Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Acting Branch Chief
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"Park Min-seong... you bastard! Don't you remember our deal?"
"What the hell is this reckless behavior? Section Chief Park Min-seong!"
Gu Ik-hwan, who had been hiccuping nonstop, glared at Park Min-seong's face and unleashed his fury. Oh Ji-min from Criminal Division 2 was shouting and thrashing about in the same way.
But Section Chief Park Min-seong's stern expression didn't waver in the slightest.
Step by step.
Ignoring their words, he began walking toward the branch chief's seat in the center of the room.
The moment Park Min-seong, with his status as an investigative prosecutor, entered this conference room, Gu Ik-hwan was nothing more than a feeble old donkey, and Oh Ji-min was just a tiny turtle.
He stopped.
"From this moment forward, the branch chief position is vacant."
"...!"
"All prosecutors from each division and below, please manage internal affairs thoroughly to prevent any chaos within the office, strictly adhere to confidentiality regarding investigation matters, and focus on your duties. Additionally..."
Kang Hyun wore a subtle expression. But he quickly grasped the entire situation.
"For any internal review items or matters requiring approval, report to Park Min-seong, who is the head of Criminal Division 1 and 'Acting Branch Chief of the Namyangju Branch Office of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office.' That is all."
A declaration that he would assume the role of Acting Branch Chief of the Namyangju Branch Office.
This was a revolution. A rebellion.
Kang Hyun stared at him impassively.
"Yes."
"We'll keep that in mind."
The prosecutors filed out in a rush.
Their expressions varied wildly in response to Park Min-seong's statement.
Some froze like ice, others looked confused, and some even seemed relieved.
Kang Hyun, blended in among them, remained seated until everyone else had left, summing up his thoughts in a single word.
'Good. We finally cleared this hurdle.'
Looking at how the board had turned, it wasn't perfect, but Kang Hyun's strategy had worked.
At this very moment.
Because Kang Hyun had struck first, Park Min-seong now had to push forward the investigation not as a 'Supreme Prosecutors' Office Audit Prosecutor,' but solely as the 'Acting Branch Chief of the Namyangju Branch Office.'
Before the Ministry of Justice audit team arrived, Park Min-seong had to make a move. That's why he'd been forced to scrap all his plans and hastily decide on the investigation.
Acting Branch Chief of the Namyangju Branch Office versus Supreme Prosecutors' Office Audit Division Audit Prosecutor.
What was the subtle difference?
Scale.
One was small, the other was big.
Conducting the investigation under the name of the 'Acting Branch Chief of the small local Namyangju Branch Office' was far from what the Prosecutor General wanted.
Fortunately, since the initial cognizant department had priority in investigations, the Ministry of Justice audit team's influence wouldn't reach it—but it was still small, as the name implied.
That was why they'd gone to the trouble of maneuvering to switch Park Min-seong to a Supreme Prosecutors' Office Audit Prosecutor.
In the end, if things wrapped up like this, all the groundwork would be meaningless, and the media wouldn't have enough to inflate the story—it would just fizzle out.
But Park Min-seong had no choice but to act.
Because Kang Hyun had struck first.
Kang Hyun had set it up so that, seeing the burning haystack, Park Min-seong had no option but to rush in and douse it with water.
"Let go! Let me go!"
Gu Ik-hwan was neatly apprehended by the police and dragged out. The conference room fell into a brief lull.
With even Hwang Jae-eun, who had been next to Kang Hyun, slipping away quietly, only two people remained.
Park Min-seong and Kang Hyun. He glanced at Kang Hyun and said casually,
"It was you, wasn't it."
"What do you mean?"
"The one who tipped off the Supreme Prosecutors' Office about Branch Chief Gu Ik-hwan taking bribes."
"Yes. That's correct."
There wasn't a hint of hesitation in Kang Hyun's expression or tone.
"Don't interfere anymore."
"I only reported it after confirming corruption and irregularities."
"You accessed the preliminary investigation records."
"They were public records. Who was trying so hard to hide the case?"
"You copied the covert investigation details exactly and sent them up for audit. Weren't you the one who jumped the gun right when I was about to blow it open?"
"Prosecutors have the authority to access case files, and I believed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office needed to know about it procedurally."
"...You're bold."
"Is there any reason I shouldn't be?"
"Don't do anything foolish. Not anymore."
"Who knows."
Kang Hyun stood up.
"The primary suspect is Gu Ik-hwan, secondary suspect is KW Construction. That's huge. So what 'orders' did you receive, Section Chief Park Min-seong, to wield this 'weapon' for—what exactly? While waiting to switch to a Supreme Prosecutors' Office Audit Division Audit Prosecutor."
Park Min-seong clenched his teeth.
He shot a glare at the youngest prosecutor in the blue uniform, who seemed to know everything. Kang Hyun remained utterly calm, his demeanor unchanged.
"We're just ordinary prosecutors hoping you'll see the case for what it is, Senior."
"A case is just a case."
"No. A case tainted by politics is no longer a case. It's just a device. Stop now and go back to your proper place."
Kang Hyun's eyes gleamed, and Park Min-seong seemed deflated. He naturally averted his gaze, as if he couldn't meet Kang Hyun's eyes anymore.
A brief silence followed.
"...Let's each go our own way. We don't have time to stand here like this."
"Agreed. Oh."
As Kang Hyun was about to finish, his head turned back toward him.
His bright, eager eyes sharpened into those of a predator in an instant.
"I still have something to say."
It was the exact gaze you'd expect from a Prosecutor General or Chief Prosecutor.
"The KW case will end before you finish the bribery investigation, Senior."
"What?"
"If the KW Construction collapse case is indicted first, it'll hit right when political, financial, and legal power struggles are at their peak—too messy for anyone to intervene, and terrible timing for the media to link it to politics. I've carefully chosen the optimal point to wrap up the investigation."
"So?"
"You won't get what you want. The case will remain just a case—no political exploitation."
"The entire Criminal Division slaved over this for months, and you're talking like you can arbitrarily set the indictment timing."
"I can. I'll show you."
"I never gave permission."
"We'll proceed on our own cognizance. On a ship without a captain, that should be no big deal. What do you think?"
"Can a mere junior prosecutor pull it off?"
"Of course. It's the Namyangju case, and I'm just a junior prosecutor from Namyangju. I'll make sure neither Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jung-hun, Prosecutor General Bae Seong-sin, the Minister of Justice, nor even the President can tie this case to politics."
"...Fine. Give it a try."
A tense battle of nerves, a clash of wills.
"..."
"..."
The two men, standing and staring at each other, both knew it. Further verbal sparring was pointless.
And so, the case began to unfold at a breakneck pace.
'....'
At a time when the media was in an uproar over the bribery scandal rooted in the KW Construction case—a critically urgent moment—the Namyangju Branch Office had gone eerily quiet, as if all communication had been cut off.
Everyone was playing it safe, watching and waiting.
Prosecutors, of all people, were hypersensitive to politics.
If political infighting erupted now, those involved needed to pack up and run fast. If attention shifted to KW Construction, they had to accelerate the investigation.
For now, the best move was to sit tight and wait.
Thus, every prosecutor's office in Namyangju slapped up a "Business as Usual" sign and ground everything to a halt, entering full observation mode.
Except for two rooms: 323 and 422.
"It's all moved in."
"Thanks. Let's start the briefing right away."
Kang Hyun's remodeled attic room in the old building, the "Club Room."
Now the "KW Construction Task Force Office," he took his seat at the front, facing the gathered team.
"First, everyone here has agreed to join the investigation into the KW Construction building collapse as suspects. Thank you."
The group nodded. Hwang Jae-eun crossed her arms, focusing intently on his words.
The top priority was wrapping up the KW Construction building collapse case before Park Min-seong indicted the bribery case. Time was tight, judging by the preliminary investigation status.
Stripping away Gu Ik-hwan's "deputy chief/branch chief" title, the bribery case was far clearer than the KW Construction one.
"The official Namyangju building collapse investigation is currently on hold... Good thing I copied the records beforehand."
Scribble, scribble.
Kang Hyun began jotting notes furiously on the portable whiteboard.
[KW Construction ? Contracting firm. Bribery for shoddy supervision. Sloppy subcontracting with no oversight, bribery]
[Korea Manpower ? Subcontractor. Backroom profit-sharing deal with H Boiler re-subcontract. Bribed KW Construction after incident blew up]
[H Boiler ? Re-subcontractor. Took unqualified rebar concrete work. Negligent safety management; welding and concrete work simultaneous during accident.]
"I'll summarize the case briefly to outline our investigation direction. The confirmed target, corporation 'KW Construction,' entered into a subcontracting agreement about a year ago with Korea Services for the new construction of five 8-story buildings in Namyangju's 'Hwaseong-dong.'
From that point, shoddy supervision suspicions emerged, and the bribed public officials were exposed. It's a textbook case of cut corners, but that's par for the course, so we'll skip it. The interesting part is elsewhere."
"The illegal re-subcontracting with H Boiler by Korea Manpower."
Hwang Jae-eun spoke up. Kang Hyun nodded.
"Illegal acts uncovered in the previous search and seizure. That's been investigated up to here, and surprisingly, Korea Services made an illegal re-subcontract with H Boiler, letting them build the entire structure. Now we need to prove that part."
"A boiler installation company handling rebar and concrete work? They're insane."
"And when the building collapsed, terrified Korea Services shoveled 2 billion won to President Park Jeong-seok to clean up the illegal re-subcontract suspicions. That's from Park Min-seong's preliminary investigation records, so it's highly likely true."
"Shut their eyes tight, claim they properly subcontracted to Korea Services and H Boiler, and pocket 2 billion... End times, indeed."
"Yes. So KW, led by Park Jeong-seok, took the 2 billion, faked documents to make Korea Manpower's re-subcontract look like their own legitimate sub-subcontract, and Park Jeong-seok kicked 500 million to Gu Ik-hwan."
With a smooth stroke, a circle was drawn around the name 'Park Jeong-seok.'
"Park Jeong-seok, president of KW Construction, was formerly the head of Daejin Group's Management Support Division. About five years ago, he was tapped as president and took the title. Rumors say he's ex-gangster, involved in redevelopment demolition corruption in the Seoul-Gyeonggi area, but no charges ever stuck."
"The direction is clear."
At Hwang Jae-eun's words, everyone swallowed hard.
"Yes. KW won't even flinch. Just nab President Park Jeong-seok."
Even if he was just a mid-tier company exec, Daejin had planted him there. The entire Division 1, Namyangju's elite, couldn't make him sweat—but two prosecutor offices on their own had to bring him to his knees.
"Daejin Group is just monitoring Park Jeong-seok; they won't step in. They'd cut off the tail if needed. With politics, Ministry of Justice, and Supreme Prosecutors' Office all buzzing over the bribery scandal, no one's paying attention to this case itself."
"So that means..."
"We strike now, while they have no influence."
"Raid on KW Construction HQ would be tough to get warrants for."
Why had they walked this convoluted path so far? Because raiding KW HQ was impossible.
Hwang Jae-eun shook her head, deeming it hopeless. But Kang Hyun's reaction was odd.
He was smiling.
"No. I'm not talking about raiding HQ."
"...?"
"We need to grab Park Jeong-seok. Park Jeong-seok."
Kang Hyun tapped the name 'Park Jeong-seok' on the whiteboard firmly.
Circumstantial evidence overflowed across the cases, but without cracking the core of KW—Park Jeong-seok—indictment itself would be difficult.
In a situation where it was a given he wouldn't say a word unless physically dragged into the prosecutors' office.
At minimum, a confession to responsibility for the collapse; broader still, to bribery acceptance.
If Park Jeong-seok confessed that much, all the pieces would fall into place, and the case would naturally proceed to indictment.
That's why Kang Hyun envisioned a forced investigation on 'Park Jeong-seok.' They had to weave the evidence into an inescapable prison and lock him inside.
"You don't mean... you're saying arrest Park Jeong-seok..."
"Yes. Let's pursue arrest and detention. Starting with capture."
It was bigger and bolder than expected. Murmurs rippled through the group.
Hwang Jae-eun voiced the objection.
"You know damn well necessity for arrest isn't met. It violates the spirit of warrantism."
"I don't think we should fold without trying."
"Even for a mid-tier firm, he's Daejin's pick for a key affiliate."
"He's a falling leaf already. And Senior, since when do we factor that into investigations?"
Hwang Jae-eun was at a loss for words. Kang Hyun addressed the group.
"From this moment, prepare an arrest warrant for KW Construction President Park Jeong-seok. 422 handles main ops, 323 supports on paperwork."
Kang Hyun stood, issuing orders, then naturally looked to Hwang Jae-eun for approval.
She nodded reluctantly.
"...Everyone, move."
At the two prosecutors' words, the investigators sprang into action. Prosecutor Hwang Jae-eun hurried after Kang Hyun, who was darting out.
If they could bag him, it'd be perfect—but the method still nagged at her.
'Not hit KW to get Park Jeong-seok—get Park Jeong-seok to crumble KW.'
Easy to say. But if it worked, ideal.
'...Still too...'
She pondered, eyes swirling with the word 'risk.'
If the prosecutors' office was in bed with KW, the court might be too. Arrest warrants had to pass judicial muster.
'Kang Hyun... what the hell are you thinking?'