Chapter 357
Chapter 357
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Iron Lady
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Externally, Korea's head of state was Lee Seok-gyun, but the one who truly held the reins of power was Intelligence Minister and KCIA Director Bae Seong-jun.
"Lee Seok-gyun may be the nominal ruler, but isn't he just a figurehead?"
Bae Seong-jun, the powerbroker who controlled money, people, and information, manipulated everything from the shadows.
It was a fact impossible to miss for anyone with even a passing interest in politics.
The democratization forces, of course, knew it all too well.
They planned massive protests to topple Bae Seong-jun.
"To bring down the Bae Seong-jun regime, the student movement needs to take the lead."
"The problem is that the student movement has been weakened by the regime's crackdowns. Can we really pull off effective protests in this situation?"
"You're not suggesting we just sit back and watch Bae Seong-jun win, are you?"
After much discussion, the democratization forces reached a conclusion.
"Understood. We'll reach out to the student movement."
But with the student organizations—meant to be the core of the protests—halfway dismantled, they couldn't mount a demonstration threatening enough to the regime.
"Down with the dictatorship! Abolish the Yushin Constitution!"
The campuses reopened in March, but the scale of the protests fell far short of their expectations.
The regime sealed off the demonstrators using only police forces, without even mobilizing the military.
Even the chants from the protesters lacked punch, trapped within the frame the Bae Seong-jun regime had set.
"With the country in such dire straits, why are these college kids only protesting? Why do you think? They've got cushy jobs lined up, so they can afford to demonstrate. They're nobles who don't know what ordinary people's lives are like."
The regime framed the student protests as a "noble movement."
People already suffering from skyrocketing oil prices found the frame all too plausible.
"Spot on. The government's scrambling to stabilize life for the common folk with all sorts of measures, and these noble students are just dragging their feet. Ungrateful lot."
The Bae Seong-jun regime demonized opponents, sowed division at every turn, and crushed challengers.
Lee Se-eun responded to the regime's assaults with strategies of her own.
After several trial and error, she had toughened up against Bae Seong-jun's opinion manipulation tactics.
"Bae Seong-jun, resign!"
Instead of falling into the opponent's frame, Lee Se-eun kept amplifying her own voice.
You could never win fighting within the framework they defined.
She made sure the students kept shouting that voice.
"Keep protest slogans simple."
A few memorable phrases that conveyed the goals clearly, easy for the public to remember.
That was the only way to counter the regime's powerful propaganda machine.
Lee Se-eun extended her hand to anyone she could ally with during the protests.
"Lady, it's a strange feeling joining forces like this."
"Because you're chanting for democracy alongside a dictator's daughter?"
"Honestly, who could've imagined this day would come."
"You're right about that."
Lee Se-eun marched side by side with the opposition parties.
As long as she led at the front, holding the flag, the regime dared not launch a crackdown.
Even the brutal Jang Dong-yoon regime hadn't dared do that.
"The lady might get hurt, so hold back on the tear gas."
"But what about the suppression operation then?"
"We'll do it once she leaves."
Lee Se-eun knew the police's true intentions.
She even carried a sleeping bag to the protest sites, sharing meals and hardships with the demonstrators.
Her face was grimy and unwashed, but she still radiated a glow.
"Lady, you've been through a lot."
"We're all suffering together."
Those joining the protests saw her as Korea's "hope."
"Without the lady, what would this country's future look like?"
Lee Se-eun regarded the people's faith in her as her greatest fortress.
"As long as the people believe in me, I cannot lose."
Her bold stand as the standard-bearer of democracy drew attention from foreign correspondents.
"The dictator's daughter reborn as a democracy fighter."
Even foreign press critical of the Korean government used only favorable terms when writing about Lee Se-eun.
"Thanks for the photo today."
"Not at all, lady."
After the photoshoot, Lee Se-eun took a water bottle handed to her by a supporter.
"Would you like some, reporter?"
"Oh, yes."
Thomas Müller hesitated before taking a sip from the bottle Lee Se-eun offered.
Lee Se-eun unrolled her bundled sleeping bag and sat on it.
"How did you end up coming all the way to Korea, reporter?"
"To cover the democratization movement."
Thomas Müller, of the '67 Revolution generation, had a keen interest in anti-authoritarian movements around the world.
That's when Korea's democratization drive caught his eye.
Müller came to Korea to witness firsthand the outcome of an anti-authoritarian struggle in the world's second superpower.
But what truly captured his gaze wasn't the movement itself.
It was the woman leading it.
Armed with steel-like convictions, she stood tall against the regime's brutality without flinching.
The ruthless powerhouses Jang Dong-yoon and Bae Seong-jun.
Even in their dark shadow, Lee Se-eun's eyes showed no fear.
What gave her such unyielding resolve?
Seizing the moment as their conversation warmed up, Müller asked why she fought the regime so fiercely.
"It's because I'm the daughter of Daehan's giant, Lee Seong-jun."
She was simply paying the price for the privilege and glory she'd enjoyed as his daughter.
Müller looked at her anew at her calm response.
Fulfilling the responsibilities that come with rights.
Easy words on the lips of many.
But how many in the world actually lived up to such accountability?
Not even the heirs to absolute monarchies did.
Just look at Britain's debauched heir, Charles.
"Is that why you're fighting, lady?"
"Not entirely, but it's the main motivation."
Unfitting for a dictator's daughter, Lee Se-eun possessed a deep grasp of democratic principles.
"Korea's Iron Lady leading the charge for democracy."
That was how Müller summed up his impressions of her.
The article soon added a new image to Lee Se-eun.
"The Iron Lady cries out for democracy from the heart of the dictatorship."
Now, foreign media no longer saw Lee Se-eun as a frail princess delicately steering democracy.
She appeared as a formidable leader who could stand toe-to-toe with the regime.
This shift in stature led to invitations from Western societies.
Lee Se-eun politely declined them.
"I hope you understand why I can't accept the invitation."
Politically, she couldn't align herself with the West.
Showing such a stance risked losing the support of the Korean people.
'Daehan, as Father built it, sees the West as a rival.'
She would use foreign media, but only that.
That was Lee Se-eun's line in the sand.
Her firm stance prompted Western politicians to visit Korea just to meet her.
She never turned away foreign dignitaries who came calling.
Of course, even in those meetings, Lee Se-eun carefully managed her words.
She refrained as much as possible from the "criticism of the Korean regime" that Western politicians craved.
'It's fine for Koreans to condemn their own regime, but riding along with foreigners doing it looks bad.'
That would only bolster the Bae Seong-jun regime.
Facing off against Bae Seong-jun, Lee Se-eun's repertoire of tactics grew.
It felt off learning from defeats at the enemy's hands, but she never forgot those lessons, filing them away for later use.
In a way, Bae Seong-jun was like her mentor.
Confronting him gave Lee Se-eun an odd sense of déjà vu.
He was a wall.
An impossibly high wall she couldn't dream of scaling.
It reminded her of her father's back from her childhood days.
Perhaps Bae Seong-jun was another successor her father had groomed.
'Even so, I won't lose to your shadow.'
She hadn't run this race just to fall to her father's shadow.
The responsibilities, mission, and dreams she carried.
For those, she could not yield to Bae Seong-jun.
She had to prevail.
Fortunately, she had time to endure until her enemy faltered.
'People make mistakes eventually. Unless he's an iron man like Father, Bae Seong-jun will show a weakness in the end.'
Even her father had ultimately failed to choose a successor properly.
Bae Seong-jun went without saying.
'Bae Seong-jun has only one way to beat me.'
Killing her.
But how could he kill Lee Seong-jun's eldest daughter?
Even the monstrous Jang Dong-yoon had stopped at house arrest; the weight of Lee Seong-jun's bloodline was immense.
Time and Lee Seong-jun's bloodline.
With those two weapons in hand, her victory was inevitable.
The only question was how long it would take.
Her gaze, brimming with confidence in triumph, convinced followers they could win by her side.
Backed by the eyes of supporters yearning for her victory, she gazed toward the distant presidential residence in Yongseong.