The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 33

33. The Headbutt King

Jangchung Gymnasium.

A large sign announced the match between Kim Il, the Headbutt King, and a foreign athlete.

– The 23rd WWA World Heavyweight Championship

A never-ending line stretched in front of the gymnasium.

Ticket scalpers were rampant.

“Tickets for sale! Tickets!”

“How much?”

“150 won.”

“150? That’s several times the price!”

“Take it or leave it. Tickets for sale! Tickets!”

“Hey, give me three.”

“Okay, three! Seeing Kim Il’s title match, you’re in for a stroke of good luck today!”

“You’re the lucky one. Be grateful you’re not getting caught.”

The person who bought the tickets was a presidential bodyguard.

The President had come to Jangchung Gymnasium incognito to watch Kim Il’s professional wrestling match.

Dressed as an ordinary citizen, the President was ushered into the gymnasium.

The 8,000 seats of Jangchung Gymnasium were packed, and the atmosphere was electric.

When Kim Il appeared in the ring and waved, cheers tore through the air.

Wow! Wow!

The match began, and he grappled with the giant foreigner.

The announcer shouted until his voice was hoarse.

“Missile Headbutt!”

Wow-wow-

Every time Kim Il lifted one leg and slammed his head into his opponent’s head, the audience rose to their feet, clapping and cheering.

The thrill of defeating the giant foreign athlete, combined with a sense of Korean superiority, made professional wrestling a national sport.

“Abdullah the Butcher has fallen like a log!”

During Chairman Wang’s time, he sponsored Kim Il.

He had dinner with Kim Il, and Kim Il confided in him.

“I really hate headbutts. It’s a big blow not only to the opponent but also to me. But people cheer when I do a headbutt. Because of that cheering, I end up doing it again, even if my head is crushed.”

Kim Il himself really hated headbutts.

When Kim Il, who weighed 130kg, lifted one leg and put his full weight into a headbutt, the impact was more than doubled.

The more he headbutted, the more his head was torn, broken, and bruised, leaving him with no peaceful day.

So Kim Il resented his teacher, Rikidozan, who had him practice the headbutt technique.

There were many times he wanted to run away, but he endured it, listening to the cheers of the fans who were enthusiastic about him.

However, due to excessive headbutting, he experienced auditory and visual hallucinations.

Eventually, he collapsed suddenly during a match and was diagnosed with three fractures in his skull.

After that, Kim Il created a new finishing move called the Figure-Four Leglock, but it did not win the hearts of the people.

Kim Il, who had headbutted over 20,000 times in his life in the ring, passed away after a long battle with the aftereffects.

The exhilarating headbutt he left behind still remains in the hearts of the people.

Seeing the eternal Headbutt King Kim Il with his own eyes again, the President couldn’t help but feel deeply moved.

Red blood was flowing from the forehead of Kim Il, who had headbutted.

He was clearly a human being who bled.

But he was a great performer who had to endure as if there was no pain and put on a show on stage.

That day, the President shouted until his voice was hoarse, blowing away the stress from the Blue House [the presidential residence].

* * *

The President summoned the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Public Information and gave instructions.

“The TV is packed with people trying to watch Kim Il’s wrestling broadcast.”

“That’s right. It’s the most popular program.”

“The government should provide a lot of support for professional wrestling. One headbutt is more memorable than thousands of words of patriotism.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s consider awarding Kim Il the Order of Sports Merit.”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“And Minister of Public Information, let’s increase the number of broadcasting stations. Let’s increase TV programming hours to boost TV consumption. I mean, let’s foster the domestic electronics industry with TV.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Stimulate GoldStar, Tongyang, Daehan, Samyang, etc., to mass-produce TVs. Sports and culture should not be packaged merely as praise for the powerful. It must contribute to industrial and economic development.”

“I understand the purpose.”

“Discover national sports heroes and increase their broadcasting time.”

“Yes, I will discuss it with the broadcasting station.”

The person who made remarkable contributions to the spread of TV at the time was Kim Il.

Except for GoldStar [now LG Electronics], the rest were assembling Japanese TV technology.

The plan was to replace the expensive TVs, which were mainly monopolized by Japanese products, with domestic products.

Tongyang Broadcasting (TBS) and Munhwa Broadcasting (MBC) were established in 1968 in addition to the existing KBS [Korean Broadcasting System].

Kim Il was awarded the National Medal (Peony Medal) and the Sports Medal (Tiger Medal) during his lifetime.

The President gave other instructions to the Minister of Justice.

“We need to modernize the culture of assemblies and demonstrations.”

“Yes? Is there also modernization in demonstrations?”

“Haven’t you seen demonstrations in advanced countries?”

“…….”

It was an unimaginable scene for those who had not moved past old ways of thinking.

“Your Excellency, as soon as they gather, they become radical due to mob mentality. They smash police stations and government offices and turn the city into a lawless zone that paralyzes it. Isn’t it best to eradicate demonstrations?”

“Assemblies and demonstrations guaranteed by the Constitution are meant for democratic citizens to express their opinions. It’s not about eradication, but about the culture of demonstrations.”

“Culture… I don’t understand at all….”

“The Ministry of Education is largely responsible for turning into violent mobs.”

The Minister of Education, who had been sitting still, was taken aback when shrapnel suddenly flew at him.

“Your Excellency, the Ministry of Education teaches loyalty, not rallies or demonstrations like riots.”

“That’s exactly the problem. Because there is only top-down loyalty education to the country, isn’t it that when you demonstrate, you are immediately treated as a traitor? The right of resistance is not guaranteed. Is this a free democratic country?”

“…….”

“Europe fought against royal power for 300 years and won the parliamentary system. Frankly, isn’t our democracy transplanted?”

“…….”

“The isolationist Joseon [historical Korean kingdom], the Japanese colonial period, and the Korean War broke out one after another, so for 500 years, it has been punctuated by a history of class society, struggle, and war, so the people have been too busy making a living to be educated as democratic citizens.”

“…….”

“In addition, during the Japanese colonial period, smashing government offices and police stations was an independence movement. But even now, they are still doing the same to their own country’s public institutions. The remnants of Japanese imperialism must also be cleared from the demonstration culture.”

“Ah, I never thought that far.”

“Minister of Justice!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“Let’s create a law to modernize assemblies and demonstrations. The gist is to guarantee assemblies and demonstrations, but to claim damages if they cause harm to third parties. What we need is orderly arguments, not riots.”

“Ah!”

“Minister of Education!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“Revise the entire curriculum with a focus on democratic citizenship education, not top-down education that is loyal to the country. It’s about education that harmoniously balances the nation, the global community, freedom, and equality.”

“I will keep that in mind, Your Excellency!”

“If you look at advanced countries, the police protect peaceful marches in the streets with pickets [signs]. You have to make your claims in an orderly manner. We need education that says it shouldn’t be anarchic.”

“I understand, Your Excellency!”

“Let’s start with discussion education in class. It’s not about the guy with the loudest voice, but about listening to other people’s opinions, competing for rationality, and heading towards a more realistic solution.”

“Ah, that’s a really good idea. I will immediately reflect democratic citizenship education in the curriculum.”

“Good. Germany’s discussion education is very well done. In order not to repeat the history of Hitler, they provide discussion education based on individual thoughts, not totalitarian injection education.”

“I understand. I will research and make it into a textbook.”

“Minister of Culture, let’s promote assemblies and demonstrations into advanced culture, not law.”

“Ah, advanced demonstration culture! I understand, Your Excellency! I will look for cultural education methods.”

“Yes, I look forward to it. And I’ll have to give you the most difficult task ever given to past Ministers of Culture.”

“A difficult task? What….”

The Minister of Culture became very nervous.

“Minister, you’ll have to go to Brazil.”

“Brazil?”

“You know the Samba Festival, right?”

“Of course. It’s the world’s best festival. But why suddenly the Samba Festival….”

“Go and see it, and let’s plan a free-spirited national festival for a certain period of time like that.”

“Yes? Women dance almost naked in Samba.”

“That’s it. Minister, honestly, are classical or traditional Korean music performances fun?”

“Well, yes, but they are beneficial.”

“It’s most fun when you’re drinking and tapping chopsticks.”

“That’s a drinking party, but it’s a bit embarrassing to do it as a national festival, Your Excellency.”

“Koreans are the best in the world when they’re excited. They really play well. But when you set up a mat, they put on airs and act all dignified. Let’s get rid of that duplicity this time.”

“That’s true, but….”

“From the Three Kingdoms period to the Goryeo Dynasty, during the Palgwanhoe [ancient Korean festival], people of all social classes, regardless of status, enjoyed themselves. That kind of talent flows in our veins. It was transformed duplicitously in Joseon because of saving face. Let’s revive the good folk traditions that we had forgotten.”

“I understand the purpose well. I will go to Brazil, look around, and think about how to apply it to Korea.”

“That’s it. Let’s have fun without worrying about what others think when we play.”

“Ah, I understand, I will research it.”

The Minister of Culture received the most difficult task among the past ministers.

* * *

Ministry of Justice.

In the presence of the Prosecutor General and the Commissioner General of Police, the Minister of Justice issued a public statement to the people in front of reporters.

“The police plan to designate peaceful demonstration zones in each region and use them as open spaces and venues for expressing opinions through prior assembly reports. Secondly, in order to minimize public inconvenience such as noise damage and traffic inconvenience, the police plan to strengthen noise standards and promote the revision of related laws by taking prompt measures in cooperation with related organizations. In addition, we have decided to ban the wearing of masks or masks that make it difficult to identify the identity of assembly participants, and to block the introduction of various violent demonstration items into the assembly site in advance. We will also strengthen judicial and administrative sanctions to eradicate illegal violent demonstrations….”

* * *

Movie theater.

Charrrrr~

As soon as the simultaneous screening trailer ended, 대한 News (Daehan News) [a government-produced newsreel] came on.

The subtitles were as follows.

– Let’s modernize the culture of assembly demonstrations!

A scene of a demonstration wielding iron bars at the police, attacking and burning down police boxes, and blocking traffic at intersections came out as the background.

– Freedom of assembly and demonstration is an important way for free democratic countries to express their public sentiment. However, it must be protected and exercised within the framework of the law. We must eradicate illegal violent demonstrations and establish a mature civic consciousness that legitimately expresses its opinions in peaceful demonstration zones.”

A scene came out of people marching in a row holding pickets written in English and police officers escorting them.

As part of the modernization of culture, advanced civic education was given to each school, and peaceful demonstration zones were created in each administrative office to encourage peaceful demonstrations.

Violent demonstrations that paralyzed traffic and burned down government offices and police stations gradually disappeared.