The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 28

28. Cleaning Up (2)

Vietnam.

The burning red sun dipped behind the tropical palm trees.

Trenches were dug deep enough to submerge a head, and the outer barbed wire surrounding sandbags displayed the grim trophies: the severed heads of Viet Cong soldiers.

About 150 members of the Korean military’s dispatched unit were gathered, rifles at the ready, but standing at ease.

The soldiers’ necks and armpits were already soaked with sweat.

After two squalls [brief, intense tropical rainstorms] in the afternoon, the air was thick and sticky, and mosquitoes and other unknown pests swarmed.

For the soldiers, the humid weather and dense jungle were greater enemies than the Viet Cong themselves.

Kim Je-gu, the regiment commander, wearing an impeccably pressed uniform and a holstered pistol, began his speech.

However, even before he uttered a word, the soldiers were already muttering inwardly, their eyes glazed over with boredom.

‘That windbag is at it again.’

‘Damn it, this speech is sucking the life out of me.’

‘That son of a bitch can’t even shoot an M16 straight but loves to hear himself talk.’

‘Unbelievable. A guy who’s never even set foot in the jungle is giving us orders!’

Kim Je-gu’s speech commenced.

“This is an instruction from Commander Chae Myung-shin. Exercise extreme caution to distinguish between the Viet Cong and innocent civilians to avoid unnecessary casualties. Don’t be blinded by the desire for achievements and indiscriminately kill. If you get caught by the U.S. military’s war crime investigation committee, you’ll be facing a jail sentence!”

Jeon Du-hwang, the battalion commander in the front row, frowned, his posture rigid with disapproval.

‘He’s never seen a real battlefield, so he spouts such nonsense. How in hell are we supposed to tell the difference between Viet Cong and civilians! One minute he’s ordering us to bring back Viet Cong heads, and now he’s saying this.’

“Remove all the Viet Cong heads hanging on that barbed wire!”

He had previously ordered them to bring back and display Viet Cong heads, a task they undertook reluctantly. Now, he was ordering their removal as if they had committed some grave offense, fueling the simmering resentment among the ranks.

Chae Myung-shin, the commander of the Korean forces dispatched to Vietnam, was a seasoned veteran of the Korean War.

The reason the U.S. military, despite its overwhelming firepower, was struggling in the Vietnam War was that its ranks were largely filled with inexperienced recruits who couldn’t adapt to the guerrilla warfare, where the lines between front and rear were blurred.

However, the Korean military’s commanders possessed extensive combat experience from fighting guerrillas during the Korean War, regardless of front or rear, and were achieving considerable success in the Vietnam War.

General Chae had garnered popular support by providing generous assistance to cooperative villagers while simultaneously striking fear into the Viet Cong by ruthlessly punishing any resistance.

However, paratroopers like Kim Je-gu, who lacked actual combat experience, failed to grasp the nuances of the operation and were simply bumbling around, prioritizing their own safety above all else.

The practical commanders like Jeon Du-hwang under him were enduring a living hell.

*

Jungle.

On a pitch-black night illuminated only by a sliver of a crescent moon, Jeon Du-hwang’s unit was dispersed into platoon-sized elements, lying in ambush at likely enemy transit points.

Unlike the U.S. military, which tended to gather in large, easily targeted groups, the Korean military adopted Viet Cong tactics, infiltrating enemy territory in small, scattered groups, setting ambushes along the way.

By mirroring the Viet Cong’s own strategies, they were driving the enemy to the brink of madness.

Rattle!

The ambush team tensed, every nerve on high alert at the sound of approaching footsteps.

Several indistinct shadows flickered through the bamboo thicket.

A scout crept back to Jeon Du-hwang to report.

“Commander, they’re here! Dozens of them.”

“Open fire!”

Jeon Du-hwang flicked off the safety of his pistol and squeezed the trigger, aiming into the darkness of the forest.

Bang!

At the sound of the pistol shot, the allied forces unleashed a torrent of gunfire.

Ta-ta-ta-

Turu-ru-ruk-

The dark shapes in the bamboo grove crumpled to the ground.

For about 10 minutes, the air crackled with the sound of gunfire, but there was no return fire from the enemy.

“What is it? Why aren’t they fighting back?”

A sense of foreboding settled over him.

“Cease fire!”

The squad members cautiously advanced into the silent forest.

Among them, the faces of the soldiers who began to identify the fallen bodies grew ashen.

“Commander, they’re civilians.”

“What? Civilians!”

Upon closer inspection, they saw women and children among the dead.

“Shit, why were they wandering around out here at night?”

“It looks like they were villagers trying to flee south to escape the Viet Cong.”

“Ah, shit! What’s going to happen now?”

“……”

They were on the verge of being charged with massacring civilians.

After a moment of grim contemplation, Jeon Du-hwang issued a chilling order.

“Bury them all!”

“Yes? Bury them?”

“If you don’t want to rot in a military prison, bury them all! Now!”

He desperately tried to conceal his heinous act.

*

Regiment commander’s tent.

Jeon Du-hwang stood rigidly at attention before Kim Je-gu.

Kim Je-gu, who had been idly twirling a pistol on his finger, slammed it down on the desk with a thud and spoke.

“Massacring civilians and then, to top it off, burying them to cover it up?”

“……”

“You’ve been disobeying orders at every turn. You cut off Viet Cong heads and hung them up, but those weren’t Viet Cong, they were civilians, were they?”

“They were Viet Cong. Didn’t you order me to do that, Regiment Commander?”

“What? Is this bastard trying to drag me down with him? You wanna die!”

Kim Je-gu cocked his pistol and aimed it at Jeon Du-hwang’s head.

Kim Je-gu was desperately trying to cover his own tracks.

“If you’re going to die, die alone, you bastard! The military police will be here any minute. If you want any leniency from me, your direct superior, stop talking nonsense and give a straight statement!”

Jeon Du-hwang bit down hard on his lower lip, struggling to contain his mounting rage.

Kim Je-gu jabbed Jeon Du-hwang’s forehead with the muzzle of his gun, deliberately humiliating him.

“You’re too ambitious. You’re blinded by the pursuit of achievements, and your unit always suffers the most casualties. You’re utterly incompetent!”

He had once said he would recommend him for a medal for his courage, but now he was completely betraying him.

Jeon Du-hwang finally snapped.

“You son of a bitch! You’re a heartless piece of trash!”

And then, in a lightning-fast move, he snatched Kim Je-gu’s pistol.

Kim Je-gu, caught completely off guard by the gun pointed at him, stammered in fear.

“Wh-what are you doing? Th-this means you’ll be executed! Disobeying orders means immediate execution!”

“You’re the one getting executed first, you bastard!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ugh!

It was the same spot where Jeon Du-hwang had shot the President in his past life.

Kim Je-gu coughed up blood from his chest and slumped onto the desk.

Thump!

At that precise moment, the military police burst through the tent flap.

“What’s going on! Jeon Du-hwang, drop the gun!”

Jeon Du-hwang turned the gun toward the military police, his eyes unfocused and wild.

“You guys are all in cahoots with the Viet Cong….”

Bang-bang-

Bang! Bang!

Flames erupted from the muzzles on both sides almost simultaneously.

‘Ugh… I never thought Vietnam would be my grave….’

He collapsed forward like a felled tree.

The two men were summarily executed.

*

Federation of Korean Industries Hall.

A banner proclaiming ‘Explanation Session for the Construction and Rental of 100,000 Public Housing Units’ hung prominently in the center of the small auditorium.

CEOs of major corporations filed in one after another.

President Jung was among the attendees.

They harbored many doubts about the purpose of today’s briefing.

“100,000 units is a massive undertaking, but how many ordinary people will actually be able to afford those expensive apartments?”

“Exactly. How are ordinary people living in leaky shacks supposed to get into apartments like that?”

“What’s with this rental scheme? Is this a government project or a private sector initiative?”

“Is the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport even hosting this?”

“The government explaining a government project to private companies. Is this really happening?”

At that moment, Kim Young-wook, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, strode onto the podium.

“Okay, quiet down, everyone. We will begin the briefing shortly.”

When Kim Young-wook, a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency [Korean intelligence agency], spoke, the audience fell silent as if a switch had been flipped.

“Uh, His Excellency will be explaining it himself today.”

At the mention of ‘His Excellency,’ a ripple of excitement spread through the audience.

“The President is coming?”

“Not just attending, but explaining it himself?”

“No wonder the authorities haven’t been giving us any direction lately, and then suddenly we were all summoned here. It was because His Excellency was coming.”

“What’s going on?”

“Right. Suddenly calling us all together usually means something big is about to happen.”

The person walking onto the podium was indeed the President.

Normally, when the President was scheduled to appear, the FKI [Federation of Korean Industries] leadership would have been notified in advance to prepare VIP seating and lavishly decorate the auditorium to treat him with the utmost respect. But with the President’s unannounced arrival, the FKI executives were thrown into a state of chaos.

In fact, Kim Young-wook had believed he was hosting the event until just 30 minutes prior.

He had been planning to lay down the law with the construction companies, but with the sudden appearance of his superior, Kim Young-wook was forced to shrink back.

Kim Young-wook clapped his hands with exaggerated enthusiasm, signaling the audience to applaud.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The 50 attendees all rose to their feet and applauded.

The applause was not merely a ceremonial gesture orchestrated by Kim Young-wook.

It was a genuine expression of respect and admiration.

The President stepped onto the podium and surveyed the audience.

“You all look well. How is business these days?”

Shouts of approval erupted from various corners of the room.

“Now that we don’t have to worry about crippling high-interest loans, we can finally sleep soundly at night.”

“The banks have lowered their lending requirements, so I can’t help but feel optimistic.”

“Since the implementation of the financial real-name system [requiring all financial transactions to be conducted under real names, preventing tax evasion and corruption], those who used to extort money from us have completely disappeared.”

The freezing of private loans and the implementation of the financial real-name system had benefited companies the most.

It had become easier to obtain low-interest loans from banks, and the owner’s families, who had previously embezzled company funds with impunity, were now unable to do so, leading to a significant increase in company net profits.

The President, himself a former conglomerate chairman, understood the situation better than anyone else.

The business leaders lauded him as a pro-business president.

But it was time to tighten the reins on the companies around this time.

Instead of relying solely on personal connections, a new form of motivation was needed.

The President spoke.

“I will explain why I am so determined to develop Korea into a global economic powerhouse.”

The President’s sudden appearance and his unexpected announcement that he would explain the driving force behind his economic development plan only heightened the audience’s curiosity.

The President continued.

“We will now watch a short documentary. It’s a Korea Newsreel of my official visit to West Germany. What was shown to the public was the sanitized version, but I’ve included the background and behind-the-scenes stories, without any embellishment, so I assure you it won’t be boring.”

The phrase ‘behind-the-scenes’ immediately piqued the interest of the CEOs.

Click-

The lights dimmed, and the film projector whirred to life.

Whirr~

A black and white video flickered onto the screen.

– President Park’s Official Visit to West Germany (1964)

President Jung, seated in the audience, couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

As the film played, President Jung’s memories were vividly rekindled, as if the events had transpired just yesterday.

Whirr~

*

In 1964, the Blue House [the Korean presidential residence] was a hive of activity.

They had received an official invitation from West Germany.

It was the first time since the founding of the country that a head of state had been invited as a state guest by the most powerful nation in Europe, and the entire nation was filled with excitement.

The reason they had invited a poor, relatively unknown country in Asia was because of the miners and nurses they had sent to West Germany.

Before Korea sent its miners, West Germany had recruited miners from Yugoslavia, Turkey, Africa, and other countries.

However, these miners proved to be unproductive, and many mines were eventually forced to close.

But as soon as the Korean miners arrived, production rates soared dramatically.

West German newspapers ran extensive coverage, and there was a groundswell of public opinion in favor of awarding the Korean miners a bonus on top of their monthly salary of $120, with many Germans stating that they had never seen such a diligent workforce.