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Chapter 3: The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (1)
Usually, Military officers start their political activities after retirement.
Writing memoirs, holding lectures, pulling the media, or running for president.
Of course, that is when the State is a ‘normal’ one.
In the Korean Empire, where the law of the jungle prevails, things are a bit different.
It’s not unusual for a General to storm into a newspaper office, and ‘physically persuade’ the writers to change their articles after writing something ‘displeasing’.
So, there’s no problem with me carrying out political activities through the newspaper.
Well, some higher officers might be displeased with this, but it’s a risk I’ll have to take.
The car stopped after arriving in the New Pyongyang’s District, a place filled with high-rise buildings.
A massive 54-story building stood imposingly before me.
It was the Yeo-Myeong Building, home to Korea’s largest daily, the Koryo Ilbo.
“Your Excellency, this is Koryo Ilbo.”
Jong-Gil said as he opened the car door for me.
Entering the lobby, it seemed that word of my arrival had preceded me, as a man in his fifties greeted me with a deep bow.
“I am Cho Joong Dong , president of Koryo Ilbo. I welcome you to our humble newspaper office, General.”
“Nice to meet you, President Cho.”
Joong Dong rubbed his hands together as though facing the CEO of a major conglomerate.
This sight was so picturesque that it made me wonder if the man before me was truly the head of a major media company or a groveling insect.
But upon reflection, it wasn’t too strange.
Back in the Democratic Republic of Korea, the media often surpassed most political powers.
Politicians in democracies are desperate for a line in the newspaper, hungry for attention.
However, this is the harsh Korean Empire ruled by the Military.
Should the media power dare to stand firm before a Military general, it would face immediate and violent repercussions.
It would be something far more severe than the tepid backlash seen in modern democracy.
They could - literally - lose their heads.
Just this year, three newspapers were shut down by the Military.
After greeting each other, we took the elevator straight to the President’s office.
As the elevator ascended, Cho Joong Dong glanced at me nervously as he opened his mouth.
“I understand that Your Excellency’s visit to our newspaper today is to publish an editorial.”
“That’s correct.”
“Is it perhaps related to the issue regarding the Military Budget?”
Recently there was an article exposing corruption within the Military that resulted in the newspaper that published it ‘shutting down’ mere days later.
While the Military quickly ‘silenced’ the source to prevent people from discussing the wrongdoings of the Regime, that didn’t mean the truth wasn’t visible to the public.
While the muscle heads in the Military with their shared brain cell might think that their actions were sufficient to ‘hide’ their corruption, media outlets that lived and died by their words weren’t so clueless about the situation.
Therefore, Cho Joong Dong’s fears were obvious.
Please don’t touch any topics that might put us in trouble...
Well, not that I was planning on putting the Koryo Ilbo in a difficult situation.
“It’s not about that.”
Only then did Cho Joong Dong’s face lighten up a bit.
Upon reaching the President’s office, a slender young secretary brought coffee.
We discussed my ‘true intention’ while sipping our coffee.
Cho Joong Dong appeared somewhat surprised when I expressed my desire to voice ‘opinions’ for the ‘future of the nation.’
A Military officer who can actually think about the country’s future...?
His bewildered expression was so obvious that I could guess whether he was thinking something along those lines or not.
Seeing his confusion, I decided to correct his perception.
“Tell me, President Cho, What kind of nation do you think the Empire is?”
Joong Dong flinched at my straightforward question.
“W-Well, it’s a glorious and responsible Constitutional Monarchy, where His Majesty the Emperor holds the central axis of power, and below him, the Prime Minister leads the government.”
Hah...Responsible Constitutional Monarchy...My ass. Why don’t you simply say this is more like a Prussian-style quasi-Constitutional Monarchy?
At this point, could we even call this nation a ‘Constitutional Monarchy’?
“Do you know how I see this country, President Cho? It’s a Military dictatorship that hides under the cover of a constitutional monarchy.”
Joong Dong’s mouth gaped at my blunt words.
“Do you think that this is genuinely a modernized country? Can it be considered a proper modern State?”
“Well...”
“This nation needs reforms if it truly wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with the West.”
In this country, slogans like reform, innovation, and modernization are all too common.
Countless words have been spewed about changing the nation.
But it’s not the content of the words that matter; it’s who says them.
As soon as the word “reform” came out of my mouth— a Military Officer’s and royal —the look in Cho Joong Dong’s eyes changed dramatically.
I was positioning myself as a Western-Style Reformist.
This should be the right way to convey my character.
“What do you think, President Cho?”
“Well, of course, I think reforms are necessary.”
This time, Joong Dong managed to mask his thoughts rather well.
Well, it was given.
After all, who in their right mind would tell their honest thoughts because a Military Officer said something completely nonsensical?
At this point, I decided to conclude my pitch to Joong Dong.
“The point I want to make is just that. Proposals for the future of the country. I want to publish such a discussion in the newspaper.”
A common discussion.
But one coming from a General with Royal Blood.
“Will it be an article written by Your Excellency yourself?”
“Of course. Since I made the effort to come here personally for this request, I hope you can place it prominently.”
“I will make it a special.”
Well, for now, this was enough.
I also visited the DongYang Ilbo and received a similar response.
In truth, to submit an editorial to the newspaper, a single phone call and sending an aide would have sufficed.
Yet, meeting the media owners in person was to make them recognize my potential as a ‘political player.’
No matter how capable a candidate was, if those around them didn’t recognize them, their candidature was doomed to fail.
Right now, I am taking my first steps toward my candidature for the ‘reformed’ Korean Empire.
Next, after the newspapers, the next thing on my list was a book.
I began sparing some time to write it.
Since I wasn’t Hitler who had the luxury of forcing everyone to read his book, mine had to be compelling.
And there’s nothing more compelling than a good novel.
So, I decided to write a novel that could encapsulate my ‘ideology’.
Among the books I was tasked to translate, there were many ‘Light Novels’ from Japan.
I distinctly remember translating a novel that depicted the ‘national modernization and developmental dictatorship.’
[The Legend Of The Galactic Heroes.]
The original theme of the novel by Yoshiki Tanaka was about weighing the worst of democracy against the best of a monarchy.
However, the interpretation of this novel could variably change depending on one’s perspective.
For instance, His Majesty the Kaiser, Reinhard von Lohengramm’s purge of feudal corruption, modernization of the homeland, and the grand achievement of cosmic unification could take center stage.
With subtle adjustments to the content, it was possible to focus the spotlight on these aspects.
That didn’t mean completely removing the embedded praises of Democracy from the novel.
It served as a device to suggest that this Military man might hold a different perspective compared to other Military brutes who solved everything with sheer force.
Anyhow, juggling writing editorials and novels meant that even having ten bodies wasn’t going to be enough.
Time was so scarce that I had to cut down on sleep.
Sigh...This lack of sleep might actually shorten my life more than this crazy Empire.
Well, who cares about health when preparing for a coup?
Even at the expense of sleep, preparations had to continue.
Not long after the first editorial calling for Korea’s reform was published, there was a significant response.
[-Young General Lee Sung Joon diagnoses the reality of the Empire with incredible sharpness.]
Ordinary people neither knew nor needed to know the names or thoughts of high-ranking army Generals.
However, the scenario was different for the officers in the Military.
They craved as much information as possible about their superiors.
In such a situation, information about a young General advocating for reform revealed through the newspaper, naturally became a hot topic.
I sent Jong-Gil to the officers’ mess to subtly gauge the mood.
An hour later, he reported his findings.
“There was a lot of talk about Your Excellency among the young officers in the mess.”
“Be specific.”
“They were debating over Your Excellency’s assertions that to renew the Korean Empire, it is necessary to change the archaic systems and mindsets first.”
The result was better than expected.
In this mess of an Empire, a ‘Reform’ wasn’t something easily supported.
The fact that my argument elicited enough response to stir a “debate” in such an environment meant that my carefully placed words weren’t wrong.
On the contrary, it was quite successful.
Now, it was time to start making moves.
“Jong-Gil.”
“Yes, General.”
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be dining with the young officers in the mess hall. Make sure that’s arranged.”
“Understood.”
This was to establish myself as not a holier than thou high ranking General, but as an idealist.
It was on this ground that I intended to test, to see how well the spearhead of my ideology could penetrate this Empire.
Footnotes
1. Pyongyang is is one of the oldest cities in Korea. ... It was the capital of two ancient Korean kingdoms, Gojoseon and Goguryeo. Today it's the Capital of North Korea, and in this novel, it serves as the capital for the Empire2. It's a joke because the letters of his name in Korea is a a pejorative term which refers to three highly circulated conservative newspapers in South Korea, It's like calling someone BBC because of the news and...the other thing
