The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 300

New Owner of the Throne (3)

“It seems difficult to move immediately.”

Park Hyung-tae, the Prime Minister, nodded slowly at my words.

“Yes, it’s understandable.”

Park Hyung-tae is aware of the close relationship between Shin Dong-hyun and me.

More than anything, he knows that if Shin Dong-hyun hadn’t been there to swallow up the Min-guk Party this time, things wouldn’t have been settled so quickly.

Therefore, from Park Hyung-tae’s perspective, he was aware that I was doing him a favor just by not pushing Shin Dong-hyun as a presidential candidate and allowing him to compete in the party primary.

“It wouldn’t have been easy to even run in the party primary without you.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

I nodded lightly and continued.

“In this party primary, it would be very awkward for other lawmakers to see me helping anyone, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s right. Because Shin Dong-hyun is the leading candidate, and you added me as a candidate for the party primary.”

“As Prime Minister, you can sweep up the votes of the Min-guk Party members while fulfilling your duties as Acting President, so you will definitely be selected as the final candidate. Then I will start moving in earnest from then on.”

“Yes. Prosecutor Choi is quick-witted.”

“Thank you.”

Park Hyung-tae asked with a satisfied smile.

“Then, when should I announce my candidacy for the party primary? The media has been subtly mentioning my name for a while now.”

“Soon, your name will start to rise sharply in the media polls as a potential presidential candidate. You can start preparing slowly around that time.”

He opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“Are you preparing that too?”

I nodded as if it were nothing.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Thank you. You’re the only one, Prosecutor Choi.”

“It’s nothing.”

I said with a warm smile.

“I look forward to working with you.”

“I’m the one who should be saying that.”

Park Hyung-tae left with a very pleased expression.

Tsk tsk.

He’s blinded by power and can’t grasp the situation 냉철하게 [coldly].

He still doesn’t know his place.

Of course, as I told him, the loach [a derogatory term for media manipulators] will release all sorts of manipulated data through the media.

In that survey, Shin Dong-hyun and Park Hyung-tae will be competing for the Min-guk Party’s presidential candidate nomination with about 55% vs. 45%.

The public will be interested in this, and some votes may go to Park Hyung-tae to some extent.

Because he is raising his awareness in a short period as the Acting President.

However, the effect will be minimal.

No matter how many times he has run for election as a member of the National Assembly, it will be impossible to beat Shin Dong-hyun, who was elected Mayor of Seoul through a head-to-head battle with the Daehan Party, with votes.

In the actual vote, Shin Dong-hyun will win overwhelmingly with a difference of 7:3 if the difference is small, and a difference of 8:2 to 9:1 if the difference is large.

Then, it is natural that I don’t have to keep the promise I made to Park Hyung-tae for 빈집 털이 [taking advantage of an empty house, meaning exploiting a weakness], and this figure will give strength to Shin Dong-hyun.

If he wins the party primary by an overwhelming margin, it means that he is receiving enthusiastic support from the Min-guk Party as a candidate worthy of winning the presidency.

In a word, it’s giving him strength.

Park Hyung-tae.

He will meet his fate and disappear as a delicious bait to get Shin Dong-hyun elected.

***

“Until now, I had no intention of running for president at all.”

Acting President Park Hyung-tae opened his mouth in a 담백한 [plain, simple] tone.

“Because I thought I had to do my best to correct this chaotic situation as Acting President. But if the people want it!”

He naturally declared his candidacy for president.

“I thought it was the right thing to do as a politician to respond to this. That’s why I am announcing that I will run in the Min-guk Party primary to elect a presidential candidate.”

Prime Minister Park Hyung-tae’s candidacy announcement caused a great ripple.

More than anything, it’s unlikely to be seen favorably that the Acting President is focusing on the election rather than focusing on running the country in a situation where things are just starting to stabilize.

The Daehan Party lawmakers and party members 욕하며 [cursing] began to criticize him and the Min-guk Party together.

They are also laying the groundwork for the presidential election.

Of course, even so, there were quite a few people who supported Prime Minister Park Hyung-tae.

More than anything, he showed some ability to handle 업무 [tasks, duties] by successfully 마무리 [wrapping up, concluding] the economy and exchange rate that had been shaken by the Sung Tae-hyun incident.

However, that alone is not enough to become a presidential candidate.

The Republic of Korea’s political 판 [scene, landscape] is not so easy that you can win the presidency with just a flash in the pan.

In fact, to gain genuine popularity through the position of Acting President, it would be more 진정성 [genuine] to the people to finish the job well before the presidential election and then work as an executive such as the party leader or floor leader, but Park Hyung-tae would not have thought that far.

In the end, the outcome of the party primary is obvious.

So, what I have to do is.

“We must find a way to maintain our relationship with the Daehan Party while helping Shin Dong-hyun get elected.”

That’s the only way to continue the friendly relationship with the Daehan Party that we have worked so hard to establish.

Yoon Seol-ha seemed to 고민 [ponder, contemplate] for a moment before cautiously asking.

“Chief Prosecutor, may I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t think there’s any reason to maintain a good relationship with the Daehan Party in the current situation.”

She expressed her own thoughts.

“You are looking beyond the Prosecutor General to something bigger, aren’t you?”

Yoon Seol-ha naturally knows my goal of winning the presidency.

I nodded instead of answering.

“You’re planning to run with the nomination of the Min-guk Party anyway, right? So, even if you have a friendly relationship with Party Leader Kim Kang-jin, the presidential election is a battle between parties, so all sorts of slander and negative attacks will be rampant when the presidential election unfolds.”

She continued seriously.

“In the current situation, wouldn’t it be better to expand the Min-guk Party’s territory further…?”

It’s understandable enough to think that way.

No, anyone would have to think this way.

But I thought differently from her.

“Seol-ha.”

She lowered her head as if she had realized something.

“I’m sorry if I crossed the line.”

“No. Interaction is a necessary part of sharing opinions.”

“Thank you for seeing it that way. But the election is…”

“I will not run for president as a candidate of the Min-guk Party.”

Yoon Seol-ha’s pupils widened.

“Don’t tell me, are you thinking of running as a member of the Daehan Party?”

“That’s not it either.”

“Then why…”

I smiled at her, who was tilting her head, and continued.

“I will run as an independent.”

“…Yes?”

Disappointment was evident on Yoon Seol-ha’s face.

Of course, it has to be.

Because there has never been a person who has been elected as an independent in the history of the Republic of Korea, and it is a political structure that will never be possible in the future.

But I will create an upset.

I have a plan to do so.

“What do you think of the presidential election, Seol-ha?”

She thought slowly and opened her mouth.

“It’s a competition where they bite each other to death and try to bring each other down. It’s a battlefield where knives are flying and blood is splattered.”

“That’s right. Even if you win the presidential election, it’s common to enter the Blue House 난자된 [mutilated, riddled] with wounds and covered in blood.”

I smiled.

“But I’m thinking of entering 무혈 [bloodless].”

“Yes?”

“While we’re at it, let’s name this operation 무혈입성 [bloodless entry].”

I explained my plan step by step.

“As I said before, I will run as an independent. Then, it would be better for the two parties to be evenly balanced rather than one party growing larger, right?”

“Yes. But, is there any reason to do that…?”

“Yes, there is a reason.”

I said with a glint in my eyes.

“The presidential candidates will push me.”

“…Yes?”

“Of course, it’s just a plan for now.”

A so-called ‘candidate pushing’ that was common in the 90s and early 2000s, although it is not seen in recent politics.

For example, if A, B, and C are running for election.

If A’s approval rating is overwhelming, one of B and C withdraws and declares support for the other candidate.

If B declared his withdrawal, his votes would be concentrated on C, creating a structure in which he could 충분히 [sufficiently] compete with A.

But I’m going to take it one step further here.

“The presidential candidates of the Daehan Party and the Min-guk Party will withdraw and support me.”

If it’s a simple withdrawal, it will become 부동표 [undecided votes], but if they even declare their support, the votes will definitely be concentrated on me.

“Are you saying…”

“I will secure an overwhelming number of votes and be elected.”

At least 80% of the vote.

It’s not a dictatorship, but it’s a huge vote that is reminiscent of a dictatorship.

In politics, approval rating is directly linked to power.

In other words, you will have tremendous power as president.

The power to be able to 독재 [dictate] in a free democratic Republic of Korea.

Yoon Seol-ha was frozen with her mouth open, unable to shake off her surprise.

“If others said it, I would have dismissed it as nonsense and 흘려 넘겼을 겁니다 [brushed it off] without even listening properly. But since you said it, Chief Prosecutor…”

Yoon Seol-ha laughed in vain.

“I really think it’s possible. I really do.”

Her eyes began to shine.

“I want to make it happen.”

“I’ll need a lot of Seol-ha’s help.”

“I’ll help you in any way I can.”

Yoon Seol-ha clenched her fist with a determined expression.

“Give me all the instructions. I’ll do anything.”

I smiled and said.

“Then let’s go back to the topic we were talking about earlier.”

“Yes.”

Her expression became more serious.

“You’re talking about improving or maintaining the relationship with the Daehan Party without harming the Min-guk Party, right?”

“That’s right.”

I had thought of a few ways on my own, but there was no plan that was so attractive.

In fact, I could raise the approval ratings of the Daehan Party or the Min-guk Party, but what’s more important than that in the current situation is ‘티를 내는 것’ [making it obvious].

A way to instill in the Daehan Party the idea that ‘Choi Seo-joon is on our side.’

A way to instill in the Min-guk Party the idea that ‘As expected, our leader is leading us well.’

That’s what’s needed.

Yoon Seol-ha thought carefully and opened her mouth.

“The best way would be to hand over Shin Dong-hyun’s weaknesses to the Daehan Party. Then the Daehan Party would naturally welcome it…”

“And tell Shin Dong-hyun in advance and prepare him to have a mechanism to defend against it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It’s quite common, but it’s a method that works well.

“That’s good.”

I smiled 만족스럽게 [satisfactorily] and picked up my cell phone to call Prosecutor Gong Sang-wook.

“Chief Gong, I have something to tell you, so let’s have lunch together later.”