The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 333

Prosecutor Choi’s Success! – Episode 333 (333/341)

Presidential Election (2)

-Finally, it’s our Prosecutor Choi Seo-jun!

-Light has descended…

-A bright day has come to Korea!

-Wow, I’m definitely voting for lawyer Choi Seo-jun.

-ㄴ 22222 Honestly, I was so fed up with party politics, but a truly decent person has emerged as an independent, and I’m so happy.

-Why do lawyers always come out to do politics?

-What kind of politics can a prosecutor who has never done politics do?

-ㅋㅋㅋ You don’t know anything. Do you think he could have become a Prosecutor General without engaging in any political maneuvering?

-Frankly speaking, winning in a Japanese court in a trial backed by the Japanese government is enough to qualify you for politics, even if you don’t know how.

-I’m just going to close my eyes and vote for Choi Seo-jun this time.

-Looking at his actions as a prosecutor, he’ll deliver a refreshing blow when he becomes president.

-ㄴ I’m expecting that too. I’m voting for Choi Seo-jun just because I hate seeing big corporations abuse their power!

-I really desperately wanted Prosecutor Choi Seo-jun to run, and the universe seems to have granted my wish. I’m believing in the God of the Universe from today.

-Jackpot! This presidential election is going to be so much funㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Ah, I’m from Daegu and a true-blue Min-guk Party supporter, but I’m a bit conflicted because of Choi Seo-jun. What should I do?

-ㅋㅋㅋ What’s there to 고민 [Gomin – worry] about? I’m from Gwangju and have only voted for the Daehan Party for over 10 years, but I’m voting for Choi Seo-jun this time.

-Choi Seo-jun is trustworthy.

-I want to create a Choi Seo-jun fan cafe.

-Guys, we really need to vote for Choi Seo-jun.

-Choi Seo-jun to the National Assembly… no, Choi Seo-jun to the Blue House!

-Let’s vote for Choi Seo-jun. Let’s vote for him twice.

The public’s reaction wasn’t bad.

I expected there would be mixed reactions, but there was much less opposition than I thought.

I was more worried that excessive shielding would provoke opposition.

Most importantly, the best sign was that most citizens, tired of the two-party system of the Daehan Party and the Min-guk Party that had lasted for nearly 20 years, were turning to me.

Moreover, as I had shown great strides as a lawyer recently, the impact of that was also having a significant effect.

“It seems much better than expected.”

“Yes. Can we expect a good initial approval rating?”

“We shouldn’t just expect the initial approval rating.”

I smirked.

“We’re going to go perfectly all the way to the final approval rating.”

And I must enter the Blue House [the presidential residence of South Korea].

I have to.

Yoon Seol-ha exclaimed, full of energy.

“I will do my best to assist you.”

“Let’s do it right.”

***

Candidate number 4, independent Choi Seo-jun.

That was my presidential election number.

I would have liked to have number 1 or 2, which are earlier in the order, but the presidential candidate numbers are determined by the number of seats the affiliated party has in the National Assembly.

Otherwise, it goes by the Korean alphabetical order for parties without any seats.

However, there were only four candidates this time.

Thus, number 1 was Shin Dong-hyun of the Min-guk Party.

Number 2 was Kim Kang-jin of the Daehan Party.

Number 3 was Seo Hyun-mi of the Manse Party.

Number 4 was me, independent Choi Seo-jun.

It was clearly a three-way race, excluding the Manse Party.

The Manse Party moved for their own politics, so they had not obtained high approval ratings in previous presidential elections, and the party’s approval rating had been the same.

For now, on the first day of the election campaign, the announced approval ratings signaled a fairly pleasant start.

Number 1, Shin Dong-hyun of the Min-guk Party: 27%.

Number 2, Kim Kang-jin of the Daehan Party: 25%.

Number 3, Seo Hyun-mi of the Manse Party: 16%.

Number 4, independent Choi Seo-jun: 32%.

This was a very excellent figure.

Shin Dong-hyun had the same approval rating as when he was last measured during his time in office.

The Manse Party’s rating was quite high compared to previous presidential elections, but it was not threatening.

The remaining candidates also had the share that my election camp had expected.

So far, everything was green light.

And today, the third day of the election.

“Hello, I’m candidate number 4, Choi Seo-jun!”

I was meeting voters and campaigning as I walked the road leading from Hwanghak-dong’s kitchen street to Sindang-dong’s tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes] alley.

“Oh, Prosecutor Choi, please shake my hand!”

“My husband and I are fans of yours, Prosecutor!”

“Thanks to you, Prosecutor, my son decided to become a lawyer, and he was accepted to law school this time! Thank you!”

Here too, my title was Prosecutor.

Although I had been working as a lawyer for two years, the public had me ingrained in their minds as a prosecutor for over 10 years.

Once an image is stuck, it doesn’t change easily.

That’s why first impressions are important.

And I can confidently say that my first impression is the best among the four candidates.

“Oh, sir. Congratulations!”

I grabbed the man’s hands with both of mine, exclaiming more enthusiastically than usual.

“Your son will surely become a wonderful judge, prosecutor, or lawyer. Please tell him that I’m cheering him on.”

“Thank you, Prosecutor!”

“Choi Seo-jun! Choi Seo-jun!”

At the sudden cheers from the citizens, I smiled brightly, folded my thumb, and stretched out the four fingers high.

“Number 4, everyone! Please help me! I will root out the corrupt politicians of Korea!”

***

“Hoo.”

I roughly loosened my tie and sank into the seat.

The strength that had been in my body was naturally released.

I kept bending my thumb to make the number 4, so the joint of my thumb was aching.

Yoon Seol-ha, who was sitting next to me, bowed her head.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“No, Seol-ha and Go Pro worked harder.”

“We’re fine.”

I naturally started speaking informally to Yoon Seol-ha.

According to the analysts in the election camp, it’s better not to use honorifics with subordinates because you need to have the dignity of a president in front of the voters.

Go Joong-hyuk, who was sitting in the passenger seat, checked the surrounding situation and immediately instructed the driver to depart.

I closed my eyes and asked.

“What’s the next schedule?”

Yoon Seol-ha immediately took out her tablet and explained.

“It’s a TV debate. It will be broadcast live from 6 PM, with Part 1 and Part 2 each lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes, and a 20-minute break in between.”

“Ah, right. It was PBC, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Unless a special incident or scandal breaks out, the only opportunity to change the approval rating is this presidential candidate debate.

The debates are held once or twice every week during the election campaign by the main broadcasting stations.

You have to do it about six times in 21 days, but you can’t not campaign in the provinces, so it’s a murderous schedule.

Han Ji-yoo, who saw my schedule, said it was much busier than the schedule of a popular idol during their promotion period, so there’s nothing more to say.

However, I couldn’t show a disheveled appearance in front of the voters, so I had to tidy up my appearance as much as possible.

Thanks to that, I only slept for 3 hours today.

And I couldn’t even go home; I had to stay at the election camp.

I don’t know if it’s because of fatigue or because I’m sensitive due to the presidential election, but I felt that my nerves were getting sharper.

Of course, I was trying to control it as much as possible without showing it.

I don’t know how long I can hide it…

“It takes about 30 minutes to get to the broadcasting station. Would you like to get some sleep? Considering the time, you can sleep in the car for about an hour before the broadcast.”

“No, it’s okay. Rather, can you give me the materials and questionnaires to use in the debate? I need to check them again before going into the debate.”

Go Joong-hyuk immediately took out a bundle of materials from his briefcase and handed it to me.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you. I’ll look at this, so you two can rest for a while.”

“Yes, Candidate. Please tell me if you need anything.”

The questions selected by the broadcasting station and the contents needed to answer them.

I had seen it once in the morning, but I once again put the figures in the data and charts into my head.

When a question comes in, answering it by looking at the data because you don’t know the content is a completely different story from answering logically with proper knowledge and supporting the grounds with data.

In addition to the questionnaire, the characteristics and trivial matters of the other candidates were also written down.

Separate data from what Prosecutor Gong Sang-wook, who was digging into their weaknesses, had investigated.

“Are there any other things to refer to?”

“Yes. It’s not written there, but as an expected question from the Daehan Party…”

***

“Above all, the youth employment crisis is serious. As we approach the 100-year era, re-employment for retirees has been prepared to some extent, but rather, the unemployment rate for young people has increased. As a countermeasure for this, I…”

The debate proceeded smoothly.

Rather than tearing each other apart, it was going in a structure of unfolding their strategies.

Above all, as it was the first debate, they were in a state of probing each other.

Moreover, since there was a plan for bloodless entry, Shin Dong-hyun, Kim Kang-jin, and I all didn’t feel the need to inflict wounds.

However, the problem erupted from an unexpected place.

“Finally, it’s the turn of Manse Party candidate Seo Hyun-mi. Ms. Seo Hyun-mi, do you have any questions for the other three candidates?”

“I will ask candidate Choi Seo-jun.”

I didn’t expect her to choose me.

For now, I listened to her words.

“Did you ever offer bribes during your time as a prosecutor?”

I flatly said no.

“According to the information I have obtained, Seo Gi-woong was appointed as the new chief prosecutor when you were the head prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Then, not long after, you donated a large sum to the Somangwon, which his wife runs.”

That’s a story from over 10 years ago.

To bring up a long time ago now.

“In my opinion, it looks like an act of flattery from a head prosecutor to look good to the chief prosecutor.”

She sharply raised her eyes and asked.

“Are you saying that there was no ulterior motive at all?”

First of all, the problem is that she knows this story.

It means she’s going to attack me outright.

However, there’s no need to panic.

The matter was settled well at the time.

No evidence remains.

“Yes. I didn’t even know that the Somangwon was related to the chief prosecutor.”

“In addition, candidate Choi Seo-jun had many suspicions regarding bribery. In particular, Jang Young-soon raised suspicions of offering 10 billion won in bribes, but soon committed suicide. It’s not clear whether it was actually suicide or murder.”

It seems like she’s planning to bring up old things one by one.

I cut off her suspicions.

“I have explained everything about the related matters, and I have not left any room for suspicion.”

“No. According to my investigation…”

She began to peck at me relentlessly.

Starting with Seo Gi-woong, all the way to the things that were tied to the chaebols [large family-owned business conglomerates] a long time ago, Choi Gyu-hyun, and even Jang Young-soon.

It’s not something that can come out with an investigation of one or two months.

It seems like she’s been deliberately digging into my past for several years.

Heat flared up.

“You’re wearing the mask of a national hero, but according to the data I’ve obtained, you’re a dirty, corrupt prosecutor covered in all sorts of corruption. It doesn’t make sense for such a person to run for president.”

I raised my voice.

“Do you have any grounds for saying that? Can you take responsibility for what you said?”

She said firmly without any hesitation.

“Yes. I have grounds, and I can take responsibility.”

At that time, the light that came into her microphone went out.

At the same time, the moderator glanced at the clock and opened his mouth.

“Ms. Seo Hyun-mi, your speaking time is up.”

Seo Hyun-mi took her body off the microphone with a hypocritical smile.

The moderator looked at the camera and continued to speak.

“The first part of the PBC presidential candidate debate is over. We will see you in the second part after a short break.”

At the same time, the light that came into the camera went out, and the broadcast switched to an advertisement screen.

Just as I was about to get up from my seat.

“Oh, what’s wrong?”

Candidate Seo Hyun-mi looked at me and raised her eyebrows playfully.

“You look like someone who’s been hit hard?”

I approached her silently, lowered my voice so that others could not hear, and opened my mouth.

“I don’t think I’ve ever clashed with the Manse Party, and I don’t think there’s any reason to have bad feelings.”

However, I couldn’t hide my sharp voice.

“Let’s go well. If you do a debate like this, it will be difficult for you to be elected anyway.”

“I didn’t run for president to get elected.”

“Then why did you come out?”

She glared at me viciously and said.

“I came out to take down candidate Choi Seo-jun.”

A venomous energy emanated from Seo Hyun-mi’s eyes.

***

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Yoon Seol-ha and Go Joong-hyuk were on fire, holding their cell phones between their shoulders and ears, talking to the election camp, and tapping on their laptops with their other hands.

They didn’t expect Seo Hyun-mi, who they didn’t even think of as a check, to come in like this, with unprepared materials.

It was different from the usual personality of the Manse Party, and they were too busy worrying about the Daehan Party and the Min-guk Party to do a detailed investigation.

The two first started gathering information about her again.

And finally, Go Joong-hyuk found a piece of information.

“Seol-ha, Seo Gi-woong comes up in the family relationship?”

“Seo Gi-woong?”

Yoon Seol-ha was flustered as if she had misheard, but the name Go Joong-hyuk confirmed was definitely Seo Gi-woong.

Former Chief Prosecutor Seo Gi-woong.

At one time, he was a symbol of integrity in the prosecutor’s office and had a wife who ran Somangwon, but Choi Seo-jun created a scandal with Neulbit Construction and pulled him down from the position of chief prosecutor.

“Seo Hyun-mi comes out as Seo Gi-woong’s younger sister.”

Yoon Seol-ha bit her lip.

“I think the situation has become serious?”