The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 115

Reverting to President as a Conglomerate Chairman 1967 – Episode 115 (115/225)

115. Don’t Tell Me About Treasure Ships

The reporter who was shot was imprisoned for obstructing the execution of official duties.

Although the President suffered a political blow, he awakened the media, and his public approval ratings soared even higher.

The President realized that improving national consciousness was much more difficult than raising the economic growth rate.

*

Kwanhun Club.

The heads of leading media companies held a press conference for the nation.

“There has been public criticism demanding responsibility from the media. Accordingly, we, the journalists, hereby announce the following revisions to the ethics of the press to suit the times. First, we will refrain from articles that infringe on public interest, personal character, and privacy. Second, we will cultivate specialized reporters in each field to enhance expertise…”

If media reform ends with the media companies’ own resolutions for self-purification, it will end with granting them impunity.

The preferential treatment that had become entrenched as a custom had to be removed.

New bills were passed in the National Assembly.

The Cultural Heritage Protection Act, with greatly strengthened penalties, the Act on Prohibition of Receiving Money and Improper Solicitation for public officials and journalists, and the establishment of the Media Arbitration Commission.

In particular, for tomb raiders, the statute of limitations was abolished, personal information disclosure, recovery of criminal proceeds, and a large reward for informants were added to strengthen the penalties to the point of ruining their families.

The regulation that required landowners to bear the cost of excavating artifacts was also changed so that the state would bear the cost.

A major overhaul was also applied to the practices of the press.

At the time, newspaper reporters mostly received irregular activity expenses without a fixed salary.

The idea was that they should make a living by extorting money.

Therefore, it was difficult to expect fairness and accuracy in reporting.

It was common to threaten to report on compromising articles, receive money, and cover up the issues.

The prosecution launched a full investigation into media companies for violating the minimum wage and the Labor Standards Act.

Leading daily newspapers rushed to improve the treatment of their reporters.

As the law was strengthened and the acceptance of hush money was severely punished, many insolvent small and medium-sized media companies that had sprung up like mushrooms closed their doors on their own.

The Media Arbitration Commission stepped in to assist with criminal and civil trials for damages caused by serious misinformation.

*

The President’s office.

The Minister of Culture entered.

The President was looking at a large map of the Korean Peninsula.

“Your Excellency, you called for me?”

“Welcome.”

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Minister, shall we go find a treasure ship?”

“Yes? A treasure ship? Why suddenly a treasure ship?”

“If you’re a man, there’s no one who hasn’t dreamed of embarking on an adventure to find a treasure island.”

“Haha, actually, that’s why I wanted to study history, Your Excellency. I thought excavating artifacts was like finding treasure.”

“Hahaha, treasure hunting makes the blood rush through your veins.”

“Now I realize that historical artifacts are the most valuable treasures, more than treasure ships full of gold and silver.”

“A treasure ship full of artifacts! I will make your dream come true.”

The President said, amused by the minister who was blinking.

“Look here.”

The President drew a circle with a red pen on the sea off Jeolla Province.

“Isn’t that the sea off Sinan, Jeolla Province?”

“That’s right. It’s off the coast of Sinan Dodeok Island. There must be a huge underwater treasure sleeping here.”

“Underwater? Do you have accurate information? It is very difficult to discover underwater artifacts, Your Excellency.”

The President made an excuse.

“The intelligence agency got the information from a tomb raider.”

“Ah, intelligence.”

“Haha, trust me, I won’t let you take a fruitless trip.”

During Chairman Wang’s time, a fisherman found two pieces of porcelain in his net and was using them as dog bowls at home until a relative discovered them and reported them to the government office, revealing the underwater artifacts off the coast of Sinan.

Having experienced the Muryeong Royal Tomb incident, the President suddenly thought of the underwater artifacts in Sinan and hinted at it to the minister.

*

The sea off Sinan Dodeok Island.

Divers were diligently diving in and out of the ship.

Splash!

The director of the local museum, who was in charge, grumbled.

He was not in his right mind because he was dizzy and nauseous from the swaying seasickness.

“Ugh, I’m getting seasick. Blech! Hoo~ Finding a needle in a haystack is one thing, but asking me to find a shipwreck in this vast sea is ridiculous. Blech!”

At that moment, a diver came up to the surface and held up a basket containing something.

“I found it! It’s porcelain! There are also bundles of *yeopjeon* coins!” [Yeopjeon were old Korean brass coins with a square hole in the center.]

“You really found artifacts?”

After marking it with a buoy, the underwater salvage operation began in earnest.

The Minister of Culture, who received the report, arrived at the scene, his eyebrows fluttering with excitement.

The minister was moved to tears as he looked at the artifacts salvaged on the deck.

“Oh~ This is a white porcelain iron painting plate! I really can’t believe I’d find a treasure ship in my lifetime!”

Porcelain that looked high-end at a glance was placed in a mesh bag and lifted up like drawing water from a well with a pulley.

I only knew that fishing boats could be full, but I never dreamed that artifact salvage ships could also be full.

Through 11 major salvage operations, more than 22,000 pieces of Song and Yuan Dynasty porcelain from the 13th and 14th centuries and more than 20 tons of 70 kinds of coins were recovered.

Among the artifacts excavated from the Sinan ship, a wooden tag was found with a manifest of the trade goods loaded on the Sinan ship.

The front and back sides accurately stated the sailing time and destination, the date the goods were loaded, the name of the cargo owner, and the contents and quantity of the goods, adding to its historical value.

The news of the underwater artifacts off the coast of Sinan made the whole country buzz.

“There really is a treasure ship!”

“Wow, should I buy some flippers and go salvage them? One basket of that would change my fate.”

“Tsk tsk, they say tomb raiding ruins three generations. Get a grip, buddy!”

As awareness of cultural heritage increased, valuable cultural properties that had been sleeping came to light.

Newspaper articles were also written by cultural experts, raising the level significantly.

– ‘*Jikji Simgyeong* (*Jikji Simche Yojeol*)’, the world’s first book printed with Korean metal type, was discovered in Paris, France. [Jikji Simgyeong is the shortened title, Jikji Simche Yojeol is the full title.] It is the oldest existing metal type book, 80 years ahead of Gutenberg’s metal type in Germany, and is a significant part of our cultural heritage that requires rewriting human cultural history.

– A complete set of 6 volumes and 6 books of the *Gabinja* type 「*Dongguk Jeongun*」 from the early Joseon Dynasty was discovered among ancient books passed down through generations in the Gangneung Shim family. [*Gabinja* refers to a specific set of movable metal type.] [*Dongguk Jeongun* is a Korean dictionary of Sino-Korean pronunciation.] *Dongguk Jeongun*, which is pointed out as two great achievements of King Sejong along with *Hunminjeongeum* [the original name for the Korean alphabet, Hangul], had already been designated as a national treasure with only two missing books (Volumes 2 and 6), but with the discovery of this complete version, related academics are gathering their mouths, saying that it is a groundbreaking opportunity for research. It is expected that the greatness of Hangeul, the only language whose origin has been revealed, will shine even more.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism bowed his head and expressed his gratitude to the President.

“Thanks to Your Excellency, I have been able to witness the Muryeong Royal Tomb, the Sinan Treasure Ship, *Jikji Simgyeong*, and *Dongguk Jeongun* during my term, and I offer my deepest gratitude, Your Excellency!”

Historical artifacts were more valuable than discovering a gold mine.

Museums were built all over the country.

Foreign tourists couldn’t close their mouths as they looked at the map of museums across Korea.

The pride of being a cultural nation was higher than ever.

* * *

The President’s office.

The President instructed the Chief of Staff.

“I don’t have any schedule for tomorrow evening, do I?”

“There is one scheduled.”

“There is?”

“There is a dinner with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and businessmen at the hotel at 6 p.m. tomorrow.”

“Ah, I mistakenly thought it was next week. What to do… Then let’s move it up to 3 p.m. or postpone it to 10 p.m.”

“You’re having dinner at 3 p.m.?”

“Yes.”

“Your Excellency, suddenly changing the schedule will cause confusion among the attendees.”

“Then 10 p.m.….”

“At 10 p.m., the hotel restaurant will be closed, Your Excellency!”

“Ha~, then please schedule another day, saying I have urgent business.”

“That would be better.”

“I’m sorry, Chief of Staff. Please do me this favor.”

“……”

The reason the President made a hole in his schedule like this was because of a soccer game.

*

Seoul Dongdaemun Stadium.

Although it was an evening soccer game, the 30,000 seats were already full early in the afternoon due to the crowds that had gathered.

The price of seat scalpers exceeded four times the original price, but even that was hard to find.

20,000 people who could not enter did not return and went to the management office to protest.

“Even if it’s standing room only, please let us in!”

So, an unprecedented standing ticket for the soccer stadium was sold.

The aisles were packed with spectators, bringing the total to 40,000.

The reason for this desperation was that Pele of Brazil, who had won consecutive World Cups, visited Korea to play a friendly match with the Korean national team.

People from the provinces came to Seoul to see the game of soccer emperor Pele in person.

The stadium was already heating up before the game started.
Hats, handkerchiefs, seat cushions, Pele visit special article newspapers, and all products with Pele’s name on them were sold out.

The President also went incognito and managed to secure a seat with his bodyguards.

Soccer was the national sport, and Korean soccer was the Asian powerhouse.

There was great interest in what kind of game would unfold between the world’s best Pele and the Korean team.

The first half began.

Beep~.

Lee Hwae-taek and 19-year-old Cha Bum-kun were playing for the Korean team.

The first concern of the spectators was Pele’s stunts, and the second was who would be in charge of marking Pele.

Two defenders closely blocked Pele.

The spectators applauded and exclaimed at the Brazilian players’ dribbling and fancy individual skills that stuck to their feet.

However, as Korea focused on defense and tightly tied Pele with rough fouls, goals were not easily scored.

As Pele was sluggish, the spectators booed the Korean players.

“Did we come to see the defense? We came to see Pele’s stunts!”

“Let Pele go!”

“Referee, why aren’t you calling defensive fouls!”

A bizarre phenomenon occurred in which fans who were always enthusiastic about nationalistic pride at national soccer games were cheering for the opponent this time.

As the first half was coming to an end, Brazil finally scored.

“Goal!”

Wow!!

1:0 After finishing the first half, the second half began.

Pele, conscious of his poor performance, made a fresh start.

His ball control and footwork, which no one could imitate, began to come alive.

Finally, in the 13th minute of the second half, Pele stopped a ground ball centering strongly from the left with his right foot and quickly shot a ground ball with his right foot.

Shoot!

Lightning speed! After a short moment as if lightning flashed, Pele turned around leisurely, raised his hand, and ran, and the spectators finally confirmed the goal that had gone into the goal.

“Goal!”

Wow!!

The spectators cheered and waved their arms as if Korea had scored a goal.

“As expected, it’s Pele!”

“I couldn’t even see the ball being kicked!”

“Soccer Emperor, Pele!”

They chanted Pele in one voice.

Korea, which had only been defending, also started to counterattack, and Cha Bum-kun scored two consecutive goals, tying the score at 2:2. The game went on with a tense game where the outcome was unknown.

The 40,000 spectators were in ecstasy at the exciting game.

Having seen Pele’s stunts, the spectators now cheered for Korea.

“One more goal! One more goal!”

Shoot!

“Goal!”

It was Brazil’s final goal.

Although they lost 2:3, the spectators saw Pele’s stunts, the emperor of soccer, and confirmed the strong Korean soccer, so it was remembered as a memorable game that soccer fans will never forget.

The President, who relieved stress by shouting for the first time in a long time, also smiled.

“I don’t regret ruining today’s schedule at all, hahaha!”