Chapter 10

"Even if a tycoon has returned, is there anything he can't do?" Chapter 10

The tycoon's family's rebellion has transitioned to a paid release.

Security Command Investigation Room.

College students who were detained for illegal protests have been brought back to the Security Command Investigation Room.

A massive crackdown has been initiated, and most of the student council presidents from various universities are now held here.

And I am now sitting in front of the key figures among them.

'They are all...'

The points on the semi-transparent floor plan visible to me are either red or purple. Ironically, the soldiers of the Security Command waiting outside the investigation room are all marked in blue.

"Seniors, do you understand what I'm saying?"

I looked at the student council presidents from each university, whose expressions showed disbelief.

On the other side of the glass, the Security Command commander is watching.

"You're telling us to lead protests against the deployment to the Vietnam War?"

One of the student council presidents, unable to believe it, asked me again.

"Why, don't you believe me?"

Frankly, even if I told them I was a student council president caught by Security Command agents, they wouldn't believe it.

"The Security Command and the Namsan Anti-Communist Office are places that arrest and suppress citizens protesting for democracy, so why are you spouting nonsense?"

Among the student activists, there are quite a few who adhere to communism.

'In fact, right now...'

It's an era when North Korea was doing better than South Korea.

From that perspective, communism, which advocates for equality, might seem appealing.

But a world where everyone is equal has never existed and never will in the future.

'They must be pure youths who can't distinguish between reality and ideals.'

However, I have experienced the future where the pure student movements eventually became medals, power, and vested interests in South Korea.

Of course, I am not criticizing the student activists.

"Until yesterday, that was the case."

It will be the same in the future.

But from now until next May, I will manipulate and support the protests.

Why?

For the national interest.

"Originally, the National Student Council led protests against the war and deployment, so a large-scale protest this time would be appropriate."

"So, I don't understand. You've been stopping these protests with force until now, so why are you telling us to do it now?"

One of the student council presidents asked me, as if challenging me.

"Have you been to Vietnam?"

"What do you mean?"

"The seniors protesting here are living in heaven."

They don't know what real hell is like.

The difference between what they've heard and what they've experienced is stark.

"Are you saying that the dictatorial Republic of Korea is heaven? Lee Seong-su, I heard you were quite active in student movements. Why have you become a traitor?"

Traitor?

That's how they see it.

'My body is still Lee Seong-su’s.'

But my soul is that of Seo Jin, the chairman of the Shin Group.

"We must not forget that this is still a Security Command investigation room."

The word 'dictatorship' is taboo in a Security Command investigation room.

"I can understand what the seniors are saying, but the real Security Command soldiers on the other side of the glass will be writing everything down. Be careful."

They will think of me as a traitor.

"Traitor? If I'm a traitor, I'll show you why."

I stood up and looked at the student council presidents from each university.

"I was also a passionate fighter for democratization."

I told them this and slowly took off my shirt.

As soon as I took off my shirt, the people couldn't hide their shocked expressions.

"Did you defect because you were tortured here?"

"I was indeed tortured. But do you see these scars?"

I pointed to the burn marks on my right chest.

"I was tortured in Vietnam."

"Hmm."

"By the Viet Cong? No, by a North Korean colonel who participated in the Vietnam War. He called me comrade and did this because I didn't follow his orders."

"What, what are you saying?"

I wasn't only tortured by North Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.

The North Korean colonel also tortured me, saying the same things.

"Vietnam is hell. No, any battlefield is hell. Is there any reason to oppose a protest to prevent being sent to such a hell?"

"What's the real purpose?"

At that moment, the student council president from a Korean university, who had been silent, asked me.

'Kim Gwang-pil.'

According to Lee Seong-su's memories, Kim Gwang-pil is a top student in business administration.

In other words, a genius.

The report I received said he led student movements until November this year and then suddenly disappeared.

'What's the reason?'

Every action has a reason.

"There must be some ulterior motive, right?"

Of course, there is an ulterior motive.

The U.S. government is manipulating the protests to put pressure on.

"If the deployment of South Korean troops to Vietnam had been refused, the U.S. forces in Korea could have left, do you know that?"

The U.S. government used this to threaten the president and the South Korean government.

'So they were scared.'

After that, the U.S. government sent Korean young men to the brutal Vietnam War for a fraction of the value of an American soldier's life.

"Are you defending the dictator now?"

Kim Gwang-pil asked me again.

'But his eyes are different.'

I know that look well.

The look of someone seeking an opportunity.

No.

The look of an opportunist.

'And.'

The color representing Kim Gwang-pil in my eyes is green.

'So I.'

Defined the meaning of green as a cooperative relationship for a purpose.

"That's the reality. The reality of a poor country, the reality of a ceasefire with North Korea, how is the Korean Peninsula different from Vietnam?"

The ceasefire means that war could break out tomorrow.

'Just like Vietnam.'

After the U.S. forces completely withdrew through the Paris Agreement, the North Vietnamese army launched a full-scale offensive.

And they eventually captured Saigon, communizing Vietnam.

Would the Korean Peninsula be any different?

North Korea wouldn't hesitate to start a second Korean War if given the chance.

'And!'

Seeing Vietnam become communist.

Seeing the U.S. forces completely withdraw from Vietnam, they would be convinced that the U.S. forces in Korea must be withdrawn first.

The North Korea I remember constantly demanded the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Korea.

"Okay, if the U.S. forces in Korea withdraw and go to Vietnam, North Korea could break the ceasefire agreement."

Kim Gwang-pil is subtly helping me.

"But that's just an excuse."

"I'm talking about the reality of a weak and poor South Korea. Do you know what the first order I received from my platoon leader when I went to Vietnam was?"

How poor is South Korea now?

"An order? What kind of excuse are you making?"

"The order was to lose my M-16 rifle. I was ordered to lose my gun. Why would such an absurd order be given?"

"Are you saying you pretended to lose your gun?"

"Yes, so that the U.S. would provide new guns and ammunition. What a pitiful reality. When such things were happening on the battlefield, the seniors were leisurely protesting in the heaven-like South Korea."

I am not denying the heroic actions of the college students who led the democratization movement.

'If they hadn't been there?'

The democratization of South Korea would have been delayed by a few years.

"Flawless democracy cannot flourish in poverty. What I'm saying is not just a fabricated defense of dictatorship."

For democracy to take root, at least 70% of the population must form a middle class.

This is my thought and the dictator president's excuse.

But it must be achieved.

"At the very least, South Korean youths shouldn't become like me."

"Hmm."

They seem shocked by the many torture marks on my body.

"Shouldn't a large-scale protest against deployment be held in South Korea so that the president can tell the U.S. president that he can't send more troops?"

Some students began to nod in agreement with my words.

'And.'

The color of some students marked in purple was changing to a deep green. The color of students marked in red was also changing to purple.

In other words, my persuasion is working.

"So, what are you trying to get from the Yankees?"

The student council president from a Korean university asked me with a sharp gaze.

"Politicians will handle that. Seniors, you just need to lead the protests against the deployment to the Vietnam War."

"Is it really okay to do it?"

Some are being persuaded.

"Do it. Especially a large-scale protest in front of the U.S. embassy."

"Will the riot police be deployed during the protest?"

Another student council president asked, just in case.

"That won't happen. This is something that must be done for the country."

"Excuse me, what's the real reason for this request?"

The student council presidents, who suspected there was more to it, asked.

"South Korea is still poor."

"Huh?"

"I can't say more. But I can promise that all the seniors arrested for violating the National Security Law will be released on the March 1st Special Amnesty. The president himself promised this."

Everyone was surprised by my words.

"If you continue to refuse, the seniors will have to meet Security Command investigators, not me."

"What?"

"They might torture you to make you lead anti-war protests."

My words made the student council presidents look incredulous.

Some even laughed.

'Well, it is a bit funny.'

But if large-scale anti-war protests are held in front of the U.S. embassy, the U.S. will be shocked.

And when we inform them through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that additional deployment is impossible, the U.S. will try to persuade South Korea.

That's when Senator Walker Smith will step in.

"If you refuse to lead the anti-war protests, will you be tortured?"