The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 239

Retribution (3)

Choi Kyu-hyun trembled as he read the article online.

About ten minutes later, the article was deleted after censorship, but his anger did not subside.

“Aren’t you doing your jobs right? It’s been days, and it’s still like this!”

Choi Kyu-hyun threw an ashtray at Chief Secretary Jung Seung-min, nicknamed ‘Grizzly Bear’.

Jung Seung-min was horrified to see the glass ashtray whiz past his head, but all he could do was apologize.

“I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”

“Why is evidence surfacing? Why is evidence linking me coming out!”

“Chief Prosecutor Park Jae-pil said he eliminated all the evidence, so I don’t know how this suddenly appeared…”

“Does not knowing make it okay?”

He raged like a wildfire.

“The public is in an uproar right now. It’s slowly spreading on social media too. I told you to censor everything and block it!”

“Ah, well, we’re not in a position to monitor 24 hours a day…”

“Why not? Because of manpower?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Choi Kyu-hyun cursed and immediately picked up the phone.

“Connect me to the Director of National Intelligence.”

A moment later, he gritted his teeth and said,

“It’s me. My Chief of Staff will contact you soon.”

-Is there something wrong?

“Don’t ask why, just do as Chief Jung tells you. Mobilize all the National Intelligence Service staff.”

The National Intelligence Service was taken aback, not knowing the situation, but they couldn’t refuse his order, so they accepted it for now.

-Understood.

Choi Kyu-hyun slammed the phone down hard enough to break it.

“Got it?”

Chief Secretary Jung Seung-min swallowed the frustration that was rising in his throat.

“If one more article comes out, your head will be the first to roll.”

“…Understood.”

“Do it right.”

“Yes.”

Just as the Grizzly Bear was about to leave after bowing, Choi Kyu-hyun shouted.

“Where are you going? I’m not finished talking!”

“I’m sorry.”

“What is that Minister of Justice doing? Didn’t I tell Chief Jung to stop the Central District Prosecutor’s Office from running wild?”

“Ah, well, I did convey the message, but…”

Jung Seung-min opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Choi Seo-jun’s power is so great that even the Minister of Justice can’t treat him carelessly.”

“Is this guy crazy?”

Choi Kyu-hyun cursed and raised his voice.

“Why does the Ministry of Justice even exist? The Minister is carrying out orders from the President, why is he being so cautious?”

He was filled with anger.

“Are you sure that bastard conveyed it to Choi Seo-jun properly?”

“Yes. But he’s not listening and continues to act as he pleases…”

At that moment, Choi Kyu-hyun’s expression turned cold.

“Then aren’t those damn guys ignoring the chain of command and disobeying orders?”

Jung Seung-min, sensing an ominous feeling, cautiously replied.

“That’s not entirely wrong, but…”

Choi Kyu-hyun cut off the Grizzly Bear and said,

“Relieve them all of their duties.”

“…Excuse me?”

The Grizzly Bear asked back, wondering if he had misheard.

However, Choi Kyu-hyun glared firmly and said,

“Special Investigation Department or whatever, relieve all those involved of their duties. Aren’t they all disobeying orders?”

The ominous feeling that Jung Seung-min had felt was now a reality.

He cautiously opened his mouth.

“To touch the entire Central District Prosecutor’s Office like that would completely paralyze operations…”

“Do you want your body to be paralyzed?”

He lowered his voice menacingly.

“Those guys are disrupting 청와대 업무 [Cheongwadae 업무 – Presidential Office 업무, meaning presidential duties or affairs]. They’re trying to connect you to Park Jae-pil with ridiculous speculation and climb over you to get to me, aren’t they?”

Jung Seung-min gritted his teeth.

“…I will carry out your orders as you said.”

“Go right now and execute it immediately. Relieve them all of their duties.”

“Understood.”

“And make sure this fact doesn’t leak to the press either.”

“Yes.”

Jung Seung-min, leaving the President’s office, let out a deep sigh.

‘I should have known from when I contacted Park Jae-pil…’

He felt that things would go wrong from the moment they said they would use that criminal to take down Choi Seo-jun.

But to not only suppress the press but also relieve the Central District prosecutors for disobeying orders.

It wouldn’t be a problem if it were just one or two people, but this involves not only the Special Investigation Department and prosecutors from other departments but also investigators and staff.

All in all, it’s well over 100 people.

Among unprecedented events, this is something that will be recorded in history.

It’s almost like martial law.

That’s how much Choi Kyu-hyun is trying to prevent this from being revealed, as he could face impeachment during his second year with the most power.

If he hesitates even a little, not only will Choi Kyu-hyun’s presidency be in jeopardy, but he himself will also lose his position as Chief of Staff.

He had to buy time to prepare.

In the end, all he could do was follow Choi Kyu-hyun’s words.

Jung Seung-min sighed and called the Minister of Justice.

“Yes, Minister Hong, it’s me. The President has just ordered…”

***

“Chief, are you really going to be okay?”

Song Jae-hoon, CP [Chief Producer], nodded firmly at his junior PD’s [Production Director] question.

“I’ll take responsibility, so do as I said.”

“Chief… no, senior. You’re really going to get fired if you do this. This is a broadcasting accident.”

“I’m taking all the responsibility. Just do as I say.”

“Haa…”

The junior PD replied with a tearful face.

“Understood. I’ll do whatever you say.”

Song Jae-hoon had decided to cause an accident.

The program he was managing, , had done detailed coverage of this incident and even edited it for broadcast, but the broadcasting company, under media regulations, had banned the broadcast of the video.

Not only that, but the original tape was confiscated, and even the edited tape was discarded.

Sensing this, Song Jae-hoon took the initiative to make a copy of the completed version that was scheduled to be broadcast and secretly kept the tape without the broadcasting company’s knowledge.

Song Jae-hoon, having heard the inside story from Choi Seo-jun, couldn’t stand idly by.

He couldn’t ignore that his best friend was in danger, but as a journalist, he couldn’t bear to watch the media being controlled by the government and failing to function properly.

So he decided to take the lead.

Even putting aside the truth, he felt that he couldn’t live in a country that suppressed freedom of the press.

And he was confident that if he stepped up, other journalists would follow.

“Give me the tape, senior. I’ll deliver it.”

Song Jae-hoon shook his head at his junior PD’s words.

“No, I’m going to come to the broadcast station at the broadcast time and transmit it myself.”

The junior PD eventually agreed.

“Ah, seriously, take responsibility if I get fired.”

“Okay. Let’s go beg at the subway station together.”

“Aish, okay.”

He grumbled and lent his strength to Song Jae-hoon.

“When the broadcast starts, I’ll block people who are trying to stop the transmission from entering at the entrance, so senior, please take responsibility and keep the broadcast playing until the end.”

Song Jae-hoon smiled and put his hand on his junior’s shoulder.

“Thanks, man.”

***

-Yes, the entire Special Investigation Department has been relieved of their duties.

A hollow laugh escaped at Yoon Seol-ha’s words.

Relieved of duties.

He was speechless at the fact that not only him but also the key figures of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office who had been involved in this case had all been relieved of their duties.

And that was under the pretext of investigating the case as prosecutors and informing the public of this fact.

-So you won’t be able to enter the office from tomorrow, even if you go to work.

“I understand for now. From tomorrow…”

Yoon Seol-ha interrupted me.

-From tomorrow, I will go to work at the Chief Prosecutor’s house.”

“…Excuse me?”

Yoon Seol-ha said with a mix of laughter.

-It’s spacious there. Some will go to Chief Ha Jang-young’s house, and some, including me, have decided to go to the Chief Prosecutor’s house. The rest of the staff will gather separately and proceed with their work.

“Seol-ha.”

-Didn’t the Chief Prosecutor say? Let’s reveal the truth even if it costs us our positions as 검찰공무원 [Geomchal Gongmuwon – Prosecution Officials]. So let’s take them down. We can’t let the prosecution’s work stop because of those guys, can we?

“Will it be okay?”

-Yes. Just in case, don’t tell the prosecutors who come tomorrow to prepare to open a law firm. They’ll all be clinging to the Chief Prosecutor to make a living.

A laugh escaped at her words.

He knew that Yoon Seol-ha and the prosecutors were sincerely loyal to him, but he didn’t know it would be to this extent.

“Understood. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

-Yes, rest well.

I hung up the phone and leaned back on the sofa.

Relieved of duties.

Having been a prosecutor for a long time, all sorts of things happen.

Beep, beep.

At that moment, my phone vibrated.

-From: Song Jae-hoon

-Please watch the PBC channel now. There’s something you must see.

What is it?

When I turned on the TV, was broadcasting a special program about this incident.

It was definitely banned from broadcasting.

I sensed that Song Jae-hoon had stepped up, knowing that his head would roll.

I was grateful and sorry.

Various emotions mixed together as I watched the program.

Just before the broadcast ended, an unexpected phrase popped up.

-A candlelight vigil will be held on June 27th at Gwanghwamun Plaza.

A preview of the candlelight vigil to urge President Choi Kyu-hyun to reveal the truth about this incident.

He had sensed that it wasn’t just him but the people who needed to rise up to resolve this issue, and he had told Song Jae-hoon several times, but he was having difficulty finding a way to help in this way.

Han Ji-yu, who was next to me, grabbed my arm and asked.

“Does that mean I should clear my schedule on June 27th?”

I smiled brightly and replied.

“Yeah. Let’s go together.”

***

The next morning.

“Did something like this happen?”

Citizens who subscribed to the WK Daily were astonished.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, they’re holding a candlelight vigil?”

“They’re always holding rallies. It’s probably nothing again.”

“No. This time, it seems really serious. Look at this.”

WK Daily also, with Park Su-hyung prepared to be fired, took the lead as the first newspaper to report on this media suppression and regulation and the fact that the Special Investigation Department was relieved of its duties.

He secretly changed the article content without his superiors’ knowledge and delivered the article he wrote himself to the local branches of WK Daily across the country.

The citizen who read the article asked with wide eyes.

“It’s not like we’re under military rule… is this real?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I checked the internet and it’s a mess.”

Due to last night’s broadcast and today’s newspaper reports, the truth about this situation spread like wildfire through various communities and social media.

The controversy grew uncontrollably, and no matter how much the government and the National Intelligence Service stepped in, they couldn’t stop tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people from discussing the facts.

“I should go to this candlelight vigil?”

“Yeah. I have to go to find out if it’s true or not.”

As a result, Park Su-hyung and Song Jae-hoon were fired in less than 24 hours and were sued by the media company.

But they weren’t worried.

After many twists and turns, they had succeeded in engraving June 27th in the minds of the people.

***

Many reporters shrank back after seeing Song Jae-hoon and Park Su-hyung get fired.

However, many reporters revealed the truth with a journalistic spirit.

Students even put up posters to spread the word.

Some announcers even reported the truth during live news broadcasts and were dragged out during the live broadcast.

Through these sacrifices, many people realized the seriousness of this issue, and finally, on June 27th, the day of the candlelight vigil.

People poured into Gwanghwamun [a major public square in Seoul].