My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 611

After about 30 minutes, when everyone expected had arrived, Jo Sang-gyu stood up and locked the door himself.

“Close all the windows. Lower the blinds.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

“And what I’m about to say is serious, so listen carefully, everyone. Absolutely no one is to go outside.”

“Yes.”

Everyone glanced around, nodding.

“As you all probably suspect, Chairman Hong Chang-sik has been murdered.”

“Hmm…”

“Just as I thought…”

In South Korea, there has never been a case of a chairman of a major corporation being murdered. Because they wield significant authority and influence, no one can easily approach them.

In America, they might attempt a long-range assassination, but this is Korea. Adequate close-range security is generally enough to ensure safety.

“How was he murdered? Wasn’t Hong Chang-sik extremely careful about his security?”

Moreover, Hong Chang-sik was known to obsess over his safety; even someone with a relatively short career like Lee Ji-soo knew that, so it wouldn’t have been easy to kill him.

“Right. Especially since it’s a defense company responsible for national security, that level of security is normal.”

“But?”

“It couldn’t have been a close-range kill. Was it poison?”

“Could it have been a sniper?”

Amidst the unsettling atmosphere, Park Do-joon was deep in thought.

‘He wasn’t supposed to die… Has history been twisted again?’

In the original timeline, Hong Chang-sik dies several years later. From natural causes.

‘No, at least that’s how I remember it.’

Of course, whether it was truly natural causes or murder is unknown. If I don’t remember it as a case, it could mean the incident was covered up.

‘But…’

Someone killed him. History has changed, drastically.

“I wish it were that simple…”

“Simple?”

“Isn’t that a pretty big deal?”

“No, it’s simple. Given the situation we’re in.”

“Why?”

“If it were poison, we’d just have to investigate the people around him, and if it were a close-range kill, the perpetrator would have been caught on the spot, making headlines immediately.”

“Could it have been a sniper?”

“I’d rather it be that.”

Jo Sang-gyu said with a very serious face.

“It was a bomb.”

“A bomb, you say?”

Everyone’s eyes widened at those words. It was something they hadn’t even considered. Bombings are extremely rare in South Korea.

“Is that true?”

“Wait… a bomb? The kind we’re thinking of? That goes boom?”

“Yes.”

“No, not like a gas explosion or something?”

“A C4 [a military-grade plastic explosive] exploded under his car. Not some pipe bomb from a movie, but real C4.”

“That’s military-grade, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s why it’s serious.”

“So that’s why it’s off the record.”

The death of a major corporation’s chairman cannot be easily concealed. But separately from that, the shock this bombing brings is beyond words. Except for a long time ago, South Korea has not had any bombings, and even those were committed by North Korea to disrupt the ’88 Seoul Olympics, not something spontaneous.

Of course, some crazy politician threw something similar while an opposing politician was giving a speech, but that was more of a spark ignition device than a real bomb, so other than some minor burns, no one was hurt, and he didn’t receive a major punishment.

“But this time it’s not. It’s clearly a bomb. The evidence that the item used was C4 is solid.”

“What about the victims?”

“Eight.”

“The others haven’t been reported in the news yet.”

“Because of the situation.”

Hong Chang-sik, his secretary, and his driver were in the car to leave work, and five executives from the company came out to greet Hong Chang-sik as he was leaving, and they were caught in the disaster.

“From the National Intelligence Service to the military, everyone is on high alert because of this situation.”

“What about us then?”

“Yes. We have to investigate that case for the time being.”

“Hmm.”

“A bomb…”

Everyone looked serious. That’s because there are very few people in South Korea who have been trained in profiling related to bombings.

“We don’t know anything about that.”

“Still, we have to do it if we’re told to. It’s Hong Chang-sik, no one else. Right now, they’re keeping it off the record, but that won’t last long.”

Well, it will be impossible to hide something like this forever.

“Do you know how messed up the atmosphere will be if rumors start spreading that bombings are possible in Korea?”

Moreover, it’s not a pipe bomb from a movie, but military-grade C4, which is a very serious problem. Since it’s military-grade, its destructive power is incredibly strong, and using one means there’s likely more to be used elsewhere.

“Is there any information?”

“Information? Would this chaos be happening if there was?”

With a frustrated expression, Jo Sang-gyu handed out thick files.

“These are crime scene photos. Absolutely do not leak them outside.”

“Yes.”

“For now, there’s not much we can do, but let’s do our best for the time being.”

At Jo Sang-gyu’s words, everyone took the files and returned to their seats, and Park Do-joon took his and returned to his seat with Lee Ji-soo.

“What do you think, Senior? Who do you think the culprit is?”

“Well, there’s one person who comes to mind.”

“There’s no way, is there?”

“No way.”

In fact, it’s not difficult to guess who the culprit is: the one who benefits the most from Hong Chang-sik’s death at this point. Hong Woo-jong.

“Wasn’t Hong Woo-jong in a frenzy because he lacked election funds?”

“That’s right.”

But if the assets are transferred, he can sufficiently fund his election. Furthermore, if he obtains one-third of the shares, he will regain some influence in the company.

“But would he really kill his own father?”

“From Hong Woo-jong’s perspective, even his father is no different.”

From the perspective of someone who tried to kill his brothers, Hong Geun-jong and Hong Min-young, even his parents are just trash that burdens him.

‘In the actual timeline, Hong Chang-sik died last.’

In fact, that’s how it should be. Because that’s the most effective.

If Hong Geun-jong and Hong Min-young die, the first in line to inherit is the father. However, the assets they have are nothing compared to the father’s. So, if he wants to efficiently steal the money, the most effective way is to kill the two and then inherit everything himself.

“However, a bombing…”

“There’s no easy answer.”

Hired killings are incredibly difficult to track. You can’t arrest or investigate a suspect just because they benefit.

“If it were disguised as an accident, there would be an answer.”

Disguising an accident doesn’t make it impossible to track the other party in some way. However, in cases like this, where they openly commit terrorism, tracking is almost impossible.

Because bombing is an expert’s domain.

“This won’t be easy to track, will it?”

“It won’t be easy. The culprit likely isn’t Korean.”

“Not Korean?”

“Yes. Of course, C4 is actually a relatively easy explosive to use among explosives. But separately from that, tracking it is a completely different issue.”

Park Do-joon smiled bitterly.

“Just look at our team’s problem.”

“Ah~!”

The profiling team under the Gwangsu Unit [a special investigation unit] is one of the best in the country. But everyone is relatively ignorant when it comes to bombings.

Other profilers were the same, and even Lee Ji-soo herself had never obtained information related to it at school.

“In other words, we don’t have the ability to track it.”

“Conversely, aren’t there more people than you think who can track it?”

“No, that’s the problem. Rather, there are a lot of people to track.”

In Korea, almost everyone goes to the military. Of course, they don’t all handle military-grade explosives like C4. But a significant number of people work in those fields and acquire skills related to explosives through their service.

“But you said they wouldn’t be Korean?”

“That’s right. Training and executing it are completely different issues.”

Even if they train so much before the war in the military, humans panic when the real battle starts. How much more so with other things?

Unlike guns, bombs can kill the user when they explode. So, the guys who handle bombs have to be extremely careful.

“A bomb exploded. And you said the Ministry of National Defense intervened. What does that mean?”

“It means they’re investigating people who are capable of it domestically.”

“That’s right. And it’s easy to get swept up in that.”

If the direction starts heading towards domestic experts, the investigation flow naturally goes that way.

“They may not be Korean, but they can use Koreans to confuse the investigation.”

“Yes.”

In Korea, this is a very special case, so they will start investigating almost all military veterans who have handled bombs.

“And the administrative power that goes into that… it’s insanely enormous.”

“How much?”

“Probably… they won’t be able to thoroughly investigate.”

Park Do-joon smiled bitterly. And that prediction turned out to be true not long after.

“What are you trying to do now!”
A tremendous amount of data poured into the police station. And Jo Sang-gyu, who received it, was dumbfounded and asked back.

“These are the suspicious suspects provided by the military.”

“Chief? There are at least 2,000 people here?”

“That’s excluding those who went to other regions. There are about 2,000 people in our region alone.”

“Does that make sense?”

Jo Sang-gyu couldn’t help but get angry. The situation is already serious. But this much work? But the chief also had something to say.

“The Ministry of National Defense is strongly requesting cooperation! Strongly!”

Saying they’re strongly requesting means they’re just telling them to do it outright.

“And right now, the Gwangsu Unit is the only one who can do it.”

They won’t just calculate the people who handle bombs within the last 2 or 3 years; of course, they’ll dig up and hand over people who have been discharged for years, even decades, so that’s how this number comes out.

The problem is that they are already civilians who have been discharged from the military. No matter how serious the bombing is, military investigative agencies do not have the authority to investigate civilians unless it is under martial law.

Therefore, the best the Ministry of National Defense can do is to roughly organize and hand it over for investigation.

“See? I told you.”

Park Do-joon sighed deeply, looking at the piles of data.

“It can’t be helped. Anyway, the Gwangsu Unit is all attached to this.”

“That’s not it.”

Local police have limitations in continuing to focus on Hong Chang-sik’s case. That’s because crime doesn’t disappear in Korea just because he died. So, they have to prioritize handling local cases. Therefore, when an incident like this occurs, it is the Gwangsu Unit that is intensively投入 [invested/involved].

The Gwangsu Unit is closer to the concept of a special organization, so it is possible to make some changes.

Conversely, the investigation team that is mobilized first when a problem like this occurs is also the Gwangsu Unit.

My Calling is Profiler