My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 201

# Human Greed

When redevelopment starts, the first ones to latch on are the major corporations. This is because a massive amount of construction is required to rebuild the area. And after that, it’s the gangsters.

“Gangsters? In this day and age? Would the police just stand by and watch?”

“Usually, they wouldn’t. But if the union leader called them, that’s a different story.”

“The union leader? Ah!”

In reality, it’s surprisingly common for union leaders to use gangsters as leverage to seize power and create chaos.

It’s unavoidable because there’s so much vested interest in reconstruction.

“The more you take, the more dangerous it becomes.”

In many reconstruction unions, lawsuits arise for that reason, resulting in the union leader getting ousted or going to jail for embezzlement.

“To prevent that, you need power.”

It’s common for gangsters to threaten, assault, or intimidate the opposition.

“And in those cases, it becomes difficult for the police to intervene.”

Of course, they could intervene if they wanted to.

“Where there’s money, there’s bribery.”

“You know it well.”

“That much is common sense in Korea.”

Police who receive enough bribes aren’t on the side of the victims. It’s common for the police to join hands with gangsters and attack the residents.

Even during the era of riot police, they were sometimes deployed alongside gangsters.

They were mobilized with gangsters to crack down on the people, but there was no resisting. The purpose of the riot police was to suppress protests from the start. As a paramilitary organization created for violence against the people, they were continuously trained to crack down on the public.

“Now it’s conscripted police, right?”

“Yeah, but not much has changed.”

As conscripted police, they’re supposed to prevent illegal activities. But in reality, they just stand by and watch at the scene of conflict.

Even if assault, verbal abuse, or threats occur within, they just stand by as third parties.

“What’s funny is that, fundamentally, reconstruction requires the consent of the residents. But sometimes, local residents oppose it.”

“They have nowhere to go, is that it?”

“That’s right.”

Park Do-joon nodded.

“And this area is likely to have many people who oppose it.”

A neighborhood where many poor people live. A neighborhood cornered.

“You saw it earlier, right?”

“Yes, I saw the protest.”

“The reconstruction hasn’t even started yet.”

The fact that such a fierce protest is already taking place means that there are many people who have nowhere to go. If there were fewer such people, it would be rare for such a fierce protest to occur before the relocation has even begun.

“Detective, what does that have to do with the Jindo Group?”

“Ah, it’s not entirely unrelated.”

“Not entirely unrelated?”

“Logically, does it make sense that an ordinary office worker who was asking for votes until recently would suddenly bring gangsters and assault other residents?”

The head of the reconstruction union has to be a local resident. And in most cases, they are long-time residents. It’s rare for someone who moved in from the outside to suddenly claim to be a local resident and try to become the union leader. Even if they did, it would be impossible to win the union leader election.

“Oh, that’s true. It would be almost impossible.”

“Right, and what kind of guys are gangsters?”

No matter how much vested interest there is, they are antisocial types. Instead of following the union leader’s orders in exchange for the fruits they offer, they are more likely to threaten the union leader and swallow the organization.

“Ah? I didn’t think of that?”

The so-called hired thugs. They are those gangsters. But why would they follow the union leader’s orders? Their style isn’t that; it’s to threaten the other party and take everything.

“Right, what people don’t realize is that the union leader’s gang hired the hired thugs? No, that’s rare. The benefits that the union leader can give are obviously limited.”

No matter how much the union leader embezzles, they are still an individual, and the money an individual can embezzle is around 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD]. Of course, they can embezzle more, but the more they embezzle, the higher the chance of going to jail.

“But if you hire gangsters, you’ll have to hand over all that money, and even handing over all your assets won’t be enough.”

I can’t know the flow of assets, but just thinking about that much made it easy to figure out who was behind it.

“I’ve never thought of that…”

“Profiling is analysis. It doesn’t just include psychological analysis.”

Analyzing the situation, that’s what profiling is. And if you analyze the situation, the answer usually comes out.

“Logically, it’s hard to see local police taking sides for a specific class, no matter how much vested interest there is.”

Moreover, just watching a group assault happen in front of you doesn’t make sense in many ways.

But in many cases, the police just watch and condone the one-sided assault.

“And that’s not something that people in a single reconstruction union can do.”

To bring in power from the outside and project it, you need the power to control that power. If that’s not possible, you’ll eventually be eaten by the external power.

The reason why so many countries that tried to use foreign power in the past were eaten up is that. They initially provide help but eventually reveal their true colors.

“Then it must be a corporation that can do that.”

The gangsters projected into these reconstruction unions are mostly violent organizations supported by large corporations. The reason they can operate under the protection of the police is that secret.

“When it goes out to the media, that part is mostly hidden.”

Even if it does, it’s expressed as conflict between local residents, and it’s rare to see proper reporting of criminal organizations getting involved and assaulting local residents.

“So, most of the time, those guys get involved when the companies that have become the main players in the reconstruction are decided.”

That’s when the infighting within the reconstruction union is bound to intensify. People without money can’t leave, and people with money have investments.

It’s the point in time when the confrontation becomes most extreme and, at the same time, when they start fighting to the extreme.

“Why?”

“There’s a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Because it’s the point when people who really can’t leave and people who are trying to raise their value by fighting with them become one.

“Once they reach a certain level of negotiation, the people who are trying to raise their value drop out, and what’s left are the people who can’t leave until the very end.”

“Ah, I’ve never thought of that.”

“Usually, it’s natural not to think about it. Who thinks about that?”

Park Do-joon said that as he looked at the people protesting beyond the glass wall.

“However, this place will be more complicated than you think.”

“Why?”

“The protest is happening faster than I thought. That means the number of people who can’t leave is higher than in other places.”

“Um, is the relocation allowance not enough?”

At that, Park Do-joon shook his head.

“To be honest, the land for reconstruction is valued much less than other places.”

“Yes?”

“They set a price that’s about 20% lower than the market price.”

That’s because it makes construction easier. Of course, landowners and landlords can’t like that.

“Really? I didn’t know.”

“Well, you’ve never fought over reconstruction.”

“But usually, they refuse, right?”

“Usually, that’s the case. But instead, there are other conditions attached.”

The so-called premium, that is, the price of the occupancy right, goes up, so everyone accepts it.

In reality, the price of the premium is more than half the land price, and in many places, it’s even doubled, so realistically, people who can afford it give up 20% and aim for a premium that’s close to double.

“But the problem is the people who can’t.”

People who can’t afford to leave at a low price and can’t even apply for that occupancy right are bound to be desperate.

‘But that’s not a reason for the Jindo Group to give up here.’

This is common in other places as well. But why did the Jindo Group give up reconstruction and back down?

“Isn’t it that? You know, there are cases where people die trying not to leave.”

“There are plenty of those cases. And so far, no company has ever given up redevelopment rights because of such an incident.”

Strictly speaking, such incidents occur between local residents, not related to the company doing the redevelopment.

When such an incident occurs, only the local union leader or the hired thugs who caused the incident are held responsible, and the company is not affected at all.

Officially, they have never been involved in such matters.

“It ultimately means that it caused fatal damage to the local residents.”

Even though the court received all kinds of lobbying, it was an incident that they had to acknowledge.

‘In this situation, there seems to be only one thing to think about.’

It’s a coincidence, but someone just said that someone was deprived of their building and moved out. Logically, it doesn’t make sense to give up a building and livelihood and move out when reconstruction is just around the corner.

In such cases, they usually leave with compensation that matches that, that is, a premium, but according to the owner of this coffee shop, that doesn’t seem to be the case either.

“Maybe the Jindo Group is trying to forcibly take over this place.”

“Forcibly take over?”

At that, Jung I-yeon’s eyes widened. It was something she had never thought of.

“It’s not exactly a secret, is it?”

When reconstruction starts, the first thing that comes to that place is a company. Would such a company only try to make a profit from construction costs? Frankly, that’s unlikely.

Of course, they can’t say it openly, but most companies try to maximize their profits by buying land under assumed names.

“It’s not impossible for violence to be involved in that process.”

“Do they usually all do that?”

“It’s not common.”

Generally, it ends with just acquiring the items that come out on the market. That way, there are no traces left, and no problems arise later.

“But I told you, if a place actively uses gangsters, it’s practically a criminal organization.”

Would such guys be satisfied with just the items that are generally available?

“Moreover, this point in time is exactly when there are no items on the market.”

Because there are people who are trying to come in from the outside to seize that opportunity because reconstruction has been confirmed, and conversely, people here are trying not to leave.

“But if they forcibly move out…”

Park Do-joon stroked his chin.

“I need to find out more.”

Checking the ownership of the building was enough to check the registry. It wasn’t difficult. You can check the registry without a warrant.

And after checking that, Park Do-joon definitely thought it was strange.

Profiler by Trade