Chapter 271
Chapter 271
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 67 Revolution (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Through a series of maneuvers, the balance of power in the Cold War had settled into a 1:1:1 structure between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Korea.
With Washington and Moscow finding it difficult to alter the picture due to the operations in Pyongyang, the status quo was all but set in stone.
‘In this setup, we grow the Republic and keep the First World in check.’
Under this grand strategy, I kept a close eye on the weaknesses of the Western world.
Then, odd signs began to emerge in Europe.
“A massive student movement is breaking out in Europe?”
“That’s what the reports we’ve received so far indicate.”
A massive student movement.
I stroked my chin.
If my memory served me right, this was the harbinger of the 68 Revolution that would rock Europe.
The 68 Revolution.
It was an enormously famous event, known to anyone with even a passing interest in world history.
In a nutshell, it could be described as the massive anti-government protests centered in the United States and France in 1968.
‘It’s already starting.’
I had my people investigate the reasons.
And the conclusion they reached was,
‘No matter how I look at it, we’re the culprits.’
The reasons we were the ones who lit the fuse for the revolution were as follows.
First, there was Europe’s economic stagnation, one of the key triggers for the 68 Revolution.
This issue had manifested even more severely than in the original timeline due to Korea’s rapid rise.
“Somehow, give us jobs!”
“We’ll take jobs away from foreigners.”
In response, European governments adopted a nationalist stance, erecting barriers around employment.
They chased foreigners out of jobs, but it couldn’t fully resolve the economic slump caused by trade deficits with the Republic.
On top of that came the knockout blow: cuts in U.S. financial aid.
“Huh? What are we supposed to do if you cut your support?”
“Sorry, but our economy isn’t doing so hot either.”
With the U.S. sweating over the arms race and Korea’s pursuit, they trimmed their financial support, leaving European nations with even less fiscal wiggle room.
The second reason was the sharp increase in the number of university students, spurred by Korean influence.
Postwar Korea had championed universal education, drastically lowering barriers to higher education.
This had a huge impact on European countries looking to Korea as a model.
“If Korea does it, so will we.”
University enrollment rates in Europe had originally been quite low, but seeing Korea skyrocket high school and college attendance, Europe followed suit.
In the process, the number of university students in Europe had nearly quintupled compared to 1946.
This new generation, armed with higher education, rejected the nationalist thinking of the older establishment.
“How are we supposed to agree with such outdated ideas? Citizens aren’t appendages of the state.”
In this context, the new generation harbored strong critical sentiments toward the authoritarian de Gaulle and Junkers regimes.
“How dare you criticize the general who restored France to great power status?”
“Is the general a god? Even in a world where Yi Seong-jun gets criticized when he goes senile?”
The older generation viewed such criticism from the youth as rebellion and thoroughly ignored their demands.
This attitude from the establishment bred discontent among the new generation.
There had been generational conflicts in the original timeline too, but the rift here was especially wide, and we couldn’t ignore the role of the thickened layer of ‘university students.’
The third reason was the influence of Korean-style democracy, which had supplanted Maoism from the original timeline—or exerted even greater power.
“Let’s think about the essence of Korean-style democracy. They always said it: substance over form. Our politicians knew how to spout the words but not how to put them into practice. We need to truly emulate Korea and follow their success.”
Korean-style democracy wasn’t even a coherent ideology—it was a hodgepodge—but that very vagueness gave it a mesmerizing allure that captivated people’s eyes.
Korean-style democracy let you see whatever you wanted, depending on which way you tilted your glasses.
Europe’s youth endlessly invoked this Korean-style democracy during their student movements.
The fourth reason was the issue of settling past accounts, which we had influenced.
“Korea never compromises with war criminals.”
We had spouted such lines during World War II.
In reality, we had turned a blind eye to many cooperating war criminals, but few knew that.
The prominent war criminals had been dealt with by the biggest stakeholders: the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union.
Given this backdrop, Europe’s youth mistakenly believed Korea had maintained a firm, consistent stance on purging war criminals.
“We must reflect by looking at Korea. How can we just ‘forget’ our ugly past and pretend nothing happened?”
Europe’s youth used ‘Korea’ as an example to criticize the hypocrisy of the older generation glossing over historical accountability.
The fifth reason was the Korea Invasion.
In other words, Korea’s cultural incursion.
“Legend of the Empire?”
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes, written by Yi Seong-jun, had spawned countless variations and spin-offs over decades.
What these works had in common was a young, capable leader sweeping away the old, corrupt elite to renew the nation.
This was exactly what fired up Europe’s youth.
“Better to die young and glorious than grow old and ugly. What a beautiful ending.”
Europe’s youth devoured Korean novels from across the sea, venting their loathing for the establishment.
‘It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we planted all the seeds of this revolution.’
Of course, the 68 Revolution would have happened without us, but not with precursors showing this early.
I set down the report.
Let’s sum it up.
The U.S. aside, precursors to the 68 Revolution had been observed in Europe.
What to do about it?
I had only one conclusion.
‘We need to get involved in this mess.’
I called in a few political affairs secretaries from the chief secretariat to discuss issuing a statement on the European student movements.
My staff were stunned by my remarks.
“Why is that strange?”
“Your Excellency, taking a position on the European student movements isn’t a simple matter. Reacting to their actions could stimulate domestic student movements.”
That was true enough.
Koreans weren’t deaf or blind.
“Given the context, I believe it’s best to avoid reacting to the European student movements altogether.”
The chief political affairs secretary’s advice was, of course, reasonable.
But this statement absolutely needed to be issued.
“What if we must do it anyway?”
“Then you’ll need to moderate the tone. Avoid rhetoric that could overly excite our own students.”
That wouldn’t do either.
The provocative rhetoric was the point; watering it down into bland prose would defeat the purpose.
“If we can’t do that?”
“W-well, then I recommend issuing the statement only after preparing for potential domestic unrest.”
“I’ve heard enough from you.”
We could easily handle any unrest with police power, but I had no intention of going hard against students.
The harsher the response, the more backlash it would breed.
I thought up a way to handle the students and prepared the statement.
“You mean Your Excellency will write it yourself?”
“I’m not trying to steal your job, so don’t worry.”
Until now, speech drafts had been handled by the speech secretaries.
But not this time. I couldn’t leave it to my subordinates.
A draft meant to move the masses needed raw emotion.
I took the draft I’d written and stood before the microphones of the foreign press.
“Dear citizens of the world. I am Lee Seong-jun, an ordinary citizen serving as Prime Minister of Korea.”
I read the statement slowly.
“The reason I’ve gathered you foreign correspondents today to deliver this statement is that I was deeply moved by the voices of Europe’s young generation.”
In truth, I wasn’t deeply moved at all.
Why would the leader of the Republic care what some kids in another country were shouting?
It was the usual lip service.
After lavishing praise on Europe’s youth for a while, I commended them.
“Rise up. Shout it out. Shout and act. In your slogans, I see the hope to change the world.”
Of course, the 68 Revolution did change the world.
But were all the outcomes positive?
I didn’t agree.
Lurking in the shadows of the 68 Revolution were drugs, decadent sexual culture, and anti-intellectualism.
So why was I praising and encouraging them?
Simple.
I, Lee Seong-jun, and the Republic empathized with Europe’s youth.
The leader of the world’s second superpower supports you!
So, won’t you give a little boost to Lee Seong-jun, who speaks for your cause?
The overt gain I sought from this statement was the goodwill of Europe’s youth.
In the original timeline, Tito had expressed solidarity with them and reaped such benefits.
But now that Korea, a Third World leader, had stepped up, Tito wouldn’t get a chance to dip his spoon.
Throughout the statement, I expressed support for Europe’s youth.
“What if this earns the ire of Europe’s establishment?”
You might wonder that, but it’s fine.
“Lee Seong-jun’s gone senile. We can’t be surprised every time some doddering old fool smears shit on the wall.”
As long as people thought that way, Lee Seong-jun’s voice wouldn’t cause issues.
“Still, earning glares from governments just to win over European youth seems like a loss.”
“If all Lee Seong-jun wanted was their goodwill, sure.”
What I sought wasn’t mere favor from ‘European youth.’
What I wanted was the revolution itself—a blaze to scorch the Western world.