The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 220

220. 20th Century Tangpyeong Policy

The opposition party’s convention hall.

A party convention was underway to elect new leadership.

As expected, the mainstream faction seemed poised to secure the top representative position once again.

Just then, a commotion erupted from outside.

Thump, crash, bang!

Men stormed in, throwing folding chairs.

About a hundred burly, non-mainstream party members barged in, wielding wooden sticks.

They yelled at the party members seated in the mainstream section.

“Get out! There’s no place for you here!”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh? Trying to resist? Take this!”

“Argh!”

A melee ensued as party members tried to stop the intruders.

But bare hands were no match for wooden sticks.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Ugh!”

The non-mainstream party members, led by Lim Cheol-seung, quickly seized the platform and the convention hall, blocking the entrance.

“Now, we will elect the representative and top representative members!”

Non-mainstream lawmakers took control of all the key positions in the party.

*

The President’s office.

The President clicked his tongue after hearing the Chief of Staff’s report.

“To think that a party that should be a model of democracy is resorting to violence with wooden sticks?”

“The non-mainstream faction has elected their lawmakers to the party leadership through these means.”

“Even though the economy has developed, politics hasn’t progressed at all, has it?”

“It would seem so. But it’s not just someone else’s problem, Your Excellency.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“A document accusing the party chairman has been submitted to the prosecution within our own party as well.”

“The chairman? Birds of a feather flock together; usually, they’d even hold a defense-oriented National Assembly to protect a fellow lawmaker who’s committed an outrageous act, but a lawsuit? What’s the matter?”

“On the surface, it’s an accusation of receiving golf outings and money from a certain company in exchange for favors.”

“Then what’s the real reason?”

“The mainstream faction, disliking the chairman, is trying to replace him.”

“So, it’s just factional infighting.”

“That’s right. As Your Excellency knows, the old party faction, the first-term lawmakers, and the North Korea faction are fiercely fighting for power. If you add in regional factions, it’s a four- or five-way split. They’re spreading rumors and false accusations against each other to expand their power base.”

“If they were thinking about the people, they should be competing with policies, but they’re just fighting for positions. It’s truly embarrassing for the people to witness. What’s going to happen to this country?”

“It seems they’re fighting over their rice bowls even more because the external conditions are peaceful. Even with minor policy differences, factions are forming cliques and becoming hostile, so nothing gets done.”

“Hmm… I need to take some kind of action.”

The President listened to the advice of many people and pondered for several days.

Then, he visited the stele of a Joseon [Korean dynasty from 1392 to 1897] king, erected not far from the government building.

*

Citizens reading the newspaper shook their heads.

“This time, the chairman has accused the secretary-general of embezzling public funds.”

“Isn’t that like spitting in your own face?”

“They were grabbing each other’s collars over whether to import beef or not, but it turns out it was just a family feud.”

“The opposition party seizes positions with wooden sticks, and the ruling party protects their positions with lawsuits. It’s a complete mess.”

“Why do they always fight when they get a gold badge [a symbol of power and privilege, referring to becoming a lawmaker]?”

*

The President had lunch with the Prime Minister and the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties.

Usually, the ruling and opposition parties don’t meet together, but on this day, the President made it a private event and specially invited all four party leaders.

The President began.

“A few days ago, I visited the Tangpyeong Stele [a monument commemorating King Yeongjo’s policy of impartiality] nearby.”

“Ah, you mean the historical site at my alma mater.”

“That’s right. King Yeongjo of Joseon implemented the Tangpyeong Policy [policy of impartiality] after much deliberation because the country was divided into factions such as Noron, Soron, Namin, and Bukin [political factions of the Joseon dynasty], and there wasn’t a single peaceful day. He knew that the reason political power holders fight is because of their positions.”

“…….”

“They think, ‘I’m more outstanding, so my words are more correct, and that position is mine.’ That’s why I’m planning to carry out a large-scale cabinet reshuffle this time.”

The Prime Minister stopped eating and asked.

“You’re going to do a major reshuffle even though it hasn’t been a year yet?”

“That’s right. I will receive resignations from all ministers and vice-ministers.”

“A blanket resignation?”

All the attendees stopped eating, and their eyes widened.

The President said calmly.

“I will leave the 15 ministry and vice-minister positions vacant, so I would like the four party leaders to recommend talented people in those fields from their respective parties. I will appoint them fairly, regardless of party affiliation.”

“All 30 positions, Your Excellency?”

“The term will be one year, and the positions will be rotated to different parties every year.”

“…….”

“I will also leave half of the senior positions in the Presidential Secretariat vacant.”

“The Secretariat too?”

“I have a favor to ask. Please keep the Director of the National Intelligence Service and the Minister of National Defense in their positions. Instead, I will consider the ruling party to have filled two seats.”

The attendees were shocked by the President’s declaration of the Tangpyeong Policy.

No one was eating.

The President’s Tangpyeong Policy did not stop there.

“I’m sorry to the Prime Minister here, but let’s have the Prime Minister position rotate every six months among the four parties.”

“The Prime Minister too?”

The attendees were all swept up in a frenzy, as if they had been struck by lightning by a Tangpyeong Policy even greater than Yeongjo’s.

The seaweed soup had turned cold.

“Please understand that the President is an elected position, so I cannot share the position!”

*

A few days later, the President revealed the Tangpyeong Policy he had told the four party leaders through a broadcast interview.

The citizens’ reactions were like this.

“If this happens, there will be no ruling or opposition parties in the executive branch.”

“What’s there to say? They say the Prime Minister will rotate every half year.”

“The lawmakers who used to criticize every day now have heavy mouths. They have to sit in that position in a few months.”

“Of course. They’ve been fighting each other so much; I guess His Excellency wants them to put themselves in each other’s shoes.”

“This is an opportunity to clearly distinguish who is just talking and who is really capable.”

“The competition of abilities will be worth watching.”

As promised, the President received blanket resignations from the ministers and vice-ministers, except for two positions.

And he appointed people recommended by the ruling and opposition parties fairly.

*

Cabinet meeting.

A new Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from the opposition party said.

“To resolve the beef crisis, we have decided to import beef from Australia and the United States…….”

The minister had opposed beef imports when he was in the opposition party.

The new Prime Minister from the opposition party asked.

“What are you going to do about the backlash from livestock farmers?”

“Because of beef, the prices of substitute goods such as pork and chicken have also risen by more than 30%, and the cost of living is soaring. The consumers’ complaints are greater, so livestock farmers will have to bear it. When you think about it, livestock farmers are only seeing a decrease in profits, not going bankrupt.”

“If consumers flock to imported meat that costs less than half the price, livestock farmers will go bankrupt, won’t they?”

“That’s why we plan to maintain imports on a quota system. If we import less than half of the domestic consumption, both Hanwoo [Korean beef] farmers and consumers will be satisfied. Hanwoo has competitiveness in taste, and frozen imported meat doesn’t taste as good, so we’re letting consumers choose between low-grade and high-grade meat. From now on, not all beef is beef.”

“How are you going to prevent imported meat from being passed off as Hanwoo?”

“We are planning to make it mandatory to indicate the origin of all agricultural products like industrial products and implement a price labeling system. If this is violated, we will impose punitive damages to eradicate it.”

The President watched without saying a word.

*

National Assembly.

A question and answer session with the government was being held.

The opposition party asked the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

“It must be a headache to mediate between consumers and farmers who are in conflict with each other, right?”

“They say policy is creative art, and I’m really feeling it.”

In the past, they would have started by scolding and disciplining the minister.

But now, they didn’t need to engage in unnecessary power struggles because they didn’t know when they would be questioned in that position.

“Minister, you have proposed quota-based imported meat as an alternative, but American beef is only about 1/3 the price of Hanwoo. Isn’t there a risk of a Hanwoo price crash?”

“To prevent a price crash, we plan to import 10% of the consumption in the first month and increase it by 5% every month to expand it to 40% of the consumption. The theoretical values are out, but we need to know how many % of the actual imported meat needs to be released to protect livestock farmers, and we plan to flexibly adjust the import volume within that range.”

“What if consumers want cheaper and tastier imported meat?”

“We conducted five blind taste tests, and Hanwoo was overwhelmingly competitive in taste. Imported meat comes in as frozen meat, and the crude fat content of Hanwoo, which determines the taste, is different, so it has been proven to be competitive enough. However, the price will be determined by the market.”

As a result of the Tangpyeong Policy, the attitude of the National Assembly members in the National Assembly’s question and answer session with the government changed dramatically.

As the people who had been critical of the government were now in a position to come up with alternatives and implement them, the National Assembly also became a member of the executive branch, reducing criticism for the sake of criticism and focusing on the government’s alternatives.

When government officials returned to being lawmakers, their performance in the government followed them like a tag, influencing their chances of being elected in the next election.

Therefore, the question and answer session with the government could not help but focus on what policies they would implement if they were in the cabinet.

The atmosphere of the political parties also changed.

It became the norm for major party positions, such as the three key party posts, to be held on a rotating basis with short terms.

The political arena, where partisanship that prioritized one’s own side as unconditionally right over wrong and where double standards prevailed, had changed dramatically.

The President, who had expected some confusion, was pleased with the rapidly established Tangpyeong Policy.

President Park, who watched this, also smiled contentedly.

During Chairman Wang’s time, this was when the Yushin dictatorship [Park Chung-hee’s authoritarian regime in South Korea from 1972 to 1979] was at its peak, and it was a dark age of democratization, with state of emergency incidents occurring almost every day and spy cases being announced.

Despite being the same president as back then, this regressed president has shed the stigma of past developmental dictatorship and is now enacting good governance, changing history.

“Even if you don’t know the future, if you have learned excellent governance on your own, there’s nothing more to fear.”

Three years passed like that.

*

1979.

The Korea Stock Exchange moved from Myeongdong to Yeouido, heralding the opening of the ‘Yeouido Stock Market’ era.

In the film industry, Yoo Ji-in and Jung Yoon-hee, the second-generation Troika actresses [referring to the three most popular and influential actresses of that era], were at their peak, successively hitting ‘The Man I Abandoned’ and ‘Do You Know Kkotsunyi’.

The night view of the Han River was brilliant.

Development in both the North and South was progressing successfully.

In particular, Seoul and Gaeseong were connected by expensive bridges and subways, giving them the appearance of large cities.

*

The President’s bedroom.

“Ugh!”

President Jeong, awakened from a nightmare, looked at the clock.

It was past 2 a.m.

“Whew! I had another nightmare.”

He got up, lit a cigarette, and looked at the calendar.

The president, who had succeeded in reelection, seemed to have no worries, but reelection only increased his worries.

Turning over a few pages of the calendar, October 26th was clear.

His eyes flashed.

Wasn’t that the day he met his end in Gungjeong-dong [location of the presidential safe house where Park Chung-hee was assassinated] before the regression?

Although all the subordinates involved at that time were gone, this year felt ominous for some reason.

He often had nightmares at night.

“Hoo~”

He couldn’t shake off his anxiety because he had seen Jang Seong-taek, a regressor, die young.