Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 207



Only Krnovel

#Episode 207 Let’s do well this time too

Friday evening, November 7, 1952.

A grand party to celebrate the election was held in the main banquet hall of the guest house.

Lee Kang-cheol hates trouble, but he couldn’t just wash his mouth after winning a landslide victory in South Korea’s first presidential election.

“Hehehe! congratulations! President!”

“Thank you, Chairman.”

“Congratulations, Mr. President. You have now become a true people’s president. ha ha ha!”

“Thank you, Mr. Simsan.”

Big names such as Baekbeom Kim Gu, Simsan Kim Chang-suk, and Mongyang Yeo Un-hyeong led Nogu and congratulated Lee Kang-cheol on his election as president.

In addition, perhaps due to the increased status of the Republic of Korea, ambassadors from each country, as well as close allies such as Vietnam and Myanmar, urgently dispatched envoys at the level of prime minister or higher to congratulate him at the election celebration party, which was not even an inauguration ceremony.

“I serve as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It is called Le Duẩn. “I sincerely congratulate you on your election.”

“No, it’s not even the inauguration ceremony, so why did you come here in person?”

“ha ha ha! Originally, we tried to stop President Ho Chi Minh from coming in person. “They asked me what I would do if they went without me even though I wasn’t invited.”

“Oh my!”

“Instead, I heard that you will definitely attend the inauguration ceremony, so please be kind to me then.”

“ha ha ha! All right.”

Burma’s Vice President followed suit and announced that President Aung San would personally attend the inauguration ceremony. Other countries also rushed to congratulate Lee Kang-cheol and his wife as they passed by.

Of course, ambassadors from North American and European allies, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, also attended.

Because the distance was so far, no high-ranking figures from their home countries could come, but almost without exception, it was announced that high-ranking officials were planning to attend the inauguration ceremony.

and.

“Haha! Congratulations, Mr. President!”

“Ugh! Why did General MacArthur come?”

MacArthur flew in from Japan without being invited.

“Are you upset about this? “It’s in Japan, the closest place, so of course I have to attend, right?”

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t really surprising, since MacArthur had been in and out of Korea as if it were his home for more than a day or two.

However, there was no way Lee Kang-cheol was happy because of the recent subtle pressure to establish diplomatic relations with Japan.

“Hey, last time… … .”

“Oh, let’s talk about work later. “The guests are waiting, right?”

“Then when?”

“later! See you later!”

“Tsk! I knew.”

“ha… … .”

Even after sending off the tired guest, the line of guests waiting to greet him continued to decrease.

Not only the Republic of China but also the People’s Republic of China sent Zhou Enlai.

“Whoa! I’m tired!”

The election celebration party didn’t end until after 9 p.m., and Lee Kang-cheol really felt like a green onion kimchi.

Because originally dealing with people was the most tiring.

“Hehehe! “Even when I saw him next to me, he looked tired.”

Go Seok-man answered while sitting across from the table.

Lee Kang-cheol sang it separately as a hoepo or a glue song.

“Really, I’m already worried about being re-elected because I don’t want to run this damn election.”

“But you only have to suffer once every five years, right? “Stop talking about death.”

“Well, that’s true. Anyway, you had a hard time too.”

“Hey, did I do anything in the election? “It was all done by the Minister, right?”

“Even so, I asked the Minister to stay and have a drink, but he threw up his hand and said he felt like he was going to die.”

“By the way, brother too. “Mr. President, since you are older, is it okay if I ask you out for a drink?”

“Well, since he’s so healthy, I forgot. Okay, just raise your glass.”

“all right. Now, for!”

“It’s all for the sake of…” … .”

“… … .”

I drank soju with Go Seok-man for about 30 minutes.

“Woonam didn’t come in the end.”

“Teacher Song Jin-woo came instead, right? That’s enough. Woo-nam, that man must have had a hard time taking a step because he had so much pride. Well, it was something you expected, right?”

“Hehe! That’s true. Oh, by the way, did you hear the story?”

“What story?”

“It looks like Inchon will join the Liberal Democratic Party.”

“Inchon? “That guy can’t run for any public office, right?”

“You can’t hold public office, but you’re not banned from political party activities as an ordinary person, right?”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yes, I asked the Chief Justice separately. “They said it doesn’t matter as long as it’s not a public office or representative of a corporation.”

“damn! “Should I have blocked it a little more?”

“There were some things we didn’t expect, but it still wouldn’t have been more difficult. In particular, that gentleman from Inchon had a lot of people who were friendly with not only domestic independence activists such as Song Jin-woo and Yeo Woon-hyeong, but also foreign independence activists, right? There were many people who were indebted to me. “If the punishment had been more severe, there would have been a strong backlash.”

“To… … .”

Kim Seong-su was a person whose evaluation was bound to be complicated.

The history of being pro-Japanese at the end of the Japanese colonial period could not be denied.

This is because the evidence of being pro-Japanese was so clear that he wrote hundreds of pro-Japanese statements and invitations to student soldiers, and even gave money to Japan in the name of national defense contributions.

Nevertheless, there was a lot of controversy even in the original history due to his actions before his defection, which is said to have helped him both at home and abroad, and the fact that he refused to change his name to the end after his defection.

And because of that controversy, even though the death penalty was originally possible, the current government took it into account and allowed him to avoid a prison sentence.

“Let’s just leave it alone for now. Since the ruling has already been made, there is nothing that can be done legally. Besides, in the original history, the nobleman’s actions after liberation were not that bad, right? Later, I rebelled against Woo-nam because he said he was dictatorial.”

“Is that so?”

“Let’s do that. Anyway, unless he is pardoned and reinstated, it is obvious what he can do. “It seems like he wanted to be a kingmaker.”

“Then I think people in similar situations, such as Jang Deok-su, will also come forward?”

“There is a high probability of that happening. Still, unless you can run for public office, there is nothing you can do. “All they can do is act as a think tank behind the scenes or use their financial resources to pay off the LDP’s debt.”

“You said you have a huge election debt, but it looks like you will pay it off?”

“Yes, I have a lot of debt, so I think paying off some, but not all, will give me some breathing room. “I think Inchon’s younger brother, Chairman Kim Yeon-soo, will also offer some.”

“Anyway, I figured it out. “For now, let’s just wait and see.”

“All right.”

smart!

“Who is it at this hour? “Yes, come in!”

“Mr. President.”

“Uh, Secretary Jo. What’s going on so late? “Without coming home from work?”

“I received a call from America.”

“in America? ah! “How do you say it happened?”

“ha ha ha! It’s as expected. “It is said that President Truman defeated Eisenhower and was re-elected.”

“oh? okay?”

“Yes, to win out of 531 electoral votes, you need to secure 266 electoral votes, and it is said that President Truman won 351 seats.”

“That’s a good thing,”

As a result, the Democratic Party in the United States has easily been in power for over 20 years since Roosevelt took office in 1932.

Originally, Truman’s political life would have been that he would become president after Roosevelt’s sudden death after winning his fourth term, and this would be the end of his re-election period.

And his political career ends here.

It is not because of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which banned more than three terms in office due to the aftermath of Roosevelt’s fourth term.

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution did not apply to the incumbent president at the time the Amendment was enacted.

Therefore, Truman was able to run for a third term, and in fact, he even entered the Democratic Party’s primary, shaking off his aides who tried to dissuade him by citing his age and poor popularity.

Of course, in New Hampshire, the first primary election, he lost to Tennessee Senator Carey Estes Kefauver, who was also not very popular.

And in the 1952 presidential election, the Democratic Party nominated Illinois Senator Adlai Stevenson as its presidential candidate, but was defeated by the Eisenhower and Nixon teams by an overwhelming margin of 442 to 89, giving the government that had been in power since 1932 to the Republican Party. gave.

There were many reasons for Truman’s unpopularity.

First of all, he was not popular from the beginning because he was not friendly to the public, and the Korean War had the greatest influence.

This is because Americans who experienced World War II were now sick of war.

And Eisenhower, a war hero, was very popular, and his pledge to end the Korean War as a presidential election pledge worked well.

Needless to say, Truman’s third term would be impossible.

But this time, history has changed a lot.

In the first place, there was no constitutional amendment restricting the president from running for a third term, the Korean War, which decisively undermined Truman’s approval ratings, did not occur, and there was no attack by McCarthy.

In addition, the United States is enjoying the greatest boom as it has been cooperating with South Korea in the name of ‘let’s be valuable’ and has already been cooperating with Korea after the war, sweeping the global market.

This means that even Truman, who was unfriendly to the public despite his occasional double-talk, was a fairly popular president this time, and was able to easily defeat Eisenhower, a war hero.

“Shouldn’t you at least call me to congratulate me? “I heard you congratulated me on the phone when it was confirmed that you were elected?”

“I know? “Then, would you like me to make a phone call?”

“Even though I wasn’t, I said I would wait and asked for a phone call.”

“Oh yeah? “Then I guess I should call you?”

“Shall we connect right away?”

“Yes, please do it right away.”

After a while, the phone call with Truman was connected.

“Ah, President. That’s me.”

“ha ha ha! Mr. President! “Congratulations on being elected president.”

“ha ha ha! “This is embarrassing.”

“no way? Are you embarrassed? “Anyway, now that you are a re-elected president, the things you have been promoting will gain momentum.”

“That’s right. “Now we have to do the things we couldn’t do because we were caught up in the election.”

A representative example was national health insurance.

With Lee Kang-cheol’s recommendation, national health insurance, which had been sluggish even though it had been promoted since Roosevelt, would be promoted in earnest with Truman’s re-election.

“Yes, that’s right. “I plan to end it during this term.”

“Well thought out.”

“By the way, when is the inauguration?”

“It officially starts next year, January 5, 1953.”

“Hmm, it’s about 20 days earlier than us.”

“haha! “I was planning to quit on January 1st, but since it was the New Year holiday period, I decided to quit on the 5th.”

“okay.”

“Yes, the election date is similar, but the term start date will be about 20 days different from the United States.”

“All right. Let’s do well this time too.”

“ha ha ha! Of course! “Our breathing wasn’t bad, right?”

“of course.”

“Okay then… … .”

January 5, 1953.

In front of the National Assembly building.

After countless congratulatory delegates and citizens gathered, the inauguration ceremony of the President of the Republic of Korea was held.