1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 80



Only Krnovel

Episode 80

“Hahaha. That’s great. That’s great. I feel so good today because I met someone who recognizes me like this!”

“Oh my, Mr. Putin. You’ve had a lot to drink.”

“Today, I met someone who recognized my worth, so of course I should be more drunk!”

Putin, who is usually reserved and cool-headed, repeated the same words like a drunkard, as if nothing had happened.

But apart from that, Putin seemed very excited.

Unlike when he was in the KGB, after becoming unemployed, no one properly recognized his abilities.

I’ve been hanging around the offices of several politicians, but it wasn’t as easy to get a job as I thought.

At a time when his pride as a former KGB member was being eroded, he couldn’t help but feel good when the ambassador of South Korea, a country that had recently emerged as a major power, treated him so well and praised him.

It felt like my self-esteem, which had been diminishing, was being filled.

In this way, Ambassador Yoo met with Putin whenever he had time, entertained him, and provided him with significant financial support.

Although Putin was somewhat suspicious at first, he came to trust Ambassador Yoo Sung-kook over time, and with South Korea’s support, he was able to secure a fairly good position in Yeltsin’s party in just a few months, and was even mentioned as a candidate for the next Moscow mayor.

Of course, all of this was partly due to the enormous chaos in Russian politics.

“Mr. Putin, how are you?”

As soon as Putin receives a call from Ambassador Yu, his voice brightens.

“Aren’t you our Ambassador Yu? Hahaha. What brings you here today?”

Unlike his initial suspicions, Putin was now treating Ambassador Yu with respect and dignity, as if he were a noble or a benefactor.

“I just called to see if everything was okay.”

“Haha. It’s nothing. Thanks to Ambassador Yu, I’ve recently been mentioned as a candidate for mayor of Moscow, and every day is enjoyable.”

After exchanging a few words of wisdom, Ambassador Yoo Sung-guk brings up the main topic of our phone call today.

“Mr. Putin, it may be a bit sudden, but have you ever thought about visiting Korea?”

“Yes? Korea. Is there a reason?”

Putin looks a little surprised.

Yoo Sung-guk tells Putin the reason.

“In fact, there are people in Korea who want to meet Mr. Putin.”

“You want to meet me? Who is it?”

Ambassador Yoo Sung-guk looks around to see if there is anyone near him and speaks in a small voice.

“The President of Korea would like to meet you.”

Putin’s expression changes to one of disbelief.

I couldn’t believe that the President of Korea called me.

“Yes… …? Are you talking about me, the President of Korea?”

“Yes. The President would like to see Mr. Putin.”

Although he had recently established a decent position within the party thanks to Ambassador Yu’s support, he was still a new politician even within Russia.

In contrast, South Korea’s President Kim Jong-un is currently one of the most famous leaders in the world.

In fact, he was a globally influential figure who had been selected as Time magazine’s Person of the Year three times since 1983.

Now, the current president of South Korea, Kim Jong-un, has almost the same level of recognition and influence as the president of the United States.

However, it was not easy to believe that Kim Jung-guk, who was like that, would ask to meet her.

Putin thinks for a long time.

I wondered if that was true and why the President of Korea would want to meet someone like me.

Ambassador Yoo simply waited silently while Putin pondered.

I didn’t force it on purpose.

I thought that forcing it would only arouse suspicion and there would be no benefit.

Instead, he eased the burden by asking if I would refuse first.

“If you find it burdensome to go all the way to Korea, should I just tell you that it would be difficult to meet you?”

Putin breaks his silence at these words.

“Oh, no. He was someone I always wanted to see and meet. I would be honored if I could meet him.”

If anything, not rushing him at all dispelled his doubts.

“Then we will proceed right away. We will contact you as soon as the schedule is confirmed!”

Ambassador Yoo immediately contacted the Blue House as soon as Putin hung up the phone.

“Mr. President, Putin is coming to Korea.”

“Really? Thank you for your hard work! I will set up a schedule and let you know right away.”

And the schedule was set for a month later.

The first meeting with Putin, the future Russian dictator but now just a new politician, was set.

‘Now, how should we cook it…?’

* * *

When I was in the country, I devoted most of my time to social reform, economic reform, and technological reform.

He left most of the event attendance to the Prime Minister and ministers, and focused a little more on domestic affairs.

And among them, the place that always paid attention to technological reform was the National Technology Agency.

National Technology Agency.

Korea National Technology Administration.

More than ten years have passed since the launch of this organization, known simply as KNTA.

Before we knew it, the name KNTA had become so famous that there was probably no one in the world who didn’t know it.

Unlike the early days when most of the technology depended on secret shops, the technological capabilities of the National Technology Agency itself have now become considerable.

Now, it is not just about transferring technology to private companies or utilizing it nationally, but also about combining two technologies or utilizing multiple technologies within one technology.

Its expertise has further increased.

And there were side effects as well.

It was the problem of industrial espionage.

As the reputation of the National Technology Agency grew, other countries tried to turn on the lights and poach its researchers and engineers.

Song Hyeon-seok, who joined the National Technology Agency as a new employee eight years ago.

He started out as a researcher and has now risen to a position equivalent to that of deputy manager in a general company.

When he first joined, it was a relatively new organization, so there was no stagnation in promotions and promotions proceeded much faster than expected, so he was able to take responsibility at a young age of 30.

His salary was much higher than that of a regular civil servant, and unlike other research institutes, he was able to get off work early and had his days off well-kept, so he was very satisfied with working at the National Technology Agency.

Of course, for him, who had outstanding qualities as a researcher from the beginning, the thing that made him the happiest was the ability to research and develop cutting-edge technologies that could not be found anywhere else in the world.

I don’t know what path it took, but the technological prowess of the National Technology Agency was so overwhelming that it could not be compared to any research institute or institution in the world.

The technology provided by the secret research lab always showed me more than I expected.

He had been happily researching and developing the latest technologies, but recently a big problem arose for him.

The point was that he was continuously being approached from abroad.

“Director Song Hyeon-seok, if you come to China, we will provide you with three times your current salary, a three-story house where you can live with your family, and even a bodyguard at all times.”

“Manager Song Hyun-seok, if you come to Japan, we will give you four times your annual salary, the best mansion in Shinjuku, and the best car… … .”

“Mr. Song, if you come to the U.S., you will receive five times your existing salary. And you will be naturalized as an American citizen immediately. Also… … .”

In simple terms, it’s an offer to become an industrial spy.

It was certainly a tempting offer, but he wasn’t interested.

If I went to another research institute, I would be able to live a more comfortable life than I do now, but it was clear that I would not have the opportunity to research and develop cutting-edge technologies like I do now.

“Mr. Song, if you come to Italy… … .”

‘Haa, the phone calls just keep coming in… … .’

Song Hyeon-seok, the person in charge, hangs up the phone with another scouting offer and leaves the lab.

I was annoyed by the scout offer call, but today is Friday evening, the beginning of the weekend.

His steps became lighter.

And the moment he tries to open the car door, someone grabs him from behind.

And then he immediately shuts his mouth.

“Eeeeek…!! Eeeeek…!!”

‘What, what is it… …!’

That moment when I was so terrified.

A gunshot is heard from somewhere.

-bang!

“What, what… …! A gun?”

“Hey, run away for now!”

And the assailants, startled by the sound of gunfire, soon release Song Hyeon-seok and begin to run away.

But soon, those who were running away were caught and arrested by men in black suits who followed them.

A man in a black suit speaks as he looks at the man who has been shot and fallen.

“These kids are really trying to kidnap me now.”

Then he looks at Song and asks.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, yes… … ! It’s okay. Thank you. By the way, who are you… … ?”

“Oh, I’m late with the introduction. This is the National Intelligence Service.”

There have been numerous attempts to steal Korean technology, including offers of industrial espionage and, most recently, kidnapping attempts.

But 99.999% of industrial espionage attempts fail.

The reason was that the National Intelligence Service had grown into the world’s best intelligence agency.

Recently, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has boasted enormous scale and intelligence capabilities to the point where it is called one of the world’s top three intelligence agencies, along with the U.S. CIA and Israel’s Mossad.

Of course, due to the president’s directive to refrain from spying on domestic politicians as much as possible, the work was limited to overseas affairs or domestic industrial spies and spies, but this actually allowed the focus to be placed on catching such spies.

The only things they stole from Korea were things like the CD business, which is now starting to become obsolete.

* * *

[Advance Research Institute]

All 20 researchers registered at this most secretive research institute under the National Technology Agency are fictitious.

And this lab was a virtual lab that was set up to make it easier to hand over items from the secret store.

“This time… … .”

I opened my smartphone and looked through the list of things to develop today.

[Confidential Document Store]

[Current Level: Intermediate]

[Current points: 104,900pt]

[MP3 Player / 500pt]

[Oil Drilling Technology / 2,000pt]

[F22 Fighter / 20,000pt]

[Superconductor Technology / 400,000pt]

.

.

.

The other things looked good, but the one I was going to buy today was definitely an MP3 player. Qple will probably release an MP3 player soon, so if Samsung Electronics releases an MP3 player before then, it will definitely sell well due to the synergy effect after Qple releases its MP3 player.

It’s not that Samjung’s MP3 player is selling less, but if Qple’s MP3 player is released, Samjung’s MP3 player, which is released first, will also sell well.

It’s clear that MP3 players will be all the rage until smartphones come along.

I pressed the purchase button without hesitation.

[Purchase completed.]

‘But is that superconductor technology really something that can be bought…?’

It’s been a long time since I stopped doubting after seeing the numerous miracles of the secret document store, but in fact, the superconductor technology, unlike other technologies, was evaluated as a dream technology even in 2023.

So, it was only natural that I had doubts.

‘Let’s just collect as much as we can… ‘

If that technology really is a room-temperature, normal-pressure superconductor technology, then South Korea becoming the world’s only superpower, surpassing the United States, is not just a dream.

‘I get curious every time I see it… … .’

Anyway, while I was imagining things like that, I suddenly found some documents containing sample MP3 players and production methods.

It seems that the production of MP3 players itself is not that difficult even now, so only documents like this are available.

As soon as I returned to my office, leaving the documents behind, I spoke to the chief secretary.

“Please contact the National Technology Agency. They say there is a new technology.”

If you say this, the chief of staff will immediately contact the National Technology Agency, take the technology, conduct research, and either pass it on to a private company or use it directly by the government.

“Okay. I’ll talk it over, Mr. President. The next event is at the National Cemetery… … .”

Then suddenly my smartphone vibrated.

“Just a moment. Let’s rest for 10 minutes. Call me back in 10 minutes.”

“all right.”

After the chief secretary left, I opened my smartphone.

And there was an unexpected alarm.

[The purchase amount has reached the level-up amount.]

[The rank is raised to a higher level.]

‘huh?’

It was an unexpected stroke of luck.

Looks like I reached my level up goal amount today when I bought an MP3 player.

‘I thought it was like a department store VIP system, but it really feels similar… … .’

Aside from the fact that the system is novel, I was actually curious about what abilities would be added.

The department store VIP system also clearly gets better the higher you go.

That’s why this promotion was quite anticipated.

“It was clear that production facilities for items that could not be produced during the intermediate stage appeared… … .”

A little later, another alarm sounds.

[As your level increases, you can customize the skills you purchase by paying a certain amount of points.]

‘Customizing?’