I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 288



Only Krnovel

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (288)

“Is Korea also wiretapping the US?”

“That was true until 1967. But now I’m not sure. There were some fragmentary data from 1970 and 1973, but the evidence is insufficient.”

This is America,

Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Henry Porter appeared on TV.

Korea and the United States have maintained friendly relations for over 40 years, but did they trust each other unconditionally during that long period?

The United States has seen five regime changes over the past 40 years, and during this process, the CIA’s authority was undermined due to allegations of civilian surveillance.

On the other hand, in Korea, Marshal Park Sang-geun maintained an unwavering iron fist and as the regime was stable, espionage operations were also carried out steadily.

The United States has officially confirmed that there have been three attempts by South Korea to wiretap the United States.

Henry Porter served as the U.S. ambassador to Korea from 1967 to 1973 and reported on Korea’s intelligence activities to the United States.

The problem is that the US didn’t say anything to Korea about this, and the reason was roughly this.

“Everyone, remember what happened in 1967. It had been less than ten years since the Song-Ho War ended, and the Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in an intelligence war in the Middle East. At that time, the liberal democratic camp relied solely on the information that the United States was collecting. So Korea also wiretapped the United States. They had to wiretap the United States to get important information.”

This is the correct answer,

At that time, the United States was conducting a wide-ranging espionage war not only in the Soviet Union but also in China and the Middle East.

And considering that the liberal democratic camp relies on information released by the United States and that information is directly linked to national interests, this is a pretty serious problem.

This is why Korea has invested heavily in counterintelligence activities since the 1960s.

It was also around this time that the number of employees belonging to the Central Intelligence Agency exceeded 100,000.

Officially, only 30,000 people are active, and the remaining 70,000 receive special training and infiltrate civilian homes to collect information from the government. It has been confirmed that more spies were crossing into the United States in the 1970s when the Foreign Investment Prohibition Act was lifted.

So what about now?

The intelligence war that both sides knew about but pretended not to know about, but recently, public opinion has begun to form asking, ‘Is it really necessary to go this far?’

At that time, the enemy known as the Soviet Union was still alive and well, and Korea had no way to collect important information other than by wiretapping the United States.

But now that all the problems have been resolved, shouldn’t we stop the espionage war and instead work towards a strategy of building trust through cooperation?

Still, the argument that espionage was necessary remained intact.

“Recently, Korea has been forming alliances with Japan, China, and Russia to exert influence on the Eurasian continent. If Korea used to depend on US intelligence, now is the time for the US to listen to the intelligence that Korea collects.”

From the U.S. perspective, Korea may be a more unpleasant entity than the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union’s influence was limited to a part of the Eurasian continent, but Korea exerted influence over the entire Eurasian continent. Can we really trust such a huge country?

We don’t know when the US will strike us in the back, and we need to be even more vigilant because Daehan Transportation controls the US distribution network.

The problem is that all of the above are speculations based on public opinion in the United States, and the last time Korea wiretapped the United States was in 1973, a full 18 years ago.

Based on that, can American public opinion justify wiretapping in Korea?

Frankly, there are more reported cases of the US wiretapping its own citizens than cases of Korea wiretapping the US.

“There are many Soviet spies within the United States. We will now begin a random wiretapping program.”

This is a civilian surveillance project that the United States promoted during the Cold War.

They developed a program to randomly tap the phones of tens of millions of Americans, extracting even the most trivial information.

This issue really came to light in the 1970s, when evidence emerged that Korea was wiretapping the United States.

It wasn’t a big deal because Americans were distracted, and the bigger problem was that the US government was wiretapping Americans rather than that Korea was wiretapping the US.

At this time, the American intelligence system was virtually destroyed.

What does Korea gain by wiretapping the US like this?

This gave credence to the claim that Korea had not wiretapped the United States since 1973, and with even Henry Porter, the former US ambassador to Korea, lending his support, there was no need to mention the issue any further.

***

“Have you got any new information?”

“No, not at all.”

“My… the world is so peaceful these days.”

This is the Central Intelligence Agency of Korea,

Manager Kim Hak-young began to feel a little tired of his boring daily life.

The daily life of the Central Intelligence Agency, which was bustling just 10 years ago,

Back then, I had spectacular days crossing the US border, prepared to get caught, but that’s not the case anymore.

That doesn’t mean the US and South Korea have stopped their espionage war against each other, but it is true that it has become less intense compared to before.

As calls to stop wiretapping began to spread even within the United States, South Korea also lost the justification to strengthen its intelligence activities.

The bigger problem is that Kim Hak-young is not the type of person to create something out of nothing.

There are government departments that create non-existent projects to secure budgets, so will the Central Intelligence Agency just sit back and do nothing?

Deputy Chief Cho Dae-soo, who could no longer stand to watch, offered his opinion.

“We also conduct civilian surveillance.”

“What are you talking about? A civilian temple?”

“There was a random surveillance program that was used in the US before. We’re using that.”

“No, so what do we gain by investigating civilians? If we get caught, it’ll just cause trouble.”

“Sir, government departments can create non-existent projects to secure budgets, so why can’t we? If things continue this way, there will even be talk of abolishing the Central Intelligence Agency.”

“That’s right. If there’s no work, you have to create it.”

Kim Hak-young was cornered by his close associates.

It is true that the Central Intelligence Agency’s presence has been fading recently, so shouldn’t we gather all the information we have and nothing we don’t know and blow something up?

Above all, this is a problem that affects the very existence of the Central Intelligence Agency. They introduced a random surveillance program even though they knew it was wrong.

However, it was a gamble for the Central Intelligence Agency to plan something like this alone, so Kim Hak-young, who had been watching his surroundings, brought in an accomplice.

That is Prime Minister Lee Myung-bak.

Lee Myung-bak comes from a business background and thus has a weak political support base.

If you don’t have the trust of the head of state, you will be tamed by bureaucrats and drift away. In that case, shouldn’t you have a base that will support you?

Lee Myung-bak is also aware that his position is unstable.

So the two hit it off.

“Sir, I would like you to monitor the members of the National Assembly.”

“The members of the National Assembly?”

“Yeah, it looks like these guys are up to something.”

Recently, discussions on local autonomy have been floating around in the National Assembly.

Why are lawmakers suddenly trying to implement a local autonomy system?

Korea has pursued a dictatorship in which a huge ruling party holds power, but even if the ruling party takes power, it does not completely monopolize power.

If the opposition party holds a significant number of seats in the National Assembly and there are many opposition party members in the judiciary, it is possible for the opposition party to keep the ruling party in check.

And this is what happened because of the factional fight between Kim Jong-pil and Park Jeong-ui.

If we look at it objectively, this is a factional fight within the Korean People’s Party, but in reality, it is no different from the struggle between the ruling and opposition parties.

Kim Jong-pil’s faction had Daedeok County and its surrounding areas as its political base, while Park Jeong-ui’s support base was in Gyeongseong and the Yeongnam region.

That’s why the factional strife between the two people spread into regional sentiment.

Even now, people in Gyeongseong and Yeongnam believe that Park Jeong-ui was ousted because of Kim Jong-pil.

“This is what happened because that guy Kim Jong-pil slandered former Prime Minister Park!!”

“That’s right!! It’s all because of those guys from Chungcheong Province!!”

It’s hard to believe, but this is actually happening in Korea.

Will the people of Chungcheong Province stay still? Kim Jong-pil was the only politician representing Chungcheong Province, and now that such a giant has fallen, there is a lot of discontent in Chungcheong Province as well.

“Chairman Kim slandered Park Jeong-ui?!! What is the basis for such a statement?!!”

“You guys were the ones who did the harm!! Our President Kim worked hard on welfare policies and did nothing but work for the local residents!!”

That’s why politicians are paying attention.

Rather than having factional fights within the Korean People’s Party, wouldn’t it be better for each party to split and build up their own support base?

In fact, if the local autonomy system is implemented, Kim Jong-pil’s followers are expected to win 77 seats in the Daedeok-Chungcheong-Honam region.

This is enough power to hold back the ruling party.

“That’s ridiculous!! Local autonomy is absolutely not allowed!!”

“Reactionaries who are trying to divide the country!!”

Of course, diehard conservatives have no intention of allowing local autonomy.

What is the secret to Korea’s development like this?

Because the power of the country is centralized, however, if a local autonomy system is implemented, the central government’s oversight of local governments may be weakened.

If this happens, regionalism will become even more severe and national opinion will be divided.

Isn’t it obvious that local government heads are wasting tax money and abusing show administration to build up their performance?

In the end, the Kim Jong-pil faction’s pursuit of local autonomy is not for democracy, but merely to create their own iron rice bowls.

Lee Myung-bak is thinking of using that as an excuse to completely wipe out the Kim Jong-pil faction. If that happens, won’t the Prime Minister’s control be strengthened?

It wouldn’t be impossible if the CIA helped.

“Okay, I will help you, Prime Minister.”

“Yes, I will only trust you, sir.”

In this way, Kim Hak-young conducted wiretapping on members of the National Assembly.

A death list was created to identify the people who were trying to divide the country by talking about local autonomy, and in the process, a ton of information was leaked.

***

“Did you say there are people who want to appoint Park Chung-hee as Prime Minister again?”

“Yes, here are the wiretapping records.”

The same routine that repeats itself today,

I looked at the materials posted by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Kim Jong-pil has fallen from power, but his followers are still alive and well, and their plans to implement a local autonomy system and secure their own rice bowls can be seen as a ploy.

However, the plot to re-elect Park Jeong-ui as prime minister was not a simple trick, but a coup d’état.

Why are they doing this when the Prime Minister I appointed is still in good health?

I listened in on the wiretapping.

[That’s why we need Prime Minister Park. When he was Prime Minister, Kim Jong-pil’s group didn’t even dare to talk about local autonomy, right?]

[That’s right. Your Majesty, you are so cruel. Prime Minister Park only did that for the sake of the country and centralization… Why don’t you recognize his loyalty?]

[How about asking for pardon even now?]

[First of all, it’s important to ensure his safety. What should I do?]

I was so shocked I couldn’t even speak.

Former Prime Minister Park Chung-hee is a key figure in the ruling party, and for such a person to attack the National Assembly is nothing but a coup.

Are these people in their right mind to package that as a heroic act for their country and people?

Kim Jong-pil and Park Jeong-ui’s faction are all parasites that are eating away at Korea.

He put a knife in the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency.

“Take care of them all, don’t leave a single one behind.”

“But, sir, if we get rid of all those guys, the National Assembly will be empty.”

“There are plenty of people who want to become members of the National Assembly. What good will it do the country to leave these people alone?”

“All right.”

In this way, the Central Intelligence Agency eliminated all the people listed on the death list.

There have been several large-scale purges in Korean history, but this incident was so severe that the National Assembly was completely torn apart, completely uprooting the roots of parliamentary democracy.