Chapter 352
Chapter 352
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Examiner
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I wielded the title of Joint Investigation Headquarters Chief to conduct unlimited investigations into matters connected to Jang Dong-yun's assassination.
No matter if they were chaebol or anyone else, just hinting that I'd label them as accomplices to Chae In-seop was enough to make them tremble and swear absolute obedience.
Fear is another name for power.
In the shadows, I steadily built my strength.
The fact that I was Korea's true power broker had become an open secret.
Even the power players in the U.S. and the political world acknowledged me as Korea's real boss.
'But this isn't enough.'
My power base was far too weak to encompass the entire National Guard.
The Defense Security Command might be keeping the military in check for now, but that power was temporary.
Once a new Defense Security Commander was appointed, or if the Joint Chiefs Chairman decided to push back against me, the board could flip.
The same went for the bureaucrats and chaebol.
They were only submitting out of temporary fear; they weren't truly my allied forces.
The moment I showed any weakness, they were ready to bare their teeth.
So, I had to overturn the board.
How?
'By releasing the princess.'
Releasing my daughter—how would that overturn the board?
The instant I lifted Lee Se-eun's house arrest, the chaebol and the Yushin regime would be scrambling like their feet were on fire.
Why?
Because of the position Se-eun had taken.
By positioning herself as the champion of democratization, Lee Se-eun had unintentionally acquired several images.
One was political democratization.
"Miss Lee Se-eun will bring us true liberal democracy."
Another was economic democratization.
"His Excellency couldn't achieve economic democracy, but the young lady will."
People project their desires onto politicians.
And politicians capture those public aspirations to craft their images.
Se-eun had never publicly stated her thoughts on economic democratization, but people believed she would push for democratization in the economic sphere too.
"Of course, the young lady is the standard-bearer of democracy."
Since Se-eun had never actually stepped into real politics, people projected all sorts of expectations and hopes onto her.
Those projected images in turn shaped the politician Lee Se-eun's public image.
"Economic democratization? His Excellency's daughter has gone full red."
That's why the chaebol feared Se-eun.
More precisely, they dreaded the scenario of her taking power.
This was one reason the chaebol had cooperated with the Jang Dong-yun regime.
So, I would make their fears a reality.
By releasing Se-eun.
In my meeting with Acting President Choi, I brought up Se-eun's release.
Acting President Choi expressed his discomfort at my words.
"Director Bae, that's an issue that could shake the regime."
"I know. But the winds of public opinion are turning ominous. Sympathy formed because President Jang met an unfortunate end, but that mood won't last."
"So we preemptively release the young lady?"
"That way, Your Excellency's acting regime can project an image of being more moderate and open to compromise than before."
"Hmm."
"Here's our Agency for National Security Planning report. Please review it and use it as reference for your decision."
Of course, it was a report tailored to my tastes.
As I submitted the report and withdrew, I was certain Acting President Choi would move as I wanted.
Power holders believe they judge and decide matters with their own eyes.
But that's a delusion.
Regardless of what they think, if someone manipulates the foundational information to suit their palate, they have no choice but to judge and think as the manipulator intends.
That's why information is power.
A few days later, Acting President Choi gave a national address.
There, he dropped a bombshell.
"The house arrest imposed illegally on Miss Lee Se-eun by the previous regime will be lifted as of today."
"Yes?"
Everyone was stunned by the shocking news.
My phone blew up with calls asking about it.
Mostly from chaebol and political figures.
Each time I answered such calls, I responded leisurely.
"Don't worry. Miss Lee Se-eun has only been released from confinement; she hasn't received political amnesty."
Unless she received political amnesty and reinstatement, Se-eun couldn't engage in politics.
'Legally speaking.'
But if the public demanded it, legal constraints could be overcome easily enough.
The chaebol knew that, which is why they were getting anxious.
'So swear loyalty to me. If you don't want Se-eun's rule, I'm your only alternative.'
Soon, laundered political funds started trickling in from the Agency for National Security Planning.
I entrusted the management of this money to Section Chief Oh.
"Section Chief, please launder and manage this money appropriately."
"Yes. But, Director."
"Speak."
"If we're democratizing, do you plan to hand the regime to the young lady?"
With democratization becoming synonymous with Se-eun, even Section Chief Oh seemed to equate democratization with her taking power.
"I'm still planning. But one thing I can say for sure: whichever path I take, its end will be the Republic of Korea. That much I promise."
"We'll trust your words and wait, Director."
"Good."
With the chaebol lining up to us, things got easier.
I mobilized massive political funds to slowly win people over.
Bureaucrats, military, politicians.
I bought everyone money could buy.
Agency for National Security Planning executives were heavily deployed for this.
"The work on the Grand National Conference is progressing well. Sixty lawmakers have committed to our side so far."
"Good. Keep Section Chief Eom focused on wrangling the assemblymen."
"Yes."
Using these connections I'd secured, I elevated my own position as well.
"Bae Sung-jun, Acting Director of the Agency for National Security Planning, is appointed Director of the Agency for National Security Planning."
I bowed to Acting President Choi as he presented my appointment certificate.
Jumping from vice-ministerial to deputy prime ministerial rank in one leap was absurd, even considering the nature of political appointees.
But no one dared object.
Everyone feared me, holding the reins of both the Agency for National Security Planning and the Defense Security Command.
Matching my elevated status, I swiftly promoted my loyalists.
Those at 3rd-grade director level moved to 2nd-grade bureau chief or office director; 4th-grade section chiefs to 3rd-grade deputy directors or directors.
I didn't raise the ranks of the safehouse guards but gave them hefty bonuses.
Through these rewards for service, I solidified my faction's loyalty while binding the newly recruited ones.
Assemblymen were no exception.
"Director, congratulations. I hear you've been officially appointed."
"Thanks to Acting President Choi thinking well of me."
I laughed heartily and refilled the assemblymen's glasses.
A clear superior-subordinate dynamic.
Instead of my former humble facade, I now projected the demeanor of a lord.
Why show humility now?
My power was now rock-solid.
If I had any threat, it was the rival outside the regime: Se-eun.
She had the actual power to physically overthrow this regime.
So, I needed to diminish Se-eun's strength.
What ways were there to weaken the idol of democracy, Se-eun?
The answer was simple.
Treat her like a real-world politician.
I frequently sent reporters to interview Se-eun.
This was different from the previous Yushin regime's strategy.
In these interviews, I had them ask questions Se-eun would struggle with, like economic democratization.
Se-eun gave her own deft responses each time, but we'd prepared question sheets accounting for that.
Se-eun resorted to evasion tactics with vague or otherworldly answers.
It was a fine defensive strategy for ordinary politicians.
But not for Politician Se-eun.
"Why can't the young lady give a clear answer to such an obvious question?"
The Se-eun the public saw was democracy's idol, the perfect politician of their imagination.
Even Lee Sung-jun, called the Iron Man of the Republic, fell short of their imagined Se-eun.
But dreams inevitably shatter against cold reality.
After shaking Se-eun's image through several interviews, I had Choi Gyu-seok roll out policies to boost the 'Yushin regime's' popularity.
"We will make the Republic great again. As the first step, we will reinstate the policy of 1.5 times minimum wage for foreign workers."
"What?"
It was nonsense if considering the Republic's hegemony.
But so what?
You couldn't seize everything at once and charge ahead.
Sometimes, wisdom required letting go of what you held.
Distinguishing what to grasp and what to release.
That was a politician's most vital quality.
"If the regime collapses before we even talk hegemony, we've put the cart before the horse."
Only if the regime endured could we think of the next steps.
With this logic, I persuaded Choi Gyu-seok and flipped Korea's policy direction 180 degrees.
Agenda-setting on policy.
We aggressively seized popular policies, heightening expectations for the new regime.
"If you want to oppose us, come up with better policies."
Shift the frame from Yushin vs. Democracy to a policy showdown for the people.
In this framework, the ruling party had the advantage.
Se-eun caught on quickly and countered, but she overlooked one fact.
'Unfortunately, the frame is set by the one with the bigger megaphone.'
I shook the inexperienced real-world politician Se-eun.
No matter her talents, she couldn't handle what she'd never experienced.
'The title of democracy's idol doesn't compensate for a politician's skills.'
Time was needed to fill that gap.
Before then, solidifying my power base would let me control Se-eun's challenges.
'Once she learns reality that way, she'll understand.'
That politics requires organization and forces as much as public support.
I hoped the frustration Se-eun would taste this time would help her grow into a true politician.
For this country's democracy, and for the ideals I envisioned.
'I'll be the obstacle until the very moment you complete your growth as a politician.'
Not as the iron man worshipped by the Republic's people, but as the oppressor to topple, the enemy of democracy.
Watching my daughter's eyes sparkle like starlight on TV, I reaffirmed my goal of taking power.