The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 122

122. The Year Ends

The reform proposal addressing suspicious deaths, like that of Private Ha, stemmed from the understanding that the military’s judicial system itself was flawed. This was highlighted by the military prosecution’s handling of such cases, leading the President to issue a special directive.

The core of the reform was to differentiate the military’s judicial system for wartime and peacetime operations. While wartime operations would retain the military’s existing special characteristics, peacetime operations would see a significant limitation of the military’s judicial power.

The specifics were as follows:

The role of military courts, previously responsible for both first and second trials, would be restricted to only the first trial during peacetime. Subsequent trials would involve civilian court judges, preventing commanding officers from influencing the trial and ensuring the accused could not conceal, reduce, or distort the case to their disadvantage.

Furthermore, the discretion of military commanders regarding trial outcomes was significantly curtailed during peacetime.

The existing peacetime *Gwanhaldwan* system (a system where the Minister of National Defense and other commanders effectively served as court presidents) was abolished, replaced by military judges appointed as military court presidents.

The abolishment of the *Gwanhaldwan* system also eliminated the ‘confirmation measure rights’ previously granted to the *Gwanhaldwan*.

These ‘confirmation measure rights’ allowed the *Gwanhaldwan* to reduce a sentence by up to one-third if they believed it was excessive. This system had been criticized for enabling commanders to protect their subordinates and apply sentencing inconsistently, thereby eroding trust in the military judicial system.

Additionally, the ‘judge system,’ which allowed officers without formal judge qualifications to participate in trials as judges, was also abolished during peacetime. This was to prevent military commanders from using these positions to interfere in trials.

The requirement that ‘military prosecutors must obtain approval from the head of their unit when requesting an arrest warrant’ was also removed during peacetime.

This change recognized that commanders often face a conflict of interest, finding it difficult to resist the temptation to downplay or conceal incidents within their units due to the potential impact on their promotion evaluations. This made thorough initial investigations into serious incidents, including deaths, challenging.

To ensure impartiality, a path was created for civilian prosecutors to conduct joint investigations from the outset in serious cases, particularly when requested by the victim’s family.

The military reform bill passed smoothly through the National Assembly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Ha Private case was adjudicated under the new law.

*

Seoul Central District Court.

The court’s ruling was as follows:

“Even if the command, including the battalion commander, initially received a report of a suicide from the company commander, they had a subsequent duty to report the accurate facts to their superiors once they learned the truth. They violated this duty by instructing their unit members to actively conceal and manipulate the incident. The military police in charge of the investigation also failed in their duty as an investigative agency by concealing and manipulating the truth, despite learning it during the investigation.”

The audience stirred at the Ministry of National Defense’s admission of guilt.

“The deceased was conscripted into military service at the young age of 22 to fulfill his constitutional duty of national defense, against his will. The state has a responsibility to ensure soldiers can return to society in good health. However, during his military service, the deceased died at the hands of others.”

The attending family members sobbed.

“Nevertheless, the deceased’s unit concealed and manipulated the incident by firing two additional shots into his feet and moving the body to create the false impression of suicide. The plaintiffs, the deceased’s family, were awaiting his first regular leave after enlistment but instead received notification that he had committed suicide by shooting himself three times. The mental anguish they suffered is beyond description, and this is the truth of the incident.”

The family members heaved with emotion and finally burst into tears.

“The plaintiffs have worked tirelessly to uncover the truth of the deceased’s death, discovering considerable questions surrounding the circumstances. However, because this incident occurred within the military, it was virtually impossible for an individual to uncover the truth. Despite the state possessing all the relevant data, only superficial reinvestigations were conducted on several occasions.”

The military investigation agency involved was also found guilty.

The judge ruled:

“The direct parties involved in the incident and the military investigation agency that investigated them will be severely punished! Furthermore, considering the mental anguish suffered by the plaintiffs until the truth was revealed, due to the deceased’s death being disguised and concealed as a suicide by his unit members and the military investigation agency, the court presumes that the suffering is difficult to describe in words. Therefore, the state must pay alimony!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Not only the suspects directly involved but also the military police, investigators, and special investigation team members were found guilty in succession, and five generals were removed from their posts.

*

Immediately following the verdict, the Minister of National Defense held a press conference at the Ministry, tears welling in his eyes.

“As the head of the Ministry of National Defense, I take full responsibility for this situation and tender my resignation. I sincerely apologize to the parents of this nation who entrust their precious children to the front lines and to His Excellency [the President] who trusted and appointed me.”

The Minister stepped forward and bowed deeply, his head nearly touching the ground.

“I will seize this opportunity to ensure that our military is no longer subject to criticism, regains the public’s trust as a sacred guardian of national defense, and is reborn to deserve praise. Please give us your support!”

The Minister of National Defense departed the Ministry, his last mission being ‘resolving the issue.’

* * *

♬ Silver bells~ Silver bells~

Christmas trees adorned the streets, and Salvation Army members in crisp uniforms diligently rang their small iron bells.

When a mother handed her child a donation, the child eagerly ran to drop the money into the charity pot.

“Thank you!”

The eventful year was drawing to a close.

The President sat on the roof of his office, facing President Jung [a close advisor or confidant], sharing a bottle of soju [a Korean distilled spirit] and holding a simple year-end gathering.

Both men had families, but their demanding roles often kept them apart.

President Jung reminisced.

“In my past life [referring to the President’s previous life as a historical figure], around this time, I would have been pushing the Yushin Constitution [a controversial authoritarian constitution] through, creating the National Conference for Unification [a rubber-stamp body], holding elections in gymnasiums, and facing widespread protests from opposition parties and college students. I would have declared martial law, and the situation would have been incredibly chaotic. But this life is remarkably quiet. It’s a shame the people don’t fully appreciate Your Excellency’s achievements.”

“Hahaha, Mr. Kim Gu [a revered Korean independence activist] once said, ‘If the country is liberated, I’d be happy to be a gatekeeper.’ I’m trying to adopt that mindset. I’m not even seeking recognition. Often, I’m unfairly misunderstood for preventing things from happening. I sometimes feel lucky if I avoid impeachment and imprisonment.”

“I understand completely. You have to work incredibly hard just to break even. Being a force against regression is a lonely path.”

“So, unless it’s a major incident, I try to let things flow naturally.”

“I don’t know what would have happened without President Jung. You handle all the difficult tasks outside the government that I ask of you. If I were alone, I would have become so frustrated that I might have turned into a dictator like Hitler.”

“Hahaha, that’s not true. You would have thrown everything away, saying, ‘You guys can have it all!’ Then you would have returned to a large corporation and made a fortune.”

“Well, perhaps I would have. I would have bribed politicians and pushed through my agenda. But money politics is a ticking time bomb. Korean political history would have been plagued by scandals.”

The two clinked glasses and took a shot of soju.

“Ah, Your Excellency, what are your plans for the North? Didn’t you say that if we leave them alone, they’ll eventually develop nuclear weapons?”

“Yes, I’ve received intelligence that the North is planning to build a nuclear power plant using the funds from the industrial complex [a joint economic project between North and South Korea].”

“Hmm, they’re already preparing. War should be the last resort, but don’t be afraid of armed conflict, Your Excellency! Those guys only respond to strength.”

“Of course. I’m constantly considering a surprise preemptive strike, if regime change efforts fail.”

“Is the regime change operation in the North progressing well?”

“The reason I’m providing money, crude oil, and maintaining the industrial complex is to buy off key figures in the North. I need to make contact and win them over.”

“I hope it succeeds without bloodshed.”

“It will work out. Ah, the soju has lost its fizz. Well, Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year!”

The two emptied their soju glasses.

The original purpose of soju was to conserve food.

Previously, soju was made by distilling white rice, which consumed significant amounts of rice.

Therefore, diluted soju was developed, made by mixing alcohol and sweeteners in distilled water.

Its affordability led common people, who primarily drank *makgeolli* [a Korean rice wine], to switch to soju, and it gradually became the drink of the common people.

At this time of year, newspapers always featured an article on the top scorers in the college entrance preliminary exam.

This year, an interview with Mr. Heo, the top scorer, was published.

– There’s no special secret. I sleep 6 hours a day and thoroughly preview and review my schoolwork. I enjoy science the most, but I want to become a judge who illuminates society, so I’m applying to Seoul National University’s law school. My hobby is stamp collecting.

The interview with Ms. Choi, the highest-scoring female, was as follows:

– I didn’t even know I was the highest scorer. I came to school this morning to take a mock exam and heard the news. I was confident, but I made mistakes on the Korean language test, so I was secretly worried. I’m really happy to be the top female scorer. The secret is that I faithfully attended school classes. At home, I previewed and reviewed for 3 hours a day, and I got enough sleep for 7 hours. At school, I am the vice president of the student council and actively participate in autonomous activities. My hobby is calligraphy. I will apply to the Department of Law at Seoul National University and become a female judge.

Students who read these interviews felt frustrated.

“What’s the deal with ‘3 wins, 4 losses’ [a saying meaning sleep 3 hours and pass, sleep 4 hours and fail]? They sleep 6 hours, 7 hours, participate in extracurriculars, and still get the top score!”

“Hey, that just means only dummies have to study without sleeping more than 3 hours. They didn’t even go to private academies!”

“Ha~ Is this another case of ‘studying was the easiest’? Should I just give in to fatalism again?”

“You jerk, stop making excuses.”

That’s how the results of the college entrance exam were received, and the year came to an end.

*

The first cabinet meeting of the new year was held.

The economic indicators were alarming.

The Minister of Strategy and Finance reported:

“The whole world is suffering from inflation due to the oil shock. Price increases are generally 20-30%. We are relatively stable due to being an oil-producing country, but because our trade dependence is 47.9%, we cannot avoid rising import raw material prices. We have no choice but to significantly raise the target prices.”

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy said:

“Your Excellency, if we drastically lower the average crude oil price from 80% to 50%, we can stably lower inflation.”

“Minister, I will not tolerate an economy dependent on natural resources. Don’t you know that a flower grown in a greenhouse dies as soon as it’s exposed to the outside world?”

“I’m sorry, Your Excellency!”

“A 20% reduction is sufficient to increase international competitiveness.”

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy asked:

“This question is likely to be raised by lawmakers during the state administration questioning at the beginning of the year. Why should Korea be a subcontractor for Japanese manufacturing?”

The President explained.

The President was building a strong economy with a long-term vision.

However, the lawmakers’ priorities were different.