1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 8



Only Krnovel

Episode 8

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Whenever I had free time, I would stay at the Gwanghwamun incense burner.

People are really flocking like clouds. So many people have come to the incense burner to pay their respects to President Lee Jung-hwan that it is hard to tell where the line ends.

People were sobbing, and some of them could not even focus their bodies properly because of their grief. It showed that President Lee Jung-hwan was respected and loved by the citizens as more than just a dictator.

‘Looking at it this way, I realize how amazing it is…’

Because he was a politician who died so long ago, I only knew historical facts about him, aside from the two-faced nature of him as a mythical president of industrialization and a dictator.

I am not in a position to evaluate him since I did not live in his time, but at least to those living in the present era, President Lee Jung-hwan seems to be a figure with more meaning than that.

I was witnessing in real time how politicians became myths and religions.

“Thank you for coming.”

I greeted each citizen at the incense burner, holding their hands and looking into their eyes. Sometimes, citizens who recognized me would even criticize me for not protecting President Lee Jung-hwan.

Whenever that happened, I would apologize to them with tears in my eyes.

“I’m sorry. I failed to protect you, Your Majesty. I am a sinner. I should have killed that bastard Choi Cheol-gi earlier. I’m sorry. Really..”

While apologizing for failing to protect President Lee Jung-hwan, he also blamed Choi Cheol-gi for everything. I don’t know how many citizens I’ve met, but the broadcasting station filmed the scene countless times, and the citizens who cried will spread this rumor even further.

“But where else can you find someone like Manager Kim?”

“That’s right. Even in that dangerous situation, you ended up killing that bastard Choi Cheol-gi.”

“He even had bandages on his arms and head? He said he got hurt while shooting to protect His Majesty.”

The bandages on his arms and head were intended to draw sympathy from the people. Although his injuries were only abrasions, they were enough to draw sympathy from the people.

At the time in 1979, if the media reported something and word of mouth spread, no matter how false it was, it would soon become fact.

In this way, Kim Jong-guk was recognized by the people, knowingly or unknowingly, as the de facto successor to President Lee Jung-hwan.

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“General Noh! Can you really not contact the general?”

“Do you know what the current situation is? Lee Dae-sik has become the Chief of Staff and General Lee Hwa-seong has become the Minister. Isn’t this an open statement that our Hanahwe will be excluded from the future?”

The elders from Hanahwe come running to Noh Dae-jun and ask him.

Minister Do Jae-woo’s dismissal. In fact, it wasn’t that big of a problem until then.

However, the problem was what happened after that. The promotion of President Lee Hwa-seong, who had been at odds with the Hanahwe, to the position of minister. And the promotion of Lee Dae-sik, who was from the first class and had not been paid any attention to, to the position of president.

It was not strange that the generals who graduated from the Korea Military Academy felt a sense of crisis.

In this emergency situation, since their leader Jeon Dae-hwan could not be reached, they had no choice but to rely on his friend Noh Dae-jun.

“If this continues, Chief Jungjung Kim will take over all the power!”

“If you watch the news now, half of it is about Director Kim!”

“I will truly hand over all power to the central government like this. If this continues, the military will completely disappear!”

Noh Dae-jun puts out his cigarette and speaks while looking at the people.

“Please stop! I’m frustrated too. I can’t contact the general right now! The Security Command says that he went out after receiving a call from Chief Secretary Jeong. His whereabouts are unknown after that!”

“There’s no way he would have gone alone. The driver who went with him would have known.”

“That’s… He said he drove alone because he was called so early in the morning.”

The room gets noisy. Noh Dae-jun’s head starts to throbbing. At that moment, Choi Hyeon-gyu, a senior from the military academy and commander of the Capital Corps, speaks to calm the people around him.

“Let’s calm down for now. This isn’t a problem that can be solved by making noise like this.”

“Thank you, senior. I’m also trying to find out where it is as best as I can. Please wait a moment.”

Noh Dae-jun continues to smoke cigarettes. To begin with, he is not a person with strong leadership skills. That is why, in this emergency situation, the absence of Jeon Dae-hwan, his friend and leader of the Hanahoe, was felt even more strongly by him.

“General Roh. I have something urgent to tell you.”

Colonel Min Ha-pyeong, Jeon Dae-hwan’s aide, enters the room without knocking. Colonel Min Ha-pyeong was Jeon Dae-hwan’s chief secretary and his most trusted confidant.

“what’s the matter.”

“I found out where Commander Jeon Dae-hwan went.”

“What? Where the hell are you!”

“That’s… the Central Intelligence Agency.”

“The central court?”

As soon as the word ‘Jungjeong’ comes out, the room becomes noisy again.

“What? Jungjeong!”

“Manager Kim, isn’t this completely targeting us!”

“Shouldn’t we really be moving too! If we keep doing this, we’ll end up sitting down and giving it all away!”

Choi Hyun-gyu calms the people down again and asks Min Ha-pyeong again.

“Everyone, please be quiet. For now, let’s listen to what’s going on. So, the general is in the courtyard right now?”

“Yes.. I heard it from Minister Do Jae-woo. It is certain. They say it was done by Chief Jung Jeong Kim.”

When the name Chief Kim comes up, Noh Dae-jun’s head starts to hurt again. Chief Kim of the Central Intelligence Agency is a person with much higher public recognition than them, and he is a former lieutenant general. He is also several grades higher than them.

And, crucially, he was someone who President Lee Jung-hwan had great trust in. Recently, there was talk that he was pushed out by Choi Cheol-gi, but until then, no matter what anyone said, the second-in-command of the Lee Jung-hwan government was none other than Kim Jung-guk.

“Ha.. Let’s think about it for a moment.”

However, no matter how much Noh Dae-jun racked his brain, he couldn’t come up with a way to get Manager Kim to step down from his position in the current situation using normal methods.

At that moment, Choi Hyun-gyu speaks to Noh Dae-jun with an expression on his face as if he has decided on something.

“General Roh. We have no choice but to make a decision if we want to survive. Chief Kim will gradually tighten our nostrils.”

“Senior..”

Choi Hyun-gyu holds Noh Dae-jun’s hand tightly again and speaks.

“I watched the glorious process from your side when Your Majesty led the army into revolution with the sole purpose of saving the country 20 years ago. And now I think that the time for that revolution has come once again.”

“.. .. .. .. .. ..”

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“Chief, the Hanahoe continues to gather. I don’t think we’ve arrested Jeon Dae-hwan either.”

On the third day of the funeral, while returning to the courtyard and resting, Youngho reports on Hanahwe.

“Maybe Do Jae-woo told you.”

At the time of arresting Jeon Dae-hwan, only the State Council members were present. And among them, the only one who was dissatisfied with me and leaked information to the Hanahoe was Do Jae-woo.

“I think so. I’m sorry, sir. I should have paid more attention.”

“No. So what are those Hanahwe guys doing now?”

“Yes. Since Jeon Dae-hwan is gone, they are gathering around the former second-in-command, Major General Noh Dae-jun. They are probably plotting something, but I don’t think they have made any concrete plans yet.”

“Maybe something will happen soon?”

Youngho pauses for a moment at my question, then answers.

“Yes. I think they will definitely take action soon. They seem to be cornered as well. Sir. How about we strike first before they plan something?”

Not a bad idea, but we need to let them off the hook a little more right now.

“No. There’s no need for that. If we take the initiative now, we might just give them a reason to act. Just watch them and leave them alone. Even if they try to lead the military and stage a coup, just leave them alone..”

“Yes..? What is that..”

I spoke while smoking a cigarette.

“If we could stage a coup, wouldn’t we have a justification to eliminate the Hanahwe all at once on charges of sedition?”

“That’s true.. but.. it won’t be easy if there’s a military coup on that side. Even if the Chief of Staff isn’t from Hanihoe, most division commanders and other key military positions are still held by Hanihoe.”

“Don’t worry. I have plans for everything. By the way, have you contacted the people in America I mentioned last time?”

“Yes. I was going to tell you, but… I don’t understand as well as you might think.”

“Really? As expected… you don’t trust easily.”

Youngho hesitates for a moment and then asks me.

“But, Mr. Kim. Is that true? Is it true that Iran is taking the Iranian embassy staff in the US hostage?”

“That’s right. That will probably happen very soon.”

“No matter how dire the situation is for Iran, would it take such a desperate measure against the United States?”

“I will do it. I know it is obviously impossible and I know I will pay a huge price, but I will still do it. I know that Hanahwe will definitely pay a price, but I will still do it.”

“.. .. ..”

Youngho looks surprised and becomes speechless.

“Yeah. We should get moving soon, Youngho. First, contact all the employees who are overseas.”

“Are you talking about all the employees working overseas?”

“Yes. And tell them to use all available resources, including the entire Special Activities Fund, and hire mercenaries and prepare for action near the Iranian Embassy in the US on November 4th.”

“It’s November 4th.. It’s not that far away.”

“Yes, there are four days left. And on that day, we will be in perfect alliance with the current Carter administration.”