Taming the City Council (Part 2)

The meeting was over.

—How did it go, hyung-nim? Did the mayor fold like a house of cards?

Yeon Hui-cheol of Daesan E&M chuckled as he called Ha Tae-hoon.

—If the city council joins hands and bombards him with administrative inquiries, he'll have no choice but to panic. Seriously, why is a guy with barely any time left in his term doing such pointless things...

"By any chance, did you lay any groundwork in Durim-myeon?" Ha Tae-hoon asked.

—Durim-myeon? No, why? There's nothing there but abandoned, trash-tier factories. Of course, it's worth keeping an eye on now that some major positive news is coming in, but I haven't done any work there.

"The situation has taken a turn for the worse. You should just sell all your shares in the Beomdol district and get out."

—What?

"The Hanmin Party has crossed over to Lee Yun-hyeok."

—What are you talking about? Do you know how much money I fed to Choi Hyeon-ju?

"...Just give her a call."

To a politician, money is important, but power is even more critical. Unless they plan to retire from politics at the end of their remaining year and a half in office, the city council members have no choice but to crawl before Park Dae-man, who holds the power of nomination.

It was safe to assume that all seven members of the Hanmin Party would vote in favor of passing the ordinance.

There were fifteen city council members in total.

Seven had already crossed over, and the final vote needed to secure a majority belonged to a "pro-Lee Yun-hyeok" faction.

One might wonder how an independent rookie could have such an ally, but it was the absolute truth.

Because that city council member was also an independent rookie.

The reason a chairperson had still not been elected in the city council was that the council member elected in the by-election was an independent rookie.

Thanks to this, with the Hanmin Party and the Liberty Party locked in a seven-to-seven standoff, that single member held the casting vote.

Jeong Hyeong-seok.

Originally a lawyer and human rights activist who provided free legal counsel for a welfare organization in Mir City, he had been inspired by Lee Yun-hyeok's entry into politics and decided to run himself. Specifically, he ran in the by-election triggered by the downfall of Chairman Lee Chae-hyeong due to embezzlement.

In truth, he hadn't expected to win; he had entered with the mindset of getting some practice ahead of the 2025 local elections.

But he had ended up winning the seat out of nowhere.

The "Lee Yun-hyeok effect" had played a massive role.

At the time, the Hanmin Party had deferred nominating a mayoral candidate, citing "deep responsibility for the embezzlement scandal." To maintain logical consistency, they also refrained from nominating a city council candidate.

This unexpectedly set up a head-to-head matchup between Jeong Hyeong-seok and the Liberty Party candidate. When Yun-hyeok utterly crushed Hong Gi-beom, the Liberty Party's council candidate lost all momentum as well.

That election had been strangely dominated by keywords like "independent," "political rookie," and "civic activist." Combining the public's disgust with old-guard politics and their anticipation for a breath of fresh air, Jeong Hyeong-seok narrowly edged out the Liberty Party candidate to win.

Thus, Jeong Hyeong-seok was classified as the sole "pro-Lee Yun-hyeok" faction in the city council.

Though, of course, the two had never actually met in person yet.

We have to win over Jeong Hyeong-seok!

Under-the-table maneuvering began among the council members. Choi Hyeon-ju did not step forward publicly, but she secretly contacted him behind Park Dae-man's back.

The deal between Lee Yun-hyeok and Park Dae-man was to "pass the ordinance," but even if it didn't actually pass, it would still be fine—as long as the Hanmin Party council members all cast votes in favor.

Park Dae-man would have the excuse to tell Lee Yun-hyeok, "I did my absolute best," while the blame for the ordinance's rejection would fall squarely on Yun-hyeok. It would also be difficult for Park Dae-man to shift the blame onto Choi Hyeon-ju and the other council members.

"Councilman Jeong!"

It was incredibly frustrating that a nobody lawyer from some obscure welfare organization was now holding the entire city council in the palm of his hand.

"This ordinance must not pass!"

From Jeong Hyeong-seok's perspective, it was utterly absurd that Choi Hyeon-ju was saying this while planning to cast a vote in favor.

"It will deal too massive a blow to the entire real estate industry in Mir City."

"We must block this kind of ordinance!"

Choi Hyeon-ju and Ha Tae-hoon did their utmost to persuade Jeong Hyeong-seok, but...

"I actually think the ordinance is quite good."

Jeong Hyeong-seok liked the ordinance very much.

"Redevelopment projects involve hundreds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of billions, sometimes even trillions of won. Although the private sector bears most of the burden, the local government also invests a significant amount of capital. Despite this, there has been a severe lack of regulation. In particular, there has been absolutely no agency to monitor or control safety diagnosis evaluations."

"..."

"Why on earth is it a problem to establish such measures and make future development projects transparent?"

Winning over Jeong Hyeong-seok was impossible.

Ha Tae-hoon made another deal with Choi Hyeon-ju.

"Councilwoman Choi. Is there anyone on your side thinking of retiring from politics?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"There are a few elderly members among your councilors. Isn't it about time they stepped down?"

"You mean Councilman Na Ju-myeong?"

"We have to stop the bomb from exploding."

"Why should we bear all of that burden?!"

"We'll make sure they get a very generous retirement package!"

"No one will do it. And just bringing up that kind of talk to the other councilors is a massive risk for me. Don't you know that?"

If word of this reached Park Dae-man's ears, the one retiring would be Choi Hyeon-ju.

"What is Daesan E&M even doing right now? Tell them to at least whip up some public opinion."

The council members were now in a state of absolute panic.

"Look at this, everyone! Lee Yun-hyeok is planning to develop Durim-myeon."

Yeon Hui-cheol's Daesan E&M was equally desperate. They returned to the Beomdol district and began instigating the residents once more.

"Your rightful redevelopment privileges are being stolen by Durim-myeon! Why? Because Durim-myeon is the area Lee Yun-hyeok is pushing right now! He wants to spruce it up and claim it as his own political achievement!"

The Beomdol district fell into utter chaos once again.

So far, the civil petitions Yeon Hui-cheol had gathered from the Beomdol district residents amounted to about twenty percent.

Using this as leverage, they had to launch every possible attack.

Through public opinion, and through the law.

Yeon Hui-cheol hired a law firm and requested them to file for an administrative adjudication.

The core argument was that the public institution's administration was being processed too hastily, preventing a smooth consensus among local residents.

To be frank, there was a very high probability that the provincial office would simply ignore this administrative adjudication.

Because the welfare-oriented policy had not even entered the execution phase yet.

The residents said they would do it, and now thirty percent say they won't? Then can't you just negotiate again? This doesn't seem like something the provincial office should interfere with.

A response along the lines of "What do you expect ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠us to do about this?" would surely come back.

Even so, the reason they filed for the administrative adjudication was that it was perfect for framing the narrative.

After all, the vast majority of the public didn't even know what an administrative adjudication was.

Articles manufactured by Daesan E&M flooded the media.

A narrative could be constructed in the blink of an eye.

And they took it one step further.

This time, they petitioned the Suwon District Court, not the provincial office, requesting a suspension of the complex development policy pushed by the city hall.

The court ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would likely find it absurd as well, but that didn't matter.

The mere act of churning out news was what mattered.

"Keep the media play going, and visit every single city council member to lobby them."

Yeon Hui-cheol of Daesan E&M Co., Ltd. issued orders to his employees.

"Ultimately, we have to control the city council to win this fight. Go convince people like Na Ju-myeong."

"Understood!"

"And announce that we'll be holding a rally in front of the city hall."

"Representative!"

The public relations team contacted him.

"We can't get in touch with the Liberty Party city council members."

"...?"

Yeon Hui-cheol's eyes narrowed.

He could understand the Hanmin Party, but why were they unreachable?

Normally, a redevelopment project required a vast amount of work, including preliminary planning, condition surveys, and gathering resident feedback. However, all of this foundational preparation had already been completed for Durim-myeon.

It had even been designated as an urban redevelopment zone. The project had simply been drifting because they couldn't find a private partner.

Therefore, if the administration picked up the pace, things could move very quickly.

Pursuant to Article 26, Paragraph 1 of the Act on the Maintenance and Improvement of Urban Areas and Dwelling Conditions for Residents, the local government declared itself the public executor and kickstarted the project.

They distributed press releases announcing the development of Durim-myeon and began accepting bids from private construction companies.

By holding an open bidding process and securing a construction company, they would be able to obtain additional budget from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Urban Corporation.

Then, the public and private sectors would cooperate to begin construction in earnest.

However, Yun-hyeok added a single item to the evaluation criteria for the open bidding.

At the moment he confirmed that.

Choi Jun-taek, the Chief Financial Officer of Raymi Castle, received a call from Lee Yun-hyeok.

It's here!

Holding out always pays off!

The CFO was convinced that his eye for people had not failed him.

The connection he had forged with that young man—who had possessed nothing back then—solely based on the sheer drive he displayed at the Yeokdong Raymi Castle apartments and Doma Elementary School, was finally paying dividends.

So, even though it was an open bid, wasn't this call essentially to let him know that Raymi Castle had already been unofficially selected?

—Actually, no...

Yun-hyeok replied with a chuckle.

—I'm not the one conducting the bid evaluation. I called today because I was curious about something.

"What might that be?"

—When you were building the Yeokdong Raymi Castle, what kind of rebates did you give to the union?

"..."

Choi Jun-taek froze right where he stood.

Was this really a topic one could ask about so casually?

—We have allocated twenty points to the public interest and transparency category in this evaluation. If there are any areas where you might be vulnerable, wouldn't it be better to notify the city hall first and prepare preventive measures?

"Well..."

—Under the Act on the Prevention of Corruption and the Establishment and Operation of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, self-reporters receive mitigated or exempted punishment. Especially if it leads to corrective measures, there is a very high probability of exemption.

Choi Jun-taek fell into deep thought.

Though it sounded as if Yun-hyeok was telling him to confess his sins, this was actually a proposal for an alliance.

It was an invitation to clear away minor infractions before diving into the Durim-myeon project.

Choi Jun-taek knew very well what direction the real estate policy currently pushed by Mir City Hall was heading.

What Lee Yun-hyeok wanted to dismantle was the cartel, not the construction companies.

And the one developing Durim-myeon was the city hall, not a cartel union.

Therefore, his question could be translated as:

Give me the ammunition.

And you shall have Durim-myeon.

"To my knowledge, there is no such thing, but..."

Choi Jun-taek was a smart man.

"I will conduct an internal audit to see if there were any issues."

If he kept the seven Hanmin Party members bound through Park Dae-man and relied on Jeong Hyeong-seok for the casting vote, passing the ordinance itself would be achievable.

However, that could not be considered a fundamental solution to the problem.

Because new loopholes and new rebates would inevitably emerge.

Thus, passing the ordinance was essential, but going a step further, wasn't a comprehensive reform of the entire city council also necessary?

When the stack of documents with that jarring title slammed onto the table, the city council members of both parties froze completely.

Yun-hyeok spoke.

"When I added 'public interest and transparency' to the evaluation criteria for the open bidding, most construction companies just wrote up pledges promising not to engage in backroom deals with the union. But Raymi Castle went ahead and conducted a full internal audit."

At this rate, they were a truly wonderful enterprise, possessing a level of conscience in the top one percent of the Korean real estate industry.

Let's give them a round of applause!

"They even brought a detailed proposal to establish a dual-monitoring system to ensure such incidents never happen again."

Yun-hyeok opened the files and began pointing them out one by one.

"There are a lot of interesting things in here. For example, we have chat logs like this."

Beyond that, a mountain of devastating evidence was revealed one after another.

Circumstantial evidence of sending someone's family on a trip to Europe, photographs of secret meetings in high-end restaurants, and suspicious deposit records into certain bank accounts.

"For the most part, two names appear far more than any others."

Namely, Ha Tae-hoon and Choi Hyeon-ju.

In reality, other council members had likely received plenty as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠well. However, instead of receiving it directly, they would have taken cuts distributed by Ha Tae-hoon or Choi Hyeon-ju.

From the perspective of those two, doing things that way was the only way to consolidate their own power.

But loyalty and power obtained in such a manner are always the first to crumble.