MTLNOVEL Ch. 51
Chapter 51: Interpellation Session (3)
“This is an announcement from the plenary chamber. The plenary session will soon convene. Lawmakers, please enter the chamber promptly.”
Sitting in the frontmost seat, I kept reviewing the questionnaire.
The material Ji Jeongseok had given me was a smoking gun. So the party assigned me the first question, urging me to go all out from the beginning.
Lawmakers began entering the plenary chamber one by one.
There weren’t many.
“Kang, first-term.”
Seong Chang-rae came to my side.
As I tried to stand, he held my shoulder.
“Stay seated. Aren’t you nervous?”
“I’m fine.”
“Do it your way. A first-term needs to have spirit.”
“I’ll do that. I heard you were attending an event.”
“I was curious how my junior would do. I sent my staffer to the event instead.”
“That puts pressure on me.”
I looked around.
Too many empty seats.
“Attendance is low.”
“That’s how interpellation sessions are. It’s an individual lawmaker versus the government. For you, Kang, this is actually an opportunity.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“There are a lot of guests.”
Seong Chang-rae looked up at the fourth floor.
Dozens of residents were seated in the gallery.
Ahn Jin-su had gathered residents who wanted to tour the National Assembly and brought them here.
And, wanting to see how her child would do, my mom had come too. Beside her was the figure of my oldest brother.
“There are a lot of elders. Kang, you’re popular.”
“Many of them watched me grow up.”
“Maintaining long relationships isn’t something just anyone can do.”
In the gallery were Ddoli Stationery Owner, Daehwa Supermarket Lady, and even elders who did business in the market.
“You’ve got a cheering squad, so do well.”
“Thank you.”
Seong Chang-rae patted my shoulder and went to sit in his seat.
As the Speaker of the National Assembly entered, the situation finally felt real.
“Please arrange your seats. With a quorum present, we now open the plenary session.”
“Phew.”
I told myself I wouldn’t be nervous, but as the gavel struck, my heart began pounding.
Why was I so shaken?
The representative remarks from non-negotiating blocs continued, and the legislative schedule formally began.
“Item one on the agenda, questions related to the economy.”
The allotted time for questioning was fifteen minutes.
The ruling party’s lawmaker began first.
Ironically, the closer my turn came, the braver I felt.
Listening to the scripted questions from the ruling party and the Prime Minister’s answers made me angry.
Why were they saying such obvious things?
It was dull.
After about twenty minutes, it was my turn.
“Next, Member of the National Assembly Kang Cheonmyeong from the People’s Union Party, please step forward to question.”
I stepped out, bowed toward the Speaker’s seat, and stood before the podium.
“Honorable citizens, Mr. Speaker, senior and fellow lawmakers, and members of the Cabinet, and the residents of my constituency who elected me. I am Kang Cheonmyeong, Member of the National Assembly from the People’s Union Party.”
I took a step back, bowed again, and continued.
“As a servant of the nation representing the people, I have a responsibility to hold the government accountable. Please understand if my voice rises. Deputy Prime Minister, please come forward.”
The Deputy Prime Minister stepped up, bowed toward the Speaker’s seat, and stood in front of the podium.
“Deputy Prime Minister, thank you for your efforts.”
“Member of the National Assembly, thank you as well.”
“This administration has made major investments claiming to secure overseas resources. From your perspective, how do you assess the results?”
“It is too early to see the effects of those investments. In the long term, if the government waits as much as it invested, good results will come.”
“You know about Hast Energy, correct?”
“Yes, I do.”
“The government promoted it as a symbol of a major enterprise. Please look at the slide.”
On screen, the acquisition amount of Hast was displayed in dollars.
“A staggering 4.55 trillion won was invested. Isn’t Hast essentially an empty-shell energy group?”
“It does have some debt, but I believe it has great growth potential…”
“The debt alone exceeds 1 trillion won! Do you think growth is possible?”
My voice grew louder.
I kept pressing.
“Why else would foreign media publish this? They questioned what Koreans were thinking. We acquired a company that no one cared about at an absurd price. They said the sky had given Hast the best gift imaginable. Aren’t you ashamed? Was there an on-site inspection?”
“I will check.”
“If there was an inspection, there should be records, right? There’s nothing!”
I looked directly at the camera and spoke.
“A word to the journalists as well. At the time of the Hast acquisition, the media widely promoted it as a rosy future for our country. Had they investigated the company, they could have easily identified it as a bad investment. Why did you simply echo the government’s press releases? Is the media just a dictation service?”
“Right! That’s right!”
Cheers erupted from the gallery.
The Speaker of the National Assembly intervened.
“Those in the gallery, please remain silent. Continued disruption will lead to forced removal.”
The gallery fell instantly silent.
“Member of the National Assembly Kang Cheonmyeong, please continue.”
“Deputy Prime Minister, let me ask again. Did the board of directors approve it?”
“I understand it was a verbal agreement.”
“Are you joking? Nearly 5 trillion won was invested, and it was verbal?”
The Deputy Prime Minister was drenched in sweat.
“There must be documents somewhere.”
“Where?”
“I’ll look for them.”
“This is a major issue, and yet the Deputy Prime Minister knows nothing. Fine. Minister, please come forward.”
A man with graying hair, seated among the Cabinet Members, stepped forward.
“Minister.”
“Yes.”
“When Hast was acquired, you failed to provide proper oversight, didn’t you?”
“I received the documents.”
“Look at this! You made the decision based on documents provided by Hast? How can you sign a contract based on inflated documents without even one on-site inspection? Nearly 1 trillion won in losses have occurred, and we don’t even know how much more we’ll lose!”
“Isn’t risk part of overseas investments, Member of the National Assembly? And this isn’t over yet.”
“Get a grip! With that kind of thinking, you’re letting enormous tax money leak like a sieve!”
My voice was the roar of a wild beast.
The Minister’s complacent and shameless attitude drove me past the brink.
How could he be so brazen after causing nearly 1 trillion won in losses?
The room began to stir.
My ears couldn’t make sense of the words.
Then the Speaker’s voice reached me, opening my ears.
“Member of the National Assembly Kang Cheonmyeong, this is an interpellation session. Referring to a Cabinet Member as ‘you’ is inappropriate. Please watch your language.”
Members of the opposing party began threateningly.
“How dare a first-term lawmaker act so arrogant!”
“Watch your mouth! ‘That kind of thing’? How are you raising these kids!”
“What’s wrong with what I said? He deserved to be scolded!”
Member of the National Assembly Seong Chang-rae stepped in to defend me.
Only after the Speaker intervened again did the commotion subside.
Thanks to that, I managed to calm my excitement a little.
I looked at the Minister and nodded slightly.
“I apologize for getting heated. What I said earlier was a mistake. Let me ask again. Are you aware of the Southeast Asia offshore block development contract?”
“I am.”
“The company that won the development rights was KDINEX. How did a company less than a year old win a 1 trillion won project?”
“We determined it was the most suitable.”
“There’s no record of an open bid. Isn’t this a reward for the KDINEX CEO’s contribution to the last presidential election?”
“KDINEX acquired several tech firms after it was founded. It was fully qualified.”
I let out a dry laugh.
At the same time, gasps erupted from the gallery.
“Minister, you own KDINEX shares, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your second daughter’s name is Jo Yeong-ae, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“She held 200,000 shares under her name until recently, then liquidated them. That’s about 3.5 billion won. And the stock price dropped.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“Really? Please look at the second slide.”
On the screen appeared the stock graph of MiraeDCOM.
“The stock, which was in the 4,000 won range, soared fivefold to over 20,000 won in a month. Minister, do you know what kind of company MiraeDCOM is?”
“I know it as a diamond mining company.”
“The government announced that MiraeDCOM had secured the rights to develop 400 million carats of diamonds, correct?”
“Yes.”
“After that news broke, the stock price surged. And at that time, MiraeDCOM’s CEO and executives sold their own shares. Their profits were in the hundreds of billions of won. But here’s the thing.”
I stared the Minister down as I spoke.
“Jo Yeong-ae sold 150,000 shares of MiraeDCOM, earning 3 billion won. Is this just a coincidence?”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“The mines MiraeDCOM contracted for don’t hold 400 million carats—it’s not even 2 million. Conveniently, this fact was revealed only after they sold off all their shares. Is your second daughter a stock market genius?”
“I don’t know about that.”
“This is clear evidence that the government was involved in stock manipulation. And, Minister, you passed that information to your daughter!”
Once again, I lost control and exploded.
“Answer clearly!”
“What nonsense without any proof?”
I glared at the Member of the National Assembly from the Korea Unification Party who had said that and replied.
“Countless individual investors have been driven to the streets. If what I’m saying is false, I will stake my seat in the National Assembly. Will you do the same?”
“Well…”
“Not confident?”
“Hmph.”
“Then just sit and listen. Look at the third slide.”
On screen appeared a photo of the CEO of MiraeDCOM meeting with Jo Yeong-ae.
“Why would these two meet? They have absolutely no connection. Coincidence? Fine. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that it was a coincidence. Look at the fourth slide.”
The next screen showed a photo of the CEO of KDINEX meeting with Jo Yeong-ae.
“Is this also a coincidence? The dates of these two photos are one day before they dumped their stocks. Didn’t the Minister connect them? A phone records search will reveal everything.”
The Minister just blinked silently.
This photo was obtained by Ji Jeongseok from a Financial Supervisory Service employee.
Jo Yeong-ae had long been suspected of stock manipulation, and the FSS employee had been tracking her.
“This isn’t all about Jo Yeong-ae. She’s a seasoned stock manipulator. Five years ago, she lent her bank account and made 300 million won. After that, using ten securities accounts, she repeatedly bought and sold specific stocks, drove the price up, and sold when other investors chased the trend. I also secured the investigation data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Do you admit it?”
The Minister trembled, lips quivering, and finally hung his head low.
“Mr. Speaker, time is up!”
“Member of the National Assembly Kang Cheonmyeong, thank you for your effort.”
Because the Speaker was from my side, he cut me off.
My microphone was turned off, but I still had to speak.
“This is clearly a power-related corruption! Every Cabinet Member sitting here must be thoroughly investigated!”
“They’re all thieves!”
“Investigate them! Prosecute them!”
“Arrest them now! Arrest them!”
The voices filled with rage from the gallery grew louder and louder.
The Speaker of the National Assembly raised his voice.
“Everyone, please be quiet. Continued disruption will result in forced removal.”
“Step down, you frauds!”
“Arrest them now! Arrest them!”
The constant flash of cameras was blinding, and the protests were loud enough to tear eardrums.
I had succeeded.
Beyond expectations.