The Presentation, Part II
The judges noticed three strange things about his presentation.
First, presentations for public project competitions like this were typically delivered by a bureau director, such as the head of the local government's Economic and Industrial Bureau. The head of the local government rarely presented in person. Why? Because failing to secure the project could easily become a major political liability.
Yet here was the mayor of Mir City, a municipality with a population of 490,000—not some tiny county like Jeongrae-gun—presenting in person. It was highly unusual.
Then there was the second anomaly.
Usually, presenters froze the moment they spotted Minister An Jae-gyeong. Having a member of the State Council present as an observer was incredibly intimidating.
But the moment Lee Yun-hyeok saw An Jae-gyeong, his face lit up with a bright, welcoming smile. One might have mistaken them for old friends.
And finally, the third anomaly—which was the most shocking of all.
"Since we have already passed the first and second rounds of evaluation, I am sure you are all well aware of how Mir City recruited those scientists, how we structured the project, and the collaborative model we established with the existing factory owners in Durim-myeon."
With that, he skipped what would normally make up eighty percent of the presentation in a single breath.
"If you don't mind, may I move past these slides?"
"We... don't mind, but then what exactly do you plan to present?" a bewildered judge managed to ask.
"Securing the budget isn't the end of the road. In fact, that is when the real work begins."
Yun-hyeok skipped past the first thirty slides of the PowerPoint presentation. In his mind, he offered a silent apology to the Future Industries Section team, who had worked themselves to the bone to create them.
"I will now walk you through our execution plan."
The presentation proceeded at a blistering pace.
Year one: infrastructure establishment, prototype development, mass production, and employment support.
Year two: project optimization and marketing support.
Because the three startups in the project consortium had already established cooperative relationships with local factory owners, they could acquire their technical expertise and rapidly streamline the manufacturing process. The strategy was meticulously designed to generate revenue within two years.
And the budget would be managed in real-time integration with e-Naerado-um and the Integrated Local Subsidy Management System. All expenditures would be overseen directly by the Mir City Hall Accounting Department and the Planning and Coordination Office's Budget Team.
They would conduct quarterly internal audits and hire private accounting firms for external audits. Quarterly reports and annual financial statements would be submitted directly to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
The budget execution criteria would be strictly performance-based.
They would evaluate technical feasibility using TRL (Technology Readiness Level) scores. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) would be established based on job creation metrics, attraction of subsequent private investment, and collaboration milestones with the existing factory owners in Durim-myeon. The budget would be released in phases only when these target scores were met.
"That concludes our budget execution plan."
"But there are still... more than ten minutes left."
The judges whispered among themselves.
His budget execution plan was flawless, concise, and incredibly robust—but it was already over.
What on earth was he going to talk about with the remaining time?
"I am a politician," Yun-hyeok said. "And I have only about a year and a half left in my term. I must ensure that no matter who takes the mayoral seat after that time, the growth of Doma-myeon remains uninterrupted. That is the quality required of me, and the responsibility I bear, to protect Durim-myeon and this project."
"..."
"From this point forward, I would like to discuss how we intend to achieve that."
Minister An Jae-gyeong pulled his back away from his chair and leaned forward. He found this young politician utterly fascinating.
"I'm listening. Please, go on."
"The fundamental reason local economies continue to founder is that local governments lack fiscal self-sufficiency."
"Isn't it because they are constantly foundering that they lack self-sufficiency? Because no healthy enterprises have taken root there?"
"No, it is not," Yun-hyeok replied. "Because..."
Yun-hyeok continued.
"Local governments actually have very little incentive to foster businesses in their cities. This is because local tax rates are far too low."
Compared to national income tax, the local income tax rate was a mere ten percent.
While national taxes collected across the country amounted to roughly 450 trillion won, local taxes barely reached 100 trillion won.
Crucially, even the Seoul Metropolitan Government was classified as a local government. This meant that the 100 trillion won figure included the combined local tax revenues of Seoul, all metropolitan municipalities, and special self-governing cities.
Even with all of that combined, it was barely twenty percent of the national tax revenue.
"The OECD average is thirty-three percent. Japan is at forty-five percent, and the United States reaches a staggering eighty percent. Structurally and administratively, South Korea is an incredibly centralized nation."
Yun-hyeok explained.
"As a result, local governments in our country do not earn their own keep. They simply receive and spend central government funds, which are collected as national taxes, in the form of subsidies. Because they do not manage their own households independently, they naturally lack the drive to increase their own revenue."
It was the exact same reason communism had failed.
What was the point of working tirelessly to attract a hundred-trillion-won enterprise to Mir City?
Ninety percent of the taxes paid by that enterprise would flow straight into the national treasury, leaving the local government with a measly ten percent.
And that ninety percent in the national treasury would then be sliced up and distributed to Daegu, Gwangju, and Daejeon.
From the perspective of a local government, there was absolutely no reason to nurture healthy enterprises or foster local industries.
Someone else will do it.
It was far easier to take the money earned by conglomerates in prosperous hubs like Pangyo, Songdo, Gangnam, and Yeouido, throw local festivals, hand out grants to residents claiming to start businesses, and cultivate favor among voters.
In other words, there was no return on investment for busting one's back to build an industry from scratch in a barren local municipality.
"Unless we dismantle this structure, whoever succeeds me as the leader of Mir City will eventually lose interest in Durim-myeon. Oversight will grow lax, and administrative coordination—such as budget execution and regulatory approvals—will grind to a halt. I intend to eliminate that problem beforehand."
"How...?"
An Jae-gyeong's heart began to race.
No, it was pounding as if he had just downed coffee by the liter.
His awareness of the problem is identical to mine.
It was enough to give him goosebumps.
Lee Yun-hyeok had laid bare the very core of the local economic crisis that An Jae-gyeong had spent years agonizing over.
"I plan to design a structure that calculates the national tax contribution generated by a local government and secures performance-sharing incentives from the central government in the form of subsidies."
"Performance-sharing incentives?"
"Yes. Since it doesn't involve amending tax laws, it doesn't even require National Assembly legislation; it can be pursued through executive decrees. And since Mir City's economy is primarily driven by small and medium-sized enterprises..."
He flashed a subtle grin at An Jae-gyeong.
"I plan to negotiate with the Minister of SMEs and Startups first."
"...Ha."
An Jae-gyeong couldn't help but chuckle.
He had been completely outmaneuvered.
"You saw me sitting here and skipped the entire first half of your presentation just to pitch this to me."
"A leader of a small city like Mir City rarely gets the chance to meet a minister. I ask for your understanding."
Behind that affable, disarming smile lurked a political serpent that felt a century old.
He was practicing politics under the guise of a PowerPoint presentation.
Because he was a politician, not a mere bureau director.
Because he had to prepare for what would happen after his term ended.
He bypassed sensitive issues like tax reform and complex legislative battles, throwing out a proposal tailored precisely to what the Minister of SMEs and Startups could actually execute.
As if asking, This much shouldn't be too hard, right?
What local government leader in the world designed and proposed policies by calculating the exact limits of a minister's authority?
A political rookie? Don't make me laugh. How is this a rookie? This is the chairman of a major political party or a presidential contender.
He was a monstrous serpent, biding his time to ascend as a dragon.
Look at how he was already planning for the next mayor. He clearly had no intention of stopping at Mir City. During his remaining year and a half, he would pierce a hole in Mir City's shell and watch it hatch on its own. From where? Most likely from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office or the National Assembly.
"The performance-sharing incentive policy is highly intriguing. I will study it seriously. However..."
To An Jae-gyeong, the project competition presentation was no longer the main event.
"Do you happen to have any other policies in mind?"
The presentation time had already expired, but to An Jae-gyeong, that didn't matter in the slightest.
Lee Yun-hyeok had been certain.
He knew An Jae-gyeong would love this topic, and he had fully anticipated that the minister would be captivated by the performance-sharing incentives.
Why?
Because it was a policy An Jae-gyeong himself would champion in the future.
Furthermore, at some point during a drinking session in his first life, An Jae-gyeong had confessed, "Performance-sharing incentives... I actually thought of them back when I was minister. I just couldn't push them through at the time."
Thus, the policy must already be taking shape, however vaguely, in An Jae-gyeong's mind. He was the type of person who, with just a gentle nudge, would throw caution to the wind and charge straight ahead.
So, Yun-hyeok gave him that nudge.
He felt a bit guilty for stealing the idea from its original owner, but a good policy was always better off implemented sooner rather than later.
Since the minister had asked for more, it was time to feed him another.
Launching Future An Jae-gyeong Policy Number Two!
"There is a region in Germany called the Ruhr."
"...!"
An Jae-gyeong visibly flinched.
Because the very thought in his own head had just been targeted with sniper-like precision.
"It was once a massive heavy industrial zone centered on coal and steel. It suffered a severe decline during the deindustrialization of the 1970s and 80s, but eventually recovered."
Today, it remained Europe's largest industrial region. Its scale was by no means small, spanning approximately 4,400 square kilometers with a population of five million. In Korean terms, it was half the size of Gyeonggi Province, with a population equivalent to ten Mir Cities.
Was it a megacity like Seoul?
No.
The Ruhr was not a single city, but a collaborative alliance model of seventeen cities and towns.
Each of these municipalities specialized in a specific sector, creating a structured division of labor.
For instance, Dortmund focused on R&D and high technology; Essen served as the cultural hub (it was designated the European Capital of Culture in 2010); and Duisburg leveraged its geographical advantage at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers to become the logistics hub.
It operated in this manner.
"Another reason local economies continue to founder is that instead of cooperating through an alliance like the Ruhr, local governments do nothing but compete with one another."
Everyone wanted to become Seoul.
But realistically, that was impossible.
For a local municipality to become Seoul, it required far too much time and budget.
"And the result is redundant overinvestment."
Without any clear vision, the moment word got out that AI was the next big thing, every local government scrambled to build its own AI center.
Their directions were incredibly vague. Were they trying to build something like ChatGPT, develop autonomous driving AI, or create medical diagnostic AI?
Dozens of flashy, empty AI center buildings, constructed without a shred of concrete planning, sat abandoned across the nation.
"To prevent this, local governments must divide labor and cooperate. This is different from initiatives like the Bu-Ul-Gyeong Megacity. That is an administrative integration led by the central government, whereas the Ruhr Model is a structure of horizontal cooperation among local governments at the industrial level. To revive local economies, we need to foster such models in the provinces."
An Jae-gyeong covered his mouth in sheer awe.
To think the Ruhr Model would come out of this genius's mouth!
He felt so thrilled he could have done a backflip.
"Governor..." An Jae-gyeong asked in a trembling voice. "Are you going to run for Governor...?"
"Even if I wanted to, who would just give me the job?"
I would if I could.
Minister An Jae-gyeong barely managed to swallow his words, mindful of his duty to maintain political neutrality.
"The Ruhr urban alliance model is one of the local economic policies I have studied for a long time. However, it is difficult for the central government to take the lead on it."
An Jae-gyeong had thought it would be perfect if a provincial office took the initiative.
Or if local government heads communicated with one another to foster a collaborative model.
A Ruhr-style urban alliance was the fastest way for small and medium-sized local governments to catch up to metropolitan areas or Seoul under harsh conditions.
He had deemed it nearly impossible because local government heads were only ever interested in securing central government budgets.
But this man... he might actually be able to pull it off.
An Jae-gyeong recalled the rumors he had occasionally heard in political circles—that the man sitting in the mayoral seat of Mir City was someone to watch.
But seeing him in person, he's not just 'someone to watch'!
This is a monstrous genius. A superhuman.
Where on earth had such an extraordinary figure suddenly appeared from?
"The performance-sharing incentives—I will review that matter as positively and actively as possible," An Jae-gyeong said. "Mayor, can you build a Ruhr Model in southern Gyeonggi Province? It is something the central government cannot do."
It was exactly the response Yun-hyeok had anticipated.
"I will do my best."
Even though taking care of Mir City alone was overwhelming enough for now. Still, a division of labor and cooperation among local governments was indeed necessary.
Mir City was ultimately selected as the top-performing local government in the government public project competition.
They had successfully secured the 60-billion-won budget.
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations, Mayor!"
City Councilors Ha Tae-hun and Choi Hyeon-ju visited the mayor's office, but Yun-hyeok was nowhere to be found.
For he had gone with Jo Hyeon-seo to meet the true heroes of this competition.
He met with the directors of the Economic and Industrial Bureau, the Construction and Transportation Bureau, and the Environment and Greenery Bureau, as well as Section Chief Park Jeong-u and the Grade 9 to 6 Civil Servants of the Future Industries Section under the Future Strategy Bureau. He also met with working-level staff below the section chief level from the Budget, Environment, Transportation, and Construction Sections.
These were the people who had worked themselves to the bone trying to keep up with a local government leader who moved at a breakneck pace—even if those thirty PowerPoint slides they had painstakingly prepared went unused.
"I'm sorry," Yun-hyeok said.
He confessed that he had skipped the entire first half of the presentation.
"Not at all!"
"It's perfectly fine, Mayor!"
"It turned out so well!"
"Congratulations!"
Together with them, Yun-hyeok hung a banner in front of City Hall.
He even brought along the trio of engineers and took a group photo with the working-level staff.
Click!