1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 366



Only Noblemtl

366 – Inauguration of the President of Hankook Ilbo

Kijo, who became the president of Hankook Ilbo, went to work for the first time at the Hankook Ilbo building in Junghak-dong.

10 minutes walk from Cheongsan headquarters.

I crossed Sejong-ro, passed the USOM building and the Supreme Council building, walked straight towards Gwanghwamun, and then turned right.

As I walked a few steps, the four-story Hankook Ilbo building came into view.

It was a shabby building that could be compared to the rival Dong-A Ilbo building.

In 1962, the Dong-A Ilbo expanded its Sejong-ro building from four to five stories and installed a sky lounge and rooftop garden on the fifth floor, showing off its status as the best newspaper company in South Korea.

Kijo entered the old and worn-out Hankook Ilbo building’s entrance.

I went up the stairs to the third floor where the editorial department was located, and there were reporters gathered in the editorial department.

The keynote speaker nodded to each reporter he met before heading inside.

Hong Yu-seon, the editor-in-chief who was arrested along with Jang Gi-yeong, greeted the keynote speaker and guided him to a small podium.

Behind the stage, a placard was hung on the wall that read, “Congratulations on the inauguration of Lee Ki-jo, president of Hankook Ilbo.”

The keynote speech was a comfortable one, and the first greeting was given.

“Hello. My name is Lee Ki-jo, and I am the new president of The Hankook Ilbo.”

A loud applause was heard.

There were many reporters who knew Jang Ki-young and DBC while co-hosting the Miss Korea pageant.

I had no choice but to become close with reporters from the culture department, as well as the economic and social departments.

In particular, social affairs reporter Jeong Beom-tae gave the keynote speaker a round of applause and cheers.

I met and talked with Jeong Beom-tae during the opening ceremony of the workers’ dormitory and during relief efforts for Typhoon Sarah.

But the political reporters were not so happy. They viewed Kijo, who took office after a political article-writing scandal, as a parachute appointment, and did not seem to welcome it.

I thought the keynote speech was good enough. I thought we could become closer little by little, and continued with my inauguration speech.

“First of all, I consider it an infinite honor to take over the Hankook Ilbo ‘temporarily’ in place of President Jang Gi-yeong.”

When the keynote speaker used the word ‘for a while,’ the political reporters looked surprised.

In particular, the expression on the face of the political editor, Kim Ja-hwan, was like that.

“I am a person with nothing to brag about. I have little education and have never written anything.”

The keynote speech did not necessarily package itself.

He lowered his body and introduced himself humbly.

“Until President Jang Ki-young returns to the Hankook Ilbo, I hope to share joys and sorrows with you all and be of some help to the Hankook Ilbo.

The political reporters who saw Kijo’s expression, attitude, and tone of speech began to gradually lose their coldness and loosen their stiff faces.

It was because his speech and demeanor were soft, even for a parachute president of a military government.

After finishing his inauguration speech in a simple manner, Kijo went into the office where Jang Gi-yeong used to work.

Kijo, sitting at the desk, looked at the newly prepared nameplate.

[Korea Japan Company Director Lee Seo-joo]

The nameplate was just awkward.

-dripping.

There was a knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened and political editor Kim Ja-hwan and political reporter Han Nam-hee came in.

The two were those who had been arrested along with Jang Gi-yeong in the case of the arson case.

The keynote speaker made the two sit on the sofa facing each other.

Kim Ja-hwan asked.

“I would like to ask the president how he will organize the political section in the future. The political reporters are feeling helpless. They are worried that if they make even a little mistake in writing an article, the newspaper will go out of business.”

The keynote speaker nodded and then said.

“Just write as you used to.”

Kim Ja-hwan asked, welcoming the keynote speech but with concerns that had not yet been completely dispelled.

“But if something like that happens again….”

“I will take responsibility. However, no matter how correct the article is, if I think something like last time will happen when I publish it, I will cut it.”

The keynote set a clear direction.

“I am not a journalist, strictly speaking. Please understand that I am here to manage a company called the Hankook Ilbo.”

At Kijo’s words, the two people made helpless expressions.

A political article error almost cost the company its life.

They had the pride and mission of being reporters, but at the same time, they were also people who had to make a living, and they did not want the countless people working for the Hankook Ilbo to lose their jobs.

The keynote speech understood their minds.

“If it seems like a mistake, I will block the article. I have no choice but to leave it to the president’s subjective judgment. I apologize.”

Although he said it was a subjective judgment, Kijo had the knowledge and confidence to filter out whether the articles written by political reporters were true or not.

But I had no choice but to say to them, ‘It’s a subjective judgment.’

“Instead, I will help you publish the unpublished stories and rumors in a book someday. Please keep the articles that were not published in the newspaper.”

The keynote suggested a way to soothe their frustration.

I hoped that this method would relieve their frustration a little.

“I look forward to working with you in the future.”

After finishing his conversation with Kim Ja-hwan and Han Nam-hee, Kijo called in the accounting manager.

I looked into the salary level of Hankook Ilbo employees and found that it was ridiculously lower than that of liquidated executives and staff.

“How does it compare to the Dong-A Ilbo, Chosun Ilbo, and Kyunghyang?”

“Dong-A is the highest, and Kyunghyang is the lowest. But other than Dong-A, they are all similar.”

The monthly salary of a mid-level reporter was less than 10,000 won.

The low salaries of journalists have also been a cause of media corruption.

Just like in the 1950s, there were still cases of people taking money for articles or threatening to write articles about their opponents’ weaknesses in order to extort money.

The four major daily newspapers, including the Hankook Ilbo, were relatively better.

There were many unpaid reporters at other newspapers.

Unpaid reporters were people who only received a press card and made money on their own.

“From now on, we will match the monthly salary of Hankook Ilbo reporters with that of Cheongsan. Please pay them starting next month. I will send you Cheongsan’s annual salary standard. If there is any part that is unclear in the calculation, please ask me.”

“Okay, sir.”

The accounting manager did not raise any objections to the offer of a salary raise.

It was partly because his own salary had increased, but also because Kijo had invested a significant amount of stock in the Hankook Ilbo through a capital increase when he took office as president. He had ample room to raise the salary.

The reason Kijo invested in equity rather than being a salaried CEO was not because he was greedy for the Hankook Ilbo.

The revolutionary government’s press policy would soon be announced, and it was to respond to that.

After a series of scandals, Chairman Park warned, “If it is deemed impossible for the media to purify itself, I will disclose the list of corrupt journalists,” opening the door to media reform.

And then he came up with a new media policy, and the policy he came up with was like this.

1. Regulation of new media outlets.

2. Adoption of the single-shot system.

3. Increase in reporters’ salaries.

Among them, additional capital was needed due to the short-term system and increased reporter salaries.

The single-issue system was to prevent newspapers from publishing two editions a day, a morning edition and an evening edition, and instead require them to choose between the morning or evening edition and publish the newspaper once a day.

And the purpose of raising reporters’ salaries was to stabilize the lives of journalists, prevent them from becoming ‘malicious reporters who extort money’, and improve the quality of reporters.

Small media outlets and local newspapers that issued press cards and sold them had to eliminate unpaid reporters in accordance with government policy.

It was a policy that had its pros and cons.

There were disadvantages such as preventing new media from participating and reducing the breaking news and number of articles in newspapers due to the short-term system.

However, it also had the positive effect of reducing the number of media outlets that had proliferated after April 19 and improving the quality of articles and reporters.

When newspapers came out twice a day, in the morning and afternoon, there were quite a few cases where reporters wrote unreasonable articles to fill the newspaper pages.

We had to fill the pages twice a day, even if it meant writing speculative or sensational articles.

The same goes for political articles.

They would often visit politicians in the morning to have a chat, and then publish unconfirmed gossip articles in the afternoon papers.

The keynote speech was that dividing newspapers into morning and evening newspapers would have a greater positive effect.

The increase in reporters’ salaries was also a double-edged sword.

It had the positive effect of reducing the number of hungry reporters and preventing journalists from being dishonest, but newspapers that could not afford to pay their reporters’ salaries had to close.

Otherwise, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to borrow money from somewhere to raise the reporter’s salary.

The reason Gijo invested additional capital was not simply because of a salary increase.

In order to compete with the Dong-A Ilbo, the top newspaper, and to protect the Hankook Ilbo, a capital infusion was necessary.

When JoongAng Ilbo was founded in 1965, the greatest crisis for the Hankook Ilbo would come.

At that time, President Jang Gi-young neglected the management of the Hankook Ilbo as he was serving as Deputy Prime Minister in the government, and Samsung’s JoongAng Ilbo was enticing Hankook Ilbo reporters with high salaries.

One of the main reasons for the weakening of the Hankook Ilbo was that it lost many excellent reporters to the JoongAng Ilbo.

The plan was to work at the Hankook Ilbo in the morning and then go to the headquarters in the afternoon.

As lunchtime approached and I was preparing to go out for lunch with the editor-in-chief and other executives at The Hankook Ilbo, a phone call came into the president’s office.

“Sir, this is a call from Supreme Council member Oh Jeong-geun.”

When Kijo answered the phone, Oh Jeong-geun greeted him and asked.

“Boss, is the house across the street still empty?”

The house across the street was talking about the house next door where Kim Jong-pil temporarily lived.

First, Youngsoo was still using one room as a study room, but it was empty.

“Yes, it is empty.”

“Can I use that place tonight? I need a quiet place to chat with my colleagues.”

“Okay, I’ll get it ready.”

“thank you.”

Kijo hung up the phone and tried to guess why Oh Jeong-geun wanted to use the house next door.

A good place for ‘a few people to meet in the evening and have a quiet chat’ was the fairyland.

The revolutionary forces also visited the fairies without the people’s knowledge.

While government officials were strictly prohibited from entering restaurants, they met people, chatted, and drank at high-class restaurants located away from downtown Seoul.

But instead of going to such a place, he tried to use his own house in the middle of the village. It seemed like a meeting that he had to avoid the eyes of the people working at the fairy.

Kijo called Lee Seong-ryong and asked him to deliver Cheonghaeru’s food to his house in the evening.

That day, Kijo left work early, went home, and cleaned the room in the house across the street.

I moved Youngsoo’s desk and books back to the main house and cleaned the room.

We placed a large table in the room and waited, and Oh Jeong-geun arrived first.

Oh Jeong-geun smiled at the keynote, but his face was stiff as if something bad had happened.

“Thank you for preparing this, Mr. Lee.”

“Thank you. I’ve always wanted to invite you, so I’m glad it happened.”

Oh Jeong-geun looked at Ki-jo with apologetic eyes and asked.

“Would you like to have a drink with me, sir?”

The keynote speech was declined for the time being as it was unclear whether it was a sincere wish to join or a formality.

The food was brought in from Cheonghaeru, and Gijo paid the bill and made sure that the food and drinks were served on a large table in the room.

Meanwhile, key figures in the revolutionary forces began to enter the house across the street one by one.

Finance Committee member Yoo Won-sik came in and exchanged slightly awkward greetings with Oh Jeong-geun.

The two of them weren’t meant to be together, but it seemed like they had some kind of grudge against each other.

Following him, the 8th class of the Korea Military Academy entered one after another.

These were the people who helped move Kim Jong-pil’s belongings, including Administrative Committee member Oh Chi-seong, Legislative Committee member Lee Seok-je, and Health and Welfare Committee member Hong Jong-cheol.

Finally, Kim Jong-pil appeared.

Kim Jong-pil also had a dark face.

When I met the keynote speaker, he smiled and thanked me for giving him the opportunity to sit down, but it felt like I had come to a place I didn’t want to be.

“Are you here? Let’s go in.”

When Lee Seok-je spoke bluntly behind the keynote, Kim Jong-pil asked.

“Is Kim Jae-chun coming today too?”

“Only 8 people have gathered. Come in with peace of mind.”

“okay.”

After shaking hands with the keynote speaker, Kim Jong-pil entered the room with Lee Seok-je and the door closed.

Judging from the fact that Kim Jong-pil mentioned the head of the counterintelligence unit, Kim Jae-chun, it seemed that the 8th class members had gathered together because of ‘that incident’.

The 8th class members who were unaware of Kim Jong-pil’s founding work in the history of the party were shocked when they found out later.

However, Kim Jae-chun, the 5th class counterintelligence officer of the Korea Military Academy, becomes suspicious of Kim Jong-pil’s strange behavior and reports it to Chairman Park.

He also didn’t know what Kim Jong-pil was doing.

This time, since Jang Gi-yeong exposed the party’s founding work early, the 8th class of the Korea Military Academy will probably be trying to vent their frustrations on Kim Jong-pil, who hid the party’s founding preparations from them.

The keynote was that the place seemed like it was going to get noisy.