming support so that I can work again!”

November 6, 1986.

Voting has begun for the presidential election, which featured a total of four candidates.

Kim Jeong-guk, candidate of the Liberty Korea Party.

Kim Yong-shin, candidate of the Gongmyeong Party.

Oh Jeong-taek, candidate of the Progressive Socialist Party.

Independent candidate Yoo Jeong-deuk.

Voter turnout was 96.2%.

The voter turnout was enormous.

And the result was an overwhelming victory with 87.2% of the votes.

“President Kim Jong-guk is certain to win with 87.2% of the votes! Especially in the northern region where the general election was held, the voter turnout was over 90%···.”

I was finally re-elected by a landslide, an overwhelming majority that would almost certainly be impossible in a democratic election.