Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 206



Only Krnovel

#Episode 206 At this point, I’m thinking of going out into the world too.

Ewhajang was immersed in silence.

Everyone had forgotten what to say due to the shocking defeat that did not exceed 5%.

Moreover, most of the seats in the conference room are empty.

This is because a significant number of executives did not show up as it became clear that they would be completely defeated in the election.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… … .”

“Whoa!”

When silence and sighs were filling the empty conference hall, Song Jin-woo opened his mouth heavily.

I lost the election, but I have to make things up.

“As you know, the election is our loss. That too is a complete defeat. “It was all because I was unscrupulous and inadequate.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

I know it wasn’t Song Jin-woo’s fault, but no one denied it.

Because you need someone to take responsibility anyway.

“But losing this time doesn’t mean everything is over. Let us take this defeat as a lesson and reflect on ourselves. And if we show change by staying focused, we may see good results in the next House of Representatives and Presidential elections.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

It’s an extremely basic story, but for now, this is all Song Jin-woo can say.

“Where are you now, doctor?”

Yun Chi-young asked.

“He said he was tired and wanted to rest for a while. For now, let’s give it some time. “You’re not the type of person to be frustrated at this level, right?”

“That’s true, but I’m telling you because it’s urgent to take care of things right away.”

“What’s so urgent?”

“The most urgent thing is money.”

“money? ah… … .”

Of course, the most urgent thing is money.

“Honestly, the deposit is not a big problem. Although it is a lot of money, it was made entirely from party dues and donations. The problem is that you do not receive a single penny in compensation for election expenses. “When preparing the budget this time, we expected to win at least 5% of the vote, so we borrowed more than half of the election expenses.”

“How much did you borrow?”

“Officially, it is over 2.1 billion.”

“omg… … .”

“Oh my!”

“Well, that much money…” … .”

Moans erupted here and there.

2.1 billion won.

It’s a huge amount of money.

The word is 2.1 billion, which, if converted to modern money, is close to 25 billion.

This is because the current government, while reforming the currency, uniformly set it at 1/10 of the value of modern money to make it easier for them to calculate money.

This government confirmed the election system and declared a public election system.

At the same time, in order to prevent the proliferation of candidates, a deposit system was also introduced, and presidential candidates had to pay a deposit of 100 million won, a large sum equivalent to more than 1 billion won in modern money.

Even in modern times, the presidential election costs 300 million won, and the head of a metropolitan government costs 50 million won.

If you look at it that way, the amount was set at a very high level, and this was because there was a strong will to prevent dogs and cows from breaking out.

In short, if you’re scared, don’t come out.

Instead, the return of deposits lowered the standards compared to modern times.

In modern times, if it was more than 15% of the total number of valid votes, the full amount was returned, and if it was more than 10%, half of it was returned.

On the other hand, currently, if it is more than 10%, the full amount is refunded, and if it is more than 5%, half of it is refunded, so it is considered a relatively large amount.

In other words, the intention was that candidates above a certain level should not worry about money, but the Liberal Democratic Party failed to exceed 5%, so the entire deposit had to be donated to the national treasury.

The problem is not the deposit, as Yun Chi-young said.

Currently, a decent house in Seoul costs about 10 million won, which is 100 million won, which is a lot of money, equivalent to 10 houses, but not so much that you can’t afford it.

However, when it comes to preserving election costs, it is a completely different problem.

In this election, the Liberal Democratic Party spent a huge amount of money because it had a national organization and ran properly, and half of that money is said to be loans.

The conservation standard is 10% for the full amount and 5% for half, but since the amount did not exceed 5%, it ended up not being possible to receive even a single penny.

When drawing up the budget, the report was prepared with the expectation that it would receive at least 5% of the votes.

Moreover, because the election results are not good, it will be difficult to receive support from landowners as before, so the Liberal Democratic Party will not be able to repay such a large sum of money.

This was like saying that debt collectors would come rushing in sooner or later.

“You said it was official, right? So does that mean there are more?”

“Yes, unofficially there is about 300 million more. This was initially considered not to be preserved, but… … .”

“ha… … .”

“… … .”

“I’m going to be amazed… … .”

“ruined… … .”

The total is 2.4 billion.

This is an amount that can buy more than 240 decent houses in Seoul.

There was no way this kind of money would come out.

In short, it was completely ruined.

Song Jin-woo also felt dizzy.

The next election wasn’t important.

Where on earth do you get this much money?

The richest person he knew was Kim Seong-su.

Because his family was a wealthy family known in Jeollabuk-do.

However, Kim Seong-su had more than half of his assets confiscated from the national treasury due to his pro-Japanese activities, so it was difficult for him to open his hands anymore.

Even if that wasn’t the case, he didn’t have the shame to open his hands to someone who had been deprived of his civil rights and was living in seclusion.

“shit! Even if only the richest people joined our side, it would be resolved in one blow… … .”

“Let’s not even bring up that person. Even though you were a landowner, you actually took that side, right?”

“So you’re angry!”

Someone mentioned Choi Rich.

The commonly referred to richest person refers to the richest family in Gyeongju.

When choosing the richest families in Joseon, the richest families are always mentioned.

They are still rich now too.

No, he was a wealthy man.

The current head of the family is Choi Jun (崔浚), and as soon as he was ruled by the government, he gathered all of the family’s assets and volunteered for the independence movement, for which he even had to go to prison.

He is truly a person of independence who practiced noblesse oblige along with Mr. Woodang’s family.

In order to resolve the debt of Baeksan Trade, which served as a funding route for the independence movement at the end of Japanese colonial rule, Choi Jun asked for help from the president of Joseon Siksan Bank, with whom he was a close friend, and borrowed a large amount of money using real estate such as land, the source of his family’s wealth, as collateral.

However, with the fall of the Japanese Empire, there was no need to repay this money, so a significant portion of the property was preserved.

Originally, he received back one-third of the property that had been held as collateral, but this time, the current government appreciated his wishes and not only returned the entire amount, but also gave him the entire amount of land confiscated near Gyeongju as compensation for the independence funds.

So, today, he is still able to exist as an enormously wealthy man.

Of course, as originally, a large amount of money was invested to establish Daegu University (currently Yeungnam University), but now even that amounted to only one-fifth of the wealth of the richest family, so there was no significant damage.

However, Choi Jun, who naturally thought he would join the Liberal Democratic Party as one of the top landowners in Korea, was steadfast.

No, rather, he was glad that he did not join the Republican Party, following his family motto of not being deeply involved in politics.

Even Song Jin-woo, who was close to him, came forward to persuade him, but he could not break his will, and as the situation continued, it started to be discussed again.

Because if he came forward, all debts would be resolved at once.

“Don’t even mention that guy. “He is not someone who should join our party.”

“I’m saying this because I feel sorry.”

“Uh-huh! “You want me to stop?”

“… … .”

“Let’s make up the election debt somehow. “I will try my best, so please help me too.”

“All right.”

“Dongsan, how much can we get if we sell our company?”

“The original market price is about 500 million won, but if you want to sell it in a hurry, you won’t be able to get even that.”

“For now, let’s buy some time by disposing of that.”

“Whoa! All right.”

I don’t know how things ended up like this.

I have become a huge debtor beyond being a poor person.

“ruler! Let’s all do our best! There will definitely be elections for the House of Representatives in a few years. Shouldn’t we prepare for that time?”

“all right.”

At least when the House of Representatives election was mentioned, people seemed to have hope again.

It is unclear whether it will work out as they hoped.

“You worked hard.”

“No. “You have no shame in seeing this.”

“haha! “They say don’t worry about me.”

“still… … .”

“Uh-huh! “Go ahead and have a drink.”

At Kim Seong-su’s house in Bukchon, Song Jin-woo, who had just finished a meeting, was drinking with Kim Seong-su.

In fact, if Song Jin-woo achieved some results in this election, he planned to use those results to ask the government for a pardon and reinstatement of figures such as Kim Seong-soo who participated in the independence movement but were punished for their actions in the last days of Japanese colonial rule.

But it was all wrong.

However, Seongsu Kim did not seem to be that disappointed.

“Are you really okay?”

“What if it’s not okay? “Isn’t the government punishing me for a crime I didn’t commit?”

“What is your crime? This was something I had no choice but to do under the pressure of the Japanese! “And even considering your accomplishments, this can’t be possible!”

“haha!”

Rather, Kim Seong-su, the person involved, just laughed.

“Anyway, don’t say things like that anymore. “I’m fine.”

“ha… … .”

“By the way, it looks like you’re in trouble because of your election debt?”

“Has that story already reached your ears?”

“haha! “No matter how confined I am to living at home, I still live with my ears open.”

“Whoa! “It is true that it is difficult.”

“Hmm, can I help you?”

“You? No, you probably won’t be able to afford it because you’ll have to pay a lot of fines, right?”

“You man! Haven’t you heard the saying that even if a rich person goes bankrupt, it lasts 3 years? “Exactly how much do you owe?”

“Dongsan said the total was 2.4 billion.”

“Huh! “You lost a lot.”

“They say elections are money-sucking ghosts. “Anyway, do you really have enough free time?”

“There aren’t that many. Still, about 200 million would be possible.”

“200 million each? Is it still okay? “No, he’s not even a member of our party. Don’t I feel sorry for this?”

“It’s okay. “Are you ignoring me so much?”

“That’s not it… … .”

“haha! Anyway, I will provide you with 200 million won. And I’ll tell Yeonsu, so go see him too. “He’s richer than me, so he can offer a little more.”

“Even training? “I understand that Yeonsoo also paid a significant fine?”

“no. Because he didn’t do anything in his name, his punishment was much milder than mine. And he said that within a few years, his business was doing so well that he was able to recover all the fines he had paid.”

Kim Seong-su’s younger brother, Kim Yeon-su, is the chairman of Samyang Corporation.

He had an aptitude for business from the beginning and achieved considerable success after starting a company. However, he was also punished for serving as a member of the Central Committee of the Japanese Government-General of Korea, an honorary consul general in Manchukuo, and a director of the Joseon Federation for the General Mobilization of the National Spirit at the end of Japanese colonial rule.

However, as Kim Seong-su said, he was only in name and did not actually do much, so he escaped major punishment.

Like his older brother Kim Seong-su, he was deprived of his civil rights and was fined, but either the fine was lower than expected or his business seems to have been going well.

Moreover, the deprivation of civil rights was not a significant punishment for him as he had no interest in politics.

“Thank you, thank you.”

“Hey man, it’s not free so don’t like it too much.”

“hmm? “What do you mean?”

“At this point, I’m thinking of going out into the world too.”

“To the world?”

“Well, I am only restricted from the right to vote, the right to be elected, and the path to public office, but there are no restrictions on working as an ordinary person, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So I thought about it. Now, we will slowly move out into the bright world. “I thought, if I can’t be president, why not make one?”

“ah… … .”

“Please make a place for me in your party.”

“However much!”

“ha ha ha!”

“ha ha ha!”

Seongsu Kim’s eyes were burning again.