Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 319



Only Krnovel

#319. The world comes to Seoul, and Seoul comes to the world!

March 25, 1964.

This day marks the third general election for the House of Representatives since the founding of the Republic of Korea.

“Mr. President! Look this way!”

“First Lady! You can’t put it in now!”

Lee Kang-cheol and First Lady Lee Sun-young came to the polling station set up at the Samcheong-dong community center early in the morning to vote.

And in the afternoon.

“Did you vote?”

“As always, I did it early in the morning.”

“Well done.”

Although the general election day is a temporary public holiday, Lee Kang-cheol and Ko Seok-man were chatting at the Blue House.

“By the way, I’m not sure if Manchuria, Hokkaido, and Ryukyu regions, where voting is taking place for the first time, will go well. So far, it’s been fine, but… … .”

“Would it be different there? There shouldn’t be any problems.”

This general election for the House of Representatives was different in several ways from previous ones.

First, the right to vote was given to the people of Manchuria and Hokkaido for the first time.

Previously, only those who had served in the military, the immediate family members of soldiers who took part in the wars that occurred in the early days of the nation’s founding, and other citizens recognized for their contributions to the Republic of Korea were granted the right to vote, but from now on, all adults are granted the right to vote without discrimination.

It has already been 20 years since the territories received from Japan, such as Manchuria, Hokkaido, and Ryukyu, were annexed by the Republic of Korea.

As time passed, the Chinese and Japanese Koreans in these regions became assimilated to the point where they felt almost like fellow Koreans, and they also had a strong sense of pride in being Korean citizens.

This is in fact because 20 years have passed, but ultimately, living as a citizen of the Republic of Korea has many advantages.

Excluding the United States, the richest country in the world is currently South Korea.

No, honestly, the average person doesn’t know or care how well off America is.

Their comparison target was naturally their home country, but at this time, the gap between North China, South China, and Japan was so huge that it was ridiculous to compare them to South Korea.

Northern China in particular is a bit better now, but until recently, hundreds of thousands to millions of people would die at any given time. If a major accident like the Great Leap Forward occurred, tens of millions would die.

So what kind of crazy person would miss their motherland?

Given these circumstances, their loyalty to their country actually surpassed that of the original Koreans.

This is because there was still a sense of anxiety that they might be discriminated against because they were of Chinese or Japanese descent.

In short, it was because of concerns that the South Korean government would not trust them, and perhaps because of this, the level of support for the national policy was incredibly high.

In addition, the military service burden is now equal to that of the Korean Peninsula.

Ultimately, taking these points into consideration, they were given the right to vote in this general election, and with this, the people from Manchuria and former Japanese territories were officially and practically freed from any discrimination.

Of course, the electoral districts in these regions are still drawn much wider than those on the Korean Peninsula, and the value of the vote per person is only about half that of Korean nationals, but where is this?

The beginning is important.

And the government also said that it would gradually resolve inequality, so this too would be resolved over time.

The second thing that changed starting with this general election is that the number of seats in the House of Representatives has increased from 300 to 400 as the voting districts have expanded and the number of voters has increased significantly.

And finally, starting with this election, a proportional representation system was partially introduced, allocating 40 out of 400 seats based on the number of votes received by each party.

Originally, proportional representation was not introduced because Lee Kang-cheol had strong aversion to it, but after two elections, Lee Kang-cheol came to recognize its necessity to some extent, and 10% of the 400 seats were allocated.

It was introduced only to the bare minimum.

“The system has changed a bit from now on.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s already 2 o’clock, so if nothing has happened by now, you’ll be fine.”

“Well, I guess it would be better to worry about the next election.”

“Why the next election?”

“Next time, won’t Russian and Chinese citizens from Haenam Island also exercise their right to vote?”

“however?”

“Manchuria and Hokkaido are not that far from our Korean peninsula, so they are in the same time zone and there is not much difference. However, starting from the next election, the time zone will be different. And even the Haenam and Noeju Peninsula regions are crowded with people. Think about voting in that vast northern Siberian territory.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is?”

Come to think of it, that’s what happened.

The territory bordering the Soviet Union was a full five hours behind Seoul, and Haenam Island was two hours behind.

The Haenam-do region is only about 2 hours behind, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. If it’s 5 hours, it’s a different story.

There are more than one or two things to worry about, such as the fact that the exit poll results currently being conducted will have to be delayed by five hours.

“‘That’s how it is’? Isn’t that too irresponsible?”

“Ah! I don’t know! Shouldn’t the Prime Minister be concerned?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Hehehe! If not, then why don’t you become president? Oh! Now that I think about it, I won’t be the president in the next election? Isn’t that you?”

“Ouch! Really!”

“ha ha ha!”

“… … .”

Lee Kang-cheol’s last term was until 1967, and the next general election for the House of Representatives was in March 1968.

Lee Kang-cheol narrowly escaped, so the responsibility fell to Ko Seok-man, who was certain to become the next president.

Anyway, the third general election also passed without a hitch.

The result was, as expected, a landslide victory for the ruling Republican Party, but what was unusual was that in this general election, they won with an even more overwhelming result than before.

The reason for this is that in the Manchuria and Hokkaido regions, where the right to vote was first exercised, a 98% majority voted, which is a figure that only the Communist Party could have won.

Political commentators speculated that this result was because the Liberal Democratic Party had no recognition in these regions, even though it had on the Korean Peninsula.

In the Korean peninsula, recognition of big-time independence activists like Song Jin-woo was certain, but even that did not work among the Chinese and Japanese in Manchuria and Hokkaido.

In short, it was said that independence activists were generally not well known in these regions, and it was true.

Because they are people who were incorporated as our citizens when the country was founded.

Accordingly, voters in these regions had absolute support for President Lee Kang-cheol and the ruling Republican Party, which resulted in an even more overwhelming result than before.

Late evening, March 26, 1964.

Inchon Kim Seong-su’s house.

Song Jin-woo and Kim Seong-su were sitting in front of a simple table full of food.

“Inchon.”

“But why?”

“I am now retiring from politics.”

“What do you mean? You’re retiring?”

Kim Seong-su looked at Song Jin-woo in surprise.

“I’m tired now. And as the leader of the party, it’s my responsibility to take responsibility for the election results.”

“What nonsense! Why are you taking responsibility for the election results? If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even gotten this seat!”

Kim Seong-su was right.

After Lee Seung-man passed away, the face of the Liberal Democratic Party was Song Jin-woo, no matter what anyone said.

As time passed, many people entered the Liberal Democratic Party, but none of them had the same level of popular support and recognition as Song Jin-woo.

“Hahaha! Thank you for saying that, but shouldn’t someone be held accountable? The number of seats increased by 100 to 400, but our seats are still the same as before at 31. I’m not thick-skinned enough to continue to hold onto my position as leader despite this defeat.”

“If that’s true, why is there such a fuss about retiring from politics instead of just stepping down from the leadership position?”

“As I said at the beginning, I’m tired now. I’m already in my mid-seventies. It’s time to stop.”

“You say you’re old, but you’re still healthy. What are you talking about? I’m against it. If you’re going to retire, finish this term at least.”

“Hahaha! Is there really a need for that? Since I was elected through proportional representation this time, when I retire, the next person in line will take over?”

“No, this guy is really!”

“Please let me go now. I really need to rest.”

“her…….”

Kim Seong-su glared at his close friend Song Jin-woo, then turned his head away.

Certainly, the look of exhaustion was evident in his eyes.

“Are you really going to retire?”

“Okay, if you’re going to do it, I hope you do it well.”

“What are you going to do when you retire?”

“What can I do at this age? I should live a more leisurely life. I met Min-se a while ago.”

“Minse?”

Min-se (民世) is Ahn Jae-hong’s pen name.

“He scolded me for making my life so hard. He then told me to stop and come in, saying he was going to make room for me in the Senate. Now that I think about it, I guess that wasn’t something I should have said to you.”

“… … .”

If it were Song Jin-woo, he could have entered the Senate at any time.

Because he was a giant in the domestic independence movement that everyone acknowledges.

However, the story of the Senate in front of Kim Seong-su was truly painful.

Because he couldn’t hold out for a few more years and defected, he was fined a huge amount and even had his civil rights taken away.

“Honestly, I’m a little jealous.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry about? It’s just my own misbehavior that caused this.”

“… … .”

“Okay. If that’s really you, then do so.”

“I feel really sorry and shameless towards you.”

“Oh my! What nonsense!”

“Haha! Okay, let’s have a drink.”

A few days later, the news of Song Jin-woo’s retirement from politics hit Yeouido hard, and many citizens wished him a peaceful old age.

And Lee Kang-cheol was also invited in person to console him for his hard work.

In this way, another giant representing the old era disappeared into the back alleys of history.

* * *

Saturday, September 3, 1964.

Seoul Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium.

“Wow, wow, wow!”

As Son Ki-jeong, the final runner, lit the torch, the torch burst into flames and dozens of pigeons were also injured.

Of course, the 70,000 spectators at the Olympic opening ceremony didn’t care about pigeons.

Anyway, after the national hero Son Ki-jeong came down, overcome with emotion and shedding tears, Lee Kang-cheol declared the opening of the Olympics.

“I celebrate the 18th modern Olympic Games and declare the Seoul Olympic Games open!”

Bread, bread, bread!

And there was a separate highlight of the opening ceremony.

The current IOC President, Avery Brundage of the United States, said the following at the end of his opening speech:

“The world comes to Seoul, and Seoul comes to the world!”

“Wow, wow, wow!”

The 70,000 spectators were thrilled by Brundage’s lip service in broken Korean.

It was something that had been done in advance by a high-ranking official from the expedition team.

In this way, the 18th Summer Olympics, originally held in Tokyo, opened with a 16-day schedule.

These Olympics marked the beginning of Seoul’s spectacular appearance on the world stage.