A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 67
Only Krnovel
The Chairman Who Has No Regrets Episode 67 – Samgochoryeo (6)
Ho-ho-
As you move the steaming potatoes from hand to hand, you peel them with your breath, then carefully bite into them with your front teeth. The unique, raw flavor of the potatoes and the moderate charcoal flavor of the dry firewood add to the flavor.
“Heh heh.”
Architect Kim Up-joong, who took a small bite, looked at me with a hollow laugh.
“Are you okay?”
He nods his head at my question.
I think I put two or three of those in my mouth.
I stood up from my seat like any other day.
“Shall we go, Architect?”
He also stands up from his seat and Taesu nods his head knowingly.
Since Taesu would take care of the cleanup, I comfortably escaped with Kim Up-joong through the side road between the curtains and started walking.
“hmm?”
Kim Up-jung tilts his head at the entrance of the Buk-am Mountain hiking trail leading up to the mountain.
“I thought you were going to a tea house, but you’re climbing a mountain?”
“I have something to show you one last time.”
“Really, you are an interesting young man.”
I looked at his face for a moment, as if he was dying, and then asked cautiously.
“By the way, is hiking difficult?”
“Are you planning to go all the way to Jeongsan?”
“No. It takes about an hour to get to the middle.”
“That much is okay.”
I heard from his own mouth that he was in poor health.
The architect Kim Up-joong, whom I knew, died in the late 80s, so I wonder if he is still holding up.
“Do you go to the hospital?”
“Are you worried now?”
He answers questions with questions.
It’s as if he’s asking what I’m talking about when I brought him a mountain.
“Now that we’re on the same boat, we should know the situation, right?”
He shrugged his shoulders, smiling.
“Money is not the enemy.”
“Can you live if you have money?”
“I guess it’s a question of will.”
“okay.”
Even though his complexion wasn’t good, there was definitely strength in his voice and his gait. It didn’t mean he looked like someone who was dying.
Maybe he had no will to live? Maybe he had lost his reason to live, just breathing day by day.
“Were you not followed on your way here?”
At my words, Kim Up-joong looks back and laughs.
At this time, he and I were the only ones climbing the mountain. It was even stranger to go hiking during lunchtime on a weekday, not even on the weekend.
“I guess there was no need to watch over an old man who was dying of old age. The world is noisy these days, even without me, so maybe it’s no longer necessary.”
He must have also played a big role in designing several buildings commissioned by the government. For example, I understand that he designed the Olympic Park and the Peace Gate, which are currently under construction.
The name of the building, the Gate of Peace, is quite contradictory, as it was built by driving out the people who lived on that land.
“It’s okay if I’m followed, since I came prepared. Shouldn’t I pay for the potatoes?”
Roar roar.
His eyes were full of life, unlike his sallow face. His will, which had been dead from fear, seemed to be burning.
“The number is wrong, but whatever. It’s okay.”
“The number is wrong?”
I nodded and answered.
“I have no intention of fighting the government.”
He suddenly frowned.
“No, didn’t you say you would protect the shantytown?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But isn’t it contradictory to say that you won’t fight the government?”
“Do you know anything about what happened in Gwangju?”
He tilts his head to my question.
“Are you talking about Gwangju, Jeolla Province?”
“yes.”
“What’s going on there?”
Of course, this is something the world doesn’t know about yet.
The truth about the tragic incident that occurred in Gwangju, Jeolla Province was still spreading little by little, and very few people knew the truth.
“The history of those who fought against the current government is there.”
Kim Up-joong tilted his head as if he had no idea what was going on.
“Do you think the people of Sanggye-dong shantytown have the power to fight and win against the government?”
Kim Up-joong shook his head at the following words.
“That could be possible.”
“So we shouldn’t fight.”
“Then what are you going to do? In the end, the government will just try to push through everything as it wishes.”
There’s no reason why bald people are called bald heads.
His guess that they will try to push everything out is correct. In the sad history of the Sanggye-dong shantytown that I remember, there is a clear image of people crying while pushing everything out.
“Do you know what the government’s purpose is in tearing down and redeveloping places like shantytowns?”
“Well, was there any collusion with companies? I understand that a lot of money is needed for the Asian Games, the Olympics, etc.”
It was half right and half wrong.
“The government must be feeling the pressure now.”
“Do you feel pressured?”
“You could say that the sad history of Gwangju that I mentioned earlier is the beginning.”
“What the heck are you talking about···”
I wanted to explain about Gwangju, but I held back. Kim Up-joong is someone who is definitely being watched closely by the government, so just knowing information that he doesn’t necessarily need to know is dangerous.
“In any case, the fact that tyranny and dictatorship are still being maintained remains unchanged, right?”
“Right, so students exercise, right? Office workers do the same.”
“Yes, he will feel a lot of pressure because he is a president who does not have proper support from the people.”
“I understand it roughly.”
“In the meantime, we are trying to hold international events such as the Asian Games and the Olympics while enduring enormous damage.”
Kim Up-joong sticks close to me and concentrates.
“Currently, the image of the Republic of Korea around the world is probably not that of a democratic country. The image that the people are suffering because of the tyranny of the president is prevalent.”
Kim Up-joong opens his eyes wide and thinks about something.
“Hmm, when I came back, I thought the world had changed.”
I shook my head.
Perhaps the image of the Republic of Korea is worse now than it was then. News about May 18 was being reported all over the world.
“In any case, in order to overcome that image and divert the attention of student activists and workers, the Asian Games and the Olympics must be held successfully. That is the government’s position.”
“I understand.”
“So, the government will want to look good to foreign media coming into Korea from outside.”
“So, you’re trying to get rid of the relatively outdated facilities and install advanced facilities on top of them?”
“you’re right.”
Kim Up-joong frowned.
“Then wouldn’t it be okay to give appropriate compensation?”
A voice that is full of frustration.
“South Korea has no money.”
“You don’t have money?”
“At least the current government is saving money, I don’t know if they want to fill their stomachs.”
“Interest?”
“Companies have to eat, and the government has to eat, so would it be appropriate to compensate the people living in the areas being demolished?”
Of course, some, if not all, received appropriate compensation. If there is a dark side, there must naturally be a bright side, as is the way of the world.
However, no matter what compensation they received, they still lost their livelihood.
“There is a saying that finding a landowner is like trying to find a star in the sky.”
Kim Up-joong nodded.
The Republic of Korea, which has gone through countless painful histories, has many houses and lands where the owners of the land and houses have not appeared. The owners may have given orders somewhere, or they may be tied up in the North and unable to come down, and their children may not have heard of it and are unaware of it.
“They all came.”
I said, pointing to the shantytown of Sanggye-dong that I could see from a flat rock.
“There will be houses there that are still in good condition and have owners, and there will also be people who just build houses and live on land that has no owners.”
“That’s right. Isn’t that how it is in Korea these days?”
“That will be the government’s logic again. What’s different about Mokdong? Demolition of illegal structures, this is why it’s illegal, that is why it’s illegal. They’ll just push it down with that excuse.”
“Ignorant bastards.”
In the meantime, many people have suffered badly at the hands of hired thugs. It is ironic that these thugs have the power of the government behind them. Not long ago, at a campaign rally, the current president likened college students to rioters and thugs. There is no irony like this.
“The people of the shantytowns have no power to fight against the government’s logic.”
“Then how on earth are you going to fight?”
“I repeat, I have no intention of fighting. The shantytowns have no power to fight or confront the government.”
“Then how on earth are you going to protect it?”
I reached out and pointed to the shantytown.
“How does it look?”
Kim Up-joong stares blankly down at the shantytown area. It probably doesn’t look good to him either. If he shifts his gaze a little, he can see other neighborhoods that are much more developed.
“Hmm.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say that it was not a good sight. He already had a desire to protect the shantytown in his heart.
“The government is using beauty as an excuse, so we want to change beauty.”
“The entire shantytown area?”
“Yes, I hope so.”
“Does that mean we’re going to change our development plans?”
“And then I have to become famous, and catch the government’s eye.”
“Does it catch the government’s eye?”
He frowns, wondering if he doesn’t like the idea of flattering the government.
“Do you want to fight the government or do you want to protect your shantytown?”
He looks down at the shantytown for a moment, then looks down at the black coal in his palm.
The palm is slightly curled up, as if holding a potato.
“I told you to protect me, didn’t I?”
“Yes, I said so.”
“I see.”
The decision seemed to have been made, so I continued speaking.
“By the way, do you know what the mascots for this year’s Asian Games and Olympics are?”
He says with a smirk.
“I designed the Olympic Park, so how come you don’t know the mascot?”
I nodded, took my eyes off him, and looked down at the shantytown.
“Do you know that the current president is flying around in a helicopter, saying he is inspecting the city?”
“So?”
“What if the shantytown in Sanggye-dong that you can see from here looks exactly like Hodori, the mascot of this Olympics?”
“under!”
Kim Up-joong shakes his head and laughs in disbelief.
“Why didn’t I ever think of that? It’s incredible.”
“Here, like Hodori, and in the village, like a fairy tale. That’s how I want to change the Sanggye-dong shantytown.”
Kim Up-joong nods as if he now understands.
“So it was a request for urban development.”
“yes.”
“That tank-like guy would really like that.”
“Right?”
“It seems like a challenge worth taking on, and it won’t cost much either.”
“We are also gathering people who can help.”
“You want to save on labor costs too?”
“Isn’t it obvious what the financial situation is like in the shantytowns?”
“That’s interesting.”
I looked at Kim Up-joong, who was smiling brightly for the first time, and asked.
“Do you accept the request for urban development design?”
He nodded.
“I told you, you have to pay for the potatoes.”
“Good.”
Does this mean that it was successful on the second try?
I might be a little bit greater than Liu Bei, who was said to be great in history.
Does architect Kim Up-joong know?
I’m not saying that developing a small neighborhood is urban development. Starting with the shantytown, I’m thinking about changing the entire Sanggye-dong and the entire Nowon-gu. I’m just dreaming about that for a moment.
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