Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 297



Only Krnovel

#297. An era is coming to an end.

The election wasn’t just in the United States.

Election season was approaching in South Korea as well.

This is the second general election held since the founding of the Republic of Korea.

It was implemented in 1956, so it has now been four years and the general election was scheduled to be held on March 28.

February 2, 1960.

The Liberty Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido.

The three people who effectively lead the Liberal Democratic Party have gathered together.

Song Jin-woo, Kim Seong-su, and Jang Deok-su were those people.

“It’s been four years again.”

“I see.”

As Song Jin-woo opened his mouth, Kim Seong-su answered with a calm expression.

“In this election, we have to win seats that are meaningful somehow. We claimed to be the only opposition party, but we are such a minority that it doesn’t mean much.”

“Well, there’s nothing you can do with just 22 seats.”

The current number of seats held by the Liberal Democratic Party is 22.

Initially, there were 25 seats, but four people were indicted on charges of election fraud, and three of them had their elections invalidated, reducing the number of seats to 22.

They were able to secure the 20 seats required to form a negotiating group, but as Song Jin-woo said, there was little they could do against the giant ruling Republican Party.

If we had not even formed a negotiating group, we would have had no presence at all.

“Whew! I really feel ashamed of myself these days. I even question whether it is right to continue in politics.”

“Hey man! What kind of weak talk is that?”

“Isn’t that right? Even though I am a person who has been expelled from public office, I still had the will to contribute to the independent politics of the Republic of Korea at first. I meant the will to block the dictatorship of one party and check the current government’s tyranny. But what is this now? Far from being a check, I am just a bystander. Furthermore, the government and the ruling party that I am trying to check are developing our country to a degree that I honestly wonder if I could do as much as they did. So don’t you feel a sense of self-loathing?”

Jang Deok-su seemed to be really feeling ashamed.

But Kim Seong-su stepped forward and scolded him.

It was probably better for him to come forward since they were closer friends than Song Jin-woo.

“Nonsense! As you know, absolute power corrupts absolutely! Even though they are not far off the mark now, if they continue to monopolize power in this manner, the day will come when they will become corrupt! Even though they are still a minority, don’t you know that the National Assembly is no longer a rubber stamp because our Liberal Democratic Party is keeping them in check?”

“… … .”

“And things will be a bit different starting with this election. Our members of the National Assembly have worked hard and raised their profile quite a bit, haven’t they? At first, they just relied on Mr. Unam’s reputation, but now they’ve definitely gotten out of Mr. Unam’s shadow and are able to stand on their own.”

“… … .”

“We still have time. Don’t be so hasty.”

“I see. I was short-sighted.”

Jang Deok-su agreed, but there was an awkward silence for a moment.

And the one who broke the silence was, of course, Kim Seong-su.

“Goha.”

“Please speak.”

“While we’re on the subject, I’ll say this: I definitely need to get out of Mr. Woonam’s shadow in this election. Honestly, I don’t think Mr. Woonam’s reputation will help me anymore.”

“That’s true.”

“What’s the atmosphere like at the cosmetics store these days? It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”

“… … .”

As Kim Seong-su said, the leadership of the Liberty Democratic Party has been consciously avoiding the funeral since the last presidential election.

It was because there was no time to hear good things about it, and Kim Seong-su and Jang Deok-su had a firm will to escape the shadow of Woo-nam.

In reality, as time passed, Unam’s reputation also faded and it was judged that he was no longer of any help in the election.

In the end, the only person who occasionally visited the funeral home was Song Jin-woo.

“It’s not very good. There’s nothing good about it.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s gotten worse, especially since we rejected Lee Ki-poong’s nomination. Even I find it hard to look at Mr. Woo Nam’s face.”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

Kim Seong-su answered coolly, and Jang Deok-su nodded in agreement.

“You guys are really cold-hearted.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it. Politics is reality.”

“Whew! I think your desire to escape from the teacher’s shadow will be completely resolved soon.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Teacher, your health is not good.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll live that long.”

“Unexpected.”

“What are you talking about? Teacher, Chun-chu is already eighty-six? Isn’t that an age where most old people would have gone to the afterlife long ago?”

Unam was born in 1875, and in March at that.

Considering the age of that era, he was still considered to have lived a very long life.

“It’s just my opinion, but when I last greeted you, I thought you had a few more years left. You’re naturally healthy.”

“I think the illness was more mental than physical.”

“Mental illness?”

“Yes, as you all know, Mr. Woo-nam is the type of person who can’t stand not being the leader. No matter where he is. But since returning to Korea, the government has treated him like an old man in the back room, and he’s been defeated in every election. And now, he’s practically ignored by our Liberal Democratic Party, which he considered his own party. It would be strange if he didn’t feel hurt by this.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about it. By the way, are you feeling very unwell?”

“You guys should keep it to yourself. Even the general hospital said that they couldn’t do anything for you because you were old.”

“If they said that at the integrated hospital… … .”

“In reality, you’re saying that you won’t be able to go very far.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

At Song Jin-woo’s words, Kim Seong-su and Jang Deok-su kept their mouths shut.

Because many thoughts came to my mind.

Looking at them, Song Jin-woo muttered.

“And so an era comes to an end… … .”

But that time came sooner than expected.

March 10, 1960.

The Blue House.

“So, what I mean is, if we do it like that… … .”

Bam!

“What? Secretary Cho?”

While Lee Kang-cheol was giving a passionate speech to Ko Seok-man, the door suddenly opened and Secretary Jo came in.

It means that something urgent has come up.

“Mr. President.”

“What’s going on?”

“I heard that Mr. Woo Nam has passed away.”

“What? Mr. Woonam?”

“No way?”

Lee Kang-cheol and Ko Seok-man looked at each other in bewilderment at the unexpected news.

“What happened? Isn’t it time for you to go back yet?”

“Really? He definitely passed away in 1965?”

“Huh! Right!”

I had received reports that he was in poor health.

However, since he had survived until 1965 in the original history and was receiving modern medical treatment as a person with merit for independence, I never thought that he would die so early.

“Has there ever been a case like this? A case where someone returned earlier after seeing the benefits of our medical care?”

“If the conditions are similar, there’s no way it could happen. There’s no way it could happen unless a few people die in an accident.”

“her!”

“Anyway, since he passed away, the government must also mourn and respond at the government level.”

In the original history, he was clearly a dictator who was driven out of his country and died in Hawaii, but in this history, the case is different.

No matter what anyone says, a major independence activist has passed away.

As time passed, many independence fighters passed away, but there was no independence activist with such a high profile and prestigious reputation.

“That’s right.”

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs stepped forward and moved quickly.

First, we decided on the funeral format and other matters after consulting with the bereaved family member, Mrs. Francesca. Ultimately, the funeral was decided to be a public funeral, and the funeral period was set at five days as Mrs. Francesca wanted to keep it short.

That evening.

Lee Kang-cheol visited the funeral home where the funeral was held and paid his respects.

The funeral home is already packed with people.

After paying my respects, I looked back and saw that the senior members of the Senate, including Kim Gu, were already seated on one side.

“Are you here?”

“Yes, I just got here a little while ago.”

Kim Gu looked very heartbroken and his eyes were bloodshot.

“You must be very heartbroken.”

“I guess it’s because we spent a lot of time together.”

“okay.”

“I never imagined that Unam would die first. I always thought I would die first.”

“… … .”

“When I heard about ‘that incident’ from the President, I was honestly very angry. That’s why I avoided him since then. But now that Unam hyung has passed away, I don’t know why I feel so bad.”

‘That thing’ originally referred to an event in history.

“Don’t be too upset. I’m worried that it might harm your health, teacher.”

“Haha! Unam and I are only one year apart in age. It’s time for me to go. Not only that, but my comrades are also leaving the world one by one. Our era is completely coming to an end.”

“… … .”

Lee Kang-cheol could not comfort her any longer.

March 28, 1960.

The second general election was held as scheduled.

The result was that the Republican Party won 248 seats, the Progressive Party 21 seats, and the Liberal Democratic Party made a huge advance, winning 31 seats.

The result was that the Liberal Democratic Party won a whopping 9 more seats than before, but this was not because the Liberal Democratic Party did well in the election, but because a large number of sympathy votes were generated due to the unexpected death of Unam right before the election.

A few days after the election.

Two people were bowing their heads at Unam’s grave, which was buried in the national cemetery.

It was Kim Seong-su and Jang Deok-su.

“Teacher, you have given us a truly great gift. Please watch over our Liberty Democratic Party’s progress even from the other world.”

In a way, they are two parties that have been neglected by the party.

However, he came to pay his respects because he felt bad about benefiting from Unam’s death.

***

06:02:57 local time in Chile on May 21, 1960.

Concepción, a city in the Bío Bío department in central Chile.

Concepcion was located near the mouth of the Bio Bio River, so it developed as a trading port. There were also coal fields nearby, so it was also famous for its heavy chemical industrial complex, including steel mills.

however.

Ddddddddd!

“What, what is it!”

“Earth, it’s an earthquake! It’s an earthquake!”

“Get out there! Get out there! Get out there!”

It’s the time when you’ve just woken up or are still asleep.

Citizens were startled by the tremendous vibration and loud noise and tried to evacuate quickly.

but.

Dddddddd! Kwakwakwaang!

“Eww!”

“What, it’s falling apart!”

“Hey, save me!”

Many civilians began to die.

The earthquake that day was a super-strong earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 8.1, an unprecedented level.

The earthquake completely cut off central Chile from the south, and the Chilean government immediately declared a state of emergency and began relief efforts.

But until this point, no one had expected it.

The Concepción earthquake was merely a foreshock.

15:11 local time in Chile on May 22, 1960.

Valdivia, Los Rios Province, Chile.

Ddddddddd!

The largest earthquake in human history began, causing massive damage not only in Chile but also throughout the Pacific Rim countries.