You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 232

You Have Been Defended – Episode 232

At 9:30 AM, the front of the Minwoo Party headquarters was teeming with people.

As announced in advance, today was the day the Minwoo Party would announce its position on Lee Jung-chan.

As the cold weather approached, Yoon Se-yeon mingled with the reporters, rubbing her hands together.

She had camped out in front of the party headquarters since early morning to secure a front-row spot.

She had been dozing off, and before she knew it, time had flown by.

Yoon Se-yeon then strolled around to find familiar faces.

“Reporter Yoon!”

Reporters from various newspapers and broadcasting stations waved at Yoon Se-yeon.

“Hello!”

They poured warm cocoa from their thermoses and handed it to Yoon Se-yeon.

“There’s never been a time as busy as these days, really. You must be very busy too, Reporter Yoon?”

“I am busy, but not really. I mean, I’d be busy if I had some information coming in. I’m poking around here and there, wondering where to poke to get something, but I’m not really getting much.”

“You’re funny!”

At Yoon Se-yeon’s words, a middle-aged reporter who was smoking chuckled and shouted.

“Reporter Yoon, you’re close to that lawyer, aren’t you? The news that the lawyer is closely involved in this case has spread widely, you know.”

“That lawyer? Who are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. Reporter Yoon, you’re being too coy.”

A rookie reporter who had followed her senior glared at Yoon Se-yeon.

Of course, she also knew that they were talking about lawyer Cha Joo-han.

And as they said, she knew that he was deeply involved in this case.

But what could she do?

Now that reporter Choi Jong-hyun had started broadcasting, all the scoops went to him first.

She was just twiddling her thumbs, even asking Cha Joo-han for information!

“There’s talk that CEO Lee Se-hwa has been meeting with lawyer Cha Joo-han?”

The reporter who handed Yoon Se-yeon the cocoa cautiously brought up the topic.

She had heard that story too.

But she didn’t ask Cha Joo-han about it in detail.

He was so enigmatic that he wouldn’t tell her even if she asked.

When she first heard the rumor, she thought it couldn’t be true.

It was an unexpected combination.

Cha Joo-han didn’t seem to have any particular desire for politics.

If he were a person with great ambition, he would have asked her to write impressive articles about all the dramatic cases he had won so far.

And Yoon Se-yeon would never refuse such a request.

However, it wasn’t strange even if the rumor was true.

Lee Se-hwa and Cha Joo-han.

Looking at the two of them alone, it seemed a bit odd, but they could meet as much as they wanted.

Wasn’t Kang Min-jae, who followed Cha Joo-han like a shadow, the *chinjobu* [a direct descendant or blood relative] grandson of former President Kang Kwan-woong?

Moreover, the timing of Park Young-gi, the deputy chief prosecutor of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office, who was one of Kang Kwan-woong’s favorite disciples, being promoted to the 3rd deputy chief prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, was also suspicious.

The media still couldn’t find Kang Kwan-woong’s name, and Park Young-gi was described as an unexpected appointment.

However, among seasoned reporters, there were rumors circulating.

“Doesn’t Reporter Yoon know?”

“I don’t know either. I’ve just picked up stories from here and there like the senior reporters.”

In fact, she had poked Choi Jong-hyun several times to confirm the facts, but Choi Jong-hyun didn’t say a word, whether he really didn’t know or he knew but didn’t want to talk.

“Cha Joo-han, who is famous for not meeting reporters well, only sees Reporter Yoon privately.”

“Oh, really. I don’t know! I want to know too! He only says what he wants to say, how would I know!”

The story that Lee Se-hwa was meeting with Cha Joo-han was likely a story that came from Lee Se-hwa’s side.

Cha Joo-han had become a famous person in many ways.

He was currently known as a competent lawyer, but people were already coveting Cha Joo-han’s planning skills in various places.

Therefore, at least in this industry, there would be no one who hadn’t heard of Cha Joo-han, even if they didn’t know his face.

In particular, the field where his planning skills shined was media play, which politicians needed.

He knew exactly how people would view a particular phenomenon and knew how to lead the atmosphere he wanted.

It was the virtue that politicians needed most and the virtue they lacked most.

In other words, it was clear that Lee Se-hwa had spread the story to say, “I’ve already dibs on him, so don’t covet him.”

“Reporter Yoon, does Cha Joo-han have someone he’s seeing?”

“Someone he’s seeing? In what sense?”

“You know, something between a man and a woman.”

“How would I know that?”

Yoon Se-yeon replied indifferently.

But just thinking about Cha Joo-han being in love with some woman made her break out in a cold sweat.

To escape the awkward scene, Yoon Se-yeon shook her head from side to side.

“Reporter Yoon, subtly seduce him and get him to talk. Men are all the same. No matter how impenetrable a man is, he can’t resist a pretty woman.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes, you’re pretty, Reporter Yoon.”

“I appreciate the compliment, but…”

“Have confidence!”

“Lawyer Cha is not my type. I like gentle men. And I don’t really like people who are too excessively handsome and talented…”

“Who said to date him sincerely? Just get information out of him!”

Yoon Se-yeon, who was looking at the reporters who were passionately arguing, suddenly recalled a familiar face in her head.

“…Lawyer Cha has a wife.”

“Huh? He has a wife? What, is he married?”

“Not really…”

“What are you talking about, really?”

“There is someone like that.”

Have you heard of it? Cha Joo-han’s sidekick, Kang Min-jae…

“We will begin the press conference soon in Conference Room 3 on the first floor!”

At that moment, the party headquarters door opened and a loud voice announcing the entrance was heard.

Yoon Se-yeon quickly joined the entrance line.

“Hey, I was here first?!”

“…Our Minwoo Party Ethics Committee has recommended that former Representative Lee Jung-chan resign from his position as representative and leave the party. Accordingly, former Representative Lee Jung-chan expressed his intention to resign from his position as representative but refused to leave the party. Therefore, we would like to inform you that our Minwoo Party has finally resolved to expel former Representative Lee Jung-chan. Our Minwoo Party has grown with the birth of the Republic of Korea and is a friend of the people…]”

Thud.

Kang Min-jae, who was listening to Kang Jong-myung’s voice echoing in the office, dropped the plastic cup he was holding.

Secretary Oh, who heard the sound, could have reacted and picked it up for him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the television either.

Instead of them, who seemed to be sucked into the screen as if they couldn’t miss a single word, I picked up the cup that Kang Min-jae had dropped.

I thought he might as well spit the orange juice he was drinking back into the cup.

“Lee, Lee Jung-chan expelled? Suddenly?”

Kang Min-jae even stuttered.

That’s because the story they shared with them was only up to the point where Lee Jung-chan had agreed with Kang Jong-myung to resign from his position as representative.

It wasn’t that I was trying to hide it.

After hearing the news from Yoon Se-yeon, the time I had to move was until this morning, two days from that day.

In just over a day, I had to make sure that Lee Jung-chan couldn’t see a chance for *hoesaeng* [recovery or revival] in the Minwoo Party as it was.

“Did you know, Lawyer? That the Minwoo Party was expelling Lee Jung-chan?”

Secretary Oh, also quite flustered, turned to me and asked.

“I only found out that Kang Jong-myung had made this decision for sure after watching the broadcast.”

“Then you knew something else? Why didn’t you tell us?”

At Kang Min-jae’s question, I sighed and answered.

“Rather than that, I had taken measures to get Kang Jong-myung to expel Lee Jung-chan, and I just confirmed that those measures worked. So I couldn’t tell you in advance, and above all, there was no time.”

“What measures did you take?”

“It’s not a big deal, but…”

* * *

“You’re overestimating me like Zhuge Liang [a famous strategist from the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history]. You’ll probably think it’s anticlimactic when you hear it.”

Lee Se-hwa’s eyes sparkled as she waited for my words, but in fact, it wasn’t really a great measure.

“Soon, Lee Jung-chan will have another new issue.”

“A new issue? Is there still more to explode? The second son’s lies have already exploded, and the eldest son already had the story of receiving sexual favors during the Jo Hyun-seok case last time. I haven’t heard anything?”

Lee Se-hwa tilted her head and said.

“It’s not like he’s committing incredibly illegal acts. But it’s something that will enrage the public.”

“That’s scarier. From the perspective of politicians like us.”

She was right.

Illegality might be better if it’s not too excessive.

It’s bound to be forgotten someday, and the punishment can also be *jjago chil* [rigged or prearranged] with the judiciary.

But once you’re *jjikhineun* [marked or targeted] by the public, it’s hard to turn back.

That’s why image is important, and that’s why Lee Jung-chan went so far as to use his son.

“So what is it?”

“It’s a recording containing Lee Jung-chan’s voice. It contains content that mocks Koreans, saying that Koreans are genetically stupid, so this will be forgotten quickly, and if we wait while planning for the next time, they will be fooled again.”

“That’s what that guy always says. I’ve heard it myself.”

In some ways, it’s not a big deal.

In this society where distrust of politicians is deeply rooted, it wouldn’t be surprising that Lee Jung-chan said such a thing.

But hearing that content directly in audio is different.

If it weren’t for the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case and Lee Se-hyung’s case, no broadcasting station would have played that audio.

But now that so many ugly pasts have been revealed and are constantly falling, wouldn’t the broadcasting station want to miss such topicality?

In particular, in a situation where they are just repeating Lee Jung-chan’s *biri* [corruption] facts like parrots, it is none other than the media that is thirsty for new issues about Lee Jung-chan.

There is no place to extend a helping hand to a politician whose presidential election has already gone down the drain.

“Hmm. There will be repercussions in this situation.”

“If they embrace Lee Jung-chan, the Minwoo Party will also be branded as viewing the public in that way. Kang Jong-myung, who is already afraid that the Minwoo Party’s votes will leave, how could he stand to see such a sight? If the media is said to be timing to *teoteuril* [release or detonate] the recording, Kang Jong-myung will judge that it is better to cut off the tail.”

And the timing for Kang Jong-myung to cut off the tail is also the last day after tomorrow.

Demands for Lee Jung-chan’s expulsion are already pouring in from Minwoo Party supporters.

However, if they decide to wrap up the situation with Lee Jung-chan’s resignation as representative, a somewhat moderate statement will be read at the press conference the day after tomorrow.

The reason for not expelling Lee Jung-chan is to absorb the votes of Lee Jung-chan’s supporters during the presidential election.

In that situation, there is nothing more foolish than attacking Lee Jung-chan.

However, if this recording is *teojimyeon* [released], some of the remaining supporters of Lee Jung-chan will also leave.

Even if they expel Lee Jung-chan at that time, the Minwoo Party will have already embraced Lee Jung-chan once, so they will only be *yongmeogeul* [criticized] by any camp.

* * *

“Lee Jung-chan said that Koreans are genetically stupid? Even though he’s Korean himself? That’s absurd.”

Kang Min-jae shrugged his shoulders as if he was dumbfounded after hearing the story.

Kang Min-jae has a lot of gestures, perhaps because he lived in the United States for a while.

“I know, right. I also think it’s absurd.”

“Where did you get that recording? Did you eavesdrop?”

“No way. I just heard it somewhere.”

“Then when is this *teojineun* [releasing]? I’m looking forward to it. The news is so interesting these days. I wait for the news with the feeling of waiting for a drama. I have to watch the news on the day the recording *teojineun* [releases].”

“It won’t *teojil* [release].”

I stood up from the sofa and answered.

Kang Min-jae stared blankly at me and asked as if he didn’t understand.

“…Why won’t it *teojeo* [release]? You threatened Kang Jong-myung with that.”

“There’s no recording in the first place.”

“Huh?”

This time, Secretary Oh, who had been listening quietly, shouted in an overturned voice.

“…Then Kang Jong-myung was deceived by a recording that didn’t even exist?”

“That’s right. Lee Se-hwa too.”

“Why were they deceived? If they didn’t hear the recording directly, there’s no reason to be deceived.”

“That’s what Lee Jung-chan always says. Koreans are genetically stupid, and if we wait while planning for the next time, they will be fooled again. Kang Jong-myung also heard it directly, so he must have thought, ‘That guy was running his mouth, and in the end, he got recorded.'”

Lee Jung-chan’s voice in the recording file that Choi Jong-hyun had obtained somewhere in the distant future and played for me seemed to be vividly *jaesaengdoeneun* [playing or replaying] in my ears for some reason.

It would have been a shame if there really was a recording, I would have *ppuryeosseul* [released or spread] it together.

Well, whether it exists or not, it seems that Lee Jung-chan will never become president in this Republic of Korea where I live.