Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 243



Only Krnovel

#243. Isn’t it obvious?

January 20, 1955.

The Blue House.

The Chairman of the Central Election Management Committee, Ko Dang Jo Man-sik, and Secretary-General Park Jae-han were meeting with Lee Kang-cheol.

“Welcome, Mr. Godang. And Mr. Secretary-General. I know it’s late for a New Year’s greeting, but I wish you a very Happy New Year.”

“Hahaha! Thank you. I hope the President stays healthy and blessed this year.”

“Haha! I don’t know what to do with myself when I see Mr. Godang, who is much older than me, worrying about my health.”

“Huh! What are you talking about?”

“yes?”

“No, why am I so much older? The President and I are only seven years apart? We’re the same age, the same age. Isn’t it too much for the President to look younger?”

“haha…….”

Jo Man-sik was half joking, but a little serious.

The world knows that Lee Kang-cheol and Jo Man-sik have a seven-year age difference, but in appearance, they appear to have an age difference of almost 20 years.

Jo Man-sik looked like a typical country bumpkin, with the average appearance of a man in his early 70s at the time and a beard.

On the other hand, Lee Kang-cheol, who is in his mid-60s, has a youthful appearance even by the average modern person, which is why he ended up like this.

“Hahaha! Just kidding, just kidding. It’s just that this old man envies the President.”

“Oh, I see.”

Come to think of it, Jo Man-sik’s attitude toward Lee Kang-cheol has also become much more lenient.

It was later learned that Jo Man-sik, a devout Christian, initially had doubts that the current government might persecute Christianity.

It was a misunderstanding brought about by the policy of thoroughly excluding religion from state administration.

“Now, the reason I asked you two to meet today is because this year is a very important year ahead of the House of Representatives elections next spring.”

“I know very well.”

“So I would like to ask you a few questions. This election will be on a different scale than the last presidential election. Isn’t that right, President Park?”

“That’s right. It’s about electing 300 members of the House of Representatives from 300 constituencies. There will be thousands of candidates. And it’s the first election to elect members of the House of Representatives. If we don’t prepare thoroughly, there will be a lot of chaos.”

“Yes, that’s why I asked to see you. I ask that you, Mr. Godang, take the lead and do your best to make the election fair.”

“Haha! What do I know? Everyone believes that our President Park will take care of everything. However, I just monitor whether the work is done fairly.”

“Hahaha! That’s exactly what I want. The job of election management is to be fair, and fair.”

“If that’s the case, then you don’t have to worry.”

“Yes, I believe you. And I won’t ask you to see me until the House of Representatives elections are over. I don’t want to create the misunderstanding that the President is interfering with the elections. So please don’t be upset if I don’t ask you to see me.”

“Hahaha! If there are many elections, it will be difficult to even meet the President.”

“ha ha ha!”

Jo Man-sik fully understood what Lee Kang-cheol was saying.

It was said that even the president cannot and will not interfere with election management affairs.

And Jo Man-sik was really happy that Lee Kang-cheol, who was exercising almost imperial power, was the first to say this.

“President Park Jae-han’s role is also very important. Some of our ‘Kanggye’ people will also run for office, but we should not show any favoritism just because they are from Kanggye.”

“Of course, Mr. President.”

“And, we are electing representatives from 300 constituencies. Please be careful not to cause any confusion.”

“All right.”

“The most important thing is to make sure that there is a clean election. Spending money? Don’t show mercy. Those who spread black propaganda or commit violence are the same. Please make sure that this election is fair and clean.”

“I will give it my all.”

“Administratively, we will provide comprehensive support to Prime Minister Kim Ho-jin. I have asked him to provide support for everything needed, so there will be no shortage of support. Feel free to use it as much as you want, whether it is public broadcasting or anything else.”

“Whew!”

“No, why are you sighing?”

“I can only sigh when I think about the hardships I’ll have to endure until March next year.”

“Hey, are you kidding me? Hahaha!”

“Heh heh heh!”

In the end, the meeting ended with a good laugh at Secretary-General Park Jae-han’s joke, but the importance of this election was taken seriously by all high-ranking officials, including Lee Kang-cheol.

Despite all the publicity and education, and the constant broadcasting that made it audible to the point of being audible to our ears, there were quite a few election criminals who were punished for violating election laws, big or small, in the last presidential election.

Of course, since there was no experience in holding a proper election, there were many election crimes that arose out of ignorance, but the government showed no leniency.

If we punish them with a slap on the wrist from the beginning, the perception that it is okay to do so in the future may spread.

A few days later, this time, the Republican Party’s secretary general, Kim In-sik, was summoned to the Blue House.

“Have you found it?”

“Welcome, Director Kim.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“I wanted to see you because I had something to ask you about the election next year.”

“Haha! I knew you would do that.”

“How is it? The atmosphere within the party?”

“Honestly, I’m a little excited.”

“is it so?”

“Yes, that’s right. Considering the current public opinion, it’s a well-known fact that our Republican Party will win a landslide victory. So, if they just get the nomination, they’ll be considered a surefire candidate for the House of Representatives.”

“But… … .”

“So, for now, everyone is just watching from the sidelines, but once the nomination process begins in earnest, fierce competition is expected.”

“What about the people from our expedition team?”

“Didn’t we decide at the last meeting that at least one third of the members should be from our expedition team?”

“Yes, I did.”

“We are secretly accepting applications from mostly older civilians, but we are having a hard time because the number of applicants is lower than expected.”

“Huh? Is the support rate that low?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“No, why?”

Lee Kang-cheol thought it was really unexpected.

He is a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

Moreover, it is not a National Assembly that occupies half of the Korean peninsula like in modern times, but a National Assembly member of the Republic of Korea, a superpower that has formed a huge empire.

That honor and power are indeed not light.

Moreover, once the title of ‘Ganggye people’ was attached, everyone gave in, so there was no need to worry about losing in the election.

What this means is that if you just put your name out there and pretend to campaign, you are sure to get elected.

But you’re not supporting me?

“Everyone is busy… … .”

“Huh? You’re too busy to be a member of the House of Representatives?”

“Yes, that’s right. As you know, there are very few people in our expedition who don’t have jobs.”

“I know that, but… … .”

In this day and age, it is hard to find talented people who came purely as part of an expeditionary force family.

Even if you only knew how to use Excel, there was a battle going on between departments.

This is why it is difficult to find a job even if you look hard.

Things have gotten better these days, but until recently, it was common for middle and high school students to learn Excel and Word to help their parents.

This phenomenon was due to the great differences in the times we lived in, but it was also because there were no restrictions on access to cutting-edge devices and knowledge such as computers.

“So?”

“That’s why most of them play a central role in their original field of work. So if they quit and go into politics, the gap in their work becomes too big.”

“her…….”

“And one of the reasons is that there is a general trend of not wanting to get involved in politics. People already have guaranteed wealth and fame, so they don’t want to get involved in politics and fight with people they don’t understand.”

“shit…….”

Maybe it was an excuse to be busy.

Ultimately, the main reason is probably that I don’t want to fight with people who don’t make sense.

The times we lived in were almost 80 years apart.

So, naturally, the people from the expedition from the modern era and the people of this era had different ways of thinking, starting with the culture.

So, no matter how much the government encouraged it, there were many instances of people from the expedition group hanging out together, and this was a problem that would only be solved after a long time had passed.

“Even if they are from the expedition team, you can’t just send just anyone to run for the assembly elections, right?”

“Of course.”

There are 15,000 people, including soldiers and civilians.

How could there be anyone among them who has no problems?

In particular, the qualification screening for those who came over as expeditionary force families was not strict, but there were quite a few problematic people among them.

Even if you say there are no people, it is impossible to nominate such people.

“Oh, right! This is a problem?”

“It is a problem, but there is still time, so please wait a little longer. We are actively looking for people who have retired due to old age and those who retired due to injuries from the expeditionary force.”

“I understand. In any case, the expedition team members who are completely on our side must occupy one-third of the parliament. That way, we can run the government smoothly.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Then, what about the rest?”

“The remaining people, including Kim Won-bong, are the largest contributors to independence.”

“Hmm, that’s a bit much too. It’s just my personal opinion, but there’s no guarantee that someone who’s good at fighting will be good at politics.”

“Of course, but realistically, we have no choice but to consider recognition. Once you put up the sign of independence activist, the people will absolutely support you.”

“But let’s look at it carefully. No matter how well-known a person is, there will be unsuitable people.”

“Okay. Oh, what about the people who were communist? In particular, it seems like people from Lee Jae-yu and Lee Gwan-sul’s group are preparing diligently.”

“It doesn’t matter. None of those people still believe in communism, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“All right.”

“Please report to me regularly about the nomination situation. Ultimately, I plan to take care of it myself.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“yes.”

Lee Kang-cheol is the chairman of the Republican Party.

In fact, it would have been desirable to not get involved in government affairs once elected as president, but that is not possible in this day and age.

Accordingly, Lee Kang-cheol also intended to actively intervene in the nomination process.

There was no one to say anything, and it was easier to govern if one actively built up one’s own support base.

“Anything else out of the ordinary?”

“There’s something special… … Ah! I heard that Jo Bong-am is planning to found a party.”

“Hmm? Mr. Cho?”

“Yes, he said that since it was obvious that our Republican Party would win a landslide victory, he wanted to lead a minority party in his own way and check the ruling party’s absolute dominance.”

“Huh? That’s not so bad, is it?”

“Haha! Is that so?”

“Yes, if you ever found a party, please send a wreath in my name.”

“All right.”

As Kim In-sik said, Jo Bong-am of Juksan founded the Progressive Party in February, and Lee Kang-cheol not only presented a wreath but also personally gave him words of encouragement to do well.

And not only the Progressive Party, but people from all over the place started to come out and start their own parties. Since it was the first election, it seemed like they were just trying to make a go of it.

In modern times and in this day and age, elections are all about name recognition.

Since it is difficult to win an election if name recognition falls, it was predicted that most of them would end up as supporters.

February 25, 1955.

In South Korea, the national holiday Samiljeol is just a few days away, so the entire country is starting to be covered in the Taegeukgi (Korean flag).

however.

“Yes? You want to send a special envoy from Japan?”

“Yes, that’s right. A representative from the Japanese embassy came to visit us in the morning and delivered the Prime Minister’s personal letter.”

“No, what’s going on?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?”

As Kim Kyu-sik said, it seemed like the contents of the letter could be known without even looking at it.