You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 527

It took Kirihara a full three hours to explain the entire case we had.

It hadn’t taken this long when I first shared the matter with Heo Min-woo. Surely, considering the cultural and language differences, it requires a lot of effort, even when omitting questions and just explaining.

Actually, it’s ambiguous to say I omitted the questions.

To be precise, Kirihara was so surprised that she needed to focus all her energy on understanding the situation.

“……This is absurd, really.”

Kirihara repeated the same words.

“I knew that Oda Satoshi’s younger sibling ran Okashima Hospital. But that it was a place that did such… such things, really, not even a little bit….”

She kept flipping through the slides and shaking her head.

“The Istanbul Declaration was announced just four years ago. Everyone from all walks of life who participated agreed to regulate not only organ trafficking but also transplant tourism. Of course, I didn’t think this would mean such things wouldn’t happen, but still… How can they be so brazen! Both Korea and Japan proudly call themselves developed countries.”

The Istanbul Declaration she mentioned is a global agreement where scientists, medical experts, government officials, ethicists, and social scientists from around the world gathered to resolve to regulate and supervise organ transplantation so that it can proceed ethically and legally.

According to this declaration, commercialism in organ transplantation is prohibited, and it establishes the principle that organs for transplantation should be sourced within the country.

If I remember correctly, in 2017 in my previous life, the Korean government, conscious of this declaration, abolished the consolation money system paid to organ donors.

This was also interpreted as a form of commercialism.

But Wooshin isn’t the kind of organization to care about this.

Their thought process is that anything is fine as long as they don’t get caught, and if they’re about to get caught, they just have to eliminate everyone who knows the truth.

This confidence must have come from the fact that they have enjoyed extrajudicial benefits in Korea for a long time.

“Who would have known that the RND corporation, which owns the Okashima Hospital site, belongs to Chairman Go Sang-jun? In the first place, not many people know that Okashima Hospital is owned by Oda Satoshi’s younger sibling, so not many people would pay attention….”

Speaking of RND, in my previous life, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) only released the list of those who had nominee accounts in the British Virgin Islands in early 2013.

It’s only the third quarter of 2012 now, so it’s difficult to receive it yet, but it would be nice if we could speed up the time.

Does Kirihara know about this?

“As you saw earlier, RND is a shell corporation established in the British Virgin Islands. Go Sang-jun must have created several accounts there.”

“Usually, people who create accounts in tax havens do so under their own name. They probably think they won’t get caught up to this point.”

“Yes. But RND was established under the name of a foreigner. However, the accounts funded by RND will be under Go Sang-jun’s name. Since they already proceeded with the establishment of the corporation under someone else’s name, they would have given some money, but if the account is also under someone else’s name, they would have to give money to that person again.”

“That’s right.”

“This is just my guess, but maybe the Oda brothers also have accounts there,” Choi Jong-hyun added.

That’s right.

Go Sang-jun believed that Lee Jeong-chan would be the next president, and he also shared shares with Lee Jeong-chan when he was running the corporation under the name of KDL Company.

But in a place so deep that even Lee Jeong-chan didn’t know, he was trading with Oda Satoshi.

So Oda Satoshi must also have some connection with RND.

It would be nice if Onodera also got caught, but when I eavesdropped on their conversation, Onodera didn’t seem to have a very close relationship with Go Sang-jun.

“Although it hasn’t been shared with reporter Choi yet, ICIJ is currently acquiring and analyzing a list of people who have established shell corporations or have nominee accounts in the British Virgin Islands.”

Kirihara brought up the story I had been waiting for.

However, Choi Jong-hyun, who didn’t know anything, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. But the list is not well organized by country, so ICIJ reporters are looking at and classifying the data. However, since Japan and Korea are in the Chinese character culture, the names are unique, so they are somewhat classified. Until reporter Choi came, I was the only reporter from a Chinese character culture country affiliated with ICIJ, so names based on Chinese characters were supposed to come to me.”

“If you assign me the classification work as well, the completion date will be advanced a bit more.”

“Yes, that’s right. Personally, I was regretting that if the data had come before this presidential election, I could have stopped Onodera.”

If Onodera’s account is also in the British Virgin Islands, it will definitely be hit hard.

However, the presidential election is not far away, and Kirihara has not yet received the data, so she won’t be able to use it.

“Even if Onodera Masao’s account doesn’t exist, listening to reporter Choi and lawyer Cha, it seems like Oda Satoshi’s account will exist. And Go Sang-jun’s account will definitely exist. But you know you shouldn’t just look at Go Sang-jun’s account, right? Other Koreans… Even North Koreans will be there. The timing is so good? How did you join at this time?”

Kirihara laughed.

At the same time, Choi Jong-hyun looked at me with suspicious eyes.

It was as if he was asking, ‘Again?’

After I part ways with Kirihara today, Choi Jong-hyun will again say that I must have received help from General Shin.

And listening to this story, Kang Min-jae will be proud that his guess was correct.

“Reporter Choi contacted me because you want ICIJ to make a project out of these terrible things that Wooshin is doing, right?”

“That’s right. Our goal is for the Wooshin owner family to receive appropriate punishment and to weed out all of Wooshin’s collaborators rooted in Korean society. I mainly told you about organ trafficking and prostitution, but Wooshin’s atrocities are not just that.”

Kirihara slowly nodded.

“I understand what you mean. So that’s why reporter Choi contacted me first? If ICIJ handles the case, my role as a Japanese person will increase, and you were worried about what would happen if security was not maintained.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s right. But now I have a lot of trust in you, and that’s why I opened our data.”

“What the two of you have prepared is really… really amazing. I wonder how you prepared all of this. As a fellow reporter, I also reflect and learned a lot. Besides, those Gyeongmin Association guys… The story about Onodera Masao or Oda Satoshi is shocking that I didn’t know at all even though it was happening in Japan.”

Kirihara continued, looking through the data in the slide with sad eyes.

“Come to think of it, Oda Satoshi’s wife is Korean. Is there a connection?”

While preparing the data to explain to Kirihara, we deliberately excluded the story of Kim Mi-ja.

Kim Mi-ja is still in a marital relationship with Oda Satoshi, and although she is less active than before, she is continuing the same activities as before.

But since Kirihara brought it up first, I also had something I wanted to ask her.

“You’re talking about Oda Tomiko.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…It was because she cooperated with us that we were able to get this much data.”

Kirihara opened her mouth in surprise at my words.

“…Oda Tomiko?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t believe it. Of course, I thought she was exaggerating to some extent considering her image, but I thought the two were very good….”

“Oda Tomiko, well… Her Korean name is Kim Mi-ja. Kim Mi-ja is a person who was forcibly taken to Japan by Wooshin at the age of 13 and forced into prostitution. Wooshin lied to Kim Mi-ja that her family had abandoned her, and Kim Mi-ja has been doing what they told her to do in order to survive. Then we met her, and now she is giving us more help than anyone else.”

Although I explained it concisely, Kirihara seemed to have guessed what kind of life Kim Mi-ja had lived with just that much.

She sighed with a sad expression in an instant.

“Then that wiretapping is also Tomiko’s….”

“Yes.”

“If she gets caught, it will be very dangerous.”

“So I’m going to ask you for a favor now.”

“What favor?”

“As you said, Kim Mi-ja is fighting alone in enemy territory. We must now ensure Kim Mi-ja’s safety. But I don’t think we can perfectly protect Kim Mi-ja in Korea or Japan. I almost died a few times, and there are already victims.”

“…Yes.”

“So I want to check if ICIJ headquarters can protect Kim Mi-ja in the United States. I’ve thought about other countries, but I don’t have any connections and I’m worried about visa issues.”

“That’s definitely true.”

“I don’t think an ESTA visa [Electronic System for Travel Authorization] will be enough. A student visa or a job search visa is also impossible in the current situation.”

After hearing my words, Kirihara seemed to have carefully thought about the part that said ‘taken to Japan at the age of 13’.

She opened her mouth as if she was briefly embarrassed, then soon said in a small voice.

“That’s right. You said she was taken at the age of 13, so her degree….”

“Kim Mi-ja said that she would take corresponding responsibility for that point as well. But in this situation, academic forgery is a secondary issue and we must guarantee Kim Mi-ja’s safety.”

“That’s right. In the first place, if Tomiko, no… If Kim Mi-ja hadn’t helped, this enormous truth might not have been revealed. I also agree that Kim Mi-ja’s safety should be the top priority. Then, let’s have me and reporter Choi also ask ICIJ to find a way to protect Kim Mi-ja in the United States.”

It’s a relief that she gave a positive answer.

Just because she agrees doesn’t mean that ICIJ will accept it, but at least the possibility increases, right?

“If ICIJ refuses, I’ll look for other ways too. You said your sister is in Switzerland. If you stay under the protection of ICIJ in the United States for 3 months and stay in Switzerland for 3 months, you can earn at least 6 months.”

“Thank you.”

“I want to apologize to Kim Mi-ja. I actually wrote a critical article linking her with that weak dog… Ah, Oda Satoshi.”

Kirihara scratched her cheek as if she was embarrassed.

“Will she understand?”

“It’s okay. Kim Mi-ja enjoyed reporter Choi’s weak dog remarks, and she said that she thinks she’ll get along well with you.”

Kirihara breathed a sigh of relief, saying it was a relief.

“And about Onodera’s grandson’s surgery. You said it was scheduled to take place at Okashima Hospital, right?”

“Yes, it was.”

“Reporter Choi and lawyer Cha said they would prevent Hayashi Kenichi and the child from Angel House from leaving Korea, but I think we should prepare for the worst-case scenario. It seems necessary to monitor Okashima Hospital, what do you think?”

“I think it’s good to monitor if possible. But we don’t have manpower in Japan, so there will inevitably be holes in the surveillance. So I thought it was best to prevent Im Hyun-il or So-eun from leaving the country.”

“Then I’ll take charge of monitoring Okashima Hospital. Monitoring Onodera’s grandson is the most certain and best, but I think there’s a risk of being discovered. Especially after Onodera Masao becomes Prime Minister. The Prime Minister’s family is not subject to SP’s [Security Police] protection, but even if it’s not SP, there will definitely be a lot of security personnel attached.”

The SP she’s talking about is a police officer who performs the task of protecting important national figures, and is similar to Korea’s Presidential Security Service in that they are in charge of protecting the Prime Minister.

“You’re not going to do the surveillance yourself… Of course, you’ll entrust it to people you can trust, but is there no problem with security?”

“Yes. They’re people I’ve been working with for a long time, and information has never been leaked.”

[Truth]

It didn’t seem like Kirihara would lie now, but I used my ability just in case.

“Anyway, isn’t Onodera’s grandson the first to arrive at Okashima Hospital? He’ll have to do various tests before being hospitalized. After grasping the structure of Okashima Hospital, I’ll tell reporter Choi how to monitor it.”

“I didn’t know I could get this much help… Thank you so much.”

As Choi Jong-hyun bowed his head, Kirihara waved her hands and kept bowing her head together.

“There’s no need to thank me at all. I’m really thankful. Actually, you must be busy just dealing with Wooshin, but I’m sorry that reporter Choi ended up doing our work because we got involved like this.”

Kirihara is helping so actively, so I felt a little sorry when I remembered saying that no matter what happens to Onodera Masao and Oda Satoshi in Japan, we should just do our work.

“Oh, can you change the time of the plane ticket you booked? I don’t know if there are any seats available.”

As the conversation was coming to an end and I was about to close my laptop, Kirihara opened her mouth.

She was scheduled to leave the country tomorrow evening.

“Yes. When should I change it to?”

“How long does it take to get from here to Incheon Airport?”

“You should allow about 2 hours.”

“Then can it be changed to an 8 or 9 o’clock flight?”

“The flight is booked for 7 p.m. tomorrow, so it doesn’t seem like there will be much difference. Is there a special reason?”

“Ah, not tomorrow, today. Seeing that I was able to use this room early in the morning, it seems like you booked it for consecutive nights from yesterday to tomorrow, so I’m sorry….”

Kirihara came straight to this hotel as soon as she entered Korea and had a conversation with us.

But she’s saying she’s going right away?

“Did something urgent come up?”

“Actually, when I came here, I thought I should eat a lot of delicious food and sightsee since I came to Korea for free. But looking at the situation, I shouldn’t be playing here. I think it’s better to go and prepare as soon as possible… You don’t know the surgery date yet, right? Then how do you know if they’ll have surgery tomorrow?”

There’s some truth to what she’s saying, but today is Wednesday.

When I checked this morning, Im Hyun-il still had an outpatient appointment scheduled for Thursday, and he went to work at Wooshin Hospital today as well.

That means he’s not having surgery tomorrow.

But it’s true that you need time to prepare thoroughly.

“I’ll check.”

Kim Mi-ja is right.

Kirihara has considerable qualities to become my best friend.