Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 197



Only Krnovel

#Episode 197 I really felt like the tooth I was suffering from had fallen out.

As Lee Kang-cheol spoke, he called Park Jae-han, Secretary General of the National Election Commission.

“Welcome, President Park.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

The Secretary General of the National Election Commission is originally the highest-ranking bureaucrat at the ministerial level, as in the Republic of Korea.

Of course, the chairman above him is at the level of prime minister.

Secretary-General Park Jae-han’s son, an officer from the Korean Military Academy, applied for the expeditionary force and came along with him. He was the director of the Planning Bureau under the Planning and Coordination Office of the National Election Commission.

It could truly be said to be perfect for overseeing actual election work.

“Are you busy?”

“Yes, honestly, I feel like I’m dying because I’m so busy.”

“ha ha ha!”

“Really. Wow, this is something I have to work on from start to finish from scratch. As the work progresses, it has been more than a few months since I returned it on the weekend.”

“I completely understand.”

This is the first democratic election in Korea.

So, it was obvious that everything from one to ten would have to be under the new hands of President Park.

Because no one knows election affairs.

“Still, I have no choice but to ask for your hard work, even though it may be difficult for me. “As of now, President Park is the only election expert in our country.”

“Ugh! I know that too. So this year, I am working while repeating that he is dead.”

“haha! Thank you for your understanding.”

“It was nothing… … .”

“I’m sorry for calling you when you were busy. “I was curious about the preparations for the election, so I asked to see it.”

“Anyway, preparations are going well. The organization of the National Election Commission is now complete and functioning to some extent. Also, we are forming our organization nationwide, and there will be no problems until the election. Also, selection of ballot papers and preparation of ballot boxes are in progress. “We are also creating a vote counting and tabulation system.”

“Vote counting is a manual process anyway, right? And counting.”

“That’s right. However, once the votes are counted manually at each counting station, computers will be used from then on.”

“There won’t be anyone who can use the computer?”

Even rudimentary PCs such as the Alter 8800 are currently prohibited from being exposed to the outside world.

If so, it is clear that there will be a huge shortage of people who can use computers.

“We plan to mobilize people from our expedition team only when each local election commission is doing the counting. Regardless of whether they are public officials, soldiers, or civilians. “You can set up a restricted area and work there.”

“If that happens, there could be a fight.”

“If a dispute arises, you can just ask them to tally it manually. They pick a few places at random, turn them around, and ask them to calculate them on an abacus. “Once you know that there is nothing wrong with it, there will be no more words.”

“Is it really necessary to go that far? It’s okay if the results come out slowly, so I guess I can just use the abacus or something?”

“Ha, that’s going to take a really long time, are you okay?”

“No, how long does it take?”

“Mr. President, you certainly don’t think that our country is only half of the future Korean Peninsula, do you?”

“ah… … .”

I blinked.

Territory and population have increased tremendously.

“It is fortunate that Russians in the north do not yet have voting rights at all, but Manchuria, Hokkaido, Sakhalin, Yugu, etc. are still included. “Among Japanese citizens, families whose children served in the military will be given the right to vote from now on.”

“Well, I see.”

Even before the Great Soviet War, Japanese nationals were first enlisted voluntarily, but recently they were enlisting at the conscription level, almost no different from the original Koreans.

This was a phenomenon that occurred as Japanese citizens actively encouraged enlistment, as if at least one member of the family enlisted, discrimination virtually disappeared.

The government also confirmed the loyalty of Japanese citizens during the war against the Soviet Union, and had no choice but to welcome the enlistment of Japanese nationals in the reality of having to continuously increase troops.

Of course, you can still only enlist as a soldier and cannot apply as an officer, but considering the situation, this discrimination was planned to be lifted for people of Japanese descent.

The reason why the assimilation of the Japanese people progressed at a faster rate than expected was not only because of the urgency of securing military service resources, but also because the Japanese people themselves actively tried to assimilate.

They happened to become citizens of the Republic of Korea, but the reality in their home country is still a gutter.

Because Japan itself had the basic fundamentals, recovery was achieved, but unlike its original history, it was quite slow.

LeMay was so thorough that he sometimes destroyed it, and there was no special event like the Korean War this time.

Therefore, Japanese citizens wanted to live as Koreans in a country that was being reborn as the world’s most powerful country after the United States, rather than in their home country, which was a gutter, and if they were going to live as Koreans, they were devoted to living without being properly discriminated against.

They were so loyal that the members of the expedition group whispered behind their backs that they thought it was true that the Japanese took it for granted to submit to the powerful.

Additionally, the government of the Republic of Korea was not so burdensome about the number of Japanese citizens, so they accepted it with peace of mind.

Of course, Chinese citizens were still not accepted into the military except in very few special cases.

Because they have a large population, they still need to be assimilated carefully.

The problem is the residential area of ​​Japanese citizens.

There was no problem with Japanese citizens who originally lived on the Korean Peninsula, but there was a problem with Japanese people who had migrated to Manchuria from Sakhalin, Hokkaido, Yugu, and mainland China.

There are no other problems, but because of these, the electoral area has expanded enormously.

That’s why President Park Jae-han, who is in charge of election work, has a headache.

“The constituency includes the entire Korean Peninsula and Manchuria, as well as Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Yugu. Just preparing the voter list takes a huge amount of time. But you want to conduct an election held by so many people in such a large area without a computer? Wouldn’t you rather kill me?”

“… … .”

“We will only use the bare minimum. For local areas, only Altair 8800 is used under strict control. While receiving security guidance from the National Intelligence Service. So don’t say anything more. Or does the president manage it directly?”

“What a adventure! That’s what it means.”

“Anyway, the election management hardware will work out somehow.”

“Fortunately, the.”

“The problem is software. “This is their first time voting, so we need to educate the entire population.”

“Ah, they’ve been airing a lot of public service announcements on TV lately, right?”

“you’re right. We provide education not only through broadcasts, but also through newspapers and brochures. Election posters should not be damaged, precautions should be taken when campaigning, and under no circumstances should money or entertainment be accepted, etc.”

If you receive money or entertainment during an election, you will be punished more severely than in modern times.

“okay.”

“The biggest problem is something else.”

“What is that?”

“Despite all the efforts, the adult illiteracy rate is still high.”

“shit… … .”

In 1944, when the Korean Peninsula was restored, the illiteracy rate was close to 80%.

As a result of the government’s hard work, it was lowered significantly, but there were still many illiterate adults.

“With compulsory education firmly established, illiteracy among children and youth is virtually nonexistent. However, the adult illiteracy rate is still over 20%. I’m asking you to vote for these people. “No, shouldn’t you be able to read your name?”

“Well, that’s right.”

“It is surprising how the first election in history, the 1948 Constitutional National Assembly election, was held.”

It was probably the worst of all.

“Whoa! That’s right. So what should I do?”

“Fortunately, we have great printing technology.”

“Printing technology?”

“Even if you don’t know everything about Arabic numerals and Korean, wouldn’t you recognize a photo?”

“hmm? picture? “No, does that work?”

“Yes, you can. This can be easily achieved by using government-authored textbooks and a few large printing plants. So, at least for the time being, I decided to put a photo under the symbol and name. “Thanks to the early start of TV broadcasting, there is no one in Korea who doesn’t know the faces of the President and Mr. Woo-nam, so you can just ask the person you want to take a picture of.”

“The election was a difficult one.”

“Yes, it is difficult. At least in these days.”

“… … .”

Elections were very difficult.

* * *

May 21, 1952.

Lee Kang-cheol and Go Seok-man were drinking tea when Kim Gyu-sik and Jo Tae-hoon burst in.

With a bright face.

“What’s going on? “What are you doing with Teacher Woosa and Director Cho?”

“ha ha ha! “I finally found it.”

“What are you looking for?”

“The right person from the Zhuang tribe to take charge of Guangxi Province.”

“Oh oh!”

“at las!”

I had a hard time finding the right person to take charge of Guangxi Province, but I think I finally found it.

“Who is that?”

“Look at the screen.”

When Director Cho Tae-hoon sat down and clicked on a file posted on the intranet, a picture of a middle-aged person came up.

“The name is Huang Xuanfan (黄現璠), or Huang Xianfan in Chinese. Born in 1899 in Xining County, Guangxi Province, he majored in Oriental history at Beijing Normal University and the Graduate School of Tokyo Imperial University in Japan. After his return, he became the first university professor in Zhuang history.”

“Hoo! And?”

“He is one of the highest authorities on China’s ethnic minorities, including the Zhuang people. So much so that his disciples gathered together and founded the Eight Precepts School. He was also very passionate about social movements, and his personality was so upright that he went through a lot of hardships. Therefore, it is said to be highly respected in Guangxi Province and its reputation is high.”

Since it wasn’t just a desk bite, it seemed like it would be okay politically.

“Hmm, not bad. “But what about your political inclinations?”

“ha ha ha! “This is also art.”

“What is art?”

“Because he was a person who fought against political power all his life, he was classified as right-wing by the Communist Party and suffered a lot of bad things, and conversely, he was classified as left-wing by the National Party and was treated harshly.”

“Huh! “Maybe it’s not from the bat family?”

“That is absolutely not the case. “I looked for his records in the database and confirmed his life story.”

“That’s good. However, it seems like a lot of research has been done on the Zhuang people. Even though the Zhuang people are the largest ethnic group in Guangxi Province, there is a problem if the government focuses on the Zhuang people too much. “Aren’t there any concerns about that?”

“Kya! “This is also art.”

“There is too much art.”

“ha ha ha! I apologize. Anyway, this person is against ethnocentrism. They believe that the essence of ethnic problems is rooted in ethnic inequality. Then, it is said that while advocating equality for all peoples of the world, we are advocating the civilizational spirit and scientific attitude of ethnic studies.”

“… … .”

I’m not sure what he meant, but it seemed like he had a very progressive way of thinking.

“So, did you live well in history?”

“You are a strong person, how can that be possible? “During the Cultural Revolution, I was accused of being an ‘academic reactionary and an unrepentant right-winger,’ and was ridiculed and severely assaulted by the Red Guards.”

“Oh my! So, will you die then?”

“no. Still, he lived a very long life and died in 1982.”

Hwang Hyeon-beon is already in his early 50s.

If you are appointed as a leader and die early, you will be reduced to nothing, but I was relieved to see that he lived to be over 90 years old despite going through severe hardships.

“Teacher Usa, did you make contact?”

“Yes, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has contacted us and asked for their opinions, and they say it is positive. “I will meet in person and confirm.”

“Bring it. First of all, we need to educate people in our country like Longyun. “I also want to meet you at least once.”

“All right.”

“okay! Well then, let’s proceed like that.”

“ha ha ha! All right.”

It really felt like a tooth had fallen out.