The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 94

I'm Stepping Down, But…

94. I’m Stepping Down, But…

The Busan and Gyeongnam primary for the ruling party was underway.

Candidate No. 1, Chairman Lee, bellowed into the microphone.

“I will dedicate my experience, which successfully led the ruling party, to the nation with all my heart, members of the party!”

Boo~ Boo~

Jeers erupted from the crowd.

Some party members tore up newspapers and threw them in the air.

The ruling and opposition party leaders, who had engaged in collusion due to Candidate Jung’s exposure of their dealings and the President’s confirmation of the same, were in a position where they couldn’t even hold their heads up in shame.

The Busan Mayor appealed for support, using his home turf as a backdrop.

“Young people should be in politics! We need a generational shift! I am the rightful heir of the ruling party, everyone!”

Candidate Jung, riding on the wave of momentum, made another bombshell announcement.

“Everyone, do you know what’s happening in the National Assembly right now?”

The party members watched him intently, hanging on his every word.

“Looking at the ruling and opposition parties’ negotiation proposal for the reform special committee, it’s a far cry from the original plan! Issues like member salaries, the existence of aides, and the 7-term limit are being rushed through without proper consideration! If a proper reform bill doesn’t pass in this 7th National Assembly, and I am elected as President, I will propose a more powerful National Assembly reform law, everyone! I will also push for National Assembly members to serve completely unpaid honorary positions and limit consecutive terms to a single re-election, greatly expanding the opportunities for all of you to participate in politics!”

In fact, Candidate Jung’s political reform plan was arguably too harsh and unrealistic, but it was perfectly tailored to ignite public sentiment during the election campaign.

Wow! Wow!

Clap, clap, clap!

The voting results were announced.

“In first place, Candidate Jung Joo-hyun, with 38% of the votes! Second place, Candidate Lee Sung-hyun (Chairman) with 20%, third place, Candidate Choi Pal-gu (Busan Mayor) with 22%…”

The chairman, who was directly impacted by the fallout from the exposure of his misdeeds, saw his approval rating plummet and barely managed to hold onto second place.

“Jung Joo-hyun! Jung Joo-hyun!”

The Jung Joo-hyun trend began to gain serious momentum.

As he moved north to Daegu, Gyeongbuk, Gwangju, Jeonnam, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, and Chungcheong, Candidate Jung’s approval rating continued to climb, widening the gap between him and the other candidates.

The chairman and the mayor found their rankings reversed by a narrow margin.

As Candidate Jung took a commanding lead, even the ruling and opposition party leaders began to suggest that they should pass the reform bill before he potentially became president.

If the hard-line Candidate Jung seized power, the ruling and opposition party leaders would find themselves in a situation of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire [avoiding one bad situation only to land in a worse one].

The hard-line Candidate Jung was quickly becoming a public enemy to the established ruling and opposition party leaders.

*

Candidate Jung’s election headquarters.

Candidate Jung was reviewing the morning newspapers ahead of the strategy meeting.

Each newspaper was vying to publish articles predicting the likely presidential candidates.

The poll numbers varied slightly, but a clear trend was emerging.

The most interesting poll was a hypothetical head-to-head match between ruling party Candidate Jung and opposition party Candidate Bang.

It showed Candidate Jung leading with a score of 54 to 46, a result that was beyond the margin of error.

The newspaper analysis attributed Candidate Jung’s surge to the public’s perception of him as the right person to finally enact meaningful political reforms.

In the end, the biggest issue in this presidential election was undeniably political reform.

Candidate Jung smiled faintly.

*Well, is it time to play my trump card?*

*

The Chairman’s campaign headquarters.

The chairman threw the newspaper at his campaign staff and erupted in anger.

“What the hell are you guys doing! Third place! I’m in third place!”

“We’re sorry…”

Everyone hung their heads and stared at the floor.

“Sorry? Is that all you can say! What’s wrong? Come up with an alternative! I need an alternative, and I need it now!”

“The President’s aura is too strong. The fact that a political novice is doing so well is all thanks to the power of the Blue House [the presidential residence].”

In reality, Chairman Lee’s exposure of his private meeting with the Blue House was the biggest contributing factor to his decline in the polls.

It was a roundabout way of saying that Chairman Lee had failed to secure a backroom deal.

“That’s unavoidable! There must be another reason, right?”

“The people’s desire is for political reform, and Candidate Jung seems to have effectively tapped into that sentiment. He has successfully appealed to the desires of party members who feel neglected. I almost fell for it myself.”

“You bastards! You should be giving positions to those who are loyal to the party and loyal to the veterans, but instead, you’re taking the lead and making a fuss! This propaganda about lowering the political age has muddied the waters.”

“……”

Even when they accurately analyzed the root cause of the problem, he interpreted it as “I’m right, you’re wrong,” making it like casting pearls before swine [offering something valuable to someone who doesn’t appreciate it].

The alternative the chairman wanted was something else entirely. The reason, as he saw it, was this:

“Because there are so many candidates running, the votes are being split. We need to unify! We need to consolidate the votes!”

“……”

“We’re halfway there, so it’s time for some candidates to drop out of the race.”

“We’ve heard that Candidates 6, 8, and 9 are planning to resign.”

“That’s it! That’s it! Go to them and tell them to support me.”

“Support you, Chairman? Their political leanings are a bit different…”

“Tendencies, my ass! Tell them I’ll give them a position if I win. Whether it’s a minister or a chairman, I’ll give them everything they want. Tendencies change when positions are on the table.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Ha, I need to reel in a real big fish, not just small fry…”

“……”

“Still don’t understand?”

“Well…”

“Number 2! I’m talking about Number 2, Mayor Choi!”

“Mayor Choi?”

“Even if the two of them fight like cats and dogs [fight intensely], it’s only helping Candidate Jung right now. They have to unify to have any chance of winning. Mayor Choi knows this very well. Policy Director!”

“Yes, Chairman!”

“Secretly sound out Mayor Choi about the possibility of unification. Find out what he thinks and what his conditions are!”

“Yes, Chairman!”

The chairman viewed politics as nothing more than a series of backroom deals.

*

Seoul Jangchung Gymnasium.

The final primary results for the opposition party’s presidential candidate were being announced.

The chairman of the opposition party’s election management committee held the microphone and shouted.

“Final tally, I declare that Candidate Bang Taek-gil, who received 38% of the votes, has been elected as our opposition party’s presidential candidate!”

Pow!

Bang!

Bbam-ba-ra-bam~

Colorful confetti rained down, and a celebratory fanfare sounded.

Candidate Bang accepted a wreath of flowers around his neck and waved to thank the party members.

The party members chanted his name.

“Bang Taek-gil! Bang Taek-gil!”

*

The next day, afternoon, Candidate Bang’s house.

Candidate Bang, who had finally come home and collapsed into bed at dawn, stretched luxuriously in bed, basking in the warm afternoon sun.

“Ah~ Heum!”

He picked up the morning newspaper that his wife had thoughtfully brought to him.

Seeing his picture plastered on the front page as the confirmed opposition party candidate, the corners of his mouth curled upward in a satisfied smile.

“Those fools! If the 2nd and 3rd place candidates had unified, I would have been finished. That was a close call.”

His wife entered the room carrying a glass of honey water.

“Drink this. You drank far too much last night.”

“It was a celebration! I couldn’t refuse all the congratulatory drinks they kept offering me.”

He gulped down the bowl of honey water in one go.

“Ah~ That really wakes me up. Has anyone contacted me?”

“The chairman’s secretary called and asked you to call him back. He wants you to come to the party headquarters tonight.”

“I have to treat the party officials today. They’ll all be lining up to get on my good side, right? Hahaha!”

“And someone named Jung Joo-hyun called. He said he had a major proposal related to the election and left his phone number. Here…”

He took the note with the phone number and said, a puzzled expression on his face.

“Jung Joo-hyun? Who is that… It’s all over now, so what kind of election proposal could he possibly have? But who is it? I’ve definitely heard that name somewhere before…”

Even though a part of him thought, “No way,” he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that the leading candidate of the ruling party would call him.

He got up, went to the bathroom, and sat down in front of the landline phone, carefully dialing the number.

Chwa-reureuk~ Chwa-reureuk~

Ttu-ru-ru-ru, Ttu-ru-ru-ru-

The phone rang.

A man’s voice answered on the other end.

– Hello.

“Is this Jung Joo-hyun?”

– Speaking.

“Ah, are you the person who left me the note yesterday?”

– Ah, are you Assemblyman Bang?

“Yes, it is.”

– First of all, congratulations on being confirmed as the opposition party’s presidential candidate.

“Ah, yes, thank you. But who are you again…”

– I’m ruling party candidate Jung Joo-hyun.”

He jumped up in shock.

“Yes? Are you really Minister Jung? I didn’t recognize your name because I never imagined someone from the ruling party would call me. But what’s going on?”

– I have a major proposal to make.

“A proposal? The primary is over, what kind of proposal could you possibly have?”

– The real election is still ahead.

“The election? The ruling and opposition parties are destined to fight fiercely, so what kind of proposal could you possibly be suggesting…”

– Let’s meet and talk. This is not something to be discussed over the phone. Let’s meet alone in a place where there are no reporters.”

The word “alone” immediately piqued his interest.

Politicians often have important secret talks when the number of people gathered is small.

Politicians only tend to say politically correct things when the group is large.

*

Seoul outskirts, Korean restaurant.

In a private room, Candidate Jung and Candidate Bang met.

Candidate Jung spoke first.

“Is this our first time meeting each other?”

“Haha, yes, it is.”

“Food is not important, so I’ll get straight to the point before the main course arrives.”

“Yes, I have to attend the party headquarters later, so please be brief. What is this proposal you mentioned?”

“Candidate Bang has been chosen by the opposition party, and the ruling party has half of its primary left, but in reality, the trend has already been decided. It will inevitably end with me as the nominee.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s likely.”

“If Candidate Bang and I face off in the general election, the newspapers show that I am leading outside the margin of error, although the exact numbers vary from newspaper to newspaper.”

“Hahaha, the presidential race hasn’t even officially started yet. There’s a saying that the first poll is always unreliable [a dog’s draw].”

Candidate Bang attempted to avoid being put on the defensive in this power play.

“Actually, there are only two reasons why I decided to run for president in the first place.”

“……”

“The first is the political reform law.”

“Haha, you’ve proposed a radical reform that would make it a completely unpaid honorary position.”

“If the ruling and opposition parties pass the political reform law as originally proposed in this National Assembly, I am willing to resign from the race midway.”

“Yes? Could you, could you say that again?”

Candidate Bang stammered, completely taken aback by the shocking proposal.

Candidate Jung repeated clearly.

“I said that if the ruling and opposition parties pass the political reform law as originally proposed in this National Assembly, I will withdraw my candidacy midway.”

“Resign! So you’re telling me that you want the opposition party to propose and submit the bill?”

“The ruling and opposition parties are already in consultation, so it doesn’t really matter who officially proposes it. I’m simply asking for your approval when it is eventually submitted.”

Candidate Bang responded cautiously.

“Well, this is certainly a unique form of lobbying. It’s rare to see someone use their own resignation as a bargaining chip. And if you were to resign, you would at least ask for a position or some kind of guarantee in return, but we’re from different parties, so I have nothing to offer you, Candidate Jung.”

“If I resign, Candidate Bang’s chances of winning the presidency will undoubtedly increase. There is no other strong candidate remaining in the ruling party.”

“……”

*Hehe, that’s it!*

Candidate Bang swallowed hard, trying to contain his excitement.

The mere thought of becoming president was already making him feel lightheaded.

The moment he heard Candidate Jung’s words, he had already finished calculating the potential benefits.

However, he maintained a poker face, carefully concealing his true feelings.

There’s nothing less trustworthy than a politician’s promise. Confirmation was absolutely necessary.

“Um, I’ll think about it.”

“The second reason is…”

“Ah, there was another one.”

“The current presidential term limit is ‘limited to one re-election.’ I would like you to remove the words ‘limited to one’ in this National Assembly.”

“Yes? Are you talking about a constitutional amendment now?”

“That’s right. A constitutional amendment.”

“Ah, this is not a problem that I can handle alone.”

Candidate Jung drove a wedge, ensuring that Candidate Bang couldn’t easily back out of the deal.

“Are you planning to stop after only 8 years if you become president?”

“……”

The back of his neck stiffened as a wave of ambition washed over him.

*Hehehe, unlimited consecutive terms! What kind of dream did I have last night? Did I dream of pigs or a dragon ascending to heaven… I can’t quite remember… No, I must have passed out from exhaustion, and my memory was erased.*

His desire blazed within him, fueled like gasoline thrown onto a fire.

The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]

The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]

재벌총수가 대통령으로 회귀함 1967
Status: Completed Author: Native Language: Korean
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[English Translation] Imagine a world where the ruthless efficiency of a chaebol chairman collides with the iron will of a nation's leader. Chairman Wang, the titan behind the Hyundai Group, finds himself hurled back in time, inhabiting the very body of President Park in 1967! Korea stands at a crossroads, shackled by authoritarianism and suffocated by bureaucratic red tape. Now, armed with future knowledge and a relentless drive, Wang seizes the reins of power. Witness the birth of a new Republic, forged in the fires of innovation and meritocracy. Will he succeed in transforming Korea into a global powerhouse, or will the ghosts of the past and the weight of history crush his ambitions? Prepare for a thrilling saga of power, ambition, and the ultimate battle for a nation's destiny!

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