The Hospital Gambit
The call with President Roh ended just like that. They had exchanged a few more words, but none of it registered. The phone call had been far too shocking. The first to regain his composure was Yoo Jae-won.
What on earth prompted that man to call personally?
The question was whether the Chowon Bokguk incident warranted a direct call from President Roh. The telephone was hardly a secure means of communication. Recordings were easy to obtain, and wiretapping or eavesdropping was simple enough. Yet President Roh had taken that risk and called directly. Yoo Jae-won fell into brief contemplation, then found the answer.
It seemed Jeon Myeong-heon was not the only one feeling the heat. President Roh must have grown increasingly desperate each time Jeon Myeong-heon's approval ratings surged. He had counted on Kim Young-sam of the Democratic Liberal Party taking power to secure his own post-presidency arrangements. The sudden rise of Jeon Myeong-heon must have felt like his carefully laid plans were collapsing around him.
While everyone was lost in their own complicated thoughts, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the office door. Then the door burst open and a group of people rushed in.
"Father! I'm here!"
It was Jeon Jae-jun.
"You little bastard!"
Jeon Myeong-heon's suppressed fury exploded along with him. He was so enraged that he grabbed a water cup from the table and hurled it straight at Jeon Jae-jun. Fortunately, the cup missed by a hair and shattered against the wall. The cold water inside, however, splashed all over Jeon Jae-jun.
Jeon Myeong-heon's anger was far from spent. He began throwing notebooks, flyers, and even the telephone from the desk.
"I can't stand the sight of you! Get out right now!"
Jeon Jae-jun was drenched and driven out before he could even speak. His face, filled with bewilderment and hurt, showed he had no idea why Jeon Myeong-heon was so furious. But Jeon Myeong-heon already knew exactly what had happened. He had learned through Yoo Jae-won's report that the Chowon Bokguk employee intended to make a whistleblower statement, and he was aware that Jeon Jae-jun had driven straight to Seoul instead of turning the car around, blinded by his own ambition.
Of course, even if Jeon Jae-jun had turned the car toward Busan to help Baek Gang-ho, the Blue House had already moved openly, so the chances of success would have been slim. Still, after President Roh's single phone call, Jeon Myeong-heon had convinced himself that Jeon Jae-jun's reckless behavior had ruined everything.
"Huff, huff. I'm sorry. A useless grandfather and a useless grandson… You've had a hard time because of us."
After driving Jeon Jae-jun out, Jeon Myeong-heon continued venting for a long while before finally regaining his senses and offering a belated apology.
"Huff, huff. So there's no other way?"
"As I've told you several times, we have Plan B."
Calling it Plan B was something of a misnomer. For Yoo Jae-won, it had been the original plan all along. Becoming this close to Jeon Myeong-heon and watching his approval ratings skyrocket had never happened in his previous life, so it had not been part of the master plan. Still, when measured by common sense, the most achievable goal had always been Plan B.
Plan B was not particularly grand. It simply involved securing a declaration of support from either Kim Young-sam or Kim Dae-jung, helping one of them become president, and sharing a portion of power in return. Such arrangements were common in twenty-first-century elections, but in 1992 they would seem highly unusual. That was why Jeon Myeong-heon had struggled to accept it, and why things had come to this point.
"Candidate, what was your original intention when you entered the race?"
At Yoo Jae-won's words, Jeon Myeong-heon recalled the resolve he had nearly forgotten. Though it sounded odd coming from the head of Korea's largest conglomerate, his goal had been to show that even a worm will turn when stepped on.
During Jeon Myeong-heon's prime, political power in Korea far outweighed financial power, and the chaebols were little more than piggy banks for the political elite. Even President Roh, elected by popular vote, was no different. After enduring it for so long, Jeon Myeong-heon had decided he could do politics better himself and jumped into the fray. With Yoo Jae-won joining him, remarkable results followed. Honestly, he had never expected his approval rating to approach 30 percent. As his numbers climbed, it felt as though the world revolved around him. A little more and he might have taken first place, yet pessimistic forecasts had led him to make erratic moves.
"I wanted to land one solid punch on those bastards."
Jeon Myeong-heon had finally returned to reality and recovered his original resolve.
"Yes, that's exactly it. And it's a goal we can still achieve."
He might not take first place himself, but helping one of the two Kims reach the top would be easy for Jeon Myeong-heon. Moreover, both Kims had accumulated deep grudges against the military regime.
"Then whom should we choose? Kim Dae-jung, I suppose?"
Jeon Myeong-heon personally favored Kim Young-sam. Although the Unification National Party had put forward bold pledges on the economy and unification, its political line remained quite conservative. Still, since Kim Young-sam was aligned with President Roh, he assumed the only viable choice was Kim Dae-jung.
"It doesn't matter which one. What matters is which of the two values your votes more and is more likely to keep their promises. With only nine days left until the election, the key is to maximize your leverage during that time."
Yoo Jae-won's answer was simple and easy to understand.
"Then I suppose I'll have to fall ill and check into the hospital."
Jeon Myeong-heon, who had been nodding along, suddenly brought up the hospital.
"Call an ambulance for me."
"An ambulance?"
"Heh heh. If I suddenly announce a unified candidacy out of nowhere, how disappointed would the voters feel? We need a natural reason for the unification, don't we?"
Yoo Jae-won let out a quiet exclamation at Jeon Myeong-heon's words. The wisdom that came with age was not to be underestimated. Yoo Jae-won had been thinking purely in terms of political engineering and had overlooked the emotional impact on supporters.
"Don't look at me like that. After everything that happened today, I was already thinking of getting a nutrient injection because I felt drained. It just happened to fit the situation."
Yoo Jae-won looked at Jeon Myeong-heon again. The deep wrinkles on his face and the age spots that makeup could not hide stood out. Normally his boundless energy made his age invisible, but now he looked like any other grandfather.
The next day.
- Breaking news! Candidate Jeon Myeong-heon suddenly cancels campaign events!
- Candidate Jeon Myeong-heon shows signs of health concerns!
- Candidate Jeon Myeong-heon spotted at Isan Hospital emergency room!
- Unification National Party: "It's just simple fatigue. Not an emergency."
The morning newspapers were filled with bold headlines about the major events of the previous day. While there were other articles, every front page that day was dominated by stories of Jeon Myeong-heon's hospitalization. A candidate polling above 30 percent being rushed to the hospital by ambulance for health reasons was no small matter. Still, some citizens nodded, thinking it was understandable given his age. At the same time, unwanted attention fell on Kim Dae-jung. People began wondering whether he, too, might have health issues despite being younger than Jeon Myeong-heon. As a result, Kim Dae-jung ended up releasing a health certificate he had never needed before.
As expected, both Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung suspended their own campaigns and visited Jeon Myeong-heon at Isan Hospital. The two rivals did not arrive at the same time. Kim Dae-jung, who had been campaigning in Seoul, arrived first, followed by Kim Young-sam, who had been in Busan and needed an extra day to travel up.
Naturally, the two candidates met with Jeon Myeong-heon privately. In those private meetings, Jeon Myeong-heon explained that health reasons made it difficult for him to continue the campaign and that he might be willing to declare his support if offered appropriate compensation. He also made sure to add that the details should be discussed with Yoo Jae-won.
After the hospital visits disguised as courtesy calls, the election landscape shifted dramatically. Phones began ringing nonstop in Yoo Jae-won's office, which had briefly become irrelevant. At the same time, journalists who had caught the scent and various other people whose origins were unclear began hovering around him.
Four days before the election.
Yoo Jae-won gazed out at the falling snow, working through a complex humanistic equation. The place was so quiet that the sound of snow could almost be heard. It was a safe house owned by ID Group in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. After Jeon Myeong-heon had been taken to the emergency room by ambulance, the Unification National Party headquarters had turned into a chaotic marketplace and could no longer function properly. Moreover, the Blue House's movements had become so blatant that even with precautions, the risk of wiretapping remained high.
He had entered without anyone knowing and was communicating with Jeon Myeong-heon and the campaign headquarters only through the internet and specially secured lines. The question occupying Yoo Jae-won's mind was which of the two—Kim Young-sam or Kim Dae-jung—would be the better choice. He had been pondering it since dawn and it was now nearly lunchtime. The time had not been wasted; he was close to reaching an answer.
"The choice was already decided from the beginning."
Yoo Jae-won's choice was Kim Young-sam. Looking at what each side had offered in exchange for Jeon Myeong-heon's support, Kim Dae-jung's proposal had been far more generous. It was not merely a few cabinet positions in the next administration, but the formation of a joint government between the Democratic Party and the Unification National Party. In contrast, Kim Young-sam's side had only offered a handful of ministerial posts and partial control over presidential appointment powers. Because the gap in their approval ratings was considerable, Kim Dae-jung had been desperate while Kim Young-sam could afford to be relaxed. Of course, as time passed, Kim Young-sam's side had grown anxious as well, and the offered compensation had gradually increased. In the end, they had even floated the idea of nominating Jeon Myeong-heon as prime minister.
Still, when comparing the two offers objectively, Kim Young-sam's proposal was clearly inferior.
"Sometimes eating a little less is the right answer."
Yoo Jae-won's choice remained Kim Young-sam. Objectively speaking, no one was better suited to serve as the fourteenth president than Kim Young-sam. The military still openly maintained private factions such as the Hanahoe and Ilsimhoe, while the National Intelligence Service and police were still filled with appointees from the military regime. What was needed at such a time was someone like a bulldozer—someone who could sweep away the Hanahoe without blinking and who had the audacity to demolish the former Japanese Government-General building in an instant. That person was Kim Young-sam.
"The problem will be the entrenchment of regional sentiment, but there is a solution."
Kim Young-sam's original sin was the three-party merger. The powerful consolidation of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region it created had significantly undermined Korea's level of democratization. Given the complexity of the issue, Yoo Jae-won's solution was somewhat radical: the complete liquidation of military dictatorship. Kim Young-sam himself had suffered greatly at the hands of the military, so his purge had been thorough. During his term, he had arrested two former presidents with military backgrounds, put them on trial, and even secured death sentences. Yet at the end of his term he had granted them pardons, a fatal mistake that he passed on to his successor. Thanks to that, the two surviving military presidents became icons of the conservative establishment and continued to obstruct progress for years.
Yoo Jae-won intended to exploit that very point. He would extract a promise that the executions would be carried out immediately, without any pardon. He would not simply take the promise and walk away; he planned to apply constant pressure to ensure it was kept. He was well aware that Kim Young-sam held no goodwill toward him or ID Group—in fact, the man probably ground his teeth at the mere mention of their names—but it did not matter. When the IMF crisis hit, Kim Young-sam would not be able to withstand the pressure. If Kim Young-sam personally sent the two former military presidents to their graves together, the centripetal force of the three-party merger would collapse, and regionalism would be shattered. Meanwhile, Jeon Myeong-heon and the Unification National Party would remain intact after the election and grow into a powerful alternative within the conservative camp. That was the roadmap Yoo Jae-won had drawn.
The unfortunate one was Candidate Kim Dae-jung. He seemed to have high expectations, which would make his disappointment all the greater. Moreover, Yoo Jae-won had not prepared any alternative path for Kim Dae-jung. The man was capable of managing on his own, and barring any major variables, his next presidential bid was already assured.
"Whew, that really took everything out of me."
After organizing his thoughts on the computer, Yoo Jae-won collapsed onto the nearby sofa. When he touched his forehead, it felt hot. He had never used his brain this intensely even when solving the seven greatest mathematical problems. Once again, he reminded himself that humanistic dilemmas without clear answers were simply beyond him.
"I'm never doing an election like this again."
He did not forget to reflect bitterly on how recklessly he had thrown himself into the fourteenth presidential election without understanding how difficult it would be.
The next day.
- Over the past few days, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to my fellow party members, supporters, and the public for causing concern.
Candidate Jeon Myeong-heon was reading a major announcement at the National Assembly press center on television. As if to demonstrate his presence, broadcasters and every kind of media outlet had come to film, turning the venue into a bustling marketplace. This was because the press had been given prior notice of the gist of Jeon Myeong-heon's statement. An embargo had been placed, but no one had expected it to be observed, and indeed it was not. That was why the most important detail—who would receive the unified support—had been left for people to hear in person. Since Jeon Myeong-heon's campaign for the fourteenth presidential election would end today, Yoo Jae-won had wanted to give him the most spectacular stage possible. As a result, the press center was packed so tightly there was barely room to stand.
Candidate Jeon Myeong-heon calmly reflected on the campaign and did not hide his health condition. After all, he had no chronic illness to begin with; it was simply old age, so there was nothing to conceal.
- However, because the health of the head of state is directly linked to national security, continuing the campaign would be a burden both personally and nationally. Therefore, I intend to step down and declare my support for Democratic Liberal Party candidate Kim Young-sam, who has shown the greatest understanding of my own and the Unification National Party's political orientation and vision.
The moment the name Kim Young-sam was spoken, reactions split to the extremes. Conservative media erupted in cheers while those aligned with the Democratic Party let out screams of dismay. Supporters of the Unification National Party reacted similarly. Although most of them supported Jeon Myeong-heon, quite a few expressed anger beyond mere disappointment. At the same time, countless people cursed Yoo Jae-won. To the Democratic Party and its supporters, Yoo Jae-won had become the mortal enemy who had blocked Kim Dae-jung's path to the presidency. Such a reaction had been entirely predictable the moment he chose a clear side instead of remaining neutral.
Amid the enormous chaos, time flowed on indifferently. On the eighteenth, voting for the historic fourteenth presidential election began across the nation. The result was anticlimactic. Kim Young-sam received 48 percent, Kim Dae-jung 36 percent, and 12 percent of the ballots were invalid votes cast for Jeon Myeong-heon. The remaining 4 percent went to minor candidates. The margin was so overwhelming that Kim Young-sam's victory was confirmed within three or four hours of the count beginning. Around that time, Kim Young-sam emerged from his residence in Donggyo-dong, smiling broadly amid the cheers of his aides and supporters. The civilian government was born.
The next day.
Yoo Jae-won appeared quietly at Gimpo International Airport. The Unification National Party's election had ended five days earlier, and he had not stayed up all night waiting for the results. He had gone down to Deokjin-ri from Seoul, eaten the meals his parents prepared, exchanged greetings with relatives and friends, and finished his preparations for departure. Although television and newspapers had continued to attack him right up until the day before the vote depending on their political leanings, no one had come to his home to cause trouble, so it had been a peaceful time.
"Now that you're leaving, when will you come back?"
There was no send-off. Jeon Myeong-heon, bundled up in a hat and scarf, accompanied him all the way to the departure gate. Unlike Yoo Jae-won, he had stayed up all night watching the results and looked exhausted, yet he had not neglected to see him off. Looking back, if he had ignored Yoo Jae-won and acted on his own only to finish second or third, the backlash would have been beyond what he could handle. Not only the Unification National Party but even Mirae Group, which he protected like his own life, would have been affected. Yoo Jae-won was practically his savior, so the way Jeon Myeong-heon looked at him was warmer than the way he looked at his own grandson.
"I don't know. There's a lot of work piled up, so it probably won't be until right before the Daejeon Expo opens."
From 1993 onward, Yoo Jae-won had many responsibilities. He could not stay in Korea throughout the three-month Expo period and planned to be there only for the opening day and the following two days.
"All right. I'll see you then."
"Yes. I'll call from time to time. If you learn how to use the internet, you could reach me much more easily through email or chat."
"Understood. I'll try."
He said he would try, but Yoo Jae-won did not hold high expectations.
"Then I'll be going. Take care of your health, Prime Minister."
"Heh heh, I haven't even been confirmed by the National Assembly yet. And from now on, no matter what position I hold, you must call me Grandfather."
Yoo Jae-won nodded at Jeon Myeong-heon's words. He had developed a strong dislike for Jeon Jae-jun during this election, but Jeon Myeong-heon had been the best player, following Yoo Jae-won's instructions well aside from his minor misstep at the end.
After saying goodbye to Jeon Myeong-heon, Yoo Jae-won turned and walked toward the departure gate. His steps felt light, as though he had successfully concluded one historic chapter.