EP 35- Perfume Bottle(5)
“Superhuman Union Violent Protest… … 11 people died, a tragedy.”
“Is the runaway mentally and physically weak? bereaved family… … ‘Fever’
“Hunter K, known as the first attacker and the first to die… … Confirmed as an unregistered hunter. Is the government negligence?”
11 people were killed and 42 injured in a riot caused by the Hunters.
It even happened in broad daylight on the roadside of Busan. A police bus flying around has already been broadcast live across the country.
The protests were suppressed, but public opinion did not calm down. The country was plunged into chaos. Public opinion, the media, the Internet, the National Assembly… … .
Of course, the government was no exception.
“Is the Supercognition Agency responsible for the runaway of unregistered hunters? Hunters who do not hunt are not responsible for registration. We have no way of knowing. He said he was going to live without his abilities, but you can’t force him to go and register him, right?”
“Chairman, there are many opinions that it is wrong to not conduct a full national survey immediately. Why couldn’t they manage human resources that have a serious impact on public safety? … .”
“Look. The death toll has not yet been estimated. Even after several years have passed, people still come back alive from the metropolitan area if they are bored. How do you conduct a nationwide survey? How much does it cost again? If they force it again, will they do it? Are there any sounds of human rights violations?”
“Still, the bereaved family of Kim Joo-young is the superintendent… … .”
“Let’s do this. We haven’t finished estimating the damage yet, but what are we going to do with the interview… … . Don’t bully people for nothing, and we’ll hold a separate press conference later.”
“Chairman, one last word… … .”
“Oh, stop it!”
* * *
Things were getting more and more confusing. It was because it was difficult to find responsibility for the conflict. In fact, the situation was very ambiguous.
1. Police provoke Hunter first.
2. The stimulated hunter runs into a runaway.
3. Police Severe.
4. Hunter died in the process of suppression.
5. Conflict.
Some say it’s the police’s fault, some say it’s the Hunter’s fault. The police gave an excuse, but Hunter gave it first, and the police did it first.
On the other hand, there were opinions that pointed out the government’s neglect of management, citing that voluntary non-active & unregistered paranormal persons are not eligible for compulsory education at the Hunter Academy.
Several issues were clashing.
Is the police over-repressing it, is it the fault of the runaway hunter, is the runaway a mental and physical weakness, etc… … .
Even as an active politician, I couldn’t list them all, and unfortunately, the law on paranormal ability had not yet matured.
Thanks to this, the situation gradually fell into a labyrinth. So everyone took sides and fought. Because it was unclear who was responsible.
However, it was clearly the government’s responsibility to move society into this chaos.
“… … It’s just not the right size to cover.”
Until now, I had waited for the end of the presidential term by cracking down on the media, but I had to admit that this incident was out of the hands of the government.
“It’s the end of my tenure anyway, so I can’t even pass the reform bill. The more complicated the situation, the more difficult it will be for us. We acknowledge the government’s mistake and appoint a person responsible and fire them.”
Almost everyone objected to a word carefully uttered at the unofficial State Council meeting.
Considering the size of my speaking power, it was extremely unusual.
The first to bubble in his mouth was the Minister of the Interior and Safety.
“Let’s not make decisions so hastily.”
The National Police Agency is in charge of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, and after the head of the National Police Agency, who is wretchedly beaten, Yangban is the Minister of Public Administration and Security.
“Has this never happened before? It’s not like you’ve been through it once or twice, you just have to calm down slowly as usual. In fact, we don’t even feel so embarrassed. Huh huh.”
It was the sound of roughly crushing it.
There was a debate about this for a while.
“What… … It is not wrong.”
“Are you okay?”
Surprisingly, there were quite a few people who favored the Minister of Public Administration and Security, but when the Minister of Public Administration and Security turned the polls for the presidential candidates, about 2% came out.
Unless you’re going to do politics for a day or two, you’re not going to waste that kind of talent. Naturally, the meeting flowed in a soft atmosphere.
It was mainly a way of selling memories while telling stories of the good old days.
“Well, why didn’t there be a riot just after the forced freeze of rice prices? Even though we shot the water cannons, they were properly compensated. If you do this again… … .”
“Isn’t that what you do every year? To avoid negotiating rice prices with the government… … . I know that.”
“you’re right. To whom is it a riot to hand out flyers from the Nonghyup? Now they say it’s a cultural festival because they don’t want to pay the assembly registration fee. Me, really.”
“That is because the ministers did not see the first demonstration. When the price of rice was initially frozen, there was no riot by releasing cattle in downtown Busan. Then the bull crashed into the convenience store and the vegetative man is still in bed.”
“Hey, why am I the first to hear that?”
“… … Oh, there it is.”
In general, the reason why such content did not come up as a social problem was not only because the government gave the head of the media outlets a generous amount of year-end gifts.
First of all, the Blue House tended to behave wisely, and the people also ended up with a candlelight vigil.
Above all, the government’s attitude toward the riots was quite good.
Usually, the head of the appropriate person was cut off, soaked in the detention center, and removed, but most of Yang Pan-seok’s personal connections were exercise rights, so it was implemented without any problems in the spirit of first-time successor.
Because it is a coalition government, there is no opposition party to say the least, so the government comfortably admitted the mistake and provided generous compensation to the victims.
When the public opinion calms down a bit, they beat up a big company and calm people’s hearts… … .
If you flounder like that, you could crush anything and move on. It was the dignity of a president who maintained a 60% approval rating in the fourth year of his term.
So even when it got to this point, the sound of crushing was coming out.
“Honestly, this is just a heartbreaking tragedy. It may be wiser to touch the hearts of the people than to judge what is right or wrong.”
okay. In that sense, the Minister of Public Administration and Security’s statement is not entirely wrong.
They dragged him for a few weeks over the issue of the head of the National Police Agency being fired, the Minister of Public Administration and Security shed tears in front of the bereaved family, passed a special law and sprinkled generous compensation, and a few people in the National Assembly filmed a YouTube video.
Then the president will change. Then the government can roughly squash. In fact, it was the least bloody way.
But this time is an exception.
I am sorry for the Minister of Public Administration and Security, but I expressed the opposite opinion.
“However, this situation is different. Isn’t this the first time the Hunters have risen up?”
It was the first time the Hunters rioted.
And the hunter is an occupation that is extremely disliked by the people.
Even the majority of the casualties were police officers, so the public’s interest was a little bit focused.
PMCs of large corporations who did not want to accept the Hunter Union’s reform proposal were also pouring money into the media.
I spoke quietly.
“In some ways, this situation could look in the government’s favor. Hunters don’t even vote? Even the yangbans I bought this time aren’t active duty. So we can easily pass it on.”
“Han Seung-moon, Chief of Staff.”
“Stay still… … . The problem now is not that the government’s approval ratings are falling, but that the country is split in two. Even if the government is unfairly using dictatorship, this should be put back.”
It was a theory.
It was a theory. But in reality, it was a voice telling the Minister of Public Administration and Security to go out and die. Thanks to this, the atmosphere of the conference room became as cold as ice.
The Minister of Public Administration and Security’s expression changed like a demon, and Minister Yang Il-ho, the Minister of Portrait Management, looked at me and said, ‘What are you going to do?’
President Yang Pan-seok’s mouth was heavy as always, and since the president and I were silent, portrait minister Yang Il-ho struggled to mediate.
“Ah, haha, there was definitely a divided domestic opinion. But, if you side with someone, will you do anything more than accelerate social unrest?”
“… … .”
“More than anything else, if you push the Hunters too much, you could end up like Argentina. No matter how small the hunters are, they are key human resources… … .”
“Han Seung-moon, Chief of Staff.”
The Minister of Public Administration and Security interrupted Yang Il-ho.
It was the difference between the 2% president and the chief of staff Kobung.
The Minister of Public Administration and Security laid his voice like a mafia boss.
“Leave the easy way—”
“I will take responsibility.”
I interrupted the Minister of Public Administration and Security.
It was the difference between a 15% runner and a 2% runner.
Of course, the impact of words was different.
“… … !”
“… … !”
I will take responsibility. The moment those words came out, the Minister of Public Administration and Security, who was staring at me with a yacht-like gaze, trembled as if he had received a proposal.
President Yang Pan-seok was also startled and grabbed my wrist, but it seemed like he was asking, ‘Is it okay?’
I nodded and continued.
“It is an issue that needs to be addressed. In fact, even though the unions were very tough, they didn’t say anything very wrong.”
“… … .”
“Honestly, I think it’s my fault.”
The Hunter Union’s argument was as follows.
Opposition to retake Seoul.
Prohibition of superhuman discrimination.
Hunter Association normalization.
Even if it is, the recapture of Seoul is a promise made by that Hong Geun-young or something that will attract some aggression.
Superhumanism was advocated and abolished as needed when I was a minister in the past.
After doing hero marketing for a while, he raised taxes to beat low-ranking hunters and threw the hunter image into a gutter.
Also, I was the one who made the Hunter Association into a deformed form run not by the president of the association, but by a standing advisory group of a large corporation.
If anyone was harmed in the process, it was my responsibility.
Thanks to that, I was able to suck up taxes and save the economy while living with large corporations, but it was right to throw away the old-fashioned way to save the economy.
Maybe it was something that should have been done before so many people died.
I smiled with a sense of remorse.
“The president’s term is coming to an end soon, but he cannot leave a dark history. Wouldn’t it be better to finish it as neatly as possible?”
“you… … .”
What President Yang Pan-seok wanted to say was, ‘What kind of work are you doing now?’ It must have been about the same, but because the president was noticing and shutting his mouth, others thought that the president was so moved that they couldn’t speak.
In particular, the Minister of Public Administration and Security, who wanted to kill me a minute ago, was looking at me with loving eyes.
As a courtesy, I handed him a word as well.
“I know that our Minister Koo Bon-mo is also preparing for the Jeonnam governor election soon, but you shouldn’t be offended by such an unfortunate accident. I will take responsibility for the president’s term and finish it well.”
“Chief… … !”
The Minister of Public Administration and Security, who was on the other side of the table, rushed at me like a bear. Although he was as big as a bear, he really had the momentum of a bear.
The Minister of Public Administration and Security held my hand so tightly that it hurt my hand and spoke for a long time, but unlike the worn-out yangban, the expression on his face was truly moved.
* * *
“What are you going to do now?”
After the meeting. President Yang Pan-seok left me. He suddenly pulled out a lighter, feeling craving for a cigarette.
“If we were going to have an accident, we would discuss it. What, what if I go out on my own like this?”
“Are you doubting my loyalty to you?”
“Don’t say nonsense… … .”
win-
The yangban stone lit a cigarette. Cigarette smoke began to fill the back room. I brought out the words I had hidden in my heart.
“Honestly, patriotic hunters bleed on the battlefield, and I think it will calm down soon if you hear that the hunters working hard at the construction site are grabbing the police for money.”
“… … .”
Touk, Yang Pan-seok dropped a cigarette from his mouth.
“President?”
“ah.”
Yang Pan-seok picked up a cigarette and put it in the ashtray. It was a waste of a cigarette, but it seemed that there was no shame in trying to smoke again.
Or, have you lost your appetite?
“Uh, um. okay. It sounds like a demon.”
“Is that right?”
“So why are you not doing it?”
“Before anyone says this devilish thing, I want to solve the case.”
I pulled something out of my bag.
“What is that?”
“This is a report from the National Intelligence Service. We analyzed the effect of hostility toward Hunter on the election.”
The Blue House mostly favored the National Intelligence Service reports. This is because election consultants deal with things that cannot be done. There is ‘almost’ no security concerns.
(One of the reasons why Yang Pan-seok won in the last election was because the NIS betrayed Won Ok-bun.)
The report I gave to Yang Pan-seok mainly contained these things, but the reason people hate Hunters is that the police and protests or whatever is simply saying, ‘It’s because they use superpowers that I can’t use’.
“It’s blatant.”
“Yes.”
“But it’s obvious. Is there a story you want to tell with this?”
“Read that last page.”
The conclusion of the report was this.
“In the current situation, the person who wants to suppress the hunters is highly likely to become the president.”
“… … Hmm.”
“Actually, wasn’t it me who did the most persecution of Hunters? Maybe that’s why a young guy like me gets 15%.”
“I don’t think it is. If you add up all the lives you directly saved, it will exceed at least 7 million.”
“How do you know that?”
Yang Pan-seok silently fluttered the NIS report he was holding.
I nodded.
Anyway.
Thanks to the Hunter’s union’s hard work, the people can easily hate the Hunters. Even during the election season.
Even if I explained up to this point, Yang Pan-seok continued talking on his own.
“The union came out of nowhere. no context. There is no durability.”
“So.”
“Who do you think is behind it?”
“Who are you? Who created the Hunters’ Union? Or are you using the union to manipulate public opinion and insist on suppressing the hunters?”
“You’re the same person.”
“I do not know.”
I was sure
“I don’t know, but isn’t he the first one to come out to suppress the hunters?”
* * *
“Hong Geun-young, who insisted on ‘recapture of Seoul’… … A visit to the family of the bereaved of a superhuman riot.”
“Hong Geun-young revolts against the Hunter regime… … “Power is for ordinary people.”
“Red wind, a red gust blowing at the end of the election?”
On the first day of my tenure, the gate was opened. Episode 227