Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 360



Only Krnovel

#360. Please keep doing that.

August 9, 1966.

South Korea was bustling with events welcoming soldiers and naval vessels returning from the front lines throughout the second half of July and early August, but things quietened down after the first week of August.

As it was the hottest time of the year and many people were going on vacations that had been postponed due to the war, Seoul was just quiet.

At this time, an important guest visited the Blue House.

U.S. President Kennedy visited South Korea.

Originally, since it had been quite a while since he had been here, he would have been warmly welcomed, but considering the circumstances of the Republic of Korea right after the war, which was suffering from various events, he came quietly as a working visit.

“Come in.”

“Hahaha! Dude! Long time no see.”

“Jackie seems to get prettier every time I see her?”

“Hohoho! Thank you.”

In fact, Jacqueline Kennedy was born in 1929 and was still in full bloom, although she was only in her mid-30s.

“Honey, you stay with Jackie. I have a lot to talk to this guy about.”

“Hohoho! Okay. Let’s go, Jackie.”

“yes.”

When Lee Kang-cheol was alone with Kennedy, he sat comfortably on the sofa and groaned.

“Oh my god! It’s hard.”

“Are you having a hard time?”

“Hey, I’m already in my mid-70s.”

“Hey, you only look like you’re in your early 60s.”

“That’s not true. Aww! I think my body has deteriorated after living in the Ministry of National Defense building for about two weeks during this war.”

“Then why did you do that? It’s right there within earshot of you, so why don’t you just commute to work?”

“But that’s not true. I can’t just be comfortable while sending young people to war. I’m the president.”

“Anyway, you are unusual.”

“But why did you come? I told you to take your time because I’m busy dealing with the war.”

“Why are you acting so sad? I took time out of my busy schedule to come here to congratulate you on your victory.”

“Why don’t you stop talking nonsense and just tell me?”

“Would you like a glass of whiskey?”

“Child, whiskey in broad daylight?”

Lee Kang-cheol grumbled but handed me a glass of whiskey himself.

“Wow! This is good. Are you not going to eat it?”

“You punk, at my age, drinking in broad daylight in this hot weather is going to kill me. Are you here to assassinate me?”

“Poohahaha!”

“What’s funny? Why did you come?”

“I really came to congratulate you.”

“Why don’t you speak quickly?”

“First of all, congratulations on your victory. I was planning to come to the surrender ceremony, but something came up and I couldn’t come.”

“Thank you, too. And I never invited you to the signing ceremony.”

“Tch!”

“Tch, you only say that kind of thing in the White House.”

“… … .”

Kennedy sighed for a moment, then poured himself another glass of whiskey.

“Hey, why do you keep drinking so much for dinner later?”

“Well, this much doesn’t matter. I’m young, right?”

“Well done.”

“Hey, what’s the big deal? My term ends next year, right?”

“So? Are you planning to run for a third term? You came here to discuss that?”

“Hehehe! If I ask you about things like this, you’ll always get the answer.”

“That crazy guy.”

“Hey, don’t do that.”

Lee Kang-cheol opened his mouth again after drinking half a glass of whiskey himself.

“Be honest with me. Do you want to run for a third term?”

“Isn’t that obvious? How time flies so fast. It’s already been seven years since I started doing things properly. And it’s not like I failed to fulfill my duties as president. Don’t you think I did a pretty good job?”

“Well done. Wherever you go, people will say you did a good job.”

It’s not just Lee Kang-cheol’s mouth, Kennedy did really well.

Although there were no major issues like the Vietnam War in this history, it can be said that he performed his duties well as president just by successfully resolving the conflict between blacks and whites in the United States.

Of course, the previous incident of being shot and resurrected had a big impact.

Moreover, although it is not growing as explosively as before, the U.S. economy is growing steadily and the most sensitive unemployment rate is very low.

In short, this means that wherever he went, he would be known as a great president.

“But the reason you’re worried is probably because you’ve been doing it for so long?”

“Ha, that’s right. Roosevelt did it for 16 years, and President Truman did it for 12 years. And they were all Democrats like me. If you add my 8 years to that, it’s 36 years. So voters’ fatigue with the Democratic Party is no joke.”

“That will happen.”

“In addition, there is a strong movement to limit the number of terms to three, and honestly, it feels a bit unfair. Does it make sense to say who can run and who can’t? My approval rating is around 60%. But the actual approval rating for running for a third term is just over 45%.”

“What is the atmosphere within the party?”

“It’s half and half in the party. When will those damned guys start praising me?”

“ha ha ha!”

It must have been annoying for Kennedy.

He performed his duties as president well, and his approval rating among the American people was also high.

And like the original history, there was no restriction on three lines.

But he must have been frustrated because there were many people who said that he should not run for a third term simply because the Democratic Party had been in power for too long and because previous presidents had served four and three terms.

Because it was an issue that had nothing to do with me.

Besides, Kennedy was too young to retire.

Born in 1915, he is only in his fifties, but it is customary for U.S. presidents to not hold any public office after leaving office.

This made Kennedy feel dizzy.

“What should I do?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Hey, I’m consulting you because if you do as you say, the results will always be good, right?”

“Don’t trust me too much. I’m getting older now and my intuition isn’t what it used to be.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“No, what are you worried about? If you want to run for a third term, then run. If you are worried about the fatigue caused by the Democratic Party’s long-term rule, then it would be the same if someone else ran instead of you, right?”

“Yes.”

“And is there a Democratic candidate with a higher approval rating than you?”

“doesn’t exist.”

“Then what are you worried about? All you’re worried about right now is that you might run for a third term and get rejected.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh, worrying is a waste of time. If you fall, you fall, but if you don’t even run, you’re nothing. How can this be compared?”

“Do you think so?”

“That’s obvious. If you’re worried about losing, how have you ever had elections before?”

“hmm…….”

“You can worry about that later. And let’s say you fail badly, you can just take a 4-year break and come back, right?”

“Hey, how is that?”

“Is there a law that says it’s not allowed?”

“Yes? No, but hasn’t there been a president like that before?”

“Customs, my ass!”

There was just one thing that Lee Kang-cheol highly regarded about the modern Trump.

It is a well-known fact that man is a cesspool, but he did not care what was customary, what was common, or what was not forbidden by law.

No, Trump was the kind of person who would open his mouth and say that even laws he didn’t like were a conspiracy.

convention?

What the hell does that have to do with anything?

“You might get scolded for a little while, but it’ll all be over in time. And you’re not breaking any laws, are you?”

“Is that so?”

“Customs? You punk! What kind of conventions are you following as a young man? You should break those! You, if you retire after serving until next year, you’ll only be 52 or 53 years old. At such a young age, do you want to spend the rest of your life giving lectures or writing memoirs?”

“That’s not it!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so either. To be honest, this isn’t even a concern for me. If it were me, I would have just left. Custom? Face? Don’t make me laugh.”

“ha ha ha!”

“Why are you laughing?”

“Even when I’m worried, I feel better after listening to you.”

In modern terms, it would be correct to say cider.

“Anyway, that’s what I think. Don’t whine about that anymore. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Hahaha! Okay, I understand.”

“Is it okay now?”

“Oh, one more thing.”

“What now?”

“Please tell me just one thing.”

“So tell me.”

“I mean the GDP of the Republic of Korea.”

“Why is our country’s GDP suddenly so low?”

“Isn’t that a proper announcement?”

“Oh my! What are you talking about!”

Lee Kang-cheol felt a pang inside, but in times like these, he had to be strong.

“I don’t think so?”

“Why is this guy doing this on a hot day like this?”

“I’ll be honest with you.”

“what?”

“There are many people in our intelligence agencies, including the CIA, and in some parts of our government and private economic research institutes who say they do not trust the GDP that South Korea announces.”

“What kind of guys are they? What do they think of us?”

“It’s more suspicious when the old man comes out loud.”

“Oh my! That’s nonsense!”

“Hey, you don’t have to do that to me, right?”

“Is that so because it’s accurate?”

In fact, it’s been quite a while since I started manipulating it.

It’s because the United States started to become wary of South Korea.

So, it is true that we were being as conservative as possible and even manipulating things a little, but it was something that could not be revealed.

It is impossible for a country like South Korea to manipulate its GDP, and if it were revealed, it would have huge repercussions.

“Anyway, sir, it’s estimated that our total US GDP will exceed $1 trillion this year.”

“Hahaha! That’s something to celebrate. Congratulations.”

“I didn’t mean to say that. But according to our information, South Korea’s total GDP will reach 700 billion dollars this year.”

“I told you not to catch that living person, right?”

Lee Kang-cheol clearly remembered.

That is to say, as Japan began to catch up with the US GDP, the US began to beat up Japan.

Of course, the current Republic of Korea is absolutely not in a position where the United States can beat it up in that way, but there was no need to arouse America’s envy and jealousy at this time.

“Hehehe! Do you know why I’m saying this?”

“Why on earth are you doing that?”

“As expected of a gentleman, you are doing a great job.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Please keep doing that. At least until the end of my third term.”

“… … .”

“I can guess why you are doing that. And I think the same. If it becomes known that South Korea has come so close to the chin of our country, the backlash in the US will be no joke. So please keep doing that.”

“What do you mean… … .”

“To be honest, wouldn’t it be good for you and the Republic of Korea if I were to be elected for a third time?”

“… … .”

This is correct.

With Kennedy as president, even if there was talk of manipulating the GDP, it was just brushed aside, but if someone else had been president, there would probably have been an uproar.

“So? What do you want?”

“Hahaha! What could it be? Just like always, I’m asking for your support in time for next year’s election.”

“Ouch! Got it.”

“You promised?”

“Okay, I understand!”

You might ask why we should be concerned about the US, but it is still right to be concerned at least for now.

There is no need to get hit by a stone that doesn’t necessarily have to hit you.

11:00 p.m., August 17, 1966.

The President’s bedroom at the Blue House.

Tiring! Tiring!

Kang-cheol Lee, who had just gone to bed, picked up the phone when he heard the intercom ringing.

“hello?”

– This is Secretary Cho.

“Hey, Secretary Cho. What’s going on?”

―I apologize for the late hour, but I just got a call from the general hospital. They said that Mr. Baekbeom is in critical condition.

“ha…….”

-I heard you want to see the President. What will you do?

“Of course I should go. Let the car wait. I’ll go right away.”

-All right.

“Honey, what’s going on?”

“Mr. Baekbeom is in critical condition.”

“Oh my! What should I do? Are you leaving now?”

“huh.”

“I’ll go too.”

“okay.”

Lee Kang-cheol felt his heart grow lonelier as he rode in the car.

Because the representative figures of the old era were turning their backs on the world one by one.