WeTried Translations
Translator: NEET_Romulus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Dropped into the Ending of a Trash Show as an Extra ◈
Chapter 16: The Hunt (2)
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“Security is tight.”
“Given the recent... incident, sir.”
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Jonathan Reed sat in the back of the embassy vehicle as it entered Gyeongbok Palace[1].
The scene outside the window was downright grim.
Armored vehicles stood at intervals, while armed soldiers kept watch with sharp, wary eyes.
‘A sight that would have been unimaginable only days ago.’
The troops that had guarded the main gate before had largely been members of the Imperial Guard Brigade serving a ceremonial role. But these Marines made no effort to hide their menacing air.
Then again, they had no choice.
Ambassador Reed reviewed the recent chain of events in Korea once more.
‘A terrorist attack at a wedding, a coup, the deaths of key figures, its suppression, and the accession of a new Emperor.’
It had all begun with the horrific terrorist attack at Deoksu Palace. An unprecedented incident that had wiped out the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the entire direct line of the Imperial House.
The ambassador to Korea at the time had been caught in the explosion as well, and his fate remained unknown. Back home, Washington had been thrown into an uproar, while Reed had been forced to spend sleepless nights watching the coup unfold.
With the whole world watching, the man who turned that desperate situation around was a virtual unknown.
‘Who is Lee Jin?’
The embassy had dossiers on nearly every major figure in the Korean Imperial House, yet this man did not appear in any of them.
With the capital effectively under rebel control, he had led troops into the broadcasting station, persuaded other soldiers and the public, defeated the powerful rebels, and newly ascended the throne.
The White House and State Department, which had watched the crisis anxiously, had been stunned by Lee Jin’s swift and decisive control of the situation, while also breathing a sigh of relief.
But it did not end there.
Suddenly made acting ambassador, Jonathan Reed had run himself ragged for information he could bring to Washington.
‘Find out about the new Emperor! Anything, no matter how trivial! His relationship with the former Imperial House, his blood type, his friends, dig up everything you can!’
Not long after that demand, reports had begun coming in, however incomplete.
‘Now I’ll finally get a sense of who this man is.’
But what information they had managed to gather about Lee Jin was enough to make Jonathan Reed click his tongue.
‘Ordinary. Far too ordinary.’
When Reed first received Lee Jin’s profile, he doubted his own eyes. He was merely a distant relative of the Korean Imperial House, a man who had lived as little more than a farmer until then.
No, not like a farmer. Looking at his past record, he was simply...
‘He really was a farmer.’
That was the embassy’s assessment, at least. The CIA’s Korea branch had made a different argument.
- The subject, Lee Jin, lived on Ganghwa Island, an island near the capital that has traditionally served as a refuge for the Korean Imperial House.
- Given that the Korean imperial family had been concentrated in the capital, the subject’s residence on Ganghwa Island is itself highly unusual. The possibility that he was trained there as a hidden imperial heir must be seriously considered.
Jonathan Reed had to swallow the words, ‘You’re saying that because you were caught photographing the Emperor’s fields by the old lady next door, aren’t you?’
The CIA was the sort of organization that would trip on the street and blame an enemy nation’s conspiracy, so such delusions were hardly surprising.
But Jonathan Reed was a rational man.
As Sherlock Holmes had said, once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
‘Do I simply have to accept that a young man who had been farming suddenly led an army toward the capital after the Imperial House and government were wiped out?’
Having reached that conclusion, Jonathan Reed sent every scrap of information they had gathered on Lee Jin to Washington.
Only after several days had passed was Washington able to issue guidelines to the embassy based on information gathered through various channels.
- Korea’s new Emperor is a distant relative of the former Emperor, and little is known about his background or disposition.
- However, given the charisma and decisiveness with which he defeated Marshal Song and took the throne, along with Korea’s near-absolute monarchy, he is likely to pursue active political leadership going forward.
- Korea is a pro-American monarchy like Saudi Arabia or the UAE. The Emperor should be guided toward maintaining the existing foreign-policy line.
Most importantly.
- The embassy’s foremost priority will be establishing friendly relations with the new Emperor and his government.
That was why Jonathan Reed, who supposedly “knew the most about Lee Jin,” had been appointed the official ambassador.
* * *
The first meeting with the ambassador at Gyeongbok Palace began with a brief expression of mourning for the tragedy.
“I am Jonathan Reed, the United States Ambassador to Korea, Your Majesty.”
“A pleasure. I am Lee Jin, Emperor of the Republic of Korea.”
“First, on behalf of the steadfast friendship between our two nations, I sincerely congratulate Your Majesty on your accession. And... I offer my deepest condolences for the tragedy that befell the former Emperor, His Highness the Crown Prince, and the rest of the Imperial House during the Deoksu Palace terrorist attack.”
“I too mourn the loss of the former ambassador and the many distinguished guests, and offer my condolences.”
It was an expression of profound sympathy and apology from the Emperor himself.
Foreign dignitaries had attended the imperial wedding, but the matter had not escalated into a diplomatic dispute.
Why would it? The Emperor, the Imperial House, and the government had all been wiped out on this side.
Song Haksu and his children were not still in power. They were all merely awaiting death sentences. Neither side could exactly turn red in the face and insist it was all the other country’s fault.
So the matter was being settled through smooth apologies and compensation, and Ambassador Reed soon moved on to the main subject.
The conversation roughly went as follows.
“My government strongly supports Your Majesty’s new leadership and intends to pursue an official summit between our nations soon.”
In other words: We’ve decided to recognize your accession. Aren’t you pleased?
“Those are welcome words. Please convey my gratitude to the President of your country as well.”
What would you do if you did not recognize it? Are you saying something obvious?
If they truly wished to help me, they ought to bring a more substantial gift.
“I appreciate the goodwill of the United States government, but if you sincerely wish for stability in Korea, I believe there is a matter on which we should cooperate first.”
“Are you referring to the recent economic instability?”
“Precisely. I am sure you know its cause as well.”
I did not state it outright, but I gave him enough of a hint.
Reed understood perfectly.
With a faint smile, he said, “Your Majesty. My government is very positively inclined toward helping stabilize the Korean economy in step with Your Majesty’s accession. A currency swap is also under serious consideration.”
“Excellent.”
Markets were influenced by sentiment.
The moment an agreement with the United States was announced, the capital’s great clans[2] would have to stop their games right there.
But Reed was not finished.
“However...”
“There will be conditions.”
At my direct question, Reed shrugged.
“I will not hide it. My government believes that Korea’s financial market is excessively underdeveloped given the nation’s wealth and economic standing.”
“Underdeveloped.”
“In particular, opaque flows of money controlled by certain families pose a serious risk to foreign investors. Washington’s position is that sweeping measures are needed to improve transparency.”
America’s intentions were obvious.
In return for helping me, they wanted me to clear away the opaque bubbles clogging Korea’s financial markets and pave the way for American capital to enter more easily.
At first glance, it sounded like the sort of statement that demanded resistance against the ruthless invasion of foreign capital. But the capital’s great clans had likely worn that rhetoric thin already.
From my perspective... it was exactly what I had been waiting for.
“If transparency is what America wants, you have arrived at a perfect time.”
“Pardon?”
“I was planning to sweep this country’s financial market clean myself.”
I took out a slim folder sent up by the task force and pushed it toward Reed.
As he flipped through the documents, his eyes gradually widened.
“Th-this is...”
“Capital held in other people’s names by the clans attacking the exchange rate. This is how we cut off its lifeline at a stroke. What do you think, Ambassador?”
Reed swallowed hard.
A single line of an imperial decree was written in the documents.
If this were implemented, the landscape of the Korean economy would change completely.
No, the entire balance of power beyond it would be overturned.
Looking at me, Reed asked, “Are you serious? The backlash will be considerable.”
“As you know, the so-called aristocratic clans and I have crossed a river from which there is no return.”
“...You have made an extraordinary decision. Washington will welcome a reform of this scale with open arms. If it can be carried through, that is.”
At Reed’s words, I leaned back and answered quietly.
“Of course. I am certain of it.”
* * *
Lee Jin had gained what he wanted.
And Reed had gained what he wanted.
While Reed coordinated the agreement with his government, Lee Jin’s preparations were also nearing completion.
In the meantime, the capital’s great clans had pushed their attack nearly to its peak.
[Today, the stock market again closed with a shocking plunge, setting a new yearly low. Meanwhile, the public continues to join the nationwide gold drive every day...]
The media attacked the government’s measures day after day while emphasizing the people’s “voluntary participation.”
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Lee Jin had left their mouths unsealed for today’s reversal.
Friday, 4:30 p.m.
Immediately after every bank had pulled down its shutters.
“Your Majesty, preparations are complete.”
In a briefing room set up within Gyeongbok Palace, Lee Jin took hold of the microphone beneath a backdrop bearing the plum-blossom emblem.
“My fellow citizens, I am Lee Jin, Emperor of the Republic of Korea.”
It was now a voice the Korean people had grown accustomed to hearing.
* * *
[My fellow citizens, I am Lee Jin, Emperor of the Republic of Korea.]
It was the Emperor’s first public address since the economic crisis had been manufactured.
In Jang-dong, speculation about its content had been rife even before it began.
“He will surely declare that he intends to release funds from the imperial private treasury[3].”
“Indeed. The Imperial House has no small amount of slush funds and private assets. He probably intends to pour them into the market to defend the exchange rate. Such a shallow trick.”
“Is that not merely pouring water into a broken jar? A few coins from the imperial private treasury will not contain this panic.”
If the Emperor sought to overcome the crisis by donating the imperial private treasury, it might appear to be a plausible sacrifice.
And since Lee Jin had already made the decision to offer up the former Imperial House’s scandals as a sacrifice, it was not an implausible inference.
[Recently, our economy has faced severe threats in the form of an abnormal surge in exchange rates and a stock market crash.]
[But, my fellow citizens, this turmoil was not caused by any weakness in our nation’s economic fundamentals.]
On the television screen, Lee Jin stared directly into the camera.
[It is because certain corrupt vested interests and clan factions are deliberately disrupting the market to protect their fortunes and seek greater power.]
“Good heavens...”
“Is he trying to overcome the crisis by blaming our gentry[4] again?”
“That trick will not work twice.”
But Kim Yang-han did not answer.
From the suppression of Song Haksu’s rebellion until now.
Every word Lee Jin spoke, every address he gave, had brought a storm upon this country.
He was not a man who would cheapen the value of his words with an empty speech of condemnation.
As an unknown unease crept up his back.
[The government will never yield to this ugly violence and greed of capital. A short while ago, I held close discussions with the United States Ambassador to Korea.]
‘America...?’
Taut tension gripped Jang-dong.
[And I state clearly here that an agreement with the United States has been concluded to ensure the transparency and stability of our financial market. Our ally firmly trusts the fundamentals of our economy, and you may set aside your concerns over capital flight.]
[The Republic of Korea and the United States will begin unprecedented cooperation to completely block the flow of hidden black capital and establish a transparent, fair market economy.]
“The American ambassador? Why the hell is that man involved?”
“He did not give us so much as a word of advance notice, did he?”
[In accordance with this agreement, and under the constitutional authority granted to the Emperor, I hereby invoke an Emergency Financial and Economic Order to completely cut away the festering rot that is harming the national economy and restore social justice.]
[My beloved citizens,]
Lee Jin’s weighty voice rang out.
[From this moment onward, all financial transactions shall be conducted only under real names.[5]]
Kim Yang-han bit down hard on his lip.
Footnotes:
[1] Gyeongbok Palace: The imperial palace where the Emperor receives official visitors.
[2] Capital's great clans: Elite hereditary families based in the capital whose connections give them substantial political and economic influence.
[3] Imperial private treasury: Funds and assets belonging to the Imperial House rather than the government.
[4] Gentry: Traditional elite families associated with learned officials and inherited social standing.
[5] Real names: This requires financial dealings to be conducted under the actual holder's identity rather than someone else's name.
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