78. There is a very suitable land.
“The world stops, what do you mean?”
Mr. Lee asked in disbelief.
It must be crazy.
I’m the one pushing things forward.
“I mean it literally. Millions of people would die, the borders of every country on earth would be closed, and the shops on the street would be closed.” “Look, aren’t you overthinking this? This is the 21st century. It’s not the early 20th century when the Spanish Flu happened.”
“It’s the 21st century, so during the MERS outbreak, a private hospital infected 30 people? And your vice president personally apologized to the public?”
“Well, that was—.”
Did I go too far?
The truth is that Sasung Hospital was just unlucky at the time.
It would have happened to any hospital in Korea.
The country was defenseless against this kind of thing at the time.
And it must have been very painful for the vice chairman, but he didn’t say anything.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have brought up something unnecessary.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Anyway, it’s the 21st century, and we’ve been here before. It’s human blindness to believe that science and technology won’t do the same thing again.”
“I’ll admit that the MERS outbreak was painful. But even so, I find it hard to believe that it’s going to get to the point where the world is going to stop.”
“I didn’t ask you to believe it, Mr. Vice President. I’m just doing what I believe, and it’s not like I’m hurting anyone, is it?”
“Huh—.”
Vice Chairman Lee Jung-ryong looked at me with a confused expression.
“Honestly, I still don’t believe it.”
“I’m sure you do, which is why I’m doing this by myself and not telling anyone.”
“What if. Seriously, if what Mr. Kang thinks is happening happens, is there anything I can do to help?”
“I thought you said you didn’t believe me?”
“hahahaha, not believing is believing, which is weird, but it can’t hurt to be a little prepared.”
“I appreciate the kind words, but I don’t think there’s anything you can do. If I could ask for one thing, it would be if you could hurry up the completion of Sasung Biologics’ fourth plant.”
“hehehe, Mr. Kang, you really believe that the pandemic will come sooner or later, don’t you?”
“Yes, I believe it, then it’s late, so please—.”
I was about to stand up, but Vice Chairman Lee spoke up.
“Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.”
“Yes, Mr. Vice Chairman.”
“I was wondering if we could get together once in a while to talk about what’s going on in the world. I’m in the U.S. a lot, so it would be easy for us to meet there.”
“Sure.”
“hahahaha, thank you. Oh, I wouldn’t call it repayment, but we could help out the kids at the Ladder Center.”
“I’d appreciate it if you did.”
“First of all, we’ll take care of their health at our private hospitals, and we’ll also give them preferential treatment in terms of employment by giving them special hiring or extra points.”
“Ah! That’s very kind of you!”
“hahahahaha! I’ve been so badly criticized that I need to rehabilitate my image a bit. It’s embarrassing to feel like I’m being spoon-fed such a good thing.”
“No, I’m not, I just want you to do a really good job getting my kids jobs.”
“I’ll instruct them to give them as much preference as possible.”
“Thank you.”
It was an unexpected gift, a windfall.
The kids’ hospitalization is something we can pay for, but getting them a decent job is huge.
It’s a chance to be completely independent.
But the reality is that the barriers are high, and there are very few good jobs for our children, who are disadvantaged in many ways because of their circumstances.
Because that’s the reality.
Nevertheless, because our karma is weak in Korea, I was always worried about my children’s employment, but Sasung is here to help.
Earlier, I was just responding to Vice Chairman Lee’s comment that we should see each other more often.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Kang”
“How are you, Mr. Chairman?”
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Mr. Jang.
He invited me to have a cup of tea, but I thought he had something to tell me.
We drank tea and talked about the world for a while, but Mr. Jang brought up the subject first.
“The vice chairman’s secretary went to a private group.”
“Oh, did he?”
“Yes. He said that the whole Sasung Group would pay attention to recruiting our kids.”
“hahahahaha, that’s great!”
“I thought you said this was a promise the vice chairman made to you?”
“Yeah, we had dinner together the other night, and he kept his word.”
“hahahaha, good for you. Otherwise, I was just about to ask for a job here and there because there’s nowhere for the kids who graduated to go, but I didn’t expect something like this to happen.”
“I didn’t ask for it, but Vice Chairman Lee Jung-ryong spoke up first, saying that he’s been criticized a lot, so he should do something like this.”
“hahahahaha! That’s true.”
“hahahaha—.”
That was the end of the story about Vice Chairman Lee Jung-ryong.
Chairman Jang made a face at what I said.
As a former Supreme Court justice, he still has some cases that are still being tried, so he didn’t want to talk about them.
“But is that why you asked to see me?”
“No way, I actually asked you to meet me for tea.”
“Hmm? I don’t think so, you don’t know the chairman, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
“That the chairman’s forehead gets a little red when you try to ask him an embarrassing favor?”
“My, my?”
“hahahahaha! If you have something to say, feel free to say it.”
“hehehe! I’m still not good at this kind of thing after all these years of trial by combat, so I’ll be honest with you.”
“Yep! I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
Chairman Jang Young-dong’s personality is such that he would never ask for anything unreasonable or unjust.
That’s why I said I would do everything.
He can do it.
“Thank you. If you don’t mind me asking, do you know Ms. Lee Hoe-young of Udang, who was in the independence movement?”
“Who doesn’t know her? She’s the embodiment of Noblesse Oblige, and she and her six siblings?”
“hehehehe, you know him well, don’t you?”
“I didn’t go to college because of my circumstances, but I did study a bit. Besides, Ms. Lee’s six siblings are someone I personally admire a lot. Like many independence fighters, she’s too underappreciated.”
“Is that so?”
“No, that’s right, I mean, how can it be that Ms. Lee was awarded the Independence Medal, which is the third class of the National Defense Medal, while the secretary of former President Syngman Rhee was awarded the first class of the National Defense Medal, and a politician who worked as a bureaucrat in Japan and had nothing to do with the anti-Japanese movement was awarded the first class, even though he was not pro-Japanese? What the hell—. Hum, I’m sorry.”
I was suddenly excited.
I mean, does this make sense?
The National Defense Medal is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to the founding of the Republic of Korea, or who have made outstanding contributions to solidifying the foundation of the country.
And the first class, the Korea Medal, is supposed to be awarded to those who have made the greatest contribution to the founding of Korea, but it was given without any objectivity at all according to the regime’s taste.
Of course, it was later canceled, but there was also a person who received it with a total wealth of 29 million won, so there’s nothing to say.
Anyway, it’s a little ambiguous to divide the merits of the independence movement into grades, but whatever, shouldn’t there be at least some objectivity and equity?
How is Rhee a third-rate independence leader?
No, she’s not the only one.
Why is General Kim Hong-il, a hero of the old country who spent his entire life in the vanguard of the anti-Japanese struggle as a general in the KPA and the Liberation Army and even the Chinese Nationalist Army, and after liberation became a member of the Korean National Army, where he laid the groundwork for the counterattack by marshaling troops and conducting delaying operations in the early stages of the Korean War, a 3-star?
Wrong.
Wrong by a long shot.
“hehehe, not bad. By the way, you know a lot, don’t you? Young people usually don’t know much.”
“Didn’t you know, Mr. Chairman? Dad’s not that good at that?”
“Who? Mansu, or President Kang?”
“…”
Dad and the chairman are on good terms now.
It would be strange if they didn’t, since they spend every day together and have a glass of soju afterward.
“Yes, when I was younger, we had mountains of books at home. It’s a hobby, but I’m sure I’m as good as any major in post-liberation history. It all got wiped out when we went under, but—.”
“Humph, I see.”
“So why the story about him all of a sudden?”
“Well, I have a friend who’s a descendant of an independence fighter, and he came to me and lamented—.”
“No, why?”
“There’s a small memorial to Ms. Lee in Shingyo-dong, Jongno-gu. It’s very small. It was built with private funds. That’s probably why.”
“I’ve been there. It’s very small.”
“Yeah, so this time they’re building something called Yejang Park at the foot of Namsan, and they’re going to have a memorial there too.”
“Namsan?”
“Yeah, they’re going to demolish the old Central Intelligence Agency building and the TBS traffic broadcasting building that used to be there and spoil the view of Namsan, and they’re going to make it into a park, and they’re going to dedicate part of it to a memorial to Lee Hoe-young.”
“Really, isn’t that a good thing?”
It sounds like a really good thing.
“But I’m not sure about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“The place is underground. And it’s only partially—.”
“What? Underground? No, that’s not possible, it’s underground!”
This is ridiculous.
What kind of people are they?
They organized all the wealth of the richest families in Korea and used it for the independence movement.
And then they lived in such poverty that they ate three times a week and said that fortune was their president.
Second, Lee Seok-young.
He was the godfather of a second-class gasson and died of starvation in Shanghai.
Third Lee Chul-young.
He died at the age of 62 while suffering from poverty and endemic diseases.
Fourth Lee Hoeyoung.
She was imprisoned as a Japanese advisor in Dalian, China.
Fifth Lee Ho-young.
Disappeared in Beijing.
The first of the three, Lee Kun-young, returned home to take care of his family in the middle of the war and died, and the fifth, Lee Si-young, returned home after liberation and served as the first vice president of South Korea.
But do you treat these people as second-class citizens?
“No way! Even if I get dirt in my eyes!”
“Chairman Kang—.”
“What?”
“No matter how horny you are, saying things like, “You’re getting dirt in your eyes” in front of me is a little—.”
“Ugh, sin, I’m sorry.”
“Uhhhhh, well, that’s why he was lamenting, so I placated him and sent him back, but he didn’t like it, so I’m sorry if I’m putting too much pressure on you, but—.”
“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”
“Will you please, I feel so sorry for this—.”
“No, Mr. Chairman, why should you be sorry? This is my job. I’ll take care of it right away.”
“Thank you. Chairman Kang. hahahahaha!”
“Wait a minute, first of all, the Namsan underground is a no-no, I’ll have to find a good place.”
I immediately picked up the phone and, as I always do when I’m in Korea, I asked the team leader, Cho Cheolbong, who was waiting outside, to come in.
It’s Chulbong Cho.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Oh, Team Lead Cho. Please come in and sit down.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”
“This is your first time meeting the chairman, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”
Team Leader Cho introduced himself to Chairman Jang Young-dong and explained himself.
“…So this is how it works?”
“Oh, sh*t. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay, and that’s why I want to make a proper memorial, but do you have a suitable site? Don’t worry about money, just a spacious place inside Samdaemun if possible?”
“Hmm, a spacious place inside Samdaemun—.”
“I’m not asking you to figure it out right away, but I’ll give you plenty of time, and I want you to make sure that Team Leader Cho has the right—.”
“Yes.”
“Take your time—. What, already?”
“There’s a piece of land that’s just right.”
“…”
“…”
What is this guy?
Does he have a map of Seoul in his head or something?
“What kind of land is that?”
“Isn’t it a large lot inside Samdaemun?”
“Yes, is there such a land?”
Honestly, even though I instructed them, how much open land is left in Samdaemun?
It must have been developed long ago, right?
“There is a perfect fit. Have you heard of the Songhyeon-dong site, which is owned by Korean Air?”
“Songhyeon-dong?”
Where is that?