The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 37

Candidate posters were plastered on public bulletin boards outside government offices.

Campaign workers in uniform shouted slogans, holding up signs.

“The young and capable, Candidate Ji Seok-jin, Number 1!”

Opposition candidates also held rallies nearby, using megaphones to deliver speeches.

“Let’s judge this corrupt regime!”

Voters gathered around the candidates, staring blankly and grumbling.

“Doesn’t look like there’s even a pair of rubber shoes being offered?” one said.

“Right. Maybe they’ll hand out money envelopes later?”

Someone asked a campaign worker,

“I’m planning to vote for Number 2, but is there no *makgeolli* [Korean rice wine] or anything?”

“Ah, we can’t give out things like that anymore. This election is a by-election to correct the fraudulent one. The world has changed.”

“Still, listening to these campaign speeches, shouldn’t they at least offer voters a pack of gum as a bribe?”

During election season, the areas around campaign rallies used to be lively.

*Makgeolli* cups were passed around, rubber shoes and cigarettes were distributed, and cash changed hands.

Unemployed people would follow the rallies of various candidates, enjoying the hospitality and handouts.

Incidents of campaign workers pocketing the distributed money were also frequent.

However, the government’s commitment to eradicating fraudulent, illegal, and corrupt elections was firm.

“The election watchdog is watching over there. The law has changed so that both the giver and the receiver get caught.”

“That guy is so rigid.”

“You have to decide based on the policies.”

“Ugh, no fun. Are these the only candidates? Let’s go!”

At a joint campaign rally at the elementary school, independent candidate Kim Young-wook shouted.

“Let’s judge the Park regime that has forgotten the spirit of the May 16 Revolution!” [a military coup led by Park Chung-hee in 1961]

As expected, he couldn’t shake off his fate of being at odds with President Park.

* * *

Ruling party election headquarters.

By-election countermeasures committee members voiced their dissatisfaction.

“Since the government and officials are standing idly by, the ruling party has no advantages at all. Shouldn’t we get some kind of bonus for being Number 1?”

“They’ve nominated all these green youngsters, so there’s no gravitas at all. What does a 40-year-old know?”

The election countermeasures chairman said.

“Let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s focus on how to win with these resources.”

“……”

“The opposition is talking about judging the fraudulent election. We’re countering with a call for change. Local pledges are being buried too much. Candidates need to emphasize their pledges.”

* * *

The by-election, with 63 seats up for grabs, was a week away.

The opposition party’s election camp was on emergency alert over the final opinion polls.

Opposition election camp.

The leadership was gloomy.

The public relations planning director reported.

“The final opinion poll results show us trailing 65:30. Only 5 seats are safe, and 6 are toss-ups.”

The election campaign manager asked.

“So, not only will we not get a majority, but it will be difficult to even defend the constitutional amendment line again?”

“That’s how it looks right now.”

“To end up like this even with a stage set for us, doesn’t that make our slogan of incompetence and fraudulent elections meaningless?”

“The president is so popular right now, using ruling party lawmakers as kindling, that it’s an impossible fight.”

Kim Tae-jung said.

“Our election strategy had problems from the start. The average age of the ruling party candidates is 45.2 years old, while ours is 54. The opposition party should be an alternative to the old guard of the ruling party, but we failed to instill an image of reform.”

Kim Yong-sam added.

“The president was too decisive. The real-name financial transaction system and the demolition of the central government building were things I was thinking about, but he went ahead and implemented them right away. People are voting based on the president, so nothing works.”

The campaign manager said.

“Are there no issues to try to turn things around? If it stays like this, the constitutional amendment line is in danger again.”

Kim Tae-jung said.

“They’re changing the constitution to block *our* amendment. If the president seeks permanent rule by amending the constitution, there’s no way to stop him. We need to stimulate the psychology of checks and balances.”

“Oh, that’s a good suggestion. Let’s change the election slogan right away.”

The opposition party unanimously called for an end to the ruling party’s dominance and the prevention of constitutional amendments in various interviews and campaign rallies.

The slogan of checks and balances was effective.

* * *

Voting was completed.

In the by-election results, the ruling party won 43 seats and the opposition party won 23 seats. The ruling party secured a total of 113 seats (including proportional representation), 3 seats short of the constitutional amendment threshold.

Kim Young-wook lost the election despite pouring in a large sum of money and was even sentenced to prison for violating election laws by distributing money.

The media praised it as the cleanest election in history and analyzed it as a crushing defeat for the opposition and a strong showing for the ruling party.

The president, having shed the stigma of a fraudulent election, purged the military and parliamentary forces that had been checking him, gained the support of the parliament, and accelerated the drive for reform and growth.

Kim Jong-pil, who had lost his support in the parliament, became even more subservient to the president in the Blue House [the executive office and official residence of the South Korean president].

* * *

The prosecution briefed on the results of the investigation into by-election irregularities.

“It has been revealed that in 4 districts in Seoul and 3 districts in Busan, a disguised campaign masquerading as opposition candidates distributed money under the names of opposition candidates. This was revealed to be under the direction of the Deputy Director of Transportation in Seoul, who is the brother-in-law of the Mayor of Seoul, and was directed by the current Mayor of Seoul. It was a fraudulent election case committed by mobilizing election brokers even in Busan.”

The Mayor of Seoul denied everything but was sentenced to prison for violating the Public Official Election Act due to an internal report and was removed from his position as Mayor of Seoul.

Vice Mayor Cha Il-seok was promoted to Mayor of Seoul.

Although securing the constitutional amendment threshold was narrowly missed, it was a great success for the president, who had already given up on the three-term constitutional amendment, as he had aimed for more than a majority.

The president’s popularity, having directly confronted the political offensive, continued to soar.

* * *

Park Dae-joon, who was entrusted with the construction of the steel mill, was on board the Japanese high-speed rail, the Shinkansen.

Swoosh~

Outside the window, Japan’s skyscrapers whizzed by.

The sight of high-speed passenger cars running like bullets through the air as if floating felt like a future world.

Japan developed rapidly due to the special demand from the Korean War, producing military supplies for the U.S. military.

While Korea was still using ox carts, Japan had the world’s first high-speed rail, the Shinkansen, connecting cities, and skyscrapers stood next to well-maintained waterways.

It hosted the Tokyo Olympics and flaunted Japan’s economic growth to the world.

Having successfully transitioned to a heavy chemical industry economy in 10 years, Japan achieved $10 billion in exports in 1967.

Park Dae-joon was on his way back from meeting with Mr. Jaffe, a British national who was the World Bank’s representative for Korea.

Mr. Jaffe’s conclusion was this.

“The Pohang Iron and Steel Mill has no economic feasibility.”

He was rejected outright.

In the end, Park Dae-joon, who failed to raise foreign currency, had no choice but to utilize only 80 million dollars from the claims against Japan.

However, even the funds from the claims against Japan could not be diverted to the construction of the Pohang Iron and Steel Mill because Japan, which was providing the money, had specified in advance that the funds should be used for agriculture.

Park Dae-joon was disheartened.

“Is it going to be aborted again….”

This was not the first attempt to build a steel mill.

After the Korean War, as demand for steel materials surged due to large-scale post-war reconstruction projects, the government established a plan to build an integrated steel mill.

The first attempt was an integrated steel mill that was to be built in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, at the end of the Liberal Party era in 1958. However, it fizzled out due to political (April 19th Revolution [a student-led popular uprising that overthrew the First Republic of South Korea]) and economic (failure to attract foreign investment) reasons.

The second attempt was the East Coast Steel Mill construction plan established by the Democratic Party government. However, it was abandoned without being properly promoted from the planning stage.

The Republican Party government, which took power next, also made several attempts, but it did not proceed easily.

The key was still raising construction funds, and the Republican Party government, which was launched ambitiously, sought various measures such as returning illegally accumulated wealth and attracting foreign investment, but in the end, all three attempts failed.

Money was holding them back again.

Moreover, technology was also a problem. The full support of Japan was necessary for completion and operation.

Also, it was not enough to just build it; it had to be operated to produce and make a profit.

It was a risk that was worse than not doing it at all if a large amount of money was poured in and it failed or incurred losses.

Whoosh~

The Shinkansen stopped.

* * *

Japanese government.

Park Dae-joon met with the Japanese Minister of Finance.

“Mr. Tanaka, a steel mill is more urgent than agriculture. Since it is money that was intended to support Korea anyway, I would be grateful if you could show flexibility.”

“We cannot change international treaties so easily. And Korea is still short of rice and hungry, so why are you trying to build a steel mill that advanced countries do?”

He couldn’t get through.

On the way back, Ambassador to Japan Lee Woo-rak rubbed salt in the wound.

“I don’t know about other things, but a steel mill won’t work. The problem is really rice, not steel.”

“……”

Japanese officials were really inflexible.

Park Dae-joon had no choice but to go around begging, looking for Japanese connections.

* * *

Park Dae-joon was visiting the villa of Inayama, the chairman of Nippon Steel Corporation, located in Hakone.

The scene of molten iron pouring out of the Nippon Steel furnace and being poured into molds to create red-hot iron ingots was a spectacle he saw in his dreams even when he was sleeping.

Inayama, who leads Nippon Steel, the core of Japan’s key industries, was a national figure in Japan, called the god of steel.

Whoom~ Squeak!

The Japanese taxi driver said.

“We’re here, sir.”

“Is this the right place?”

President Park looked around, feeling doubtful.

Considering the position and reputation of Chairman Inayama, the chairman of the Japan Business Federation, he imagined that a proper asphalt road would lead to a luxurious villa like a carpet, but in front of him was a narrow path that two people could barely walk on.

“The address you gave me is definitely here.”

Park Dae-joon, wearing a suit, closed the car door and walked along the path.

He couldn’t see a single house with the naked eye.

After walking for a while, an old wooden building appeared.

“Could it be….”

He was about to pass by when he stopped.

Then he turned back and looked at the faded wooden nameplate.

– Inayama Yoshihiro

It was definitely the villa of the chairman of Nippon Steel, a leading company.

“This can’t be!”

There was no garage or parking lot around the house.

He seemed to know why he was invited to a suburban villa instead of a steel mill where molten iron poured like a waterfall or a proper headquarters building of Nippon Steel in the city center.

Frugality, integrity! This one experience eloquently conveyed everything more than a thousand words.

He could easily guess that Nippon Steel’s world-class efficiency was the result of such thorough frugality.

He was the first in the world to apply the continuous casting method, and with this as an opportunity, he promoted continuous casting in all Nippon Steel’s steel mills.

Continuous casting was an innovative technology that dramatically improved the productivity of the steel industry.

In particular, in the process of leading the overcoming of the 1st and 2nd oil shock crises, Japan transformed into the country with the highest energy efficiency in the world, securing global price competitiveness and laying the foundation for Japan’s super boom.

When he pressed the intercom bell, he heard an old woman’s voice.

“Come in.”

The sliding door was so old that it creaked and didn’t open well.

“Welcome, President Park Dae-joon. I’m sorry for inviting you to such a shabby place.”

“No, I’ve already learned a lot by stepping through this door.”

The two people talked while drinking *matcha* [Japanese green tea].

Park Dae-joon pleaded for help, saying that the Korean people were making tearful efforts to escape poverty in Korea.