It was because I didn't have time
My daughter's biological mother is a top member of the Communist Party. I thought to myself, hiding my surprise.
'Are there any women among the current top Communist Party officials?'
I don't remember any woman like that.
When I gave him a questioning look, Woo Young-sik added.
"Oh, I misspoke. To be exact, your biological mother's father is the highest ranking person."
"Is that so? That's surprising. Considering Chief Min's age, I think it was a time when diplomatic relations with China had not yet been established."
"That's right. That's how it was back then. We couldn't continue."
A deep longing could be felt in Woo Young-sik's eyes.
"That's interesting. Did you meet him while you were studying abroad in France?"
Woo Young-sik asked with a surprised face.
"How about that······. Huh, they say your intelligence is better than the National Intelligence Service. I guess that's true. Yes, we met while studying abroad. We fell in love at first sight. But it couldn't happen. I returned to Korea, and she went to China······. It was only after that that I found out that she had given birth to my daughter."
Woo Young-sik slowly unraveled his story.
After returning from studying abroad, he married a woman chosen by his family, and they had two sons.
"The suspicious circumstances you mentioned must have been traces of my attempts to find her. However, I could not find her."
It was a story that fit the plot to some extent.
Rather, it is a story that is more suspicious because it makes a lot of sense.
"I see. Then have you met your daughter?"
Woo Young-sik shook his head.
"What would we do if we met? It would be better for the child if we remained ignorant······."
At least I couldn't find any lies in his eyes.
The eyes that were darkened with regret were real.
"So? When did you approach me?"
"It's been quite a while. It was when I was working at the prosecution, right after we had established diplomatic relations. A man came to see me. That's when I heard news of her. She was already dead. Instead, I learned of her daughter's existence. From then on, I was running around trying to find her. And I found her."
There was only one record of Woo Young-sik going to China.
Although his subsequent activities could not be discovered, the records provided circumstantial evidence that Woo Young-sik may have been a spy.
Because suddenly there was absolutely no reason to go to China.
"That's when I met my daughter's grandfather."
"Who is your grandfather?"
"······Yesianping."
"Yes? Is this Yesanping?"
It was bigger than I thought.
Ye Xianping's father is Ye Jianying, one of the ten founding generals of China.
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"Do you know?"
"Yes, to some extent. To be honest, I know his father better than Ye Xianping himself."
"Yes. Standing Committee member Ye Jianying. His son is Ye Xianping."
"I understand why the Chief was not concerned about his daughter's safety."
"Yesanping also asked me to act as a bridge between Korea and China. Then he said he would let his daughter know about my existence."
"I guess you refused."
Woo Young-sik nodded.
"That's right. I don't want my daughter to know about me. That's why I declined. However, I didn't decline the offer. I wanted the relationship between China and Korea, where my daughter was born and raised, to be good. That thought hasn't changed even now. However, that doesn't mean I've handed over state secrets to China. That's a completely different story."
I already knew that Woo Young-sik was on the side of wanting to resolve this issue positively.
I didn't know these detailed circumstances.
That's why I was even more suspicious of him.
"I see. I will personally check to see if what you said is true. Could you tell me your daughter's name?"
"······."
"I can figure it out in a few days without you telling me. But in the meantime, you have to stay here, sir."
"······Yeshaotong."
"Yeshaotong."
I felt a strange sense of foreboding.
It was a name I had heard somewhere.
'Yeshaotong. Yeshaotong. Where have I heard this name?'
At that moment, memories of my past life flashed through my head like lightning.
'Ye Xiaotong. China's top lobbyist.'
She was a lobbyist who traveled the world with her outstanding looks and eloquence.
'There was also a rumor that she was Xi Jinping's lover. But she was Woo Young-sik's daughter?'
As I was lost in thought without answering, Woo Young-sik asked in a puzzled voice.
"Is that a familiar name?"
"No. I just thought it was interesting that she took after her mother's last name. Yeshaotong, I understand. I think we'll find out if what you said is true in a day."
"You're more capable than I heard."
I smiled instead of answering.
Woo Young-sik, who was quietly looking at my face, said.
"Let me ask you one thing."
"Yes, go ahead."
"Did the President ask you to do this? Or did you do it on your own?"
"Does that matter?"
"If this was done independently without the President's permission, you and I will become enemies. So tell me."
I never thought someone would say something like that in front of me.
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I looked at Woo Young-sik with an interested look.
"The President did ask me to do this. However, the reason I used such a rough method was because I was short on time. The President suspected that there was a Chinese spy in the Blue House."
"I see. I understand."
"Aren't you going to ask any more questions?"
"If the President asked you to do it, what would I say? That would be it."
He was a man with more loyalty to the president than expected.
"I heard that you are close friends with the President, but you have strong faith."
"I guess he had thoughts. I thought it was over when that guy, Yoon Chang-ho, went down to the Busan District Prosecutors' Office. But he survived and eventually became president. I trust him. I also knew that you were helping him. That might be why he closed his eyes even more."
Woo Young-sik's data stated that he had a rather strong desire for power.
He was in a fierce battle with Justice Minister Choi Tae-min to bring the prosecution under his control.
Yoon Chang-ho knew that, but he left it alone.
I thought I should find out more about Woo Young-sik.
"Once I find out if what you said is true, I'll send it to you."
"Okay."
I stood up from my seat, leaving him behind. It seemed different in many ways from when I was a class president.
* * *
Yoon Chang-ho was talking with the chief secretary.
"They say that Chief Ban Jang-woo was a spy."
"Yes? Is that true?"
Lee Ki-ho was startled and put down the teacup he was holding.
"Yes. I heard he made his own statement yesterday."
"If it's Chief of Security Ban Jang-woo, then some pretty high-level information must have gone to China. Isn't this a big deal?"
Yoon Chang-ho nodded with a bitter smile.
"I don't know the details yet. That guy, Kim Mu-hyeok, found out."
"If CEO Kim Moo-hyuk found out, it must be true. He's not the type of person to do things carelessly."
"Yes. They said that three senior officials were being detained at the same time. The senior civil affairs chief, the senior security chief, and the senior public relations chief."
"Huh? Then the reason those three didn't come to work today······."
Yoon Chang-ho nodded again.
Then Lee Ki-ho's expression became even more serious.
"Isn't this something that can just be covered up? It's not common for three senior executives to be absent at the same time. If any information were to leak out······."
"I know. But that's the fastest and most certain way. I heard that there are Chinese dogs among the secretaries, aside from Chief Ban Jang-woo."
"Do you know who it is?"
Yoon Chang-ho shook his head.
"Not yet. He said he would check the details and tell me separately. He said there is no solid evidence."
"He imprisoned three senior secretaries without any evidence. President Kim Moo-hyuk's actions are more unconventional than I had heard."
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When Lee Ki-ho spoke in surprise, Yoon Chang-ho burst into laughter.
"Breaking news? Hahaha. That's because you don't know that guy Kim Mu-hyeok very well. This is a gentlemanly way to go. If you really do it, even the country won't be able to stop you."
"but······."
"Why? Don't you believe it? The President can't stop him."
"But you are the president."
"That's right. But President Kim isn't the type of person to think about things like that."
Yoon Chang-ho saw a faint layer of wariness covering Lee Ki-ho's eyes.
"Isn't that too dangerous?"
"Has there been anything that he has done that has not worked out well for us? Even if it was extreme, it has been good for me in the end. Relations with North Korea, and the pipeline project with Russia. Thanks to the things he has done, I have a high approval rating and I am getting a spoonful."
Lee Ki-ho couldn't hide his surprise.
It was a statement that went beyond showing faith and was even radical.
"It is the President's policies and governance······."
"It would have been hard if I were alone. You know that, don't you? Japan, of course, China, Russia, the United States. The great powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula are all just acting for their own interests. We have always been a country that has been watching the situation closely. But what has happened in the past few years? That guy Kim Moo-hyuk has done something truly absurd."
Yoon Chang-ho recalled the first time he met Kim Mu-hyeok.
When he went to the police station after receiving a call from Chairman Cheon Tae-san, Kim Moo-hyeok's face was a mess from being hit, but his eyes were still sharp.
'I knew he was an extraordinary person even back then, but I didn't know he would become this big.'
At that time, Yoon Chang-ho was a person who had been demoted not only from the presidency but also from the prosecution.
But because he had ambition, he grabbed the hand that Kim Mu-hyeok offered. At that time, it was a hand he grabbed to gain the power of his grandfather, Chairman Cheon Tae-san.
However, Kim Moo-hyuk developed his power more strongly than Chairman Cheon Tae-san.
It brought down the Cheongpunghoe and shattered the Conservative Party.
And made himself president.
"I never want to meet that guy Kim Mu-hyeok as an enemy. Please handle this matter well without causing any trouble."
Lee Ki-ho had no choice but to nod to Yoon Chang-ho's instructions.
"By the way, what should we do about that friend, Banjangwoo?"
"It would be difficult to apply the espionage law because China is not our enemy."
"That's right. There's a reason why Chinese dogs are running wild in Korea. This time, we need to expand the scope of espionage."
Lee Ki-ho also agreed with Yoon Chang-ho's words.
In Korea, the crime of espionage is difficult to apply to anyone except the enemy country of North Korea.
Now that the Cold War is over, it is time to revise the law, but for various reasons, revision has not been possible.
Yoon Chang-ho intended to use this opportunity to push for revision of the Espionage Act.
In most countries, the country that receives secret information through a spy is subject to espionage charges even if it is an ally.
"I will have the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs discuss this with the party."
Yoon Chang-ho nodded.
"Even if we can't apply the espionage charge, we need to completely dig up everything about that friend Ban Jang-woo from his past to present and bury him from society. So contact both the prosecution and the National Intelligence Service."
"All right."
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"I'm going to go now. I need to rest until my next schedule."
Yoon Chang-ho sent out Chief Secretary Lee Ki-ho and fell into deep thought alone.
* * *
It wasn't until late the next night that Blackbear's findings arrived.
The three people's stories turned out to be mostly true.
"Yeshaotong. She was more unusual than I thought."
I checked Yeshaotong's materials and listened to Director Ma's story.
"He was the actual owner of a high-class bar where high-ranking Chinese people often gather. It is said that members of the Standing Committee also frequent that bar."
"It sounds like it has quite a bit of influence."
"It seems so. Although she is unknown to the outside world, Black Bear believes that her influence is greater than expected."
It seemed that Yeshaotong was slowly establishing his foundation from now on.
If that's the case, then it means there's still some time left until I become what I know.
"What about Ye Xiaotong's parents?"
"The father is unknown, but the mother is Ye Xianping's daughter. She has been dead for over 20 years. It is said that Ye Zhenying cherished her granddaughter very much. We also confirmed that Wu Yingshik's study abroad period coincided with her study abroad period. Wu Yingshik's story is likely true."
I nodded and closed Ye Xiaotong's materials.
"Please contact Chairman Murdoch and ask him to come to Korea."
"All right."
I got up from my seat.
Those who need to be sent back should be sent back. Before that, I planned to have a deep conversation with Woo Young-sik.
< Because I didn't have time > End
< You would have done better if you had gone into politics >