Chapter 199
Chapter 199
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 199
Chapter Title: The Bribery Tip-Off
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Bang Dong-jae's deputy chief office.
A place overflowing with intelligence and reports, fitting for a planning prosecutor.
Kang Hyun had visited this dimly lit room just a few days ago.
"Show me the case under internal investigation by headquarters—the one involving the branch chief."
That bold voice echoed in his mind once more. He couldn't help but chuckle.
It didn't matter how Kang Hyun had learned of all this or how he knew the case he was "temporarily handling" was ongoing.
The only thing that mattered was his request.
When it came to whether the request to review the internal investigation records on the branch chief was lawful...
"There's no reason to deny a prosecutor's request to review an internal investigation case."
His own thoughts weren't reason enough to hand the case over to the youngest prosecutor in the office, but they were enough to allow a brief review of the records.
That was it.
As he muttered to himself, someone appeared before him.
Swoosh.
A man in a suit.
An inspection staffer stationed there specifically to report via the dedicated inspection channel, bypassing the official chain of command.
Bang Dong-jae nodded as if to say he'd been expecting this, and the other man returned a nod of acknowledgment.
"From the Supreme Prosecutors' Office."
Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Intelligence Section Chief. These were heavy hitters even at the local level—figures the staff feared.
No way they'd bow and scrape to a mere branch deputy chief prosecutor. The man simply extended a document with a businesslike demeanor.
"Long time no see. Here's the intelligence report."
In this day and age, reports not sent via internal network were rare. Either it wasn't important, or it was so crucial they delivered it by hand.
Click.
[Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Division: Transfer of Inspection Prosecutor (Scheduled)]
"A bribery report delivered in person..."
He spoke without flinching at the title.
"...Feels like we've gone back to the 1980s."
Whether he meant the delivery method or his reaction to the title, it was ambiguous.
The suited man nodded wordlessly and vanished. Bang Dong-jae showed no change in expression either.
But that wasn't the point.
Thud!
"Inspection prosecutor transfer scheduled. They're already clearing the seat."
Once the man left, Bang Dong-jae opened the report and sank into thought.
Forcing the Supreme Prosecutors' Office inspection prosecutor to another post, paving the way to install whoever they wanted.
It was prep work for a powerful figure to descend on Namyangju like a secret royal inspector and swiftly behead corruption like Gu Ik-hwan's in a storm.
A position to directly investigate the corruption of a local branch chief—no small fry, but a deputy chief-level prosecutor, albeit aged.
Who ended up in that seat would decide if Namyangju's powder keg exploded or not.
If Park Min-seong took the post per the Prosecutor General's wishes?
Park Min-seong would soar, and the current administration would take a massive hit.
Everyone in politics knew KW's parent company, Daijin Group, was deeply entangled with the regime. Even if it was just a local subsidiary, media spin could make the damage fatal. This was the realm of politics and economics.
The foolish legal circles would naturally race toward a bloodbath of personnel shakeups from the Central District Prosecutors' Office down to the four major Seoul branches.
Conversely, if Park Min-seong didn't move to the inspection prosecutor role?
"It depends on how much time passes."
If the incumbent's transfer didn't happen, whoever came down from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office would bury the case. Without political clout, it'd just be protecting their own.
If the seat stayed vacant per this report and Park Min-seong didn't take it, a Ministry of Justice inspection team would descend—as desired by Central District Prosecutors' Chief Jeong Jung-hun.
That would give Jeong Jung-hun leverage against the Prosecutor General. Enemy of my enemy...
Branch Chief Gu Ik-hwan and Criminal Division 2 Deputy Oh Ji-man's heads would roll as expected, while Criminal Division 1 Deputy Park Min-seong would face the Prosecutor General's wrath alongside public scorn and political burial.
The worst of the worst.
"Hmm..."
Something that couldn't—absolutely shouldn't—happen was unfolding before his eyes.
He, who monitored Namyangju, couldn't step in. But he, who had to protect Namyangju, couldn't stand idle either, or he'd fail in his duty. A conflicted mess.
"And then there's Kang Hyun."
A mere assistant prosecutor in the midst.
A lamentable, astonishing situation where this was all it took.
What could one small assistant prosecutor do?
"But what can he do?"
Muttering to himself, he turned back to the report.
[Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Division: Transfer of Inspection Prosecutor (Scheduled)]
The measure included about three weeks of prep time.
Within that, the KW case would wrap, and either Park Min-seong would transfer to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to dive into bribery probes, or a Ministry team would storm in. Politics and a race against time.
Thus, realistically, Kang Hyun and the Namyangju prosecutors could do nothing.
"Ha..."
But all this insight was just Bang Dong-jae's own meager speculation.
Rrring.
"...?"
Rrring, rrring!
The phone jolted him—head turning before his hand.
It was the boundary between late night and dawn. Few would call now.
And those who might had something momentous.
Click.
"Bang Dong-jae speaking."
His voice was dry, but the low reply upended it.
"Is this a joke?"
His hand trembled slightly on the receiver.
"...A tip on Namyangju Branch Chief bribery!"
He stomped and shot up.
"?!?"
Absurdity.
Someone had flipped the board. Who was this mad, brave fool?
A tipster had to be an insider, but Bang Dong-jae couldn't fathom who could shoulder such a bombshell.
An insider taking full blame?
Without power, heads would roll.
To expose corruption to an inspection team, you needed backing.
At minimum, Central District Chief or Prosecutor General support.
Yet someone had tipped the Supreme Prosecutors' Office about bribes between Branch Chief Gu Ik-hwan and KW's Park Jeong-seok.
The tip system was a toothless policy no one used. Handlers were vacant.
Yet someone had used it.
Striking first before the political fight!
"...Do you know the tipster? Officially anonymous, of course."
Three weeks? Inspection team? Politics?
Whoever pulled this off had upended it all.
Who?
He stayed silent after the answer, receiver still connected.
Stunned, astonished.
"...Understood."
Click.
Hanging up, the shadow on Bang Dong-jae's face lifted slightly.
A smile tugged at his lips.
"That mad, brave fool—Prosecutor Kang Hyun." ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [Shock: Namyangju Branch Chief Gu Ik-hwan, Previously Suspected of Lenient Probe, Accused of KW Bribery]
[Uijeongbu Branch Namyangju Chief and KW Construction 'Legal Collusion'—Where Does the Unholy Chain End?]
[Namyangju Criminal Division 1: Reasons Behind Probe Delays?]
All-prosecutor meeting chaired by the branch chief.
The first formal meeting since Kang Hyun arrived was called officially at 9 a.m., after the bribery tip exploded and headlines poured in.
Even the Supreme Prosecutors' Office press room stonewalled, so it smacked of Gu Ik-hwan's last gasp.
Namyangju prosecutors crammed in, heads of independent offices bowed silent around the large oval table.
'He came to work instead of hiding?'
'He could turn suspect any minute...'
Whispers among prosecutors were no joke.
Gu Ik-hwan seemed oblivious, droning on like a tragic old actor in soliloquy.
"The media's all the same! As I always say?"
Mumbling, pacing behind the table with hands clasped behind his back, he looked pitiful.
"Right, yes..."
Only one replied to his air-directed mutterings: Criminal Division 2 Deputy Oh Ji-man, showing his face after ages.
Eyes darting, fidgeting. All sycophancy, no clue what to do or not do.
Division 1 Deputy seat: empty.
Save for Hwang Jae-eun and Kang Hyun, no one from Park Min-seong's Criminal Division 1 showed.
Gu Ik-hwan had called the meeting to curb solo actions, but too late—did he know?
He paced irritatingly along one wall.
"Everyone knows, but those media reports are reckless fakes. Stay at your posts, no lapses..."
"Yes, yes... Quite right. Ignore media gossip, focus on work."
In plain terms: don't stab me in the back. Wishful thinking. Better to flee.
Hiding his fear-pale face with pacing, Gu Ik-hwan halted, turning to the table's far end where Kang Hyun sat.
"Prosecutor Kang! Yes, our Kang Hyun."
Voice steadier. Kang Hyun snorted, but Gu Ik-hwan's gaze wasn't sharp enough to catch it.
"Our stellar Prosecutor Kang once crushed the media! Time for round two. Media discipline's lax these days. Right?"
Table's end.
Gu Ik-hwan dragged in the silent rookie with a nauseating smile. Eyes flicked between Kang Hyun and him.
"Indeed."
Pathetic, laughable scene.
Even a toothless wildcat like him was branch chief, deputy chief-level. Time would reveal Kang Hyun as tipster.
What then? Kang Hyun smirked.
"Prosecutor Kang. Any countermeasures? What first? What would you do?"
Not expectant—just mumbling, out of it.
The meeting was just to rally prosecutors, steady the branch. But Gu Ik-hwan was powerless.
A sky-high deputy chief groveling to a rookie for advice.
"Hmm, if I may..."
Kang Hyun bit at the perfunctory question.
"How about fleeing fast?"
"...Gasp."
"What are you saying, Kang Hyun!"
Murmurs. Senior prosecutors paled at his casual line, glancing nervously.
But none backed him strongly or scolded hard.
Just watching.
"What? What did you just..."
Before Gu Ik-hwan could process.
Bang!
Flash!
Rush.
The door burst; people stormed the branch chief's private meeting room.
"Wh-what is this...!"
Click.
Amid chaos, he spotted judicial police under probe command mixed with suited men.
No one there was clueless why.
"Deputy Chief Prosecutor Gu Ik-hwan. As of now, arrested on emergency charges of bribery under the Special Act on Regulation and Punishment of Corruption among Public Officials, including Solicitation and Graft."
"...Hic."
As expected, it seemed. Gu Ik-hwan gaped blankly. Judicial police shoved past stunned prosecutors, grabbing his arms.
Meeting attendees said nothing, as predicted.
No one wanted ties to a crime-laden deputy chief.
Kang Hyun turned to eye the leader of these visitors.
'Now, who...'
Crucial for him.
Ministry inspection or Park Min-seong? He had to check.