I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 188



Only Krnovel

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (188)

“Mr. Prime Minister, we have a guest.”

“Okay, bring it here.”

This is a restaurant in Gyeongseong,

Park Jeong-ui encountered a talented person who he wanted to recruit into the Korean People’s Republican Party.

The identity is Lee Myung-bak, who created a success story at Hyundai Group. Now that he has been kicked out by the chairman he served for eight years, shouldn’t he be looking for a new nest?

The problem is that this is what happened when they tried to stop the chairman from going into politics. Is it okay for someone like that to enter politics?

Lee Myung-bak also felt guilty about that.

“I appreciate your kind words, Prime Minister, but I don’t think I’m ready to become a politician.”

“Why? In a world where even comedians are involved in politics, there’s no reason why you can’t do it.”

“There is such a thing as conscience. What qualifications would I have to do politics when I stopped the chairman from doing it?”

“Haha, you bastard, don’t say things you don’t mean. Ask your conscience. Are you really not interested in politics?”

Park Jeong-ui has been keeping a close eye on Lee Myung-bak for some time.

Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Ju-young was an ambitious man who once dreamed of becoming prime minister. He had a sense of ownership and tried to run the country as he wished.

So are the people working under him just lackeys who have no desire for power?

People want to become managers when they become ordinary employees, and when they become managers, they want to become executives. Lee Myung-bak is known for being diligent, but he showed more tenacity and sincerity than Chairman Chung Ju-young.

What was it all for,

Was it acting to get ahead? Or was it a sincere act of devotion?

Either way, Lee Myung-bak is now qualified to enter politics.

[Lee Myung-bak takes office as Vice President at age 33, 7 years after joining Hyundai Group]

[President Lee Myung-bak protects company from mob in UAE]

[President Lee Myung-bak was fired for trying to stop Chairman Chung Ju-young from entering politics.]

To summarize the story so far, he is a hard-working young man who succeeded at a young age and a worker who steadfastly protected the company.

Here, he is receiving public sympathy because he was fired from the company.

Did Lee Myung-bak quit his company on his own initiative to go into politics? He was just kicked out after trying to stop his landlord. In that case, wherever he goes, it is his freedom.

And the People’s Republican Party of Korea is in a position where it must prove that it is qualified to lead this country, that is, it must embrace talents who have written success stories.

There are plenty of reasons to join hands,

Lee Myung-bak also began to waver little by little.

‘Yeah, there’s no way I can live my life worrying about what other people think.’

Looking back on the past eight years, it has been a series of humiliations.

I was just working hard for the company, but my opponents disparaged it as flattery and manipulation to catch the chairman’s eye.

However, I was able to endure it because the chairman understood my feelings and promoted me to vice president, but in the end, I was abandoned by the chairman.

If you don’t want to suffer the same fate again, you have no choice but to rise to a high position yourself. If you’ve become the CEO of a company through sincerity alone, why can’t you do the same in politics?

Lee Myung-bak decided to join hands with the People’s Republican Party of Korea.

The chairman failed in his attempt to overthrow the vested interests, so he has no choice but to take this path if he wants to avoid the same fate.

This incident caused yet another stir in Korean politics.

***

“Even if we are a huge ruling party, is this okay?”

“There’s nothing we can’t do. What’s important now is not the procedure, but the practicality.”

“No matter what, this is too much. We cannot agree to it.”

This is the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, where there is a war of words between members of the National Assembly.

To be precise, it was a civil war that occurred within the Korean People’s Republican Party.

Currently, Korea has adopted a cabinet system, and to become a minister, you must be a member of the National Assembly.

The problem is that if this happens, we will have to select ministers and vice ministers from among the members of the National Assembly. Is there any guarantee that the members of the National Assembly who have the support of the people are economic experts?

Therefore, the party goes through the process of nominating qualified candidates and sending them to the general election to become members of the National Assembly.

This time, the People’s Republican Party of Korea plans to appoint a professor of economics from Kyungsung University as minister, and the decision has already been made within the party.

“This doesn’t seem right. Stop everything.”

However, Park Jeong-ui, in his capacity as prime minister, brought all personnel processes to a halt.

Even if a professor is interested in politics, his main job is to teach students.

But these days, professors are more interested in ashes than in chanting Buddhist scriptures.

In the first cabinet (1965), 11 professors were involved in politics, in the next cabinet, 23, and in this cabinet, a whopping 53 professors were involved in politics.

Do you think these people would have done proper research in school?

They would cancel classes at any moment and follow politicians around. Can we really entrust the country to these people?

Park Chung-hee cleared away all of those things and appointed Lee Myung-bak as Minister of Economy.

The incident that turned the Korean People’s Republican Party upside down,

They decided to appoint a person who was nominated as a member of the National Assembly as the Minister of Economy and Finance, but can that be overturned with just one word from the Prime Minister?

Besides, Lee Myung-bak is not qualified to be a member of the National Assembly or a minister.

“Is being a member of the National Assembly a necessary and sufficient condition for becoming a minister?”

“If this happens, the personnel system will become too rigid. The law should be revised so that the Prime Minister can flexibly replace ministers.”

However, there were also many opinions supporting the Prime Minister.

Talent must be placed in the right position to be meaningful, but if only those elected to the National Assembly can become ministers, how can the prime minister run the government flexibly?

But if this happens, parliament and political parties will become useless.

If the Prime Minister unilaterally wields his power to appoint personnel, ignoring the personnel chosen through discussion within the party, there is no need for an election or even a party platform.

Just let the Prime Minister take care of everything.

Park Jeong-ui’s faction also seemed concerned about the opinions of the opposition party and presented an alternative.

“So, aren’t you saying that only 1/3 of the ministerial posts should be appointed by the Prime Minister’s authority? Can’t you even make that much of a concession?”

“1/3 is too much. Let’s do 1/5.”

“Then the Prime Minister cannot carry out his work as he wishes. Please give in.”

“That can’t be done. If the Prime Minister appoints one-third of the ministers on his own, why do we need a party?”

The tense fight that started like this,

In particular, Kim Jong-pil showed his stance that he would never back down.

The Prime Minister is the formal person in charge of personnel affairs.

But the real power lies with the General Affairs Office.

Kim Jong-pil is a seasoned politician and administrator who has served in the General Affairs Office for eight years. If he steps down from there, the authority he has built up over the years will collapse.

The problem is that it is wrong to appoint a professor who only knows how to flatter the government as a minister. If this continues and an accident happens, who will be held responsible?

There was a conflict between my sense of responsibility to do my best as a minister of a country and my greed that my power might be shaken if I stepped down.

“We must give the Prime Minister the power to appoint personnel!!”

“The real power concentrated in the General Affairs Office must be brought to the Prime Minister’s Office!!”

“Who told you not to exercise your personnel rights?!! I’m telling you not to ignore the opinions set by the party!!”

“How is that any different from saying you’re going to hold the Prime Minister back?!! We need to give power to those who will do the work!!”

The conflict within the party became increasingly intense, and the issue eventually reached Changgyeonggung Palace.

***

“Your Majesty, the guests have arrived.”

“Tell them to come in.”

Today, I greeted a guest in my office, repeating the same routine.

What is the purpose of the National Assembly, making such a fuss over not being able to appoint a single minister?

In fact, this is not a matter of choice, but a power struggle.

My uncle is trying to bring the real power of the National Assembly and the executive branch to the Prime Minister’s Office, but Kim Jong-pil is resisting, saying it is impossible.

So whose side should I take here?

The Prime Minister is the person in charge of the administration of this country. He must have real power to carry out major tasks, but his personnel authority is tied up with the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs.

Does that mean we will take away the rights that were in the hands of the General Affairs Office?

Kim Jong-pil did not appoint ministers on his own; he simply decided on candidates after consulting with the party’s internal opinion.

Trying to overturn that means turning the political party into a vegetable. If the prime minister directly appoints 1/3 of the ministers in the future, why do we need political parties and parliament?

This kind of cognitive dissonance occurs when trying to discuss democracy in a dictatorship.

After much deliberation, I came to a conclusion.

“Is that professor really that useless?”

“Yes, sir, I looked into it and last year’s attendance rate was less than 60%. Would someone like this have taught properly and done proper research? It’s ridiculous to appoint someone like this to the position of minister.”

“No… Wait a minute. So you’re trying to nominate someone like that and make them a member of the National Assembly and appoint them as a minister? Did you do a proper investigation beforehand? What on earth is the party doing?”

The nomination officials kept their mouths shut.

This is a clear public offering disaster,

If we had filtered it out in advance, this wouldn’t have happened.

Since you have gone through the party’s opinion, you are qualified to become a minister? The country did not give the party the right to nominate such trash as ministers.

People who are making a big mistake, it is only natural that something like this would happen in a world where comedians become members of the National Assembly by flattering the government.

However, if we give all power to the Prime Minister, party politics will collapse.

I was stuck in a no-holds-barred situation.

Because of the incompetent, the country’s finances are in shambles, and I’m also caught up in annoying tasks, which has once again turned democracy into a scarecrow.

“Give the power to appoint ministers to the Prime Minister. From now on, one-third of the ministers will be appointed directly by the Prime Minister.”

“All right.”

This incident brought an end to the era of the General Affairs Office.

Kim Jong-pil, who had been wielding the power of appointment and dismissal for the past eight years, may think it is unfair that he has stepped down from power, but it is clearly his own responsibility.

We gave so much power to the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, but is it colluding with politicians to wield its power to appoint people?

If only he had done that well, he would have bitten the Yeouiju and become a dragon, but in the end, those who can’t do it will not do it.

On the other hand, Lee Myung-bak, who had been living as an ordinary employee in a company, has now ascended to the position of minister in charge of the Korean economy at the age of 35.

When I see things like this, I can see that the position is truly a gift from heaven.

Even a powerful figure like Chairman Chung Ju-young, who led 500,000 workers, was eliminated in the National Assembly elections, so who would have thought that a person who lived as a rank-and-file employee would become a minister?

The question is how to utilize the immense power given by heaven.

Will Lee Myung-bak, the Cinderella of the political world, advance Korean politics or regress it?

First, I called him separately and had a conversation.

“How are you feeling now? Chairman Chung Ju-young lost in the National Assembly elections and you became a minister of Korea… Isn’t it very emotional?”

“Ah… no. I feel sorry about that too.”

“Don’t feel sorry, your seat was chosen by heaven.”

“The sky?”

“Yes, I understand, but I became president at the age of 20. Is that something that can be achieved by human will alone? If you think about it, I got here because I was lucky. No, I got here because I was chosen by heaven. That’s why our politicians should fear heaven even more. If you work diligently, heaven will give you greater blessings, but if you use this power for personal gain, you will be punished accordingly.”

If you think that you can abuse your power because the heavens have given you that position, you are mistaken.

This is not a fairy tale or a childish pun.

The will of heaven is public opinion,

Isn’t it because public opinion promoted Lee Myung-bak that he suddenly became a star?

Some people spend a lot of money on election campaigns just to get a little attention, while others become stars overnight.

Because I have lived that kind of life, I believe that politicians are given the will of heaven, and in that sense, public support can be said to be God’s will.

Is Lee Myung-bak a person who knows how to be afraid of that?

At Hyundai Group, you only need to look at the chairman’s face, but if you become a politician, you have to fear public opinion.

If you think that since you are from a business background, all you have to do is work well, you are mistaken. Lee Myung-bak nodded to my advice to be careful about what he does.

But you won’t take my word for it,

Originally, when you have power, you don’t have to fear heaven.

To be honest, I was not even a man who was afraid of the sky until a few years ago, so I was not qualified to give this advice.