Chapter 170: That Time I Created a National Assembly in South America

TL: Skye

After his speech commemorating the completion of the Libertad redevelopment, Yu-jin was deeply shocked.

He was so shocked that he even turned down his usual evening bowl of spicy pork over rice and simply went to sleep.

The reason for his shock was simple.

‘Will I... ever be able to retire?’

He had witnessed firsthand the entire nation's resistance to his retirement.

And it was no ordinary resistance, either.

“Your Excellency! You are our eternal president!”

“Please don't leave!”

“Please watch over us!”

Word must have gotten around, because people had gathered outside the Presidential Palace to protest.

“You can't do this here! Please keep order, everyone!”

“You're making it difficult for His Excellency to work!”

The police and security team stepped in to try to maintain order, but...

“So you're saying it's fine with you if His Excellency leaves the Presidential Palace?!”

“N-no, that's not...”

They were no match for the protesters’ miraculous feats of logic.

“......”

Watching this, Yu-jin was dumbfounded.

Honestly, he wasn't even planning to retire right away.

He hadn’t said he would retire in a year, either. He had merely hinted, ever so slightly, that he intended to retire in two years, once his first presidential term was over.

Yet even that had met with this much resistance.

‘At this rate, won't I have to run for reelection too?’

Three years as acting president and seven in his first term.

If he served a second term, that would make seventeen years.

That meant he'd have to work until he was about fifty...

‘The thought alone is horrifying...!’

At this rate, he'd never even get married. He'd spend his whole life working, then grow old and die alone.

‘I have to find a way, somehow.’

From that day on, Yu-jin began considering various plans for his retirement.

The first option he considered was running away, plain and simple.

‘I could go on an official trip abroad, then disappear in that country... No, that wouldn't work.’

There was no way it would work.

He was, after all, the president of a nation.

If he cut off contact and disappeared, a massive, internationally coordinated investigation was bound to follow.

And if they discovered he'd run away because he didn't want to work?

His name would be all over the world's media and go down in history books. For generations to come, shows like Surprise would be airing stories about the president who ran away because he didn't want to work.

The next option he considered was feigning illness.

‘This might work.’

Surely they wouldn't go so far as to stop him from stepping down because he was ill.

So he discreetly sounded Isabella out.

“Chief of Staff, what would you do if I fell ill?”

“Ill...? Are you feeling unwell?”

“No. I'm perfectly fine now. I'm only asking just in case.”

“Don't worry. That won't happen.”

“Why not?”

“You have a checkup at the state hospital every three months, don't you? If, by some one-in-a-thousand or one-in-ten-thousand chance, any warning sign is detected, we will bring in the world's finest medical team to treat you.”

“......”

That approach was hopeless too.

In the end, there was only one answer.

Finish his term properly and retire.

But seeing the protesters occupying the area outside the Presidential Palace somehow made him feel he would have to run for reelection, so Yu-jin reached a conclusion.

‘I need to groom a successor.’

Why were they telling him not to quit?

Because they had no faith in politics.

More precisely, the old political establishment had let the people down far too often.

Before the Presidential Palace bombing, San Marcos had been one of the poorest countries in the world.

Its plantation-style agricultural policies made food so expensive that people struggled to eat even one meal a day, let alone three. And despite having medium-to-large oil fields, it had not even dared contemplate developing them.

And were its politicians and civil servants any good at their jobs? No.

Because of a bizarre policy that allowed only former soldiers to apply for civil service positions, officials' sense of self-importance was sky-high.

They were hopeless at their jobs, and the bloated bureaucracy did nothing but occupy posts and drain government finances.

The less said about the politicians, the better.

There were illiterates even in lofty posts such as minister and vice minister, and most of the lot were busy lining their own pockets.

In the end, it was the people who were left impoverished.

A bureaucracy with neither the ability nor the will to implement proper policies had reduced San Marcos to one of the poorest countries in the world.

Then a terrorist attack struck, and the regime changed.

Only two things changed.

The ministers who had done nothing but occupy their posts all departed this world at once, and the presidency passed from Juan Marcos to Yu-jin.

And eight years later, San Marcos had grown spectacularly.

Perhaps it was only natural for the people to think San Marcos would revert to its old ways the moment Yu-jin stepped down.

Then what did he need to do to retire?

The answer was simple.

Choose a politician the people could trust as his successor.

Having reached that conclusion, Yu-jin picked Isabella as his first choice of successor.

“Would you be interested in serving as prime minister?”

If he appointed her prime minister and raised her profile, the handover of power could follow naturally.

His reason for thinking of her first as a successor was surprisingly simple.

What was politics?

There were many theories, but to Yu-jin, politics was production and distribution.

Where to produce things, and whom to distribute them to.

How to earn money, and where to spend it.

That was how Yu-jin had formulated his policies so far. He had called Isabella in thinking that, as someone who had helped him build the current administration's framework, she would understand these matters better than anyone and ensure continuity in policy, but...

“I must decline.”

She refused flatly.

“But why?”

“As I understand it, under a presidential system, a prime minister generally exercises some of the president's powers on their behalf. They also handle some of the day-to-day work.”

“Usually... yes.”

“I only wish to help you, Your Excellency. I have no desire whatsoever to take your place.”

“Then you could help me as prime minister...”

“Wouldn't that mean being apart from you, Your Excellency? Absolutely not.”

“......”

Having been thoroughly shot down by Isabella, Yu-jin called in his second candidate, Ricardo.

Yu-jin thought he was a strong possibility, given that he was responsible for the current administration's finances.

But.

“Your Excellency! I have committed an offense worthy of death!”

Thud!

“Wait...”

In place of an answer, Ricardo prostrated himself to beg forgiveness, a gesture he had learned from Korean dramas.

Thud, thud!

He was even banging his head against the floor!

“What have you done that deserves death? And why on earth are you banging your head on the floor? Get up at once.”

“Take your place, Your Excellency?! That is not a position I could ever dare aspire to! Merely receiving such an offer is an offense worthy of death!”

Flustered, Yu-jin waved his hands.

“I'm not asking you to be president. I'm asking you to serve as prime minister. I'd set the overall direction of state affairs, and you'd oversee the day-to-day work.”

“I can't do that either!”

Ricardo replied with his forehead pressed to the floor.

“How could I dare take over Your Excellency's work? How could someone like me even begin to imitate your judgment, your drive, your decisiveness?”

“Senior Secretary Ricardo, you're far better at finance than I am...”

“No! Even our success in finance was only possible because of Your Excellency's grand vision! I can't do anything on my own!”

Ricardo lifted his head, his eyes brimming with tears.

“Your Excellency. Please never say anything like this again. I'm... afraid. Afraid people will mistakenly think I coveted your position.”

“...All right. You can go back now.”

After sending Ricardo away, Yu-jin called in Aman, the senior secretary for industry, as his next candidate, but...

“Senior Secretary Aman, would you have any interest in the post of prime minister...”

“I'm not capable enough! Carrying out Your Excellency's instructions as senior secretary for industry is already more than I can handle, and you want me to be prime minister! No one in this country can do as well as you! No, no one in the world!”

He reacted the same way.

‘Those historical dramas have gone and ruined everyone.’

“I'm not defying Your Excellency's wishes! But if someone as inadequate as I am took the post of prime minister, I would tarnish your achievements! If that happened, I could never face you again as long as I lived!”

In the end, Yu-jin called in Sophia, the senior secretary for foreign affairs, as his fourth candidate. But the master diplomat made her refusal clear the moment she entered.

“Your Excellency, I'm sorry. I wouldn't dare accept that post either.”

“Even you, Senior Secretary Sophia...”

“To be frank, I'm not capable enough.”

Sophia bowed her head.

“I'm doing my best in international diplomacy, but overseeing all state affairs is another matter. Even if I became prime minister, I would only be a burden to you, Your Excellency, rather than a help.”

Now Yu-jin's stubborn streak kicked in.

‘I'll appoint someone first and teach them afterward.’

If anyone at the senior secretary level accepted the prime minister's post, he planned to keep them at his side and teach them.

But Pedro, too.

“I would not hesitate to die on the battlefield at Your Excellency's command! But please spare me the post of prime minister! If a born soldier like me went into politics, I would destroy everything you've built!”

And Resa, the senior secretary for natural resources and tourism.

“Your Excelleeency... I caaan't do it... Sob, sob, sob. I'm already so buried in work that I can't even go home. Please have mercy.”

And Lucio, the director of SIA.

“I'm content simply protecting you from the shadows, Your Excellency.”

And Ramos, the senior secretary for construction.

“What would a construction guy like me know? I’m honored by Your Excellency’s offer, but I know my place, and I’ll keep to it.”

Even Marco, the mayor of Libertad.

“I'm not even a citizen of San Marcos, though?”

“......”

Every one of them declined the offer of the prime minister's post.

‘How can they all have so little ambition...!’

In the presidential office, Yu-jin clutched his head.

Rejections across the board.

Each had expressed their refusal differently.

Some cried, some banged their foreheads against the floor, and some tried to flee the moment they entered.

There were two reasons.

One was the fear of being accused of disloyalty to Yu-jin, and the other was that Yu-jin was simply too competent.

Sixfold GDP growth.

An unemployment rate of 1.2%.

The establishment of the Caribbean Belt.

No one was going to volunteer to succeed someone with a record like that.

‘The better I do, the more work I get. What kind of hellish paradox is this? It's not like this country is some crappy small company...’

A system that rewarded hard work with even more work.

He'd felt the same way when he worked for a company in Korea. The only difference was that it was now happening on a national scale.

Yu-jin looked out the window.

Outside the Presidential Palace, the citizens’ cheers still went on and on.

“Purrr. Purr!”

Panther came over and rubbed his head against Yu-jin's knees.

A hundred kilograms of comfort was hard on his knees, but it warmed his heart a little.

“Panther, you'd like it if I retired, wouldn't you? I'd be able to play with you.”

“Purrr.”

Panther wagged his tail.

The only creature in favor of his retirement.

Yu-jin stroked Panther's head and gathered his thoughts.

His search for someone had failed.

‘I give up on finding a successor.’

Then there was only one option.

He needed to build a system, not find a person.

A country that functioned through a system rather than depending on one person.

‘A system of collective governance in which everyone keeps one another in check.’

He needed a system in which representatives elected by the people discussed issues and made decisions together, rather than one in which the president decided everything alone.

And as it happened, most of the world's nations had such a political system.

‘That's it. I'll create a National Assembly.’

He had failed to find a single successor, but he could build a system.

Yu-jin rose from his seat, determined to race toward retirement.

*****

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