The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 20

20. Taming the Returner (2)

Chairman Wang was dragged out of the office like a dog on a leash, bound tightly with rope.

“Let go of me!”

If it had been the previous Chief of Staff, Kim Young-wook, President Jung would have been trampled and half-dead on the spot without a second thought.

The President called the Chief of Staff and instructed him.

“Chief of Staff, don’t harm him, just give him a lecture at Namsan [a symbolic location for intelligence agency activities, often associated with interrogation and re-education].”

“A lecture?”

“Yes. He needs some mental education.”

“Understood, Your Excellency!”

The President didn’t want to go this far, but he decided that a strong experience was necessary for him to awaken to reality.

It was necessary to clearly engrave in his mind who was in charge in this era.

* * *

Namsan Annex of the Intelligence Agency.

Under the dim light above, an intelligence agent and President Jung sat facing each other across a desk.

He had been locked in solitary confinement for a day, given only water, before being dragged out.

President Jung was furious at this absurd treatment.

The intelligence agent blew cigarette smoke into President Jung’s face and sneered.

“An ashtray is for putting out cigarettes, not for throwing.”

The agent suddenly picked up the stainless steel ashtray and threw it hard on the desk.

Clang!

The dented ashtray rolled on the floor with a loud noise, and President Jung flinched.

“Just because you have some money doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. There are things you can do and things you can’t. President Jung, are you doing drugs these days? You don’t seem to be in your right mind.”

President Jung’s voice was hoarse from shouting so much during the arrest.

He tried to maintain his dignity.

“Are you trying to add drug charges?”

The agent frowned as if he was dumbfounded and said quietly.

“Hmm, still talking nonsense. This is Namsan, where you walk in on two feet and leave in a coffin. Namyeong-dong Annex of the Intelligence Agency [another infamous location associated with the Korean intelligence agency and known for its harsh interrogation methods].”

“Your threats don’t work on me!”

The agent ignored President Jung’s words and continued.

“President Jung, when did you start planning to assassinate the head of state?”

“Planning?”

“I’m talking about the plan to overthrow the country!”

“…….”

He was speechless at the absurdity.

It was getting worse and worse.

“President Jung, what instructions did you receive from the North [North Korea]?”

“I, instructions? I’ve dedicated my life to catching communists!”

“Who are your organization members? Name them!”

“Are you really going to do this? Are you trying to make an innocent person a spy like this?”

“Didn’t you know? Everyone who comes here is a communist.”

“…….”

The agent crossed his arms.

“You’re not going to talk, huh? There’s a special way to make you talk. Now, choose.”

“…….”

The agent wrote numbers 1 through 9 on a piece of paper.

“It’s the drug of confession. I’m giving you a choice.”

“…….”

“Water, electricity, fingernails, grilled chicken, red pepper powder, towel, awl, club, tooth extraction… These are the types of torture. If you choose a number, one of them will be chosen.”

“…….”

When President Jung hesitated, the agent pressed the bell.

Four men wearing leather gloves entered in succession.

They brought something in their hands and put it on the floor.

It was a heavy bag and electrical equipment.

And the last two people dragged something in.

Creak-

A black wooden box was placed on a transport cart.

“The tools are ready.”

“Good work. Put the coffin over there.”

A coffin!

President Jung was stunned. He knew what it meant.

President Jung was terrified.

The agent took out black leather gloves from the desk and put them on.

“It looks like I’m going to taste blood for the first time in a while. Hey, President Jung! Choose a number quickly.”

“W-What are you doing!”

“You don’t like it? Then you lose the right to choose. I’ll choose. Number 3.”

“…….”

“Bring the guest!”

“Yes, sir.”

When the electric switch was turned on, a bathtub appeared in the back.

One man filled a kettle with water, and another folded a dry towel to cover the face.

It was water torture, covering the face with a towel and pouring water on it.

It was a torture that made you shudder with the pain of going to hell every time you poured water on the towel covering your face.

“It’s a course that makes you realize how blessed it is to breathe through your nostrils.”

Two men lifted President Jung from the chair, and he became desperate.

“W-Wait a minute! You don’t have to go this far…”

The agent smirked.

“If you drink some water, your way of speaking will change drastically. You’ll also remember what you did wrong.”

They laid the struggling President Jung in the bathtub, and the men grabbed his resisting feet.

A towel covered President Jung’s face. It was dark.

“Ah, no! Don’t do this! What do you want? I was wrong to do that to the President. But it was a rash act. Please save me!”

He hated himself for begging for his life, but the struggle to live was instinct.

President Jung, who had his eyes covered, became more sensitive to hearing.

The men’s footsteps sounded as loud as tank sounds.

The dull sound of metal tools and iron clubs could be heard. The pungent smell of red pepper powder also wafted.

The agent’s voice was heard.

“Before the main service, let’s have a cigarette each and start. It’s going to be a long night.”

“Yes, sir!”

The sound of rustling as he took out a cigarette, the sound of a lighter turning on, the sound of exhaling smoke, and the fragrant cigarette smoke entered his nose.

President Jung thought it was fortunate to buy time, but the waiting time was even more terrifying.

If the cigarette smoke stops, will my life also stop?

His insides were burning. He regretted ignoring the President’s warning.

He felt so pathetic at the thought of facing a miserable end with pain worse than death after returning.

It was then.

Creak-

The sound of the door opening was heard. And the sound of shoes moving in unison.

Thud, thud.

Someone was approaching.

A moment of silence. The towel covering his face was pulled off.

President Jung squinted at the sudden light and looked at the face looking down from above.

Huh!

It was the President.

In fact, the agent was under instructions from his superiors not to touch President Jung at all, but only to intimidate him.

The President said to those around him.

“Everyone, please leave. I have something to discuss with this man.”

“Your Excellency, alone?”

“Yes, leave the door open and just check.”

“Yes, I understand, Your Excellency!”

The President crossed his arms and looked at President Jung’s face with an indifferent expression.

“Well, President Jung, you asked me if the throne was good?”

“…….”

President Jung flinched slightly at the President’s changed tone and behavior.

“You know because you’re a returner. It was my last wish.”

“…….”

“The position makes the person. I’m the President, you’re the chairman of a conglomerate, no, a suspect in the attempted assassination of the head of state who was dragged into the Central Intelligence Agency.”

“Why did you bring me here? Are you afraid that it will be revealed that I’m a returner?”

“President Jung, you should be more afraid of that. Of course, no one will believe you.”

“Or are you trying to get revenge?”

“Why did you drag me here? Back in the day, I was dragged here and forced to pay political funds every month.”

“Pay? Do you need money now, so you….”

“I don’t need money. I’ve made enough.”

“…….”

“Revenge? That’s not the right expression. President Jung, you must be frustrated and resentful right now, and your intestines must be twisted? What about fear and self-disgust.”

“…….”

“How is it, putting yourself in my shoes? Do you have any sympathy for the victims who were unfairly tortured and died here?”

President Jung lowered his head. He could fully imagine the pain of the victims.

He sympathized, but he couldn’t help but make excuses.

“It’s inevitable when you’re governing! Don’t you know that if one apple rots, they all rot? In order to develop the economy, we had to block impure elements and unite!”

“I know that, but we have to distinguish between anti-government and anti-system. If you say you don’t like the president, are you a force to overthrow the country?”

“…….”

“If the people don’t have the right to oppose the government, can that be called a democratic country? Who elected the president!”

“…….”

“What’s good is good, and what’s wrong is wrong, but why are you trying to rationalize everything? You’re human, not God!”

The Chief of Staff, who had been waiting at the door, approached and shouted when the two men’s voices rose.

“You son of a b*tch! Your Excellency, he’s still talking informally in front of you. This guy hasn’t come to his senses yet!”

“Get out.”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

When the Chief of Staff and the men all left, the President said.

“Look at this, President Jung! The economy and democratization are the two wheels of a cart. If even one of them is missing, the cart will overturn. After you died, thousands of people shed blood and the new military came in again. Do you even know the history that happened after October 26, 1979 [the date of President Park Chung-hee’s assassination]?”

“It’s what my subordinates did because their loyalty was excessive!”

“Look at this, President Jung, the president is in a position to take responsibility. It’s not a position to wield power!”

“…….”

“Look at your state now. This is reality. Don’t you know who’s in charge and who’s not?”

“…….”

“Code One is me!”

“…….”

The President gave instructions to the intelligence agents.

“Release President Jung. Take him home politely.”

“Yes? You’re releasing him like this?”

“Yes. He swore allegiance.”

“Yes, I understand, Your Excellency!”

“Look at this, President Jung! If power wasn’t everything, then devote yourself to the modernization and economic prosperity of the country that you so desired. Repay your past mistakes with economic prosperity.”

President Jung was stunned by the sudden order to go home.

President Jung, who had been going back and forth between hell and heaven, was released and got into the car.

Boom~

As he drove down the winding Namsan Road, he pondered.

Hmm… President Jung, no, the President is right. I need to wake up to reality. Instead of recklessly acting out, I need to use my head like him. I need to be born as the chairman of a conglomerate.

President Jung held a piece of paper with a phone number written on it.

It was a direct phone number that the President gave him to call anytime.

Boom~

There was a question lingering in his mind as the car drove.

Was I really the embodiment of power?

* * *

Late at night, the President’s car headed to the Blue House [the executive office and official residence of the President of South Korea].

It was a curfew, so there was no one on the street.

The President thought.

Did President Jung come to his senses? At least he must have clearly realized who was in charge in this era.

Boom~

* * *

Ministry of Construction.

Kim Young-wook held a meeting with officials about the construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway [a major expressway in South Korea].

He was skeptical of the expressway from the beginning.

Especially since it was a project that the President, who had pushed him out, was focusing on the most.

Kim Young-wook put a cigarette in his mouth, chewed it, and asked the person in charge.

“Is this expressway really feasible?”

“The results of the research by domestic and foreign experts, including the Korea-U.S. Joint Investigation Committee, a few years ago, still concluded that railways are the center of industrial transportation.”

“I see….”

“It is a duplicate investment because there are existing railway networks and national roads. It is said that it is more efficient to repair and reinforce the existing Gyeongbu National Road for the road network.”

The current transportation infrastructure budget, in which the railway budget is 3.5 times that of the road, was no different from the transportation infrastructure policy of Joseon [the last dynastic kingdom of Korea] under Japanese colonial rule, which was centered on railways.

Kim Young-wook blew out cigarette smoke and said.

“Even the experts are saying it’s a waste, so why is His Excellency insisting on it? It’s true that the number of cars will increase in the future, but that’s just for the rich to drive around. There are urgent industries, but he’s trying to make a toll-free tourist road for private cars.”

“Minister, the plan is likely to end as a plan. The National Assembly, where people’s livelihood is a priority, will never allow it.”