Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Morning of the (?) Revolution (1)
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The situation had come to a complete end.
Third Army Commander Kang Ki-jeong had led the 12th and 33rd Infantry Divisions in a desperate final gamble, but it ended in futile struggle.
“This is the cabinet’s will. Cease hostilities between our forces.”
With a single order from Prime Minister No Jae-woo, Kang Ki-jeong lost any pretext for marching on Pyongyang.
Defying the order and advancing would constitute treason.
Kang Ki-jeong was not the sort of man with the resolve to crush a coup by defying the cabinet.
“Return units to base.”
With Kang Ki-jeong’s withdrawal order, the threat to the coup forces was entirely eliminated.
All that remained was to go through the procedures to convince the public of the coup’s legitimacy.
7 a.m.
As the capital Pyongyang shook off the chaotic night and stretched awake, the coup forces broadcast on the radio.
“Good morning, respected citizens. We apologize for the disturbance caused by the commotion last night. What happened was an unavoidable incident during the National Salvation Military Committee’s stern action to purge the empire’s ‘treacherous officials.’”
People had been curious about the night’s uproar and were paying close attention to the special broadcast. Hearing about the purge of treacherous officials left them stunned.
Some citizens who had witnessed events firsthand had a rough idea, but most were hearing this for the first time.
Those outside Pyongyang went without saying.
The voice on the radio belonged to someone they’d never heard before.
Of course, anyone with even a passing interest in politics had heard the name Yi Seong-jun.
Was this stranger the mastermind behind the coup?
Pyongyang’s citizens leaned in closer to hear the voice of the new power lording over them.
The man named ‘Yi Seong-jun’ addressed the masses in an unexpectedly friendly tone.
“Then, some of you might be wondering: what on earth is this National Salvation Military Committee that purged the treacherous officials? Our National Salvation Military Committee is a group of young officers determined to restore the proper order of the Korean Empire disrupted by those treacherous officials, sweep away the corrupt practices eating away at the state, and renew the empire.”
The National Salvation Military Committee was young. It was new. It would renew the nation.
Straightforward words, easy to grasp.
Yet that didn’t make Yi Seong-jun’s National Salvation Military Committee feel lightweight.
On the contrary, it carried weight.
Restoring proper order.
Sweeping away the nation’s corrupt practices.
What did that mean?
Purge.
Gulp.
People swallowed hard.
The tone might be friendly and soft, but the content was ruthless.
“From now on, our ‘National Salvation Military Committee’ will gradually address the empire’s accumulated ills—no, the deeds of those treacherous officials—and normalize the state. We will establish order.”
What followed was little different from the usual rhetoric trotted out by coup leaders.
Park Han-jin had said much the same.
The difference lay in this:
“We will make this country run differently. We will put it shoulder-to-shoulder with the Western powers. Believe in us. Watch us. The National Salvation Military Committee will not disappoint you.”
Yi Seong-jun made a ‘promise.’
Countless soldiers and politicians had seized power, but in this history of Korea, no one had ever promised the people anything.
Yi Seong-jun was the first, and there might never be another.
People took note of that fact.
This Yi Seong-jun seems like a terrifying wielder of power, but he’s different from his predecessors somehow.
At least he’s pretending to care what the people think.
That’s what people thought.
Once Yi Seong-jun’s proclamation ended, announcers took over, preaching the coup’s legitimacy.
It was little more than a repetition of what Yi Seong-jun had said, but it wasn’t meaningless.
People prefer the familiar.
They feel more convinced by the same words in a familiar voice.
“Good morning. This is Baek Seong-won. Listeners, you may not know how rotten and immoral the Park Han-jin regime was. According to materials provided by the National Salvation Military Committee, the assets held in Park Han-jin’s and his family’s names alone amount to 50,000 won—equivalent to 500 billion today.”
“Good heavens, those thieves.”
It was the same in Korea’s coups: those newly seizing power swung the sword at the elite, pinning every dirty crime on them.
That was how they justified wielding the blade.
Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan had used accusations of illicit wealth accumulation to squeeze money from the powerful and legitimize their regimes.
Simple, but effective.
Each time corrupt officials and their assets were exposed, the public seethed with rage.
Life is this hard, and they’ve been living high off the hog with chaebol-level money?
It was unforgivable.
That rage turned into expectations for the new regime.
“Whatever else they do, if they just punish those bastards, I’ll believe in this revolution or whatever.”
The coup forces’ radio broadcast was a success.
When people emerged onto the streets afterward, there were scarcely any hostile glares toward the coup.
No rallies. No protests.
Yi Seong-jun’s coup had thus secured the people’s tacit approval.
But one task remained.
The military purge.
*
“Prime Minister, thank you for your cooperation.”
“What’s done is done. Let’s leave it at that.”
No Jae-woo had cooperated with the coup forces in a more forward-looking manner than expected.
Apparently, assurances that his position as prime minister would be preserved had greatly influenced his stance.
Well, it was the top spot in the nation’s bureaucracy.
In Joseon terms, it was like the position of Chief State Councillor—no one would lightly give that up.
Or perhaps he didn’t want to follow Park Han-jin to the grave.
Either way, No Jae-woo’s ambitions had led him to kneel before us.
Thanks to that, dealing with the emperor going forward would be easier.
We’d nominally framed it as purging treacherous officials, but staging an outright rebellion required at least some plausible justification.
The prime minister’s support had been a huge help there.
When the emperor, citing the emergency, made the dramatic move of picking up the phone to consult the prime minister, No Jae-woo had said:
“Your Majesty, it’s all over. Cooperating with General Yi Seong-jun is the only way to resolve this smoothly.”
With even the prime minister on my side, the emperor had no choice but to rubber-stamp the ‘revolution.’
Now, the morning of the (military) revolution had dawned.
With the realm at my feet, it was time to uproot the threats.
I didn’t throw a victory celebration like Chun Doo-hwan and bask in triumph.
It was time to launch the purges swiftly and decisively.
“Colonel Kim Seong-ju.”
“Yes, General.”
“I’m assigning you a battalion of military police. Head to the Capital Defense Command. Secure it. Keep those who’ve signaled cooperation in their posts, and throw the rest into investigation cells.”
“Understood.”
I entrusted the Capital Defense Command to Colonel Kim Seong-ju, personnel staff officer of the Guard Unit.
“Colonel Gil Tae-hwan.”
“Yes, General.”
“You take charge of the Capital Garrison Command. Favor the cooperators appropriately and keep them in position; strip the rest of their uniforms.”
“Understood.”
To the 16th Reserve Division’s chief of staff, I gave the Capital Garrison Command, the core of capital defense.
“Colonel Lee Jeong-yun.”
“Yes, General.”
“You handle the Army Ministry. We’ve got the generals locked up, but the staff are still detained there. Pick out the useful ones.”
“Understood.”
The Army Ministry went to Colonel Lee Jeong-yun, operations staff officer of the 17th Reserve Division.
And to Colonel Baek Dong-seok, operations staff officer of the Guard Unit—the top contributor to our cause—I assigned the most critical task.
“You.”
“Yes, General.”
“The background checks on the generals are yours. Make every last one of them look dirty enough to strip of rank. Don’t leave a single one who might defy us.”
“Of course.”
Beyond the senior officers who’d fallen into our hands, we’d have to recall frontline generals one by one and chop their heads.
We had to crush them so thoroughly that no one could even think of resisting for lack of manpower.
At the very least, no one in the military would dare raise their head against me.
Of course, it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded.
Realistically, if we cut down everyone suspect, we’d end up short on generals.
The same went for field-grade officers.
To avoid a Stalin-style Great Purge, we’d have to limit the number stripped of rank.
‘Those types can go to sinecures or the front lines.’
All we needed was a firm grip on the capital region, building our fortress there.
That’s how Park Han-jin had started.
On a whim, I decided to handle one more thing.
I’d give Major Park Sang-gun of the Military Police a mission too.
“You.”
“Yes, General.”
“Go to Third Army HQ right now and arrest Kang Ki-jeong. Does it make sense to leave the man who was so hostile to us in charge of the capital’s strongest field army?”
“Understood.”
After dispatching the officers on their missions, I sat in the Army Minister’s chair and spun it around once.
Taking possession of Park Han-jin’s massive desk brought an indescribably complex feeling.
Victory was victory, but it came with an equally heavy sense of responsibility.
There would be much to do ahead.
Ensuring we weren’t swept away by the tides of world war would be my duty too.
I clenched my fist lightly.
The power of Korea now lay in my grasp.