The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 96

96. Reversal After Reversal (2)

National Assembly Main Hall.

The Speaker of the National Assembly announced the results of the vote.

“I declare that the Presidential Salary Amendment Bill has been passed with a majority vote!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Local Autonomy Act, the National Assembly Reform Act, and the Presidential Term Constitutional Amendment were passed without a hitch.

Most of it was as originally proposed, but the most significant change concerned the term limit for National Assembly members. It was amended to allow only three terms, starting with the next National Assembly.

The current lawmakers were guaranteed their existing terms as much as possible.

Under the Local Autonomy Act, basic elected positions were, in principle, unpaid honorary positions, but actual expenses and condolence money were provided. The salaries for metropolitan elected officials and National Assembly members were set at the same monthly amount as the President, which was 4 million won (approximately $3,000 USD based on 2022 values).

The 300 National Assembly members, their number increased in proportion to the population, were required to submit 20 bills per year by expanding and strengthening the Legislative Research Office. Failure to submit less than 10 bills in one year or less than 40 bills in two years would result in automatic dismissal from office.

However, if they held a party leadership position, this requirement was relaxed to more than 30 bills in two years.

Neither National Assembly members nor local autonomous elected officials were allowed personal aides and were subject to public recall.

The privilege of immunity from arrest was abolished for elected officials.

In the constitutional amendment, the presidential term was revised to “may be re-elected.”

Candidate Jung exclaimed upon hearing the news of the passage.

“Wow! It really passed!”

He immediately called the Blue House [the executive office and official residence of the South Korean president].

“Your Excellency, I never thought the constitutional amendment would really pass. I thought the goal was political reform, and the constitutional amendment was just a bonus.”

– I was also surprised to hear that it passed so easily. Tsk, tsk, those guys are blinded by their lust for power, wanting to be president for life. But isn’t being president for life a bit much?

“It was just bait for the constitutional amendment, so we can fix it again later.”

– Haha, you’re so generous! You can’t hide your true nature. Anyway, great job, Candidate Jung. What are you going to do next?

“Now that the constitutional amendment has passed, my plans have changed slightly. Both Your Excellency and I have one final thing left to do.”

– …….

*

The fact that various laws were passed in the National Assembly was prominently featured in the evening newspapers.

Citizens who didn’t know the inside story praised the National Assembly members.

“I thought they wouldn’t be able to cut their own hair [a Korean idiom meaning to make sacrifices that affect themselves], but it’s commendable that they did it themselves.”

“For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like my taxes are being wasted.”

“It’s amazing that they’re working so hard even at the end of their terms. The sun must be rising in the west [another idiom meaning something unexpected is happening].”

“Hey, those thugs wouldn’t have done it out of pure intentions.”

“What do you mean?”

“They say that Candidate Jung will change everything to unpaid honorary positions if he becomes president, so they got scared and dealt with it in advance. Those guys aren’t that generous. They made it so they can serve three more terms themselves.”

“Ah, is that how it is? They wouldn’t do something that’s a losing game for them. By the way, is Candidate Jung going to be president for life?”

“The president is pushing him hard, so he’ll probably win without any problems.”

*

At that moment, Candidate Jung held an emergency press conference at the ruling party’s headquarters.

“Today, the political reform laws, which were the people’s long-cherished desire, have all been passed in the National Assembly, albeit with some shortcomings. My goal of running for president has been completely achieved. Therefore, I have decided to withdraw from the presidential primary. I sincerely apologize to all the party members who have supported me.”

The press box buzzed.

“Please support Chairman Lee, who has a lot of experience, instead of me. Thank you.”

Questions poured in from the reporters.

“What’s the real reason you’re withdrawing?”

“I’m sorry. I won’t be taking any questions.”

Candidate Jung ended the conference like that.

However, Candidate Jung’s campaign staff and supporters were in a panic due to the sudden withdrawal.

“This is definitely because he received some kind of pressure!”

“Candidate Jung! What happened?”

Candidate Jung bowed his head and apologized.

“I’m sorry, everyone. You’ve helped me in every way, but I sincerely apologize for withdrawing midway like this. There was no other pressure. It’s because my motivation for running disappeared after the political reforms were completed. If you watch what happens in the future, your misunderstandings will be cleared up.”

*

Assemblyman Bang’s office in the opposition party.

Assemblyman Bang, upon hearing the news, called Candidate Jung and demanded an explanation.

“No, if you were going to withdraw, you should have just done it. Why are you supporting Chairman Lee? This is a breach of promise!”

– Wasn’t it just stated that I would withdraw midway? So it’s not a breach of promise.

“You pretended to support me, but in the end, you’re supporting the ruling party’s candidate? This is a scam.”

– Anyway, Assemblyman Bang, your approval rating is quite a bit higher than Chairman Lee’s. The two of you can just have a friendly competition.

Since the bill had already passed, President Jung had nothing to lose.

“In that case, I’ll expose the memorandum!”

– Be my guest.

Candidate Bang flinched when President Jung came on stronger than expected.

“I really will.”

– If it’s revealed that the opposition party’s support for the reform bill was ultimately a collusion to make the ruling party candidate withdraw, it wouldn’t be good for you, would it?

“……”

That was true.

Exposing the memorandum would damage the opposition party’s reform image, so it was more disadvantageous for Candidate Bang.

– Shall I expose it?

Candidate Bang’s face turned red.

“Forget it! Let’s just say this matter is over.”

– Yes, then I’ll take it that way. Good luck, Candidate Bang.

Click!

Candidate Bang hung up the phone and fumed for a long time. He couldn’t calm down at all.

“I thought he was a dumb bear, but he was a complete fox! Ha, I feel like I’ve been completely backstabbed.”

*

The constitutional amendment bill passed by the National Assembly was posted for 20 days and then immediately put to a national referendum.

In the vote asking for approval or disapproval, it easily passed with more than half of the votes in favor.

The President immediately promulgated the amended constitution.

*

Ruling party primary venue.

The primary chairman announced the final runoff vote results.

“As a result of the runoff vote between candidates number 1 and number 2, I declare that candidate number 1, with a total of 55.4%, has been elected as our party’s presidential candidate!”

Bang! Bang!

The fact that Candidate Lee was unable to create a significant difference despite Candidate Jung’s withdrawal and support was a considerable weakness for Candidate Lee.

Candidate Bang of the opposition party cheered at the news of Candidate Lee’s victory.

“Oh, it’s worth a try! A change of government, political reform issues, and a new/old generation change concept would be perfect!”

*

President’s office.

The President was reading the newspaper.

Interviews with the confirmed ruling and opposition presidential candidates were being published competitively.

The candidates were focusing more on attacking each other’s flaws than on practical policies.

How many mistresses they had, land speculation, bribery, involvement in vested interests… it was an overheated mudslinging situation.

The President clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, they’re just picking on other people’s flaws because they don’t have the ability.”

At that moment, the Chief of Staff entered.

“Your Excellency, the recommendation documents are complete. There are 5 boxes for each province.”

“Oh, thank you for your hard work. Tell President Jung to come in.”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

*

Central Election Management Committee.

The presidential candidate registration period began with 24 days left before the presidential election.

The ruling and opposition candidates had already completed their registration early and entered the official election campaign.

As the registration deadline approached, the Election Commission members and reporters began to withdraw.

At this time, an Election Commission member at the reception desk was startled by the appearance of one person.

One reporter who was about to enter the newspaper office also stopped in his tracks.

This was because President Jung was holding heavy documents in his hand.

The men who came in after him were carrying document boxes.

“Could it be that he’s here to register as a presidential candidate….”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“……”

A reporter who was nearby heard this and rushed in like a hyena, thinking he had caught a scoop.

“Candidate Jung, are you running as an independent after withdrawing from the candidacy?”

President Jung said.

“It’s true that it’s independent, but it’s not me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m here to submit the application on behalf of someone else. The candidate is Park Jung-woong.”

“Ah, I thought so! Wait! Park Jung-woong is a name I’ve heard a lot… Could it be the current president, Park Jung-woong?”

“That’s right. The current president.”

“What? The ruling party has already finished selecting its presidential candidate, hasn’t it?”

“That’s why he’s running as an independent. He already left the party a month ago, so he’s an independent.”

At the time, the President had left the party to maintain neutrality in the election.

The President was initially quite hesitant and wavered at President Jung’s recommendation to run as an independent.

However, it was something that President Jung had designed with all his heart and risking his life, and he decided to run one more time and entrust it to the will of the people with an open mind.

People around him flocked around.

President Jung said.

“Here is the candidate form, and there are documents with the maximum number of 60,000 people who are registered as residents in each province.”

In order to prevent the proliferation of independent candidates, they had to receive recommendations from 3,500 to 60,000 people, based on more than 700 voters registered in each city and province, along with a deposit of hundreds of millions of won [hundreds of thousands of US dollars].

It was a letter of recommendation received in just one day.

A reporter asked.

“Isn’t it impossible to serve three terms due to the ban on re-election?”

“Wasn’t it passed by constitutional amendment this time?”

“Ah, was it applied from this time?”

“Of course. His Excellency said that he would make a declaration of candidacy through an interview later, so please ask for details then. No more questions now.”

A storm raged.

The evening news and newspapers were all plastered with the current president’s independent candidacy.

*

Ruling party headquarters.

Candidate Lee called President Jung and foamed at the mouth, jumping up and down.

He was already being pushed back by the opposition party due to his outdated image, and now a bomb had exploded from within.

“What kind of law is this! Did you write the memorandum to do this?”

– That’s right.

“What, what? I’m going to expose the memorandum!”

– Does the memorandum have anything to do with His Excellency’s candidacy? It’s not in the memorandum at all.

“……”

– If you’re going to expose it, go ahead. I have nothing to lose. Candidate Lee, you’ll just end up losing votes due to the collusion image.”

“Ha, really! Listen! Isn’t it wrong for the president to amend the constitution himself to extend his term!”

– Since you’re a member of the National Assembly, you should do it by law. You should have included the phrase ‘Constitutional amendments for the extension of the President’s term or changes to re-election shall not be effective for the President at the time of the constitutional amendment proposal’ when you amended the constitution.”

During Chairman Wang’s era, this phrase was newly established while revising to a single-term system.

“Are you fanning the flames in a burning house [making a bad situation worse]?”

– Anyway, now do a good job with the election campaign and be judged by the people’s votes. The election will be worth watching.”

*

The Korean Press Center.

The Korean Press Center is a research and friendship organization composed of mid-level journalists and was a neutral and authoritative organization.

The President gave a candidacy interview in front of reporters from the Korean Press Center.

He officially threw his hat into the ring in a neutral area because he was worried that declaring his candidacy from the Blue House would be seen as an election campaign using his official position.

“I, Park Jung-woong, am running for the 7th presidential election as an independent, citizens!”

That single line was the entirety of his declaration of candidacy.

The moderator asked.

“Candidate, have you finished your declaration of candidacy?”

“Yes!”

The bewildered veteran journalists bombarded him with questions.

“There is criticism that it is virtually a three-term constitutional amendment. What do you think?”

“That’s right. But this is not a constitutional amendment that I ordered, but one that National Assembly members, blinded by their lust for power, handled on their own in the National Assembly. If you want to criticize the constitutional amendment, you should do it to the National Assembly members.”

“Wasn’t the constitutional amendment under Your Excellency’s instructions?”

“If it was my instruction, would I have run as an independent, giving up my party affiliation, instead of running with the support of a political party from the beginning?”

“……”

Sharp questions followed.

“If you had no intention of challenging for a third term, shouldn’t you have given up this independent candidacy altogether?”