1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 376



Only Noblemtl

376 – Man in Crisis

At the end of June 1962, Kim Jong-pil retired with the rank of brigadier general.

When his status changed from military to civilian, the media interpreted it as a stepping stone to run in the general election.

And in early July, five months before the general election, the founding convention of the Reconstruction Party was announced.

The Reconstruction Party was the tentative name for the new party created by Kim Jong-pil, which would later become the Democratic Republican Party.

Then, it was announced that the Central Intelligence Agency, not the prosecution, would be in charge of investigating the securities scandal.

Watching the series of events, Kijo thought that Kim Jong-pil’s mind was becoming anxious.

He had to found a party, cover up his own corruption, and was busy with many other things.

With the accelerated flow of history, events that were to occur in late 1962 and early 1963 were unfolding without pause.

But the keynote was that what was happening now was nothing compared to what was to come.

In mid-July, a phone call came to the representative office.

It was a call from U.S. military advisor Hausman.

―Keynote, hey buddy, let me see your face. How about playing golf this Sunday morning?

“It’s been a while, Advisor. How have you been?”

The keynote speaker was happy to greet Hausmann, but he intended to postpone the meeting until as late as possible.

When I tried to come up with a suitable excuse, Houseman said:

– Don’t be so expensive and come out. I know you’re watching the government. Come to Dongducheon. There aren’t many people watching there.

The keynote was that Houseman had something he really wanted to say to himself.

“Understood, sir.”

Early Sunday morning, the day he had planned to play golf with Houseman, Kijo loaded his jeep with golf equipment and a change of clothes and headed to the 7th Division in Dongducheon.

At the clubhouse, only House was waiting.

“It’s been a while. Kijo. Let’s hurry up and go before it gets too hot.”

Houseman urged.

Kijo changed his clothes and started playing around the golf course with Hausmann.

Only Hausmann, who had been focusing solely on golf until the second hole, began to slowly bring up the main topic.

“These days, I’m enjoying reading Korean newspapers.”

“Have you finally learned Hangul?”

Houseman chuckled at the joke and said:

“I mostly read the Korea Times that you publish, but you know, I think the articles are a bit boring.”

It seemed like Houseman knew what he was talking about.

Recently, newspapers have been digging into suspicions surrounding Kim Jong-pil.

The stock market crash, Walkerhill, pachinko, and Saenara Motors scandals were all happening at once, heating up the media.

But no one had yet noticed that one person was behind all four incidents.

Although he knew everything, he just watched, leaving the reporting and editing to the reporters.

Houseman said with a twinkle in his eye.

“So, let me tell you something. Would you like to hear it?”

“What information do you mean?”

“Information about a man who is in a very difficult situation these days.”

As Kijo nodded, Hausmann started talking while roughly hitting the ball.

“According to the report prepared by the US embassy, ​​a cunning, genius, and ruthless man made a fortune by manipulating the stock market.”

Keynote made a face as if he was hearing it for the first time, but he knew about the document from the US embassy that Houseman had mentioned.

In documents later declassified, there were various descriptions of Kim Jong-pil, the “man” that Houseman spoke of.

‘shogunal power’

‘our long time worry’

‘Director of espionage and secret police’

Words such as these were used to describe Kim Jong-pil.

“It is not known exactly, but it is estimated that they made a profit of at least $15 million and up to $40 million.”

The minimum amount the United States had identified, $15 million, was more than enough to repay all the loans taken out by farmers across the country (at a time when the agricultural population was overwhelmingly Korean).

Or, it was enough money to buy 13 million sacks of rice.

At that time, the population was approximately 26.5 million, so roughly speaking, it was possible to distribute about 40 kg of rice per person.

It was on a scale that could blow away the entire Borigoge in one blow.

The maximum was 2.5 times this, which was difficult to put into words.

Keynote was curious about Hausmann’s intentions in passing this information on to him.

Houseman was providing top-secret information.

So, does the US want to get rid of Kim Jong-pil?

Are you hoping that the Hankook Ilbo will expose Kim Jong-pil’s corruption?

I couldn’t help but think that way.

The keynote was like he was surprised and he intentionally did a stupid swing and asked Hausmann.

“Who the hell is that guy?”

“He’s a close friend of yours, but he’s not your fake boss in the Blue House.”

Houseman called Chairman Park a ‘fake boss’.

At the time, the United States judged that the power of the revolutionary government was concentrated in Kim Jong-pil rather than Chairman Park, but it was unknown whether Hausmann would say that out loud.

Later declassified U.S. intelligence documents contained statements referring to Kim Jong-pil as a “real power” or “policy maker.”

Although it was impossible to identify who made these remarks because they had been deleted, it was easy to assume that they were a key figure within the revolutionary government.

“Chairman Park is a fake boss?”

Kijo had no choice but to continue pretending to be surprised.

“Haha, don’t be too surprised. Chairman Park is still just the face of the revolution. That’s how we see it. Maybe he thinks the same way, too.”

After leaving Korea after retirement, Hausmann wrote an autobiography.

The book assessed that Kim Jong-pil held real power in the early days of the revolution and wrote that Chairman Park could have been pushed out by Kim Jong-pil.

But Kijo did not believe his autobiography unconditionally.

It cannot be said that all the books written by former CIA officers after retirement contain only the truth.

When Kijo made a face that suggested he couldn’t concentrate on golf, Houseman chuckled.

“Shall we go back to the cool clubhouse?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Houseman, who had moved to the clubhouse, continued the story he had been telling.

Hausmann said Kim Jong-pil caused the stock market crash and was involved in other incidents as well.

Houseman found it extremely amusing whenever Kijo pretended to be surprised when he heard that.

“How about exposing Kim Jong-pil’s corruption through your newspaper? We can secretly pass the information on to your newspaper reporter. We can do it without revealing the source.”

Houseman smiled meaningfully, but Gijo said nothing.

It was still a big risk. The reporter who announced it could have been in big trouble.

In any case, Kim Jong-pil’s corruption was bound to be revealed. The forces within the revolutionary government that opposed Kim Jong-pil’s tyranny and unilateralism would soon take action. All that was needed was to wait.

When the keynote speech received no response, Houseman spoke.

“That’s the thing about power. Power is something that cannot be shared even between the rich and the poor or between brothers. Chairman Park and Kim Jong-pil are relatives, so they may be better off than strangers, but they are useless in the face of power.”

Houseman took a sip of his iced cola and put it down.

“Chairman Park needs Kim Jong-pil, but at the same time, he wants to get rid of him. That’s power.”

The keynote was that no one could be sure of what he was saying.

The relationship between Chairman Park and Kim Jong-pil has always been mysterious.

It is unlikely that Chairman Park was completely unaware of what Kim Jong-pil did, but it is also not likely that Chairman Park interfered in every aspect of Kim Jong-pil’s work.

In the early days of the revolutionary government, Kim Jong-pil took on all the dirty work, but there is no circumstantial evidence or testimony that Chairman Park directed such work.

When Kim Jong-pil said, “I will prepare the funds for the founding of the party,” Chairman Park seemed to have responded, “Okay, do your best.”

If you look at it purely, Kim Jong-pil voluntarily devoted himself to the success of the revolution and Chairman Park’s rise to power.

To put it negatively, it could be seen that Kim Jong-pil was used by Chairman Park.

But the keynote was to reserve judgment on what he did not know.

One thing was certain: their relationship would later become one of love and hate.

“Sooner or later, something will happen that Kim Jong-pil can’t handle. I guarantee it.”

The keynote speaker knew what the United States would demand of Chairman Park.

They were going to demand that Kim Jong-pil be driven out from the center of power.

But Hausmann’s judgment that Kim Jong-pil would be forever removed from power was arrogant.

Kim Jong-pil distanced himself from Chairman Park, but then returned.

“Thanks for the advice.”

The keynote speech thanked Hausmann without saying what he would do.

“Houseman,” he said, his lips slightly licking his lips, as if he was a little disappointed.

“Since both sides are close friends, it would be difficult to attack either side. However, if you have to choose one side, I would say to side with Chairman Park.”

But Houseman still felt foolish as he finished his cola, chewed on the remaining ice, and said one more thing.

“Sooner or later, there will be internal strife within the revolutionary forces. It’s all the seeds that Kim Jong-pil planted. In the end, the one who committed the crime will suffer.”

The keynote speechlessly agreed.

* * *

A few days after meeting Houseman, major newspapers began to raise suspicions that the CIA was involved in the stock market crash.

Then, Kim Jong-pil announced his intention to resign as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

It must have been an inevitable choice for Kim Jong-pil.

The Central Intelligence Agency is currently investigating the securities scandal, which is only natural since he was the head of the agency when the incident occurred.

The Blue House immediately accepted Kim Jong-pil’s resignation.

As a result, Kim Jong-pil resigned from his key government posts and assumed only the position of chairman of the preparatory committee for the establishment of the Reconstruction Party.

Kijo went back to work at the Hankook Ilbo frequently to keep up with the situation.

Political reporters suggested that it would be insufficient for Kim Jong-pil alone to take responsibility for such a major incident.

Then he mentioned Chairman Park.

Chairman Park has been indirectly expressing his intention to run for president.

The conclusion was that if Kim Jong-pil was involved in the stock market crash and some of the money from it flowed into the party’s founding funds, then Chairman Park should also be held responsible.

The majority opinion was that Kim Jong-pil’s new party was a party for Chairman Park, and that it should be that way, even for a three-year-old child.

The keynote was that the crisis that had been anticipated for the revolutionary government had arrived.

Chairman Park’s crises came one after another.

The day after Kim Jong-pil resigned as head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Cabinet Chief Song Yo-chan called a press conference.

At the press conference, Song Yo-chan, head of the cabinet, made a shocking statement.

“We urge Chairman Park to reconsider his candidacy and appeal to the opposition party for unity.”

As a member of the revolutionary government, he called for the opposition to rise up.

After the statement was made, Song Yo-chan voluntarily resigned from his post as head of the cabinet.

Song Yo-chan had been a supporter of Chairman Park since before the revolution, and he served as the head of the cabinet of the revolutionary government, providing stability to the state affairs.

He was even the one who insisted that Chairman Park should carry out military rule for five or ten years until the country was stabilized.

However, Song Yo-chan was a person who believed that once the country was stabilized under military rule, the revolutionary forces should return to the military.

The keynote speaker knew that Song Yo-chan was shocked when he learned that Kim Jong-pil was involved in the stock market crash.

When Song Yo-chan summoned the Minister of Finance, Chun Byung-kyu, and strongly criticized the KCIA’s intervention in the stock market crash, Chun Byung-kyu, who had intervened in the stock market crash, laughed at Song Yo-chan as if he were naive.

This incident may have been the turning point for him.

The keynote was a bit dizzying with all the things that would happen next year coming at once.

A few days later, Marine Corps Major General Kim Dong-ha, who risked his life crossing the Han River Bridge with Chairman Park, also took off his military uniform.

He commanded the Marines that made the revolution a success and was a key figure in the revolution who was with Chairman Park from the preparation stage of the coup.

He issued a public apology during his resignation press conference.

“I apologize for not being able to fulfill the revolutionary promise I swore to the people as one of the main forces of May 16.”

Meanwhile, Kim Dong-ha strongly criticized the new party founded by Kim Jong-pil.

He, who revealed that he was one of the founders of the new party, evaluated Kim Jong-pil’s new party as follows.

“It is similar to the organizational method of the Communist Party and poses a threat to democracy. The new party will become bureaucratized and require enormous costs, making political corruption inevitable. The new party is no different from Kim Jong-pil’s private party.”

The claim was that when the Democratic Republican Party educated its members, they locked them in a room in a secret house and conducted “secret education” on revolutionary ideas for several weeks, blocking contact with the outside world, and that this method was communist-style ideological education.

Following this, Won-sik Yoo, a member of the Supreme Council’s Finance Committee and a key member of the 8th class of the Korea Military Academy, also resigned.

He, too, criticized the party created by Kim Jong-pil, just like the original history.

“In my view, the political party organized by Kim Jong-pil is not one that enjoys the support of the majority of the people, but rather is merely a faction comprised of Kim Jong-pil and his followers.”

After scolding him like that

“The military government was not a government that came to power through representative democracy procedures, but a government that promised to implement civilian rule. We must keep our promise to transfer power to a new and conscientious politician and return to our original mission once our task is accomplished,” he emphasized.

The keynote speech was that Chairman Park was in a state of panic.

Song Yo-chan, Kim Dong-ha, Kim Jae-chun, Oh Jeong-geun, Kang Sang-wook, and others opposed Kim Jong-pil’s new party, and even ‘trustworthy men’ like Chae Myeong-shin and Park Tae-jun, who were honest and loyal, were lukewarm about Chairman Park’s political participation.

The protests against Chairman Park’s participation in civilian affairs, which were triggered by the corruption scandal surrounding Kim Jong-pil’s founding of the party, did not end there.

A rumor that Minister of National Defense Park Byung-kwon visited the Blue House with the three military chiefs of staff was obtained by a reporter from the Hankook Ilbo.

This too happened in the original history, just brought forward in time.

The Minister of National Defense demanded the resignation of Kim Jong-pil and the dissolution of the new party he created.

The keynote speech was complicated by the fact that the incident was growing like an avalanche, even though it was not enough to focus solely on solving economic problems.

The keynote speech focused on how Chairman Park would deal with this confusion.