The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 10

Reverting to President as a Conglomerate Chairman 1967- Episode 10 (10/225)

10. Money Suitcase

The Yeongbingwan, the state guest house of the Blue House [the executive office and official residence of the South Korean president].

Steaming hot seolleongtang (ox bone soup), kimchi, and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) were placed on the square tables.

The simple meal was just like in Chairman Wang’s days.

There was a legendary story about Chairman Wang: a thief who broke into his house turned away, saying, “This is a conglomerate’s house, but what paltry furniture! There’s nothing to take!” He was that frugal.

However, for his health, he would buy tens of millions of won [hundreds of thousands of US dollars] worth of wild ginseng in cash and chew it on the spot.

He was also generous to the women he spent his nights with.

He had no desire for material possessions, but his habit of being generous with labor costs was the secret to his good reputation among those around him.

The President, seated in the center, kept glancing at Hyundai Group’s Chung Ju-hyun, but he deliberately averted his gaze.

The President said,

“I was going to treat you to a hearty dinner with drinks, but I thought it would be better to have a simple lunch since time is money for you CEOs. It’s not an extravagant spread, but it’s beef soup, so you can eat quickly and gain strength.”

The business leaders gave formal responses.

“Thank you so much for inviting us to this prestigious event, Your Excellency!”

The President said,

“The Yeongbingwan is a place to treat heads of state, but aren’t business leaders the most important guests who feed the people and the national economy?”

Clap, clap, clap!

“I will visit the sites myself to discuss the details of the projects. Today, we are just having a meal together as one family.”

Usually, the order of business at a meeting with business leaders is to listen to their difficulties in business activities, but no business leader would be so clueless as to reveal their real grievances to the President in such a public setting.

That’s because the biggest difficulty for companies is politicians.

So, the formality was omitted.

As the President had announced, they chatted and laughed, and the luncheon ended in less than an hour.

The business leaders were both relieved and somewhat disappointed that it ended without a long speech.

The Chief of Staff announced,

“Now, we will hand out a small gift prepared for you on your way out.”

At the word “gift,” the attendees thought it would be an umbrella or a diary with the Blue House logo.

However, the security guards who rushed in were holding familiar objects in their hands.

They were money suitcases.

The business leaders were taken aback when they realized they were money suitcases.

‘Why, why are they bringing that out?’

It was openly known money, but it should have been done discreetly. To reveal it like this was absurd.

The security guards placed the money suitcases with the names on them in front of the respective business leaders.

The amicable atmosphere instantly froze over.

‘What is this all about?’

‘Is the amount small?’

‘Are they going to publicly humiliate companies with small amounts by revealing the amounts?’

The business leaders were rife with speculation.

The President said to the business leaders, who had turned pale,

“From now on, never, ever bring anything like this to the Blue House. What kind of bribery is it when you’re using private loans?”

“…….”

“Give this money to the workers and use it for your businesses. I’ve put the phone number of the Board of Audit and Inspection [South Korea’s supreme audit institution] for reporting corruption on the suitcase. If anyone claiming to be from the Blue House demands it, please report it immediately.”

In Chairman Wang’s days, the amount regularly paid to the Blue House was in the hundreds of billions of won [hundreds of millions of US dollars].

If they didn’t pay or the amount was small, the government would systematically block permits and conduct tax investigations, making it impossible to run a normal business.

Even while extorting money that should have been used to expand businesses and distribute to employees, politicians would frame business leaders as labor exploiters and wear the mask of righteousness, pretending to be champions of justice.

As long as he was President, he could never tolerate such corrupt practices.

Sure enough, there was a sticker with a reporting phone number on one side of the suitcase.

Only then did the business leaders realize the President’s true intentions and were deeply impressed.

“Thank you, Your Excellency! It was actually the biggest difficulty. Thank you for resolving it!”

Without being told, the business leaders all stood up and bowed deeply to the President, expressing their sincere respect.

The President also returned the greeting and said,

“Don’t think of your companies as just your own property, but as social assets built together with your workers.”

“We will keep that in mind.”

The President shook hands with each of the business leaders at the exit as he saw them off.

They bowed and shook hands with both hands, saying,

“Your Excellency, it was truly touching.”

“The heart of the nation is its businesses. We must feed them all.”

“We will keep that in mind.”

As they said their goodbyes one by one, the problematic figure stood before the President.

It was President Chung Ju-hyun.

The President reached out his hand to see him off normally.

President Chung also extended both hands and bowed deeply.

But as he grasped the President’s hand, President Chung suddenly moved closer to the President’s face and whispered in his ear.

“Hey, you’re Chung Ju-hyun, right?”

Ah!

The President felt goosebumps all over his body.

Although it was President Chung’s appearance, it was momentarily President Park’s *mal-tu* [manner of speaking].

The President flinched.

Questions swirled chaotically in his head.

‘What is it? Did this guy recognize me?’

‘Could it be that our souls have been switched?’

‘Am I not the only regressor?’

While the President was frozen, President Chung smiled slyly and disappeared through the exit.

What, what is that eerie smile? And those eyes flashing with murderous intent!

His hair stood on end and his spine tingled as if he had met a grim reaper.

A dark shadow was cast over his confident regressor life.

Chairman Wang, who had become President, already knew the history and the people’s backgrounds, so he could control most situations, but if that guy was also a regressor, it could be a huge variable.

Is he an enemy or an ally? What is that murderous intent?

* * *

The Gungjeong-dong safe house.

After finishing the blueprint for economic growth, the President began to wield the list of those to be purged in earnest.

But it wasn’t a purge like Grand Prince Suyang’s iron hammer in the Joseon Dynasty [a brutal power grab].

The principle was to remove the military with ambitions for power and to give important positions to capable individuals, even if they were from the military.

Purging the military required caution.

Since they were the core of the revolutionary contributors, there would be a strong backlash if he rashly purged them all at once.

He had to give them a cause and remove them one by one.

The Three Factions were very nervous.

They couldn’t figure out the President, who was showing very different behavior from the past, such as sending his family abroad and eradicating corporate donations that were used as slush funds.

Gungjeong-dong was the best place for the President to enjoy himself, but it had become a hot seat.

Moreover, since their resignations had been accepted, it could be their last supper.

They were on edge, wondering if they would be retained, reassigned, or survive.

Before the first drink was passed around, the President said,

“Since you have made great contributions to assisting me, I will give you the priority to choose your positions.”

The Three Factions were greatly relieved.

The right to choose a position! As expected, long live Your Excellency!

They wondered if they had needlessly suspected His Excellency and appealed to Kim Jong-pil. But….

“You can choose the head of the department written here. There are also departments that will be newly established.”

The President scribbled the names of government ministries on the prepared drawing paper.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Sports Agency, Ministry of Construction….

The Three Factions scanned the listed departments with their eyes and chose.

However, the most manageable Ministry of National Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, and Ministry of Public Information, which manipulates public opinion, were not on the list.

The President’s next words froze their eyes.

“Each department has a goal to achieve. For example, during my term, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry must achieve self-sufficiency in rice, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation must complete the Gyeongbu Expressway [major highway in South Korea] within two and a half years and produce 100,000 domestic cars. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry must export 5 billion dollars, and the Sports Agency must win an Olympic gold medal….”

“…….”

The Three Factions’ mouths dropped open. These were all impossible goals for military personnel without expertise.

The following content was even more absurd.

“You must report your performance every quarter, and if you fail to meet the goal twice, you must take off your official uniform.”

“…….”

In other words, it was an extreme survival where they had to resign in as little as half a year.

“After retirement, you must not go near the government, the National Assembly, or government-affiliated organizations. This applies not only to you, but also to other ministers who will be selected under the same conditions.”

They now realized the meritocracy, and their eyes wandered wildly.

They were torn between giving up and doing it. If they were going to give up, they had to give up now, and if they were going to do it, they had to choose first to be competitive.

Kim Young-wook made the first move.

“I will dedicate myself to Your Excellency. I will take charge of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and complete the national artery, Your Excellency!”

He didn’t know the ‘geon’ in construction or the ‘ja’ in automobile, but he intended to make an impression by taking on the President’s biggest New Deal policy pledge.

“Oh, good. I wish you good luck.”

The two, who were watching, also spoke up, competing with each other.

Park Jung-gyu was slightly faster.

“I will take charge of the Sports Agency. I will definitely win a gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics next year.”

Park Jung-gyu, who was usually interested in sports, designated the Sports Agency.

Knowing that martial arts such as judo, wrestling, and boxing had performed well at the 18th Tokyo Olympics, he calculated that if he went along with the athletes’ abilities rather than his own, his face would be saved even if the results were bad.

“Good. Our Pistol Park is the Sports Agency.”

The President chuckled. No one knew the meaning of the smile made by the President, who knew the future.

Lee Woo-rak, who missed the first move, hesitated.

“Uh, I… the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry….”

The President asked as if to question him.

“Look here, have you ever farmed?”

“Uh, no, I haven’t.”

“Then the cows will laugh. How are you going to achieve self-sufficiency in rice?”

He resented His Excellency for urging him to have a vision only for himself.

“I, I’m sorry.”

“There’s a perfect position for you.”

It meant that his position had already been conceived.

“Your Excellency, what department is it?”

“Ambassador to Japan.”

“Ambassador to Japan?”

Lee Woo-rak was fluent in English and Japanese and had a talent for diplomatic information, such as meeting Kim Il-sung as a special envoy to North Korea.

He was too good a talent to simply purge, so the President was thinking of using his aptitude in a position with limited power rather than purging him.

“The Republic of Korea will foster the heavy chemical industry and the electrical and electronic industries. We have no money and no technology. But Japan is a powerhouse in steel, machinery, and electronics industries as it prepared for the Pacific War. Also, rice breeding technology is the best in the world. Take all that technology from Japan! Secure the list of our looted cultural assets!”