1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 364



Only Noblemtl

364 – The incident of writing

The first Monday of April, when it has definitely gotten warmer.

Keynote went to USOM after receiving Frank’s invitation to lunch.

Frank prepared orange juice and sandwiches for the keynote.

The sandwich contained candied orange slices.

The keynote was that Frank liked oranges.

“I just found out that you like oranges.”

“That’s right. It’s orange marmalade that I made myself. It’ll taste good.”

I took a bite of the sandwich and the taste of the ham, cheese, and orange jam sandwich was not bad.

Frank said, smiling with a look of delight on his face.

“Try the orange juice too. I squeezed it myself. It’s really refreshing. Eating an orange sandwich with orange juice is like Koreans eating kimchi stew with raw kimchi.”

Frank smiled cheerfully.

The orange juice was also delicious.

In the 1960s, drinking American oranges and fresh juice was a luxury.

Frank said, halfway through his sandwich.

“Well… General Park is keeping his promise to President Kennedy… … .”

When Frank trailed off, Gijo asked.

“Are you saying that it is a little different from the promise made in the United States?”

“That’s right. I mean, it’s good that they’ve lifted censorship on the press and lifted restrictions on political activities, but I think they’re doing it in a twisted way… … .”

The military government abolished press censorship, but did not let go of its grip on the press.

Before the national referendum on constitutional amendments, there was an incident in which the Dong-A Ilbo ran an editorial titled “National referendums are not omnipotent,” arguing that it was unfair for the military government to arbitrarily amend the constitution and hastily put it to a national referendum before the transfer of power to a civilian government.

It was pointed out that public hearings and public opinion gathering processes were omitted.

Accordingly, the military government arrested Dong-A Ilbo editor-in-chief Ko Jae-wook and editorialist Hwang San-deok on charges of violating the Anti-Communism Act, but released them after the indictment was suspended and the charges were dropped.

Frank seemed to be saying something like that.

“Are you complaining at the White House?”

“No, not necessarily… I think he’s watching me anxiously.”

Kijo also put down his half-eaten sandwich and asked.

“Is that enough to interfere with nuclear power plant support and KISA?”

“No, not necessarily. We are making steady progress. But I am worried that General Park will go back on his promise. Let’s finish eating the sandwich.”

As he ate the juice and sandwich Frank had made, Kijo wondered why Frank had called him.

It seemed like I needed some ‘information’.

There will be something you need to review with yourself before sending the report to your home country.

Keynote decided to help Frank with his ‘homework’.

After eating his sandwich, Frank got down to business.

“Did JP ever encourage you to get involved in politics?”

The keynote speaker asked with a clueless expression, “Oh, that’s what I was wondering.”

“What is JP doing?”

Frank took out a cigarette and said in response to the keynote question.

“It seems like they are preparing to launch a party for the general election.”

The keynote speaker nodded and then said.

“Even if you create a party, would you call me?”

“Why? Don’t Koreans like businessmen to get involved in politics?”

“It’s not necessarily true, but public opinion toward businessmen is not good because of the illicit wealth of businessmen. In such a situation, I don’t think they would necessarily want to admit businessmen to the party.”

Frank nodded, holding a cigarette in his hand.

The CIA seemed to believe that the ideological balance between the left and right in the new party prepared by Kim Jong-pil was broken.

While Kim Jong-pil brought nationalists and progressives, represented by the innovative group, into the party, he was ignoring businesspeople, who represented capitalism.

It was a move that ran counter to the Liberal Party’s preference for businesspeople.

The United States will likely be looking at this with unease.

The United States has always been wary of Korean nationalists since liberation.

Korean nationalists preferred an independent line over a pro-American one.

Of course, this was a trend that was prevalent not only in Korea but throughout Asian countries that had been liberated from colonial rule, but the United States had been wary that Korean nationalists would combine with communists to take power and create an anti-American country.

A typical example of this was Vietnam.

When Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese nationalist who was not originally a communist, joined hands with the communists, a powerful anti-American state was born in North Vietnam.

At the same time, he was deeply concerned that the pro-American South Vietnamese government in the South was seriously shaken.

“Is JP a nationalist? What have you felt while meeting JP?”

“I’m not sure if I’m a nationalist.”

“Do you think he has socialist leanings?”

“I don’t know about that either.”

Keynote: It was difficult to explain to Frank about Kim Jong-pil.

Koreans, even if they were not socialists, had socialist tendencies.

Many people believed that it was justice that all people should live equally well and that the rich should give money to the poor.

This was a natural way of thinking for Koreans, even without being baptized into socialism.

And I couldn’t even be certain about the identity of the person named Kim Jong-pil.

His personality, which is represented by the phrase “laughing but not answering” (笑而不答) that he used often, was so much so that even scholars who studied him evaluated him as an elusive person.

*Soibudap (笑而不答) – To explain something with laughter rather than words.

The keynote speech was that it was unclear whether Kim Jong-pil was a nationalist or a socialist, but one thing was certain.

The keynote spoke about it.

“I think Kim Jong-pil is a realistic person who knows how to compromise.”

When we look at the three-party merger and DJP coalition that Kim Jong-pil carried out in history, we see that he was not a person who was bound by one ideology or camp.

“Realistically… do you think you would join hands with anyone if it would help? Even if it was only temporarily?”

“Yes, I think it would be okay to look at it that way.”

“hmm…….”

Frank nodded as if he understood.

He also seemed to have guessed that Kim Jong-pil’s participation in the Democratic Republican Party’s founding was a temporary collaboration to win the general election.

“If JP asks you to join the new party organization, please don’t reject him right away. Instead, listen to his story carefully and then tell me.”

Frank requested.

“It’s not difficult. I will do that.”

“Thank you, Keynote. You always seem like someone who wants to help me.”

“Me too. Frank, you’ve always tried to help me too.”

After concluding the conversation amicably with Frank, Kijo returned to the company.

As I entered the CEO’s office and looked through the evening papers, an article from the Hankook Ilbo caught my eye.

The Hankook Ilbo’s front page featured a scoop report that the revolutionary forces were pushing to establish a political party similar to the British Labour Party.

“Ah… … , this is… .”

A sigh came out of Kijo’s mouth.

The keynote speaker carefully reviewed the article’s contents.

『… … The name of the new party to be created by the revolutionary forces and their sympathizers in order to collectively participate in civil affairs has been decided to be the tentative name of the ‘Social Labor Party’ and preparations for its establishment are being expedited… … . 』

The Hankook Ilbo first noticed Kim Jong-pil’s preparations to found a new party in November 1962.

It seemed that Kim Jong-pil was rushing to prepare a new party because of the changed flow of history, and the secret was exposed early.

Kijo quickly called the Hankook Ilbo.

When Jang Gi-yeong answered the phone, Ki-jo said.

“Brother, I read the evening edition of the Hankook Ilbo article. The story about the new party was on the front page. Is that confirmed?”

– Of course. Would the Hankook Ilbo put an unconfirmed article on the front page?

Kijo bit his lower lip slightly.

This was because there was concern about the damage that the Hankook Ilbo and Jang Gi-yeong would suffer because of this article.

In the original story, executives of the Hankook Ilbo, including Jang Gi-yeong, were arrested, and the situation ended with Jang Gi-yeong stepping down from management of the Hankook Ilbo and voluntarily taking a break from publishing for a few days.

But this time, there was no guarantee that things would end at that level.

“I’m calling because I’m a little worried.”

-Don’t worry. Just like the Dong-A Ilbo, they’ll arrest the editor-in-chief and editorial writers for a short time and then release them. Everyone was prepared for that when they sent them out.

The spirit of the old journalists was good, but I kept having a feeling that the tone would not end there.

“Brother, I think the term ‘Socialist Labor Party’ might cause some problems.”

-No, that’s for sure. I heard it from someone in the innovation community.

I felt as if a secret had leaked out in the innovation world.

The Social Labor Party was a party name that did not suit Kim Jong-pil and Chairman Park at all.

However, it is likely that the innovative figures who were deceived by Kim Jong-pil’s sweet talk and participated in the preparation of the new party came up with and discussed a progressive name for the new party, such as the ‘Social Labor Party.’

It was an obvious misreport.

Kim Jong-pil and Park Chung-hee knew that they were suspected of being communists by the United States, so they could never adopt a party name that suggested socialism.

The keynote speech was to recommend that Jang Gi-yeong recall the newspapers distributed to him or that he immediately issue a special edition with an apology for the unconfirmed false information.

But I had no choice but to give up because there was no logic to convince me.

At 2 o’clock that afternoon.

Supreme Council Spokesperson Lee Hu-rak came forward and completely denied the Hankook Ilbo article.

“The Hankook Ilbo article is baseless, and we will thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding its reporting and the truth behind it.”

And immediately after, a similar conversation came out of the mouth of Kang Sang-wook, the highest member of the Public Relations Committee.

“The Hankook Ilbo article insults the revolutionary forces that made anti-communism their first national policy and risked their lives to wage a revolution to save the country, and is giving the public the misconception that they are pro-communist forces.”

The government’s response was quick and harsh.

Kijo called Jang Gi-yeong again and asked if he would mind holding a press conference to explain the situation since the government was so angry.

Then, Jang Gi-yeong also felt a sense of crisis belatedly and asked Ki-jo.

-Should I go to the Blue House right now? I think I can explain the circumstances of the interview to Chairman Park and ask for his understanding… … .

“Try it, brother. I think it’ll be better than just sitting still.”

Kijo called the Hankook Ilbo again thirty minutes later.

I felt a little relieved when the secretary told me that Jang Gi-yeong had gone to the Blue House.

The next day, the Hankook Ilbo ran a front-page headline titled, “Yesterday’s report in this newspaper about the ‘Social Labor Party’ was wrong.”

But at noon that day, news came that the president and publisher of the Hankook Ilbo, Jang Gi-yeong, editor-in-chief Hong Yu-seon, political editor Kim Ja-hwan, and reporter Han Nam-hee had been arrested.

As with the Dong-A Ilbo, it was suspected of violating the Anti-Communism Act.

And the next day, the Hankook Ilbo declared that it would voluntarily close for three days.

The keynote speaker watched the developments with uneasiness.

Chairman Park has improved in some ways compared to the previous history, but he has also become impatient and decisive due to his busy political schedule.

I didn’t know how to deal with Jang Gi-yeong.

On April 4th, I suddenly received a call from the Blue House.

The spokesperson was Lee Hu-rak.

―Chairman, this is a message from His Majesty asking you to stop by the Blue House for a moment.

The keynote speech went straight to the Blue House.

When I entered the office, Chairman Park was sitting on the sofa smoking a cigarette.

Cigarette smoke was already filling the office.

“Sit in front.”

Chairman Park’s discomfort was clearly felt.

As soon as Kijo sat down, Chairman Park immediately asked.

“What’s wrong with that guy Jang Gi-yeong?”

Kijo has been preparing a defense for Jang Gi-yeong, who has been a long-time friend of his and runs DBC together with him.

“Mr. Chairman, President Jang Gi-yeong… … .”

As soon as I started speaking, Chairman Park cut me off.

“That guy Jang Ki-young will step down from management of the Hankook Ilbo. The same goes for DBC.”

“Mr. Chairman, I would like to… … .”

Kijo tried his best to save Jang Gi-yeong, but Chairman Park glared at him with sharp eyes and said,

“You take charge of the Hankook Ilbo and run it.”

“yes?”

Kijo looked at Chairman Park in surprise.

“Do as I say. If you hand over the management rights of Hankook Ilbo and DBC shares to me, I will release all four of you.”

“That can’t be.”

The keynote speech was decisive.

It was good to save Jang Gi-yeong and the staff of Hankook Ilbo, but it was not possible to take over someone else’s company.

“The story is already over. Since Jang Gi-yeong agreed, I understand.”

“I won’t do it. Find someone else.”

As Kijo resisted to the end, Chairman Park’s eyebrows furrowed.

Chairman Park, holding back his anger, took out an untimely fan and fanned himself repeatedly.

Kijo also understood Chairman Park’s feelings. He was someone who had been labeled a communist and had experienced crises several times, so it seemed that he could not just let this incident go.

Even if the word ‘socialism’ is attached to you, you will feel greatly threatened.

Chairman Park, who had been suppressing his anger in silence, opened his mouth.

“Hey, could you please do me a favor?”

The voice was much softer.

I could sense that Chairman Park was trying to calm down.

“Mr. Chairman, please let me meet President Jang Gi-yeong.”

Chairman Park turned his gaze to the keynote speaker and said:

“You can come find me with a paper badge even if I don’t give you permission.”

“Okay, Chairman. I’ll talk to Jang Ki-young and come back.”

Kijo stood up, greeted Chairman Park, and left the office.

When I asked Lee Hu-rak, who was outside, to take me to President Jang Gi-yeong, Lee Hu-rak put Ki-jo in the car and drove there without saying a word.

Looking at the direction the car was moving, it was not towards the prosecutor’s office, but towards Namsan.

I thought Jang Gi-yeong was being detained by the Central Intelligence Agency.

After driving, Lee Hwa-rak spoke to Ki-jo.

“If possible, please listen to what the chairman has to say. The chairman said this because he trusts the president.”

“But shouldn’t we listen to the person involved?”

After the keynote speech, Lee Hu-rak smiled brightly and said.

“It’s probably the same as hearing it. It’s not that Chairman Park told me to do it, but Jang Ki-young himself said he would do it.”

The keynote speech did not ask whether Jang Ki-young really said he would do it himself.

It was something that could have been confirmed by meeting in person.