I Will Stage A Coup D’état

Chapter 47: Our own version of Democracy (3)

As Lee Sung Joon started 'Korean-style democracy', Asian countries that had been watching the Capital as a model to emulate were influenced.

"In Asia, we need clothes that fit Asia. Perhaps Your Excellency Lee Sung Joon's 'Korean-style democracy' may be the answer."

Even the Chinese who were about to gnash their teeth at Korea showed interest in the Korean-style democracy that Lee Sung Joon was talking about.

Considering the reality of the fragmented Republic of China, wouldn't it be right for a strong military to take the center first and lead the country?

The fact that there was no significant difference in the actual content between what the Republic of China called military rule and this also reduced the reluctance of Chinese intellectuals.

Chiang Kai-shek¹ quickly read this atmosphere.

Come to think of it, following Lee Sung Joon's example wasn't all bad.

Chiang Kai-shek hinted to his confidants in the Executive Yuan about trying to push for Korean-style reforms.

"Although he is our enemy, wouldn't it be good to learn from how Lee Sung Joon innovated the system to pursue political stability?"

Kong Xiangxi², the Vice President of the Executive Yuan³., thought Chiang Kai-shek had crossed the line, but he did not bother to take the lead and oppose it.

Many people would oppose it anyway, even if it wasn't him.

"Chiang Kai-shek, has this man gone senile?"

When Chiang Kai-shek's plan became known, the anti-Chiang faction within the Kuomintang⁴ unanimously criticized the chairman.

"Remember Yuan Shikai's⁵ end. We have no intention of serving Emperor Chiang!"

When his political enemies reacted so fiercely, Chiang Kai-shek took a step back, saying there seemed to be a 'misunderstanding'.

And he thought regretfully.

This is why this country doesn't work. Only when an absolute leader has full authority and leads like Korea can we confront external enemies.

Without making everyone move in unison from the leader to the bottom, how can we protect our sovereignty and independence from great powers like Korea?

Those idiots had learned nothing from the defeat in the Sino-Korean War.

That's why I'm the only one for this country.

But it was also ambiguous to decide to save the country like Lee Sung Joon.

Even if he decided to save the country, it would only provoke the warlords outside the direct-controlled territory.

While Chiang Kai-shek had an appetite for Lee Sung Joon's Korean-style democracy, the situation in Japan was subtly different.

In the first place, since the real power of the country was the Japanese Resident-General Lee Dong-nyeong⁶, it was a structure where the central government could not implement Korean-style democracy even if they wanted to.

"That's the situation in Tokyo."

The 66 feudal domains that made up the Japanese Empire began to adopt Korean-style democracy on their own.

"We pretend to give some power to the lowly ones while keeping the real power on our side, that Lee Sung Joon bastard is indeed a clever one."

"If we give those lowlifes a few seats in the council and extort a lot of money from them, it's a profitable business…What a cunning move…."

The Japanese Kazoku⁷ thought that Korean-style democracy was easier to accept than Western-style democracy.

If they had to preemptively reform in a situation where Western civilization was being imported due to Korea's influence anyway, it was wise to adopt Korean-style democracy.

In this way, Lee Sung Joon's Korean-style democracy drew considerable response in China and Japan.

Of course, in the United States, the home of democracy, they sneered at Korean-style democracy.

"What kind of democracy is that? Even the Nazis didn't do it like that."

What kind of democracy is it when the military blatantly appoints and seats 1/4 of the lawmakers?

However, it was admirable that they were trying to imitate democracy while doing such ridiculous things.

In any case, among the sovereign nations of Asia, there was not a single country that imitated democracy under an authoritarian government.

Lee Sung Joon's Korean Empire indeed had a very advanced system by Asian standards.

"That's just right for the yellow monkeys'⁸ level."

While sending cynicism, the Americans showed a positive reaction to Korea's democratic 'reform' for now.

The reason was simple.

"With Hitler going crazy across the Atlantic like that, there's no need to rub the Koreans the wrong way."

Above all, Korea's 'prudent conduct' shown after the defeat of the Allies eased the hostility of the American political circles.

Even though there were voices at home calling for such expansion, the Lee Sung Joon regime deserved to be treated as a 'rational dialogue partner' when it was seen suppressing them with political power.

Even if it was a military dictatorship.

The United States treated Korea with a more favorable attitude than before.

In trade, they imposed friendly tariffs from before the military took power.

It was an unexpected gain that Sung Joon had not even thought of.

In contrast, the Soviet Union showed a somewhat dumbfounded reaction.

Korean-style democracy? Is it something like fascism?

Of course, the fascists and the Lee Sung Joon regime differed in their aims and the way they governed the country.

However, there was a strong smell of fascism in the so-called Korean-style democracy.

Could it be that Korea is trying to side with Germany?

The suspicious Stalin harbored doubts about whether Lee Sung Joon's reforms were a preliminary preparation to side with Germany.

He pondered over Korea's intentions in the Kremlin for days before making a decision.

"The International Communist Party and Pravda⁹ should send some people to Korea."

At Stalin's direction, the party and Pravda immediately selected people and sent them to the Capital.

A few days later, journalists Richard Sorge¹⁰ and Walter Ulbricht¹¹ arrived in the Capital.

After renting a decent apartment in downtown Capital, they first bought newspapers.

"These are the recent Korean newspapers."

Sorge and Ulbricht sat facing each other in the apartment's living room, asking the Korean interpreter and reading the articles.

Lee Sung Joon's regime does not want southern expansion even while suppressing the people's aspirations.

Why?

Could it be that they are aiming for somewhere else?

However, they soon learned that was not the case.

There's no reason for Lee Sung Joon, who has been constantly refusing opportunities to expand his territory, to do that. So, this is a sincere statement.

Then, why is Lee Sung Joon going with something similar to fascism?

They also analyzed Sung Joon's policies and speeches to the people.

After studying for several days like that and asking Koreans for their thoughts, they could vaguely understand Lee Sung Joon's intentions.

Lee Sung Joon had no interest in fascism.

He was just very interested in power, that's all.

It was just a misunderstanding by the party.

Ulbricht and Sorge sent a report with this gist to Moscow.

"It's my misunderstanding, is that so?"

Stalin read the report several times.

It was to find another meaning that he couldn't confirm himself.

However, there was nothing written except words informing that his suspicion was wrong.

No. This may be a failure to accurately grasp the situation.

Stalin was the owner of paranoia who endlessly dug into something until the basis for what he suspected came out.

Even if Korea, which became the target of his suspicion, was innocent, Stalin believed there was something and did not doubt it.

"We'll have to send people again."

Stalin sent additional party members to Korea in a situation where he was busy being wary of Germany.

Trust and distrust, allies and potential enemies.

Stalin was unable to figure out how to deal with Korea in the face of his rival, Germany.

Voroshilov¹² couldn't stand it and remarked.

"Koba¹³, what was the reason you wanted to join hands with the Koreans in the first place?"

"Well, I thought the Koreans would be necessary for us."

"Were they ideologically close to us at that time?"

That wasn't the case either.

Korea's militarism and authoritarian ideology were identical to the German Empire that had attacked Tsarist Russia.

"What are you trying to say?"

"We are facing our rival Germany. We are already struggling to focus on Europe right now. In this situation, would it be advantageous for the survival of the Union to deliberately provoke Korea?"

"But what if the Koreans betray us?"

"That's just your suspicion. The Koreans and we are in a position where we have dangerous potential enemies to betray each other, aren't we?"

Korea had the United States as a potential enemy, while the Soviet Union had Germany.

Of course, Sung Joon was struggling not to make the United States an enemy, but that was the structure reflected in international dynamics.

Stalin poured himself a glass of Vodka for now.

"Koba. Think carefully. We are in a situation where we must never face the threat of the enemy on both sides. It's a situation where we shouldn't doubt even if we want to."

That was true.

Considering the brutal threat posed by Germany at the moment, Korea had to be kept as an ally at all costs.

"Then I need a safety net that can reassure me."

"A safety net?"

Voroshilov thought for a moment.

What could reassure a dictator?

After some thought, Voroshilov came up with an idea.

"How about this? Having a confrontation with Lee Sung Joon?"

A confrontation?

Come to think of it, Stalin had only met Lee Sung Joon once.

It was impossible to thoroughly understand the inner workings of a politician at that one time.

However, if he could see him one more time, he would learn a lot more.

Coincidentally, there was also a justification to meet Lee Sung Joon.

Meeting as heads of state, not as chiefs of staff, to confirm whether the non-aggression pact will continue to be valid in the future would be a reason to hold a summit.

Stalin was a man who was cautious when he needed to be, but faster than anyone else when a decision was needed.

"You're right. I should meet Lee Sung Joon one more time."

"Good thinking."

Stalin happily shared the Vodka with Voroshilov.

With the problem solved, the dictator's mood was not too bad either.

Stalin and his best friend drank, laughed, and chatted late into the night.

It was a happening brought about by Korean-style democracy.

1. Chiang Kai-shek was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and military commander. He was the head of the Nationalist Kuomintang party, General of the National Revolutionary Army, known as Generalissimo, and the leader of the Republic of China in mainland China from 1928 until 1949.2. Kung Hsiang-hsi, often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, also known as Dr. Chauncey Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married President Sun Yat-sen and President Chiang Kai-shek3. The Executive Yuan is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the amended constitution, the head of the Executive Yuan is the Premier who is positioned as the head of government and has the power to appoint members to serve in the cabinet, while the ROC President is the head of state under the semi-presidential system, who can appoint the Premier and nominate the members of the cabinet4. The Kuomintang, also referred to as the Guomindang, the Nationalist Party of China or the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially based on the Chinese mainland and then in Taiwan since 1949.5. Yuan Shikai was a Chinese general and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, the second provisional president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and Emperor of China from 1915 to 1916. A major political figure during the late Qing dynasty, he spearheaded a number of major modernisation programs and reforms and played a decisive role in securing the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in 1912, which marked the collapse of the Qing monarchy and the end of imperial rule in China.6. I'm 87% sure this is a made-up character since I couldn't find any Korean figure with this name that was a General. 

There WAS a Dongnyeong Lee but he was the former president of Seoul National University of Education, an enlightenment thinker and independence activist in the late Joseon Dynasty.7. The Kazoku(??) was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords and court nobles into one system modelled after the British peerage.8. ethnic slur that madeup becauseJapanese people look like monkeys, and that Asian people are said to be "yellow" in skin color.9. Pravda is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the country with a circulation of 11 million.10. Richard Sorge was a German journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during World War II and worked undercover as a German journalist in both Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. His codename was "Ramsay".11. Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany and later in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic.12. Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov, popularly known as Klim Voroshilov, was a prominent Soviet military officer and politician during the Stalin-era.13. During his education in Tiflis, he picked up the nickname "Koba", after the Robin Hood-like protagonist from the 1883 novel The Patricide by Alexander Kazbegi. This became his favorite nickname throughout his revolutionary life. Stalin continued to use "Koba" as his Party name in the underground world of the RSDLP.