You Have Been Defended – Episode 224 (224/641)
Lee Se-hwa gave an unexpected answer.
In her 60-plus years, Lee Se-hwa must have met many ‘cheeky young people’ besides me, to borrow her words.
Whether that cheekiness stemmed from a young person’s unwillingness to lose to a *kkondae* [a Korean term for an older person who is condescending or authoritarian], or whether it was an expression of inner confidence.
Did she always take such an accommodating attitude in those cases?
No, that answer seems accommodating at first glance, but it still doesn’t answer my question at all.
It’s true that I want to push through my plan, but I clearly said I wanted to hear her plan.
She very naturally passed the speaking rights to me, avoiding answering.
It might be a meaningless compliment to say that she, as the leader of the Minwoo Party, has great conversation skills, but I still want to say it.
“Will you adopt it?”
I didn’t bother to point out her intentions, and I played along.
“Of course, if Cha Attorney’s idea seems right to me.”
She answered leisurely.
“I think the representative wants the entire Minwoo Party to sink the most. But realistically, the presidential election is only a few months away, isn’t it? It’s almost impossible to create a picture where the entire Minwoo Party is ignored by the public until then. But in this presidential election, the Liberty Justice Party must achieve a clear and complete victory.”
“Keep talking.”
“The person who will be most pleased with Lee Jung-chan’s downfall is not the Liberty Justice Party.”
Lee Se-hwa looked at me with an intriguing look.
“If not us, then who?”
“Kang Jong-myung, the floor leader of the Minwoo Party.”
The one who left the famous saying that it’s not right to care about other people’s children’s affairs.
“Originally, Lee Jung-chan and Kang Jong-myung would have been running in the upcoming Minwoo Party primary. Kang Jong-myung has been preaching to reporters about the impossibility of Lee Jung-chan, to the point where it hurts my mouth to say it myself.”
I heard the story from Choi Jong-hyun in my previous life.
Kang Jong-myung’s position is understandable.
Assuming that Lee Jung-chan is elected at this point, when it seems possible to re-establish the regime without any special events.
Then, if Kang Jong-myung wants to take over next, the Minwoo Party will be in power as the ruling party for 15 years.
But that’s actually a difficult picture to see.
If Kang Jong-myung can’t be elected this time, he might have to wait 15 long years, and there’s no way there won’t be a political star rising by then.
In the first place, Kang Jong-myung doesn’t have that many concrete supporters.
Kang Jong-myung will want to use this opportunity somehow.
Maybe he’s happy right now, thinking that he’s received a divine revelation that he’ll become president.
“Are you saying we should let the Minwoo Party cut its tail?”
Lee Se-hwa would find it a pity.
If the Minwoo Party cuts its tail, saying that Lee Jung-chan’s fraud was committed by Lee Jung-chan personally and has nothing to do with us, it would be tantamount to leaving a path for the Minwoo Party.
“The Minwoo Party is a creature with a long and heavy tail. It’s different from other creatures. Cutting off the tail is like cutting off a leg. Would Lee Jung-chan’s concrete base support the Minwoo Party that abandoned Lee Jung-chan? If you just cause internal strife, they’ll split up on their own.”
“Are you saying we should prioritize winning this presidential election?”
“That’s right. It won’t be difficult to persuade Kang Jong-myung. If you tell Kang Jong-myung to have a fair play with the Liberty Justice Party in the presidential election, he’ll understand what you mean and jump at it.”
Park Young-gi said that even the political prosecutors are wavering because of Lee Jung-chan.
Whether to believe that Lee Jung-chan will overcome this crisis and remain on Lee Jung-chan’s side, or to boldly abandon Lee Jung-chan.
This is the biggest challenge facing people with party affiliation in the Minwoo Party right now.
Some will choose the former, and some will choose the latter.
And the latter will naturally stick to Kang Jong-myung.
“Are you saying that an unprecedented situation could occur where the ruling party splits up before the presidential election?”
A drastic situation in which the Minwoo Party is split up a few months before the presidential election will not occur, but at least it will happen immediately after the presidential election.
“That’s the best situation, but inducing that to Kang Jong-myung will be counterproductive. Kang Jong-myung needs the Minwoo Party’s reputation, so he’ll try to stay in the Minwoo Party somehow.”
“Then, shall we induce that to Lee Jung-chan?”
“You don’t have to induce it. If Kang Jong-myung takes the bait, he’ll induce the party line to abandon Lee Jung-chan. But if you think that Lee Jung-chan is the kind of person who will take everything on his shoulders and leave alone for the sake of the Minwoo Party’s image, that’s definitely not the case, is it?”
“That’s right. He’s not the kind of person who would take all the blame alone.”
“If the Minwoo Party cuts its tail, Lee Jung-chan will leave the Minwoo Party and create a new party. He’s definitely not going to disappear like this.”
Lee Jung-chan is not stupid, so he won’t *murihage* [recklessly] run in this presidential election.
He’ll secure seats to maintain his *myeongmaek* [lifeline; lineage] and dream of a splendid comeback by carrying out various schemes for five years.
But I’m planning to put Lee Jung-chan in prison so that even that is impossible.
Ah, will he end up going in anyway because of the national fraud?
There are no precedents for this kind of case yet, so I’m curious to see what will happen.
“What’s needed to prevent that is the card I have.”
The unforgivable crime of receiving money from Myunghwa Pharmaceutical and connecting them with the head of the Food and Drug Administration.
If it was just the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case, he might be able to get out, but in this situation, it’s absolutely impossible.
This was also the ultimate reason why I started all these incidents.
“It’s also necessary to gather the leaders of the opposition parties and pressure the president. The president will cooperate. Since his term is about to end anyway, there’s no reason to look good to the Minwoo Party. It’s obvious that Lee Jung-chan will slip, and then a change of government is a matter of course. If he doesn’t want to appear disgracefully at the prosecutor’s office after his term ends, he’ll have to be cooperative.”
Lee Se-hwa nodded slowly.
“That makes sense. So, what is that card that Cha Attorney has?”
“The use of that card varies depending on the situation, so I can’t tell you until I hear the representative’s answer.”
Whether Lee Se-hwa accepts my plan or not, it will be possible to start a prosecutor’s investigation by tying it to the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case.
However, whether the subsequent events can proceed smoothly depends on how Lee Se-hwa and the Liberty Justice Party act, who are holding the reins.
If the Minwoo Party does not abandon Lee Jung-chan, there is a high possibility that the prosecutor’s investigation will fizzle out, assuming that Wooshin still supports Lee Jung-chan.
I cannot tolerate a situation where I rashly hand over the card and it is absurdly *heullyeobonaeneun* [letting it slip away] due to the Liberty Justice Party’s misjudgment.
If the Liberty Justice Party fails to properly *badameokji mothandamyeon* [catch] the case I *teoteuryeo jun* [set off], I have to explore another method.
Therefore, I cannot rashly hand over everything to her here.
Lee Se-hwa laughed loudly at my question.
And she said to Park Young-gi.
“Chief, what is this friend? He’s a strategist. I want this friend.”
“Cha Attorney is a friend who has no flaws.”
Park Young-gi, who had been listening to the story without agreeing with either me or Lee Se-hwa, opened his mouth.
“I have a lot to talk about with Cha Attorney, but we don’t have time right now. Shall we get up now?”
Lee Se-hwa checked the time and said.
“Cha Attorney, can I get a business card?”
She was about to leave, checking her phone, but suddenly stopped and looked back at me.
When I took out a business card from my wallet and handed it to her, Lee Se-hwa put it in her wallet and patted me on the shoulder.
“I put Cha Attorney’s business card in my wallet, not my business card case. That means I’ll definitely contact you. And the meaning of contacting you is that I’m coming to get that card from Cha Attorney. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
It means she will adopt my plan.
“Thank you? That’s what I should be saying. Well, see you next time. I’ll go first. Chief, let’s have a meal together next time.”
She hurriedly left the room.
When only Park Young-gi and I were left in the room, Park Young-gi looked at me with a *heoteuseumeul jieumyeo* [bitter smile].
“Cha Attorney, do you have any thoughts on politics?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Hmm, really?”
Park Young-gi muttered, fiddling with the water glass.
“But that person, I don’t think she’ll let go of Cha Attorney.”
* * *
[The meaning of our Minwoo Party’s name is to become a friend of the people. A friend is someone who grows up dreaming the same dreams in the same place. They are not beings who deceive and trick each other. I, Kang Jong-myung, and 60 other Minwoo Party lawmakers demand of Representative Lee Jung-chan: Reveal the truth about Lee Se-hyung’s disability. Unlike what Lee Se-hyung announced, the fact that he did not undergo surgery last month, and that he was about to leave the country under the pretext of undergoing surgery, the fact that he can walk alone without help and even run, everything doesn’t add up. And I also demand: Apologize for using your position as party leader to make it seem like the Minwoo Party’s party line to explain Lee Se-hyung. Apologize to the people and resign immediately. ……]
Not long after, I was able to hear good news on the news.
Kang Jong-myung, along with 60 lawmakers from the Minwoo Party, issued a statement demanding an explanation and resignation from Lee Jung-chan.
In addition, the leaders of the opposition parties also issued a statement once again, tightening the noose around Lee Jung-chan.
It wasn’t just the political world that rose up.
All kinds of disabled people’s organizations also rose up like wildfire, criticizing Lee Jung-chan and Lee Se-hyung.
As the situation grew uncontrollably, the media, which had been *swiswihadeon* [hush-hush] for a few days after the incident, soon began to noisily *tteodeureodaetda* [blaring] the Lee Jung-chan issue.
Lee Se-hyung’s conversation recordings and infrared camera footage that we distributed could be heard frequently on any broadcasting station.
Lee Jung-chan’s crazy *jit* [antics] was known all over the world, and even foreign media covered this fact.
In this situation of national *mangsin* [disgrace] where the leader of the ruling party gained *pyosim* [public sentiment/votes] by appealing to emotions with his son’s disability, Lee Jung-chan’s place to stand was *jeomjeom jureodeureotda* [gradually shrinking].
“Attorney, the prosecutor’s investigation is starting. The Special Investigation Department of the Central District Prosecutors’ Office is in charge.”
And not too late, good news came.