Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The New Democratic Party
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The high-speed growth of Korea under the shadow of the Cold War dramatically transformed Korean society.
Improving salaries and working conditions, stable price management, and an explosive increase in job opportunities.
The foundation for the growth of the middle class was already in place.
On this foundation, the urban middle class, educated and with some leisure time, began to expand.
Unlike rural residents or urban poor, they had a strong desire to participate in politics.
"Now this country's called a republic too. We need to make our voices heard."
In this atmosphere, the opposition parties coalesced into one.
The party born from this was the New Democratic Party.
"We will replace the Lee Seong-jun regime!"
Of course, this New Democratic Party wasn't a group united by ideology or policy.
The sole reason the New Democratic Party could exist was opposition to the Lee Seong-jun regime.
"Down with the dictatorship! End the Lee Seong-jun regime!"
The New Democratic Party aimed for regime change, but everyone knew there was no real hope of toppling the Lee Seong-jun regime.
Even setting aside everything else, Lee Seong-jun's approval ratings were too high.
"Over 80% approval. The more I look at it, the more I sigh."
"It's probably manipulated numbers from inside the regime, right?"
"If it were, we'd see actual backlash against Lee Seong-jun popping up."
Unlike during World War II, the inside of Korea was remarkably quiet.
There were no common student protests or strikes, no labor disputes visible.
It was a deflating situation for the opposition.
Even if an issue arose, it would quickly be buried under the nuclear war crisis erupting abroad.
"At least the Grand Council's approval ratings are dropping. That's our hope."
"It's temporary. Before voting, the Grand Council votes will consolidate."
The Grand Council, with its powerful alliance of military, conservatives, chaebol, and rural areas, was hard to beat in elections under normal circumstances.
The mood's a bit off?
It was the talk that always came up every time the Grand Council held an election.
Yet the champion always defended the throne.
"So don't let your guard down watching the polls."
"Yes, Doctor."
The New Democratic Party might not know about other things, but they had no intention of losing this by-election.
At the very least, they had to win this one to prove to the public that the New Democratic Party was a real rival to the Grand Council.
To do that, they needed to thoroughly secure the funds required for the election first.
Whether in the Yushin era or now, elections meant money.
"Yes, this is the New Democratic Party. Chairman, we're calling to kindly request a donation for this election."
The New Democratic Party put every effort into securing election funds.
They even called small and medium-sized businesses to ask for donations.
But the results weren't great.
Fundamentally, companies feared standing against the Lee Seong-jun regime.
"What if we donate and end up with a tax audit? Who's taking responsibility?"
There were no actual cases like that, but people feared becoming the example.
As a result, the New Democratic Party always suffered from funding shortages.
At least this time, with decent poll trends for the New Democratic Party, some money came in.
Still, a penny was a penny.
"Even providing lunch boxes for supporters will be tough this time."
The New Democratic Party had to spend its deficit money thriftily.
To air one more radio broadcast or appear on TV once more, they had to scrimp like misers in every area.
"If we don't spend money like this, it's hard to sway voters' hearts."
"That's why we're giving up on the rural districts."
Of the six districts up for grabs in this by-election, they ignored the two rural ones entirely.
Rural areas cost a lot of money, and with many hardcore Lee Seong-jun supporters, they were battlefields with no chance of victory.
The New Democratic Party focused its energy on the remaining four urban districts.
Party leader Dr. Cho toured these districts intensively for campaigns.
"If you trust our New Democratic Party, we'll change this country. Make it different. Turn it into a free, comfortable nation where people aren't afraid of power."
"Lee Seong-jun's already changed it plenty. How much more change do you want?"
The common response at campaign sites was that the New Democratic Party's vision wasn't enough to erase Lee Seong-jun's shadow.
Lee Seong-jun didn't even show his face at the sites, but his name alone crushed the New Democratic Party.
"Try harder. The ruling party won't get serious and work harder unless the opposition pushes them."
Quite a few urban middle-class liberals showed support, but their backing alone couldn't overturn the tide.
This led the New Democratic Party to strongly feel the temptation of negative campaigning.
"The regime spreads rumors freely to smear us anyway. Why should we play the moral saint and be the good guys?"
That was true.
If the other side wasn't following the rules, the New Democratic Party couldn't afford to act gentlemanly.
"Is there a way?"
"Start with the illegitimate children issue."
Grand Council lawmakers in power often had mistresses supported by the government.
Lee Seong-jun had banned concubinage, but that didn't change power holders overnight.
"You're talking about matters below the belt. Breaking the unspoken rule."
Up to now, both parties had tacitly avoided discussing women's issues.
But if the New Democratic Party opened fire, the Grand Council wouldn't stay quiet.
"Leader, if we lose this election anyway, the party could shake apart."
If they knew they couldn't win even after merging, the reason to unite under anti-Lee Seong-jun banner would vanish.
Dr. Cho made his decision.
"Give it a try."
A few days later, the New Democratic Party began intensively attacking Grand Council lawmakers' mistress issues.
"What era is this? The golden age of the 20th century, where every home has a car, TV, and radio. And they're still having mistresses like some outdated custom? Didn't the Lee Seong-jun government ban concubinage?"
The public took interest in this sensational issue.
"Those high-ups are all the same. Who doesn't have a mistress?"
The Grand Council's approval dipped slightly from the attacks, but they didn't budge.
The Grand Council received materials from the National Intelligence Service and counterattacked the New Democratic Party.
"Before making a fuss about us being dirty, why not clean your own house first?"
The Grand Council exposed mistress issues within the New Democratic Party too.
Once the mistress issue turned into a mudslinging fight, the disadvantaged side was the opposition.
"If both sides are the same crooks, better the ones who've shown results."
As the brawl continued, the New Democratic Party's approval ratings began to decline.
Dr. Cho made his decision.
"Any party members with mistress issues will be expelled."
The New Democratic Party burned its bridges.
"Let's pull in new women as allies this time."
They aimed to bring in young women who despised concubinage culture as their base.
The New Democratic Party's strategy worked.
In cities, Democratic Party approval ended its decline and turned upward again.
Young women, liberals, middle class.
The New Democratic Party formed its own victory coalition and challenged the Grand Council fiercely.
The Grand Council, which initially scoffed at the New Democratic Party's challenge, began feeling a crisis as the approval gap narrowed.
"Rural areas are a given, but cities are the problem."
Grand Council leaders agonized over the issue.
The seats at stake in this by-election weren't a big deal, but the symbolism was.
It was a midterm report card for His Excellency entering his second term since Yushin.
"We absolutely can't lose this election. There has to be a way."
After much deliberation, the Grand Council leaders came up with a cheat key.
"How about asking His Excellency for help?"
Lee Seong-jun was nominally the Grand Council chairman who had become prime minister.
So it was perfectly natural for him to lead the party's election.
At the party's request, Lee Seong-jun gladly agreed.
"In a democratic era, it's natural for the chairman to lead elections."
The moment Lee Seong-jun took the field, the board flipped instantly.
"L-Lee Seong-jun is personally leading the election?"
"He's even campaigning."
At the unexpected appearance of Lee Seong-jun, the New Democratic Party felt their will break.
With an 85% approval prime minister helping campaigns, beat that party in the election?
If that were possible, the New Democratic Party would have taken power as the ruling party long ago.
The New Democratic Party gave up on victory the moment Lee Seong-jun appeared.
The by-election results were as expected.
Zero seats.
Before this惨烈 scorecard, no one in the New Democratic Party could open their mouth.
Replace Lee Seong-jun?
When just his halo shining on them crushed them easily?
Dr. Cho encouraged the disheartened party members.
"Through today's defeat, you've learned how strong our enemy is. Let's work hard for better results in the next election."
Ironically, this defeat was medicine for the New Democratic Party.
Having clearly recognized Lee Seong-jun's overwhelming strength as never before, the splintering voices within the party were neatly sorted.
No matter their personal politics or colors, they couldn't achieve anything as a party not even in the same weight class as Lee Seong-jun.
Raising their voice came after gaining the qualifications to face Lee Seong-jun.
So they needed to unite even more thoroughly.
Coalesce.
They couldn't lose this miserably next time.
From the ashes of defeat, the New Democratic Party began reorganizing its ranks.