Chapter 330
Chapter 330
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Factional Shake-Up
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The media operations room's workload was relatively light outside of election season.
I made a point of bunching up vacation days for the staff during those slower periods.
"A vacation at the Kumsusan Lighthouse in Pyongyang?"
Everyone thought it was ridiculous, but I saw it differently.
People need breaks to stay sharp—you can't run a human like a machine and expect peak performance.
Of course, I wasn't handing out vacations purely out of the goodness of my heart.
By playing the "nice guy who takes care of his people," even if I was a bastard otherwise, I was building an image: sure, I'm tough, but I look after my own.
Little by little, reshaping perceptions to paint me as the guy who fiercely protects his crew—that was the goal.
'If you're going to win people over, you need some basic charm, right?'
While tightening up my internal organization, I started probing the power struggles within the KCIA.
An intelligence agency with no factions? Yeah, right.
As expected from its notorious reputation, the KCIA was a shredded mess inside.
The two biggest pillars representing the agency were 1st Deputy Director Kim Daegyu and Planning and Coordination Director Kwon Younghoon.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say the KCIA's executives had largely lined up behind one or the other.
So, who held the real power?
On paper, by protocol rankings between the minister-level deputy director and the vice-minister-level planning director, Kim Daegyu had the edge.
But reality was different.
The real muscle belonged to Planning and Coordination Director Kwon Younghoon.
Kwon, with his background as pure Seoul National University alumni stock, had all the SNU alumni execs in the KCIA lined up behind him.
Kim Daegyu wasn't a pushover, though.
He had the backing of the Yangji Association, the group of retired KCIA agents.
The agency's split into two camps came down to their power game, plain and simple.
Were those the only factions in the KCIA?
Not even close.
Even within those two, it splintered into countless subgroups.
The chaos showed in people flocking like migratory birds whenever the winds of fortune shifted.
Impossible to tell friend from foe.
The KCIA was that kind of mud pit.
So, which line was I on?
"Director Bae might be SNU alumni, but isn't he on the 'Kim Daegyu line' that the deputy director himself raised up?"
"Yes, that's the perception."
I hadn't meant to line up with Kim Daegyu, but that's how everyone saw it.
I'd considered that possibility, but knowing it for sure triggered alarm bells.
'If Kim Daegyu loses the power struggle by some fluke, I'm done for.'
What choice did I have?
Time to flip the board.
I holed up in my office for a week, sketching out the chaos I'd unleash on the KCIA.
A few days later, I laid out my operation plan against the agency for Section Chief Oh.
"Oh, so you're mailing the personal details of KCIA top brass to a foreign paper anonymously?"
"Exactly—force the planning side to bleed."
Not every KCIA high-up had a public profile.
Officially, only the director and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd deputy directors were out in the open.
A few bureau and division chiefs with external roles had their names floating around too.
Everyone else was shrouded in fog.
Leak that list?
Section Chief Oh said cautiously,
"If this gets traced back even a little, Director, you won't have a bone left to pick clean."
"I know."
I knew, but gambling's always high stakes.
High risk, high reward.
You gotta bet big to win big.
For this plan, I mapped out every move meticulously.
Synced alibis with Section Chief Oh, even rounded up a homeless guy to drop the mail.
With the groundwork solid, I sent the package to the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong paper.
Why Hong Kong, you ask?
"Direct mail to a U.S. paper? Someone might intercept and peek."
Hong Kong it was—KCIA surveillance was lighter there.
The info I sent went radio silent for a while.
'Caught in censorship?'
Not impossible.
'If it flops, try again later.'
I kept a straight face, playing it cool.
Then one day, while quietly handling routine work, the KCIA blew up.
At the regular meeting, I saw KCIA execs pale as ghosts.
I'd never seen these stone-faced spooks make expressions like that.
"What the hell! How do you manage information security?"
Even Kim Jeong-nam, usually smooth as silk, hurled a potted plant in a rage.
The agency's top power broker, Planning and Coordination Director Kwon, couldn't hide his grim face either.
"Inspection Office!"
"Yes, Director."
"You've got one week. Find out where the rat got that intel—Military Intelligence, whoever, mobilize them and bring me the full rundown!"
"Yes, sir."
"3rd Deputy!"
"Yes, Director."
"That South whatever."
"South China Morning Post, sir."
"Tear that goddamn paper apart. Find anything—dust if you have to. Otherwise, kiss Korean rice goodbye."
"Yes, sir."
Watching the execs get reamed one by one by the director? Honestly, hilarious.
Most of the ones getting shredded were on Planning Director Kwon Younghoon's line.
If they came up empty? Some might really lose their shirts.
'That'll let Kim Daegyu build equal footing with Kwon.'
I noted the planning director's frozen scowl and quickly bowed my head.
A week later, the director's fury struck like lightning.
The inspection director and intel deputy director's heads rolled.
Officially voluntary resignations, but it was forced out the door.
The 3rd deputy got a reprimand, and five other execs lighter slaps like pay cuts.
One leaked list from me had turned half the KCIA into a wasteland.
The power balance had shifted.
"Kim Daegyu's the man now. Next KCIA director's gotta be him."
Kim's clout was rock-solid like never before.
I rode the wave too.
"With Deputy Director Kim gaining power, Director Bae's path is wide open."
But did Kim Daegyu see me as one of his?
I was curious.
A few days later, word came: Kim wanted lunch.
Execs dining with the deputy happened once a month, so not unusual.
But just the two of us? Special.
The spot was a high-end lounge.
I figured "lounge" meant sleek hostesses serving, but nah.
Women set the food and bounced quick.
'Times have changed a lot.'
I reminisced about General Lee Seong-jun's era, lamenting the moral decay.
"Director Bae, have a drink."
"Ah, yes."
I took Kim Daegyu's pour with both hands, respectfully.
Andong soju, was it?
One sip and my sinuses cleared like a drill.
"Been a year since you joined the KCIA, Director Bae?"
"About that."
"I figured you wouldn't adapt easily. My mistake—you're KCIA material through and through."
"You're too kind."
I topped off Kim Daegyu's glass with water, not booze.
His liver couldn't handle the hard stuff.
"When you pitched making dramas, I knew: this guy's got it."
"You praised me then too."
"I don't waste words."
We chatted amiably for a good while.
But I clocked it quick: this was just feeling each other out.
Kim's real pitch hadn't dropped yet.
As we poked at the dishes once each, he said,
"Director Bae."
"Yes, Deputy Director."
"Watching you, I've thought about grooming you. What do you say?"
A straight-up recruitment pitch.
Caught me off guard.
But no way I'd turn it down.
The world already pegged me as his line—rejecting it'd make me what?
I stood, bowed at perfect right angles.
"If I can serve at your side, Deputy Director, it'd be the greatest honor of my life."
"You're too earnest. Sit."
My show pleased him; he poured again.
"Thank you, Deputy Director."
Taking that drink sealed it: I was on Kim Daegyu's line.
The shift showed next day.
"Director Bae, got plans today?"
Even 1st Deputy Aide Director Kim Yu-jin's attitude flipped.
Look at her switching teams now that we're allies.
People are scary, for real.
Over days, I bonded with the Kim Daegyu crew.
Backlash came too, naturally.
"Traitor bastard."
Passing in the hall, some SNU guy shoulder-checked me.
Funny guy.
Is there a law SNU alumni gotta be loyal to Kwon Younghoon?
What about Kim Yu-jin then?
Come to think of it, she was SNU alumni but oddly hostile to her own crowd.
'Ah, Kim Yu-jin's already marked.'
That made my spot fuzzy too, maybe.
But whatever.
SNU or not, they were all just Lee Dong-yoon's dogs I planned to crush.
I smirked coldly and kept walking.