Those Who Lend Their Strength

Park Tae-joon came into the chairman's office.

He saluted with a keen gaze and a soldier's crisp bearing, and put the question to Park Chung-hee.

"You sent for me, Mr. Chairman?"

"I did. Councilor Park—don't stand there. Sit."

Park Chung-hee indicated the sofa across from Ki-jo.

Only after he had taken the seat did Park Tae-joon meet Ki-jo's eyes. The stiff face eased, and he gave him a brief, genuine smile. He was glad to see him.

Ki-jo was just as glad to see Tae-joon. It had been two years. Before Typhoon Sarah bore down on the country, this was the man who had learned by heart the names of five hundred Cheongsan Transport drivers, called them out one by one, and shouted that if they lost so much as a single piece of the nation's freight, they might as well drown themselves in the sea off Busan.

Of everyone who had gone into the revolutionary government, Park Tae-joon was the man Ki-jo trusted most, and it was a relief to have him here. He was the only member of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction who had never taken part in the revolution itself. Park Chung-hee seemed to have set him among the economic staff because he remembered the mechanical engineering Tae-joon had studied at Waseda, and the exceptional mathematics he had shown back when Park, a company commander at the Military Academy, was teaching gunnery.

There was even a story that Park had kept him out of the revolution on purpose. He had trusted the man enough to tell him not to join—and, should the coup fail, to look after his family. Park Tae-joon was someone to whom Park Chung-hee could entrust what came after his own death.

Now Park turned to him, the supreme councilor charged with commerce and industry.

"Councilor Park. Tell me about the investment plan Samhwa Steel has announced."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman. The mill Samhwa proposes would have a capacity of 245,000 tons of pig iron, 216,000 tons of steel ingot, and 164,000 tons of finished steel."

"And what did they say that would cost?"

"Thirty-two million dollars in foreign capital, and twenty billion hwan raised at home."

"In your judgment, Imja—is that really enough to build a mill turning out 625,000 tons of iron a year?"

"That is something no one can know, Mr. Chairman."

Park Tae-joon answered with care. Park Chung-hee did not hesitate for an instant.

"Men drawing up a business plan don't invent the figures out of nothing. Isn't that so?"

"I believe they have some basis for them. I only mean that what they imagine may not be the same as what is real."

He would hold to his own judgment rather than hand over the answer Park wanted.

"I know what you're saying. Still—spend roughly that much and put up a mill of that size, and who would have any grounds to complain?"

"If that is how you ask it, then I can say you are right."

Park looked at the stubborn subordinate who would not bend, and gave a short laugh.

To Ki-jo, though, the exchange sounded as if it were meant for him. It sounded like an order: build a mill of 620,000 tons a year on thirty million foreign dollars and twenty billion hwan from home.

He wanted to tell them not to believe a word of what the Korean Businessmen's Association had published. The grounds of that plan were threadbare, and not one piece of it would ever be carried out. The men who announced it could not themselves have been sure it would work. It was theater, nothing more—a show put on to shake off the brand of illicit accumulation.

In the history he had already lived, the money sunk into Pohang Iron and Steel came to eighty million dollars before a single unit of domestic currency was counted. Add what had been raised at home and convert the whole cost into won, and the sum reached some 120 billion won. Set that against the military government's currency reform of 1962, ten hwan to one won, and by the measure of the present the total was 1.2 trillion hwan. Even granting that inflation would eat away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the value of money, the association's figures were absurd. At the going rate of 1,300 hwan to the dollar, the entire cost they had named for a 620,000-ton mill came to no more than 59 billion hwan.

Ki-jo pulled himself sharp. If Chairman Park ever told him to raise a mill of 600,000 tons a year on something like 60 billion hwan, there would be no end to it but failure.

"Councilor Park."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman."

"Imja, you're going to help President Lee for me."

"Understood, Mr. Chairman. I'll do everything I can. Only tell me what it is I'm meant to help him with."

"Help him so that Cheongsan builds the mill, and not Samhwa Steel."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman."

Ki-jo loosened the tie that was choking him. He lifted the glass from the table, took a swallow of water, and spoke to Chairman Park.

"Mr. Chairman. If you mean to help me, then help me properly."

For him, this was the way to stay alive. If you are going to back me, back me all the way. Otherwise I cannot do the thing you want.

Chairman Park looked at him and smiled, a small private smile.

"And how would you have me help?"

Ki-jo had made up his mind.

"Make me a paper warrant."

"A paper warrant?"

Park stared at him as if the words were nonsense. Park Tae-joon's face asked the same thing. What on earth was this?

"Yes. In your own hand, on paper, write this: this man may go anywhere, and he may speak with anyone."

Park studied him a moment, then turned to Tae-joon.

"Go and fetch paper, a pen, and the seal."

"Yes, sir."

Tae-joon rose and brought the three things back. Park began to write, following Ki-jo's words to the letter. He set down that President Lee Ki-jo might go anywhere and speak with anyone—and then he added a line of his own. Whoever laid a hand on President Lee Ki-jo would not be left in peace. He signed it and pressed the seal of the Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction.

"Will this do?"

"No. Make one more."

"One more?"

"Yes. A paper warrant for Councilor Park Tae-joon as well. You have bound the two of us together, so from this day we are one body. He and I both need the authority to go where we must and speak with whomever we need to. I ask it of you."

"Very well."

Park began again in his own hand. He wrote that Councilor Park Tae-joon might go anywhere and speak with anyone, and that whoever laid a hand on him would not be left in peace. He signed, stamped the seal, and held the sheet out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Park Tae-joon.

Tae-joon took the paper warrant looking faintly dazed.

Having given Ki-jo what he asked, Park spoke.

"You'll need a great many people's help, and so you need a warrant. Is that it?"

"Yes. That's right."

Park nodded. Ki-jo was not satisfied.

"Mr. Chairman, call Councilor Lee Seok-je of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee into this room, and Chairman Chae Myung-shin of Inspection as well."

"Those two? Why?"

Park asked it as he was capping his fountain pen.

"If the mill is to be built on a large scale, the laws already on the books will stand in the way at every turn. Needless statutes will have to be amended, too. Councilor Lee Seok-je has to take that in hand."

"I see. And why do you need Councilor Chae?"

Curiosity had come into Park's eyes.

"Once Councilor Park and I start going from place to place, meeting people and asking favors, we will come under Chairman Chae's eye. He may suspect we are riding on your authority to commit wrongs of our own. Tell him plainly, here and now, that we are permitted to do it."

Ki-jo set the reasons out one by one, and Park broke into a wide laugh. He already knew that the upright Chae Myung-shin was inspecting without mercy, watching to see whether the revolutionary core was dirtying its hands. The man went too far at times, but Park had summoned him to do exactly that, and so he left him to it.

"All right. Go and fetch Lee Seok-je and Chae Myung-shin."

At the order Park Tae-joon rose, stepped out to the secretaries' office, and came back in.

A short while later Lee Seok-je and Chae Myung-shin entered together. Lee Seok-je was the innermost of the inner circle, the man who had guarded Park with a carbine on the day itself. Chae Myung-shin was so clean that Park did not doubt him in the slightest. They came in wearing the look of men who had no idea why they had been called, and sat.

Park told them that Ki-jo had been given the task of building the steel mill, and then he relayed what Ki-jo had said.

"Seok-je. Help President Lee. Strike down every law that gets in the way of building the mill. And if a law is needed, make it."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman. Understood."

Lee Seok-je bowed his head as he answered.

"And you, Chairman of Inspection."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman."

"Chairman Chae, do not suspect President Lee and Councilor Park for moving about. They are not chasing private gain. They are men who will be running themselves ragged for the national economy."

"I will bear that in mind, Mr. Chairman."

Chae Myung-shin too bowed his head. When Ki-jo's eyes met his, Ki-jo dipped his own—a silent request to be looked after. Chae smiled and inclined his head in return.

"Well? Will that do? Are the preparations for building a mill finished?"

Chairman Park asked. Ki-jo opened his mouth again.

"There is more I must ask."

"What is it? Speak."

"Leave the choice of the mill site, and the choice of the firm that supplies the technology, entirely to me."

It was the most important request of all. When Pohang Iron ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Steel was built, men of influence had pressed Park Tae-joon to bring the mill to their own hometowns. There was no law that said it would not happen again. Choosing the firm whose technology would raise the mill was no different. Lobbyists from companies of every country had their hands in that as well.

Park folded his arms, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"All right. I'll take President Lee's opinion first, ahead of every other."

Once Park Chung-hee agreed, the matter was finished. Ki-jo went on.

"I cannot build a million-ton mill on my strength alone."

He nailed the scale of the mill they would build at one million tons. Better, to his mind, to raise it for a million tons from the first than to put up the association's plant of 620,000—better for the future, and sounder economics besides.

When he set the capacity at a million tons, every man in the room was startled. Park looked at him as if to ask what this was now, then smiled faintly and put the question.

"I suppose so. A million-ton mill would be too much even for Cheongsan alone. What do you mean to do? Join the Korean Businessmen's Association?"

"No, Mr. Chairman. I'll form an association of my own. There are firms already bound to Cheongsan by good faith, and they will put real strength behind the building of the mill."

"Is that so? Let's hear the names."

"Hyundai Construction, Hanjin Trading, Korea Explosives, and AMKO."

"Four companies."

"Yes. They will be taking part in the project as well, so I hope you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will see fit to go easy on them."

"Go easy on them..."

Chairman Park seemed to turn it over for a moment, then looked to Lee Seok-je and Chae Myung-shin.

"You heard him. See that they're looked after."

At that, Lee Seok-je—the grim reaper of the business world—and Chae Myung-shin, who would not suffer corruption even inside the revolutionary ranks, both answered.

"Yes."

"Are we finished now?"

When Park asked, Ki-jo shook his head without a word. A laugh broke out of Park in spite of himself.

"Go on, then. What else do you need?"

"Bring in former Air Force Captain O Won-chul."

"O Won-chul?"

Park looked around at his staff. Every face said the name was new.

O Won-chul would one day be the brain of Park Chung-hee's economy, but for now he was utterly unknown. Ki-jo wanted him inside the revolutionary government quickly—the son of Lee Seong-ryong, the nephew of Lee Hwa-ryong—so the man could help him.

"Write down how to reach him before you go. I'll call him into the government."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have nothing more to ask."

When the demands were done, Park laughed his wide laugh.

"If I'd known it would be like this, I should have told Samhwa Steel to build the mill..."

He said it almost to himself, then grinned, and the whole room laughed with him.

Ki-jo smiled along with the rest, though there was no smile in it. The hard road lay wide open ahead of him, and his mind could not be easy.

To that Ki-jo, Chairman Park tossed one last word.

"Cheongsan's headquarters isn't far from the Supreme Council, so come and report to me once a week, President Lee."

"I will."

Ki-jo accepted it willingly. Park Chung-hee and the soldiers around him still knew nothing of economics. What they needed was experience. And Ki-jo wanted to teach that Park even a little of it.