I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 168



Only Krnovel

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (168)

“Let’s build this apartment over there.”

“Yes? Over there?”

This is Gyeongseong,

Builders held a meeting to discuss the construction of public housing.

The government does not tolerate shantytowns and has designated all real estate as national property, so the government has a duty to provide sufficient housing for its citizens.

It is inconsistent to demolish shantytowns without being able to supply housing. Naturally, the construction of public housing is something that goes directly against public sentiment.

The problem is that there are people who understand this as a simple exhibition administration.

A construction company president took the risk of building an apartment building on top of a mountain.

“Sir, how can you build an apartment on a mountain? It’s impossible.”

“This is so stupid!! Shouldn’t they build an apartment there so that it looks good from Changgyeonggung Palace?!!”

“yes?”

A fool who wants to build an apartment on top of a mountain just because it has a good view from Changgyeonggung Palace.

The bigger problem is that while it is okay to build a house on land, it is illegal to build a building on forest land.

In this case, we would have to discuss it with the civil engineering department and make a decision, but a problem occurred here as well.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if we cut down part of the mountain and built it?”

“Do we really have to cut down the mountain? I want this apartment to be visible from Changgyeonggung Palace.”

“Is there a reason why it must be shown at Changgyeonggung Palace?”

“It would be good if it could be seen. Wouldn’t it be good for civil engineering to show visible results to the enemy?”

Civil engineers and officials were troubled.

This is a typical exhibition administration, but civil engineering is inseparable from such things.

A representative example is the underground bunker built in 1966.

At the time, South Korea was in chaos because of spies sent by North Korea, and the Blue House pushed for the construction of an underground bunker under the pretext of protecting the president’s safety.

“We must prevent anything that could offend Your Majesty in advance.”

Civil engineering also joined in the atmosphere.

An external enemy like North Korea is a problem, but can we be sure when and who will threaten the president’s life?

As many as 50,000 South Korean troops were deployed to the capital to respond to the threat from the North Korean military.

Because there was a possibility that soldiers might stage a coup, the presidential office decided to work with the civil engineering department to build an underground bunker.

“If the coup forces conspire with the Air Force to start a mutiny, an Air Force plane will take off from the airport and arrive at the government building in three minutes.”

“Then we’ll have to move the air force base. It’s too close to the government building.”

The fact that it was moved to an air force base during this process is a long-buried secret.

Moving the Air Force base because it poses a threat to the President’s safety?

So what happens, then, if the president is forced to leave the capital due to an external threat, not a coup?

Since the air force base has been moved far away from the government building, it is impossible to escape quickly by plane.

If the timing is missed, the President’s evacuation procession could be trapped in Gyeongseong.

The typical evils of exhibition administration,

In fact, isn’t it possible that the Office of the President wanted to show off how loyal they are to the President rather than ensuring the President’s safety?

Anyway, as time passed, the underground bunker secretly built by the Presidential Office and the Civil Engineering Department degenerated into an eyesore and is still left as is.

This incident is the same, what is the purpose of building an apartment?

It’s for the convenience of the residents, but if they build apartments on top of a mountain to look good to the head of state, what crime do the residents living there commit?

No one wants to climb up and down a steep mountain.

However, the construction company and civil engineering department went to extreme lengths to maintain the exhibition administration, and this information reached the ears of the Central Intelligence Agency.

***

“Building an apartment on the mountain?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Um… what does that have to do with corruption?”

“The civil engineering and construction industries are related.”

This is the government building of the Republic of Korea,

Kim Hak-young, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, looked through the data that had just arrived.

It is true that the collusion between the construction industry and civil engineering has been far from the surveillance network of the Central Intelligence Agency.

There are so many more important things to do, how could we possibly have time to worry about civil engineering?

However, while the CIA was away, quite a few problems arose.

The shoddy construction of apartments is a given, and now I see that the fact that the Air Force base was moved 10 minutes away from the Presidential Office was also a trick by the Civil Engineering Department.

“No… how can a civil engineering department do something like this?”

“It seems that they did so because if the Air Force joined hands with the coup forces, they could fly to the presidential office in three minutes. The Ministry of National Defense also knew this, so it seems that they accepted the base relocation without saying anything to the military.”

“What? I’m so shocked….”

Kim Hak-young snorted.

It is not surprising that the world’s best Ministry of National Defense has bowed down to the power of the Civil Engineering Department.

It is true that the head of state has continuously kept the military in check. The incident of stripping General Park Jeong-ui, who made a great contribution in the Shanghai War, of his clothes is still famous.

In this situation, can the military refuse an order to relocate the air force base?

It’s a really extreme example, but it’s not uncommon for a coup force to collude with the air force and seize a government building.

With 50,000 troops gathered in Gyeongseong, who knows what might happen here?

It is a typical case of exhibition administration, but it can be overlooked, but building an apartment on a mountain and turning a blind eye to poor construction is a separate matter.

Deputy Director Kim Hak-young immediately began an investigation, and the existence of an underground bunker built by the Presidential Security Service in collusion with the Civil Engineering Department was discovered.

Corruption in civil engineering beyond imagination,

Why do they do such things?

Kim Hak-young continued the investigation by calling in the people involved.

“You, who gave you instructions to do this?”

“I didn’t do it under anyone’s orders. I just did it for your safety….”

“Hey, man, I’ve been serving the Marshal for 20 years now, but I’ve never heard of the Marshal giving orders to build a bunker like this. Why did you build it?”

“That… that… .”

Those involved were reluctant to open their mouths.

It’s just a plausible excuse to say it’s for the president’s safety, but I wonder if his true feelings will come out when he puts his hand on his heart.

Vice Minister Kim Hak-young applied stronger pressure.

“Here’s the document you sent down to the Civil Engineering Department. Shall I read it to you? It says that we need to build underground bunkers to defend against enemy air raids, infiltration, and even terrorist attacks… But why did you send this to the Civil Engineering Department? Isn’t this something you should normally discuss with the Ministry of National Defense?”

“That’s… because the enemy doesn’t trust the military… .”

“Is that what you think or what your enemy thinks? Did you ask your enemy?”

“that….”

“What you’re doing is called escorting someone. Huh? Who are you to do something like that without the presidency’s authority?”

The Secret Service, which kept the military away and distanced the president from the military.

Why would you do that?

They must have thought that if the head of state got too close to the military, the prestige of the security service would decline, so they conspired with the civil engineering department to take the drastic measure of moving the air force base.

But five years have already passed since then, and the Presidential Security Service has been disbanded.

What’s the point of bringing up this issue again now?

The problem is that civil engineering still has power.

Now that the Office of the President has been dismantled, it should be left with no ties to civil engineering, but it is maintaining its prestige by promoting a national project to supply public housing.

Building an apartment on top of a mountain is also an extension of that.

Is it now the Civil Engineering Department, not the Office of the President, that is leading the exhibition administration?

The Central Intelligence Agency used this incident as an opportunity to thoroughly investigate the collusion between the Civil Engineering Department and the construction industry.

***

“Your Majesty, please confirm.”

This is Changgyeonggung Palace,

I looked over the report the butler brought.

The collusion between the construction industry, the former presidential office, and civil engineering was somewhat noticed, but this is the first time the truth has been confirmed.

‘You have to trust him. If you can’t even trust your own people, how can you be president?’

‘You have to trust the person you trust. Would you entrust the cat with the fish? If you’re the president, do your job!! You have to monitor your subordinates to make sure they’re doing their jobs well!!’

There are things that we know but ignore.

Being the president means ruling a country. No matter how capable a person is, he or she cannot be responsible for the entire country.

So, he tried not to interfere with the work of his subordinates as much as possible, but this complacency led to corruption among his close associates.

Who would have thought that the Chief of Staff of the President would conspire with the Civil Engineering Department to move the Air Force base and install an underground bunker?

I learned of such corruption five years after he stepped down as president.

It means that I am human after all.

As they say, the darkness is under the lamp, and he was hit in the back of the head by his close associates.

The problem is that this isn’t the first or second time. Even my uncle, who shares the same blood as me, has a history of selling national land to raise slush funds.

Do I trust my uncle completely and trust my people? If this situation repeats itself, I will become a dictator who cannot trust anyone in the future.

If you don’t trust anyone, you’ll just repeat the purge.

In the process, you may lose your life at the hands of opposing forces who have incurred your resentment.

How many people have I killed and purged so far?

I always keep in mind that I may die in a coup d’état because of the karma that has accumulated over time, but I have no intention of continuing my life in a precarious manner.

‘At that time, I’d rather put a bullet in my head with my own hands than die to some insignificant rat bastard.’

Death is the perfection of man,

If I’m going to do it, shouldn’t I complete my life with my own hands? But if I’m scared of death, I might not be able to put a bullet in my head.

Well then, we need to have a safety device in place.

After much thought, I called in one person.

“Your Majesty, have you called?”

“Okay, sit there.”

The one who received the call was Kim Hak-young, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

He is someone I have been with for 20 years and based on his actions during that time, he is the most trustworthy person.

Couldn’t this person be the one who can make my life complete?

After much thought, I spoke up.

“Hey, Director Kim… I feel something about this incident.”

“What is that?”

“I’m saying that it’s not strange for me to get stabbed in the back of the head by someone at any time. I’ve been a dictator for 20 years, and honestly, I’m not afraid of death. I’m just angry that the tower I’ve worked so hard to build for 20 years is collapsing on a bunch of rats.”

“Your Majesty… why are you saying this to me?”

“Listen carefully to what I say from now on. If I’m in danger, you don’t need to take me to the underground bunker, you don’t need to take me to the airport, just check if I’m alive or dead.”

“yes?!!”

Vice President Kim Hak-young opened his eyes wide.

When I looked closely, even my hands were shaking.

I jumped up and down and said that would never happen, but I was reassured.

“I’m a dictator, so I don’t know where I’ll get stabbed in the back of the head, so I don’t want to die a humiliating death. But I’m not sure if I can pull the trigger with my own hands in that situation. So if that happens, you…”

“Your Majesty, that will never happen. In the future, we will….”

“Stop talking nonsense. If I can’t pull the trigger, you come and shoot me. I’d rather die right there than live on the run from those rats. I can never do that.”

It’s a common pattern for a fallen dictator to run away and die.

In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just finish my life neatly?

I’d rather die cleanly than live in poverty, and just in case, I’ve already arranged for someone to put a bullet in the back of my head.