You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 524

“Wow, I didn’t know Jonghyun hyung was so good at English! I mean, listening and reading are basic skills, but he speaks so well. He even made jokes!”

Choi Jonghyun’s ICIJ [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists] membership was finally approved.

Jo Bongjun was also present during the video interview, and he seemed quite impressed with Choi Jonghyun’s English skills.

Throughout the meal, as we sat together in Kang Minjae’s hospital room, he kept praising Choi Jonghyun’s English skills.

“Hey, stop it. It’s embarrassing.”

“What’s embarrassing? I’m just saying you’re good at something.”

“No, he went to high school in America, and you… I don’t know why you’re so good, but you’re really good. My pronunciation is terrible, and my intonation is completely Korean.”

“Wow, because he’s good at English, he calls it ‘intonation’ instead of ‘accent.’ People who are good at English are different.”

The ‘he’ Choi Jonghyun is referring to is Kang Minjae, and the ‘you’ is me.

As he said, Kang Minjae went to school in America, so it’s natural that he’s good.

But I’ve never spoken English in front of them, so I have no idea why he included me.

“Kang Attorney is good at everything, but I’m just okay with speaking.”

“I am pretty good, though.”

Kang Minjae replied, busily stuffing food into his mouth.

He had only been eating hospital food for a while, so he couldn’t resist the MSG-filled, stimulating food.

He was busy chewing, his cheeks bulging with food.

“But I bet Attorney Cha is good at speaking too. You were really good at German when we went to Liechtenstein.”

Kang Minjae, who had already swallowed all his food, moved his chopsticks in the air as if deciding what to put on his plate.

“That was just a few words I picked up from a phrasebook on the plane.”

“If you can do that with just a little phrasebook, your English, which you’ve been learning for over 10 years, must be at a native speaker level.”

“I told you not to sing my praises.”

“It’s not praise, it’s a fact. Besides, German has a unique pronunciation, but you had no trouble communicating. Everyone understood you right away without asking you to repeat yourself. You said everything you wanted to say in taxis, hotels, and restaurants without any problems.”

“German is similar to English. That’s why it helped.”

“Exactly. You’re good at German because you’re good at English.”

There’s no reasoning with him.

In reality, what I said wasn’t a big deal.

“Look, they’re better than me, so don’t praise me. If I ever have to use English in front of them and my English sounds terrible to their ears, I’ll be embarrassed.”

Choi Jonghyun looked genuinely embarrassed.

I’m the one who’s embarrassed to be lumped together with Kang Minjae and treated like a native speaker.

“Anyway, it’s still really something to be proud of. You’re the only Korean member of the ICIJ, right?”

But Jo Bongjun didn’t care.

“Well, yes… but there are probably quite a few Koreans who could join. They just didn’t bother. Being affiliated with an organization is a bit of a burden, especially for journalists. I’m going to dedicate my life to investigative journalism, so it doesn’t matter to me, but I wouldn’t have joined if Attorney Cha hadn’t suggested it.”

“The Wooshin case is a direct clash with human rights issues. I think the ICIJ would be very interested in this kind of issue. And with the Japanese reporter there, wouldn’t they want to work with us? It would be perfect for scaling it up globally.”

“I’m thinking of mentioning it. We’re scheduled to have another video conference with the core members next week. What do you think, Attorney Cha?”

I didn’t pay close attention to the ICIJ’s activities in my previous life, so I don’t know everything, but they have been reporting on global issues.

They have covered not only corruption in various countries but also the black money of dictators, arms dealers, and tax evaders stashed in Swiss banks, and they have investigated organizations around the world that steal and trade corpses.

In that sense, the human trafficking that Wooshin is engaged in is a subject they would find very interesting.

“I also think it would be a great help to us if the ICIJ turned this into a project. Of course, it would be difficult to get new data from them, but at the very least, it would be effective in expanding the scope of the issue.”

“We might be able to get more information by collaborating with the Japanese reporter.”

“That’s right. But conversely, we need to think carefully because of the Japanese reporter.”

“I looked it up, and she’s a reporter for Kyokuto Shimbun [Far East Newspaper]. She has 25 years of experience, and she seems to be lecturing at a journalism university now.”

“I think I’ve heard of Kyokuto Shimbun too. Isn’t it written as ‘Far East’ in Chinese characters?”

“Yes. It’s one of the four major newspapers in Japan. In Korea, it would be like…”

“Not like Iljung Ilbo, right? Because then they’d be too busy praising the chaebols [large family-owned conglomerates] and the Minwoo Party.”

Choi Jonghyun shrugged at Kang Minjae’s question.

“It’s a bit different from Iljung Ilbo. Well, every newspaper basically has its own stance on the political world, but Kyokuto Shimbun is considered quite progressive in Japan. Of course, from an international perspective, it’s not exactly ‘revolutionary’! But they have reported on their own wrongdoings regarding Korea-Japan relations. It’s a natural thing to do, but it’s a big deal in Japan, so it’s worth appreciating.”

“I looked it up last time, and Oda Satoshi and Onodera belong to the current ruling party. There are a lot of rumors that they’ve been becoming more right-wing lately. So, does Kyokuto Shimbun criticize them?”

“Yeah. That’s why they’ve been targeted by far-right groups. If they had the same tendencies as Iljung Ilbo from the start, they wouldn’t have joined the ICIJ.”

“Then it’s perfect. If we blow up our case, Onodera and Oda Satoshi will be heavily bombarded, and they’ll chew them up really well.”

While Choi Jonghyun was talking, I accessed the ICIJ’s official website and checked the profile of the Japanese reporter he mentioned.

Kirihara Sachiko.

She has 25 years of experience as a reporter.

First, it’s better to find out more about this person before deciding whether to share the project within the ICIJ.

You never know.

If it becomes a project handled by the ICIJ, it will naturally be shared with her, a Japanese member, so I need to make sure she’s not someone who would leak information to Onodera and ruin the project.

The reason I told Choi Jonghyun to join the ICIJ is not because I completely trust the organization and all the reporters affiliated with it.

I’m sorry to them, but I only brought in the ICIJ to get the list of nominee accounts in the British Virgin Islands first.

“The reporter that Choi mentioned is Kirihara Sachiko, right?”

“Oh, right. Did you go to the website?”

“Yes. I’ll look into this person first.”

I’m going to ask Kim Mija.

Oda Satoshi is a member of the ruling party that Kyokuto Shimbun has historically criticized, and he is a person who receives a lot of spotlight despite being only a five-term member among the Japanese Diet [parliament] members, where there are more than 10-term members.

So, he must have received a lot of criticism from Kyokuto Shimbun as well.

If such a person speaks very negatively about Kirihara Sachiko, it can be said that she has lived a righteous life.

“If you went to the website, see if my picture is up there too.”

“Your picture is there too, Reporter Choi.”

There was originally no Korea tab in the journalist section, but it was created when Choi Jonghyun joined.

And there was a picture of Choi Jonghyun standing awkwardly in front of a white wallpaper in a circular frame, smiling awkwardly.

“How is it? Looks like it was taken at a photo studio, right?”

But Choi Jonghyun doesn’t seem to know that it looks like it was taken in front of wallpaper.

If he doesn’t know, I should keep it a secret so that only he can be happy.

“No. Didn’t you take it in your room, hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

Kang Minjae has no tact.

* * *

“Honey.”

Kim Mija, who was applying toner in front of the vanity, looked at Oda Satoshi coming out of the bathroom through the mirror.

“What.”

“I have something to ask you.”

“If it’s not urgent, ask me later. I’m tired. I’ve been running around meeting this person and that person because of Elder Onodera.”

“Because of the party leadership election?”

“Yeah. Saito gathered a bunch of young lawmakers and gave a long speech. It was supposed to be a place to encourage the soldiers who will carry the future of Japan, but who are you trying to fool? It’s obvious. He must have told them to vote for Kobayashi.”

“Assemblyman Kobayashi…”

“Just call him Kobayashi.”

Oda Satoshi sat on the bed, annoyed that Kim Mija was using honorifics for him.

“Ah, yes. I heard that Kobayashi has fewer supporters than Assemblyman Onodera.”

“That’s why it’s ridiculous. He doesn’t know his place.”

“It’ll be okay. The people around me also think Assemblyman Onodera will win.”

“The people around you are obviously low-level, so what? Well, even those people think Elder Onodera will win, so it’s funny that Kobayashi is acting up. His blunders are top-notch. I should just ignore him and follow that elder well.”

He often ignored Kim Mija.

Because Oda Satoshi forced her to do so, Kim Mija is a professor at a prestigious art university, and naturally, the people around her are also respected in Japanese society.

It’s hard to tolerate him lumping everyone together and ignoring them, even if I’m okay with it.

What makes him so noble…?

“Anyway, what did you want to ask?”

“If you’re not in a good mood, I’ll ask you later.”

“It’s okay. It’s already ruined. What is it?”

“Do you happen to know a reporter named Kirihara Sachiko?”

“Kirihara Sachiko?”

Oda Satoshi frowned as soon as he heard the name.

“Why her?”

Kim Mija almost laughed without realizing it.

Cha Juhan was wondering if he should cooperate with Kirihara Sachiko, so he wanted to know what kind of person she was.

He asked me to subtly ask what Oda Satoshi thought of her, saying it would be better if he spoke badly of her…

Judging by how harsh his expression is, it seems I can deliver the results Cha Juhan wants.

“No, it’s nothing… I received an interview request. They contacted me as if they wanted to know about my art museum, but that person is a political reporter. There’s no reason for a political reporter to want to know about my art museum. I thought they would naturally talk about you.”

“Interview? That’s ridiculous. Never meet her. Ignore her if she contacts you.”

“Since she said she was a reporter for Kyokuto Shimbun, I also had a bad feeling, so I haven’t replied yet.”

“You don’t need to associate with such trash newspaper reporters. Do you know what kind of articles that woman has written about me?”

Oda Satoshi, who had been slumped on the bed, seemed to be having a nightmarish time just thinking about Kirihara Sachiko.

His face turned red in an instant, and he raised his voice.

Oda Satoshi rattled off the articles Kirihara Sachiko had written for 30 minutes.

Of course, they were all things he was criticized for doing.

In addition, there was also this minor incident.

Oda Satoshi often uses Facebook to appeal to the younger generation, and he once posted a rather lengthy article on a certain issue.

He apparently revised the article more than ten times, showed it to his secretaries, and reviewed it to see if his logic was weak before uploading it.

But Kirihara Sachiko left a very short comment on it.

[The weaker the dog, the louder it barks.]

And because that comment received a whopping 20,000 ‘likes,’ he was utterly humiliated.

Come to think of it, Kim Mija had heard that story before.

It was a pretty big deal in its own way.

Thanks to that, his nickname became ‘Weak Dog’ for a while, and he is still sometimes called that.

Oda Satoshi ranted and raved for ten days, cursing Kirihara Sachiko over that incident.

I wasn’t interested at the time, so I didn’t even remember the reporter’s name, but that was her.

“Never give her an interview!”

“Okay. I’ll refuse. I forgot to water those plants, so I’ll go water them quickly.”

Kim Mija went outside as she was and took out the cell phone she uses to contact Cha Juhan.

She sent him the file recording the conversation.