17. I Go My Own Way
The director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
Usually, the head of a government department is given the title of minister, but the KCIA used the title of director.
Rather than being a government department, this meant it was classified as a special agency directly under the president. Its authority and prestige were above ministerial level.
The man who had become the second most powerful figure in Korea despite not yet being quite forty was none other than Gim Heung-su, the current director of the KCIA.
And such a man was right before my eyes.
“Have a seat.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
The outer corners of his eyes drooped slightly, but his gaze was fierce and his nose bridge prominent. Because he had survived in politics until the era I had lived in, I could easily remember his young face.
“You are very young. Just barely come of age….”
He sat calmly and skimmed through the documents on the table.
If it were not for being merged with Yi Dong-ho’s disposition, there would have been an atmosphere that intimidated me simply by sitting across from him.
Of course, the title of KCIA director wielded real power that transcended mere atmosphere.
“What do you like?”
As I sat down, Gim Heung-su asked.
“Pardon?”
“Does the young friend have bad ears? I meant something to drink.”
“Ah. I am fine.”
“Here. Give the young friend a cup of coffee as well.”
Gim Heung-su offered me coffee too.
I had not yet figured out his exact intentions, but it was fortunate that he was neither threatening from the start nor maintaining a merely neutral attitude.
The fact that I was in a coffee shop near the Central Government Complex, rather than at KCIA headquarters or somewhere on Namsan, was one of the reasons I thought so.
“Do you like coffee?”
“I have not had it properly, so I do not know yet.”
As the waiter brought the coffee and placed it before me, Gim Heung-su asked me casually.
Coffee?
I liked it. In the era I had originally lived in, I drank coffee like water. I drank it when working overtime, and when I went to talk with people, I stopped by cafés.
I liked coffee, but I could not answer like that.
I answered as if I knew nothing.
The very fact that he ordered coffee so boldly at a coffee shop right in front of the Central Government Complex was a display of Gim Heung-s’s power.
Coffee had been classified as a luxury good, and it had been barely a year since coffee shop owners were dragged away one after another, suffering humiliation and closing their doors. The coffee was a light threat.
“You are not so dull-witted after all.”
Gim Heung-su said so, slurped his coffee, and spoke again.
“Return Professor Heo Mun-hoe. Since Professor Heo Mun-hoe went of his own accord, I will not punish you severely.”
I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
The tension was different from what I had seen on television or heard from adults.
No matter how much I knew the future, at this very moment I was absurdly weak. The Gim Heung-su before my eyes was but an existence like dust that would scatter in the wind.
So I opened my mouth more carefully than ever before.
“I cannot.”
*
The expression of Gim Heung-su, sitting across from me, distorted for an instant before returning to its place.
Autumn was approaching, and today the weather was unusually cool, yet a stream of cold sweat trickled down my spine.
“Ha… I cannot… Interesting. It has been a long time since I heard such words… There used to be quite a few brats who spoke like that.”
Saying so, Gim Heung-su stared at me expressionlessly.
“I wonder where those friends are and what they are doing now. …Sometimes I grow curious.”
He is different…!
The politician Gim Heung-su I had only seen on television and KCIA Director Gim Heung-su at the center of power were clearly different in their oppressive force.
Behind the curt words he spat out expressionlessly, I could see men dressed in suits. Today, the only customers in the coffee shop were Gim Heung-su and me. The men sitting here and there occupying seats were KCIA agents.
“I am sorry. Director Heo Mun-hoe is currently working for the country together with me. That is why he absolutely must remain at our company.”
Before he could continue, I pressed on.
“Currently, Director Heo Mun-hoe is on the verge of seeing the fruits of high-yield new variety rice research together with me at our company. If Director Heo Mun-hoe is sent away like this, Korea’s rice production self-sufficiency will be delayed by at least ten years.”
The core of the Yeongdong Agricultural Research Institute was Heo Mun-hoe, no matter what anyone said. The Yeongdong Agricultural Research Institute was the cornerstone of the Republic of Korea’s future rice self-sufficiency. The people had gathered because it was Heo Mun-hoe, and the research and development beyond the Tongil rice variety was only possible together with Heo Mun-hoe.
—Slurp.
“Are you confident?”
“Yes.”
Gim Heung-su took another sip of coffee, crossed his legs, and stared fixedly at me.
If the person I had met had been anyone other than Gim Heung-su, I would not have made such bold remarks.
Because the moment I said such things to someone else, I would have been dragged away immediately.
Rice self-sufficiency was one of the great tasks of this era, and accordingly, the nation’s interest in Heo Mun-hoe was great.
That was the reason Gim Heung-su, the KCIA director, had taken an interest in me and met with me directly, and it was the curiosity that made him hold this meeting without immediately resorting to physical measures.
“The young friend does not seem to have ill intentions, so I will let this pass with a warning. Professor Heo Mun-hoe will be sent to the Philippines Maize Research Institute next year or the year after. That is the true work for the country. It is not something a mere individual can do.”
Gim Heung-su said so and slammed his coffee cup onto the table.
“Do you know why America is a powerful nation?”
Now is the only time.
“What are you talking about?”
“The reason America is a powerful nation is, first, that it is a liberal democratic country, and second, that within that freedom, private enterprises fill the nation’s coffers.”
Gim Heung-su’s face distorted again.
“You mean private enterprise does better than the state?”
“I mean there are things the state must do and things the private sector must do.”
“Are you lecturing me?”
“No. I am saying that I can do it well.”
“I went easy on you because you are a pup, and now you do not know who I am?”
The air changed.
It became a bit hard to breathe, but the sword was already drawn.
“I can expedite rice self-sufficiency.”
“That is not for you to decide!”
As Gim Heung-su shouted, the men sitting around rose in unison. The inside of my mouth went bone-dry.
“A country that lives worse than North Korea. That is Korea right now. Please believe me. I must do this. My doing this is the best form of patriotism.”
“North Korea? You bastard, what did you just say?!”
As Gim Heung-su grew agitated, the men rushed at me.
Someone twisted my arm from behind, and another hand grabbed my head and slammed it onto the table.
“You said the rice research is about to bear fruit. Then the state can take it and do it. That is patriotism!”
Gim Heung-su grew angry again, but I continued speaking while restrained.
“I must do it. That rice is merely the process. There is still a long way to go. The rice must differ by region. Against pests and diseases…!”
—Thwack!
Someone struck my face, which was pressed against the table.
Fists flew at me continuously as I tried to speak, but I persisted to the very end.
“…We must prepare for pests and diseases…! …Also… it must taste…! …taste good enough… for the people to want it….”
How much time had passed?
I was dragged to the floor and beaten so badly by fists and kicks that I could not regain my senses.
It felt like but a moment, yet like an eternity.
“Let him go.”
At Gim Heung-su’s words, the beating stopped, and the hands holding me fell away.
“So you must do it?”
It hurt.
My body ached everywhere.
Gim Heung-su asked, looking at me as I bled.
Only now did a hint of curiosity seem to appear on Gim Heung-su’s face.
“Yes. I must do it. That is the patriotism I can practice, and the patriotism you can practice, Director.”
After being beaten, my trembling and fear had rather subsided.
I rose from the floor, sat back down, and looked straight at Gim Heung-su’s face.
“Huh… What kind of man is this?”
Gim Heung-su said incredulously, looking at me staring straight at him.
“If I wanted to live well alone, I would have gone into construction or bought goods to resell. I believe I am one of the greatest patriots.”
Patriotism.
It is the magic word that runs through this era.
That is why I deliberately emphasized patriotism.
Of course, what I was doing was indeed patriotic.
“Once the rice is developed and spreads to farms, it takes time for that rice to become grain again. As I said, we must prepare for pests and diseases, and we cannot develop only one variety. If we use only one variety and a single disease strikes, the entire country will suffer crop failure. You probably do not have time. But it will be much faster if I do it directly. Also, I have one method to buy time in the interim.”
“What is it?”
Finally, Gim Heung-su’s eyes met mine levelly.
“Flour.”
“We are talking about rice and suddenly what flour?”
“There is nothing but flour to replace rice anyway.”
“The state is already sufficiently promoting flour.”
Gim Heung-su’s tone softened slightly, but a sense of emptiness could be felt within it.
Given the timing, he seemed to feel futility in my words, as he was already in the position of planning the Mixed Grain Consumption Promotion Campaign.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force it to drink. No matter how much you tell people to eat flour, they will not eat it if it does not suit their taste.”
“You can make the people eat flour?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I will make and sell instant noodles.”
“Instant noodles?”
A question arose on Gim Heung-su’s face.
“Yes.”
And I rummaged in the bag that had been inspected by the agents beforehand and pulled out a single packet of instant noodles.
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