The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 103

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – Episode 103

Wings (6)

“Someone who will become my wings…”

The words I heard from President Kyung Dong-soo kept echoing in my head.

He said that if I brought down Hong Hyung-joo, he would definitely appoint someone who could be my wings in the vacant position as Minister of Justice.

However, for days, no one came to mind.

If there is anyone who could be helpful to me, they are likely to be from the No. 1 line [political faction or alliance].

That doesn’t mean he would suddenly promote Assemblyman [Member of the National Assembly] Sung Tae-hyun, who has no connection to the legal profession, to Minister of Justice.

Actually, before bringing down Minister Hong Hyung-joo, it would be good to know in advance who will be appointed as Minister of Justice.

However, no matter how much I racked my brain alone, I couldn’t find an answer, so I eventually headed to the Dobby Hotel to meet the people from the line directly.

As I entered the penthouse on the 37th floor, people were chatting energetically as usual.

Since I was showing my face after a long time, I slowly greeted the people I knew and strolled around inside, when suddenly someone’s voice caught my ear.

“So, if you become close to the Minister of Justice at this point, you can really maintain a deep relationship…”

“That’s right. But the problem is that if it falls apart, it’s a waste of time and money, so we can’t rashly step forward.”

I immediately moved towards the direction where the conversation was coming from.

“Hello, Assemblymen.”

I greeted them naturally and joined the conversation.

“Ah, Chief Choi is here?”

“Yes, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Good. You look much better too.”

After a brief greeting, they immediately returned to the original topic.

“I was just passing by and heard about the Minister of Justice… There’s a lot of talk about the Minister of Justice these days.”

One of the assemblymen agreed and said,

“That’s right. The Minister of Justice is in a crisis these days. We think the chances of him surviving are about fifty-fifty. If we help Minister Hong at this point, and he survives, we will be able to re-establish a really solid relationship, so I think it’s worth trying.”

The other assemblyman next to him nodded vigorously.

“That’s right. There’s nothing more memorable than lending a hand in a crisis.”

“But the problem is that if Minister Hong gets cut off here, we’ll be completely out of the picture.”

In short, they were discussing whether to help Hong Hyung-joo or not.

If they joined hands with Hong Hyung-joo, who was in crisis, and he escaped the crisis again, their connection with him would become incredibly strong, and he would naturally become a great source of power.

Of course, this is something to consider when you don’t know the outcome.

“I’ll make a decision for you.”

I said with a light smile.

“Give up. Minister Hong Hyung-joo is coming down soon.”

As soon as I finished speaking, one of the assemblymen opened his eyes wide and asked.

“Does Chief Choi have any inside information?”

“Yes. Actually…”

I inhaled, pretending to be bitter, and replied.

“I’ve become the knife that will cut off Minister of Justice’s head.”

“What?”

“Chief Choi?”

The assemblymen couldn’t hide their surprise at the words that I had become the knife.

“No, how did you…”

After a moment of surprise, the assemblymen showed worried expressions.

“Chief Choi, are you okay?”

“It’s the Minister of Justice, not another minister…”

I could fully understand why they were saying this.

The assemblymen, who didn’t know about the connection between Kyung Dong-soo and me, would think that I was holding a bomb.

That’s because if the Minister of Justice is a rooster, then the chief prosecutor is no more than a chick that has just hatched from an egg.

They couldn’t help but think that my career could be cut short.

I explained as if I had no choice.

“There’s been so much talk about the Minister of Justice, so they had to deal with it, but since the Minister of Justice is from Kyung Dong-soo’s line, it would have been difficult to entrust it to prosecutors attached to the same line.”

I shrugged my shoulders and added.

“They couldn’t just assign it to ordinary prosecutors, or Minister Hong Hyung-joo might come back to life. I think they handed it over to me because they thought I was someone who could catch him and who the public would consider reasonable.”

“Can you handle it?”

“I have to somehow. Seeing that it’s been handed over to me, it seems like Kyung Dong-soo has given up on Hong Hyung-joo, so I’ll probably be able to crush him.”

I hid my true feelings and made a groaning sound.

At this point, our line would think that Kyung Dong-soo wasn’t giving me an opportunity, but rather keeping me in check.

This would further dispel the suspicions of former Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hyun.

Now that I had laid the groundwork to some extent, I revealed my original purpose.

“Ah, but who do you think will fill the vacant position of Minister of Justice when Hong Hyung-joo steps down?”

“Hmm…”

Everyone slowly retraced their thoughts.

“Wouldn’t it be someone from the No. 2 line?”

“Although Kyung Dong-soo’s cabinet aims for a certain degree of balance, Minister Hong Hyung-joo was from the No. 2 line, so I think they will fill the vacancy.”

I cautiously brought up the story.

“Aren’t there any people from our line who could be promoted?”

“There are many people who could be promoted.”

One of the assemblymen, who had been listening quietly, crossed his arms and continued.

“But the question is whether Kyung Dong-soo will appoint them or not.”

“If we were to make a list, who would be on it?”

“There’s Park Soo-ho, who is currently the Chairman of the National Election Commission, and Kang Tae-pyeong from the Sentencing Commission.”

At his words, the surrounding assemblymen listed the candidates for Minister of Justice one after another.

“Isn’t Choi Baek-ki, who is from a prosecutor background and is at the Hanulrim Law Firm, quite likely?”

“The former Gwangju District Prosecutor…”

The assemblymen began to list the names they knew, but none of the people who could be said to be close to me were mentioned at all.

Who on earth could be helpful to me?

I don’t think there’s anyone in my network that Kyung Dong-soo knows who is of the level to be promoted to Minister of Justice…

Even after listening to the story for a long time, the speculation about the next Minister of Justice was still up in the air, so I eventually left the assemblymen and moved to another place.

I think I’ll have to wait and see about the next Minister of Justice.

I was looking out the window for a while to clear my head.

“Prosecutor Choi!”

Sung Tae-hyun approached from behind with a happy face.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Ah, Assemblyman, it’s been a while.”

I greeted him happily and sat down in a suitable place.

“They seem to be talking a lot over there.”

He gestured slightly towards the place I had been a little while ago.

“I had something to ask. Do you have anyone in mind for the next Minister of Justice?”

“Well, I don’t have many connections in the legal profession… I don’t really know.”

“I see.”

Sung Tae-hyun rubbed his hands on his knees and opened his mouth again.

“By the way, it seems like you went on a trip recently.”

“Ah, how did you know?”

“I saw it in your profile picture. It seems like you went with your family.”

“That’s right. I went to Southeast Asia this time. It’s a place that Jiyu has always wanted to go.”

I scratched my head out of embarrassment.

“She insisted on registering it as my profile picture on my phone, saying I should be proud of it… Haha.”

“It looks really good.”

“Thank you.”

He took a deep breath.

It seems like he’s trying to say something.

There was a silence for about 3 seconds.

Sung Tae-hyun relaxed his shoulders and opened his mouth.

“When are you going to treat me to noodles?”

He smiled playfully.

I have a feeling that he was trying to say something but suddenly changed the subject.

I was thinking about asking again, but I thought he would say it later if it was important, so I didn’t ask and continued the conversation.

“I don’t know. Everyone I meet says the same thing.”

“You should get married soon. I’ll make sure to give you a generous wedding gift.”

“Oh, I’m looking forward to that?”

I laughed loudly and asked him.

“Assemblyman Sung, are you still enjoying being a wanderer [unmarried and free]?”

“I’m starting to think about settling down.”

He smiled awkwardly.

“If there’s a good woman, that is.”

***

“Ugh, what is all this?”

I couldn’t help but frown as soon as I checked the data.

The documents I’m looking at now are the case files of Minister of Justice Hong Hyung-joo.

Starting with the contents related to the confirmation hearing, all sorts of corruption were rampant.

I’m not sure if I’m looking at the Minister of Justice’s documents or a criminal’s resume.

“This is about the same level as Im Sung-jin.”

It seems like it’s been years since the word Im Sung-jin came out of Yoon Seol-ha’s mouth.

“It’s not that we have to draw our swords, it’s more like he’ll fall over if we just nudge him.”

“I agree. Besides, these are things that have already been controversial in the hearing, so the buzz will be huge.”

“It’s amazing that they’ve been covering it up until now.”

Yoon Seol-ha clicked her tongue.

“If we expose all of this, there will be more than one or two people who will be dragged in together.”

“That’s true, but I’m going to try to prevent that as much as possible.”

I explained to her, who tilted her head as if asking why.

“VIP [Very Important Person, referring to Kyung Dong-soo] asked me to handle it in a way that doesn’t make things too big, if possible.”

Yoon Seol-ha nodded as if she understood.

“So, he’s taking care of him because they’re from the same line.”

“Yes. Anyway, there’s been a lot of controversy about Minister Hong Hyung-joo, and it’s inevitable that it will become a hot topic because a prosecutor is taking down the Minister of Justice. We just need to get the right amount of buzz.”

“I understand. Then, shall we make a list of cases?”

“No. I’ll organize that. I’ll send you what to bury and what to reveal, so please prepare the related documents.”

“I understand.”

Yoon Seol-ha bowed her head.

“Ah, and.”

I pushed the documents aside and called her closer.

“How is Prosecutor Jang Ha-young?”

Prosecutor Jang Ha-young.

Although Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-hyung brought her in, I asked Yoon Seol-ha to investigate her just in case.

Of course, without Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-hyung knowing.

Yoon Seol-ha took out a piece of paper from her inner pocket and handed it to me.

“This is a brief summary. You can refer to it…”

She smiled and continued.

“There were no special circumstances. And it seems like she was discriminated against quite a bit as a female prosecutor before coming to the special investigation department. Including in college and the training institute.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So, it seems like she’s completely determined to succeed in order to break the stereotypes about gender.”

“What about her family?”

“She has a younger brother, but there’s quite an age gap. He recently enlisted as an active-duty soldier, so you don’t have to worry about him.”

“I see.”

Prosecutor Jang Ha-young is also someone who will become my person.

There’s nothing better than treating her family well to make her loyal to me.

There are quite a few general-level soldiers in the line, so I should talk to them about it.

“Can you get me her brother’s profile too?”

Yoon Seol-ha winked and pointed to the document she had just handed over.

“It’s all in there.”

She understands perfectly.