Chapter 402: If You’re Going to Dance with Swords, Do It Properly

If you’re going to dance with swords do it properly.

For Kim Hak-gwon the word ‘coup’ was trauma incarnate.

He’d lived through two coups and endured a harsh political life under the military regime’s ruthless surveillance.

He’d been dragged to the Central Intelligence Agency and Agency for National Security Planning multiple times.

The brutal torture he endured back then still haunted him with lasting effects.

Yet Kim Hak-gwon ultimately achieved his goal of becoming President.

He’d even pardoned Choi Seon-man who’d sentenced him to death for treason putting their bitter past behind them.

His eyes trembled slightly at the news that Choi Seon-man the very man he’d pardoned was plotting another coup.

“Is… is that true?”

His voice quivered. I stared at his face a mix of shock and dismay as I spoke.

“I thought you already knew Mr. President.”

Kim Hak-gwon shook his head firmly.

“Of course I knew Choi Seon-man still had influence in the military but a coup? That’s the first I’m hearing of it. That’s treason! We need to arrest them all immediately!”

He had a point but could Kim Hak-gwon really handle it?

Arresting those behind the coup that is.

“Mr. President the consequences will be severe. Can you handle them?”

“…Still it must be done.”

“It needs to be done yes but you shouldn’t be the one to do it Mr. President.”

When the negative words left my mouth Kim Hak-gwon slammed the table.

“Why shouldn’t I do it!”

“You pardoned Choi Seon-man yourself Mr. President. If word gets out that the man you freed is plotting a coup after leaving prison… You’ll face intense criticism. The nation will split and fight among themselves again. That’s why I asked if you could handle it.”

Kim Hak-gwon bit his lip.

He wanted to finish his term well and step down from the presidency gracefully.

From his perspective the bigger this incident became the more pressure he’d face.

“…I see.”

Having sorted his thoughts Kim Hak-gwon sighed and nodded.

“Well… That’s just my opinion but if you want to handle it you should. You’re the President after all. I’ll help you. I can get favorable press coverage and move Yoon Chang-ho to support you.”

There would be strong opposition if he took action but that’s precisely why Kim Hak-gwon needed to handle it.

After all he was the one who’d released Choi Seon-man back into society after his life sentence for treason.

And now that pardoned man was plotting treason again.

What he thought was the end of their bitter connection was still choking his ankle.

Only Kim Hak-gwon could break this chain. He had both the justification and authority.

Could Kim Hak-gwon truly resolve everything with his own hands?

Instead of pushing him I decided to give him the choice and watch. If he chose to handle it I was willing to help.

But knowing Kim Hak-gwon he wouldn’t choose that path.

As a seasoned politician he feared his image crumbling. Above all he was someone who valued his reputation.

Kim Hak-gwon sighed and closed his eyes in contemplation. He probably didn’t want to dive into this mess at the end of his term.

“…Are all these people involved in planning the coup?”

Opening his eyes Kim Hak-gwon carefully examined the names on the paper.

The paper listed twelve generals in total.

“Yes that’s all we’ve identified. There might be more but strip these men of their ranks and the rest will fall in line.”

After hearing my explanation Kim Hak-gwon neatly folded the paper his face grim.

“Mr. President if you’re going to dance with swords do it properly. The ruling party and conservatives might resist but the moderates won’t react much.”

It was customary for outgoing presidents to avoid personnel changes except in the Blue House leaving that to their successor.

But this case was different. Plus with my help we could minimize the opposition.

To nudge the still-contemplating Kim Hak-gwon I casually brought up Choi Seon-man.

“I met with former President Choi Seon-man yesterday. I’ve neutralized all his cards. I’m telling you this because I think you should handle the cleanup Mr. President.”

Kim Hak-gwon frowned at hearing I’d met Choi Seon-man.

“…You met him?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me everything. How did you find out? What did you discuss? Did he try to harm you? He wouldn’t have just let you walk away.”

Faced with the barrage of questions I deliberately put on a troubled expression.

“It’s quite a long story to explain.”

“Didn’t I cancel all today’s schedules? It’s fine. Take your time. No wait a moment. I can’t hear this sober.”

Kim Hak-gwon jumped up from his seat and called for Lee Sun-kyung.

Soon after Lee Sun-kyung opened the dining room door.

“Did you call?”

“Sorry but could you set up some drinks?”

“Oh was it not enough? We only have soju right now… I’ll bring that and some side dishes.”

As Lee Sun-kyung headed to the kitchen Kim Hak-gwon finally closed the dining room door.

“Tell me. What exactly did you discuss? And how did you find out about all this?”

Where should I start? To answer his questions I’d need to begin with the Koizumi story.

“I didn’t know at first either. I found out thanks to Prime Minister Koizumi coming to meet me.”

“Koizumi? Why is that bastard’s name coming up here?”

Kim Hak-gwon grimaced at Koizumi’s name.

Well it made sense since Kim Jong-il and Koizumi had tormented him throughout his term.

“Actually I’d confirmed Choi Seon-man was trying to interfere with the upcoming election before that. I thought it was just an old man being greedy. But Prime Minister Koizumi who came to see me told me about an organization called the Dae Dong-hui. That’s when I first learned about this shadow organization with influence over Japan’s political and business worlds.”

I slowly explained to Kim Hak-gwon what kind of organization Dae Dong-hui was and what foolish dreams they harbored.

“He also told me they were planning to use the Self-Defense Forces to occupy Dokdo.”

“What? Dokdo? These crazy bastards… Are they trying to start a war or what!”

Kim Hak-gwon raised his voice and drained his water glass in one go his throat apparently dry.

“I heard Choi Seon-man was involved and naturally that led to discovering the coup plot. After that I investigated separately and gathered information. When I put it all together the credibility seemed quite high.”

My throat was getting parched from all the talking.

As I paused briefly to wet my lips there was a knock at the dining room door.

“Honey I’m coming in.”

Lee Sun-kyung entered the dining room carrying a tray.

Her experienced touch was evident in the impressive array of side dishes prepared in such a short time.

Lee Sun-kyung looked at Kim Hak-gwon after silently placing the drinks and food on the table.

When Kim Hak-gwon shook his head slightly she turned to me with a faint smile.

“My husband wants me to leave. Please talk comfortably.”

After Lee Sun-kyung left silence fell over the dining room again.

Kim Hak-gwon cleared his throat and poured soju into my glass.

“Continue Chairman Kim.”

I barely wet my lips with the soju before continuing.

“Actually I stopped the Japan visit for this reason too. I’m sorry I didn’t explain and just told you not to attend. It was too urgent then to explain the circumstances.”

“Ah… So that’s why. Yes if I had been away then something serious could have happened.”

Kim Hak-gwon nodded while sipping his soju.

“Yes if you’d been absent they wouldn’t have missed the opportunity.”

“…”

Kim Hak-gwon’s expression suggested he doubted they would have gone that far. I couldn’t be completely certain either.

But if there was even a slight possibility there was no need to take the risk.

“You’re aware of the unstable public safety in Japan due to the war between criminal organizations right?”

“How could I not know? I’m anxiously watching hoping the chaos won’t spill over into our country when Japan settles things.”

“Haha as long as I’m alive that won’t happen in Korea.”

Kim Hak-gwon who’d just downed his drink chuckled.

Like a dog that learns poetry after three years in a temple Kim Hak-gwon seemed to catch my meaning.

“So you orchestrated that too.”

“It’s something I agreed on with Prime Minister Koizumi. To prevent the Self-Defense Forces from moving we’re deploying them for public safety and replacing the Chief of Staff.”

“…Many civilians were hurt.”

“We had to accept some casualties. The Dae Dong-hui was that deeply entrenched in Japan.”

Kim Hak-gwon muttered disapprovingly while fidgeting with his empty glass.

“Still what did those innocent civilians do wrong…”

“Mr. President I handed Japan to those criminal organizations instead of Korea. Would you prefer Korea to become the battleground instead of Japan? Why do you think foreign organizations don’t enter our country? Because they’re afraid of our police?”

Kim Hak-gwon’s lips moved but no words came out.

“The Dae Dong-hui stood firmly behind the Japanese Yakuza. When their losses mounted the Chairman of Dae Dong-hui personally summoned the Yakuza bosses and then the Russian Mafia and Chinese Black Society attacked that gathering.”

“…I’ve received the report.”

Everyone there died except for one person.

Somehow Araki Daigo Tadashige’s successor’s body wasn’t found.

“…Anyway the Dae Dong-hui’s chairman is dead and there’s no chance of the Self-Defense Forces invading Dokdo now. Choi Seon-man’s biggest card is gone.”

“In the end only that bastard Koizumi benefited from this.”

Kim Hak-gwon muttered bitterly. Of course it might look that way on the surface.

“Even if he controls Japan he’ll never escape my influence. If the Japanese public learns I helped him could Koizumi maintain his position as Prime Minister?”

Koizumi was completely on my leash.

Kim Hak-gwon nodded readily.

“Politicians must eventually repay their debts. And you know how to use that well.”

He smiled slightly and finished his remaining drink.

There was still more to tell.

“Ah the Heaven Church was also one of Choi Seon-man’s cards.”

“I knew it. I thought something was odd when the prosecutors suddenly started investigating the Heaven Church. You should have told me earlier.”

“I couldn’t tell you because information might leak. The Heaven Church has significant influence in Japan and the U.S. right? If the coup succeeded they probably planned to use the church’s influence to convince America to recognize it.”

Kim Hak-gwon poured and downed another drink before speaking glumly.

“…I was a blind man with eyes. Sitting in the president’s seat yet unaware of all this.”

He could have known if he’d wanted to.

He just closed his eyes and ears wanting to finish his term quietly.

But I chose not to point that out.

“I’ll summon the Defense Minister tomorrow at dawn and dismiss these men from their posts. I’ll finally wield the sword I’ve never used at the end of my term.”

Kim Hak-gwon chose dismissal.

For generals dismissal was like facing the grim reaper.

Rather than directly confronting Choi Seon-man and creating a mess covering it up this way wasn’t a bad choice.

“There will be resistance from the military when twelve generals are dismissed at once.”

“We’ll have to accept that much. The evidence is solid right?”

“Yes. Searching their offices and homes will probably uncover plenty of evidence.”

His throat apparently dry Kim Hak-gwon drank the strong soju repeatedly.

“With solid evidence they have no choice but to leave the military. Otherwise they’d spend their lives in prison for treason.”

“I don’t want chaos either. That seems appropriate.”

Kim Hak-gwon nodded then seemed to hesitate his lips moving slightly.

I filled his empty glass with soju and waited quietly.

Watching the glass fill Kim Hak-gwon slowly spoke.

“…If it weren’t for you I would have gone down in history as the worst president. Thank you.”