It took more than five hours of driving from Seoul to finally arrive in Gyeongsan.
“Sir, are you ho?”
Despite possessing considerable wealth, Jang Daeho’s house was more modest than I had expected.
Chief Ma pressed the worn doorbell and raised his voice.
Instead of an answer from inside, a voice called out from the yard.
“Who is it?”
The gate opened, and an elderly man with white hair stepped out.
Jang Daeho was a small-frad, rather ordinary-looking old man.
Chief Ma bowed deeply as he greeted him.
“Hello, sir. My na is Ma Seokdae. Our boss wished to et you, so we ca here.”
“And who is this boss of yours?”
As their conversation began, I stepped out of the car and approached.
“Hello, sir. My na is Kim Muhyuk. I know it’s rude, but since I had no way to contact you, I ca without an appointnt. My apologies.”
Jang Daeho silently studied for a mont before finally speaking.
“So you’re the one they call the successor to Chairman Cheon Taesan? Well then, co inside. You’ve co a long way, so I should at least spare you ti for a cup of tea.”
“Thank you.”
I followed Jang Daeho as he calmly turned and walked toward the house.
Unlike the exterior, the inside was clean and tidy.
“Sir, do we have guests?”
A woman who appeared to be a housekeeper peeked out from the kitchen.
“Bring two cups of tea to the study, then go ho. Co back around dinner ti.”
“Yes.”
“You, follow .”
The study we entered was lined wall-to-wall with books.
It was a spacious room, filled with the strong scent of old paper.
“Please, sit.”
Jang Daeho sat down first and gestured for to do the sa.
That he knew who I was wasn’t particularly surprising. What was unexpected was that he was willing to talk so openly.
Jang Daeho began slowly.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you’re the spitting image of Chairman Cheon Taesan. Let’s see... your face doesn’t quite seem so, but perhaps the way you handle things is similar.”
“You flatter .”
He took out a small notebook and began jotting sothing down.
While our small talk continued, the study door opened.
The housekeeper set down a teapot and cups before leaving again.
Pouring the tea himself, Jang Daeho spoke.
“Now... tell . The reason you ca all the way from Seoul. Surely it’s not just to et face-to-face.”
Instead of answering imdiately, I picked up the teacup he had poured, inhaling its aroma.
“It slls wonderful.”
“It’s my favorite tea.”
After fully savoring the scent, I took a sip and set the cup down.
I could see a glimr of curiosity in Jang Daeho’s eyes as he looked at .
“I learned about you only recently. But the more I learned, the more I wondered—how could soone like you never once have their na known to the public?”
“What business would a country bumpkin have with notoriety? I’m just an old man living in the countryside.”
“I heard you played a major role in the birth of Ilseong Group. They say the late Chairman Seo Ilseong used to visit you here every holiday.”
Rather than deny it or act modest, he continued calmly.
“I’ve also heard stories about you and Chairman Seo Ilseong. And that you told Daehyeon’s Chairman Song Youngjoo to co et you in person if he wished to see you.”
Seo Ilseong, founder of Ilseong Group.
Song Youngjoo, founder of Daehyeon Group.
Everyone connected to him had been a pivotal figure in building Korea’s modern economy.
“You’ve done your howork. These days, there’s hardly anyone left who rembers that. Yes... back when Chairman Seo was alive, we t often.”
His expression softened with nostalgia, as though tracing back mories.
“They were turbulent tis. Why else would a man abandon his wife and children to co south? It was a place where having sothing was a cri. If there’s a hell on earth, that was it.”
Soon, sadness began to show on his wrinkled face.
“Heh, I must be getting old. Here I am telling these stories to a young man I’ve only just t.”
“Not at all. Isn’t it thanks to people like you that we live as we do now? I respect not only my grandfather, but also n like Chairman Song and Chairman Seo who endured that era.”
It wasn’t just lip service.
It was genuine respect for those who had survived the humiliation of Japanese occupation and the chaos of the Korean War.
“You’re different from most young people these days. Just having such thoughts is no easy thing. Well, enough small talk. I’d like to hear why you’ve co.”
“I ca because I need your help, sir.”
“Help?”
There was a look of mild puzzlent on his face.
It seed he didn’t yet know about my connection to Chairman Seo Yonggeon.
“Yes.”
“And what could I possibly help you with?”
“Sir, I’d like you to transfer to the shares you own.”
“What?”
“I’ll pay you triple—no, up to five tis their value. Or, you could simply delegate your voting rights to . I’ll compensate you generously.”
For a mont, silence hung in the study.
Jang Daeho, looking sowhat taken aback, suddenly burst into loud laughter.
“Well, this is amusing—telling such jokes to a man close to the grave. Didn’t you co here knowing my relationship with Ilseong? Yet you ask to hand over my shares.”
When his laughter subsided, his face had turned stern.
“I’m aware. But isn’t that relationship with the late Chairman Seo Ilseong? From what I know, you’ve had no dealings since his passing.”
Indeed, since Seo Ilseong’s death, neither Seo Yonggeon nor any of the late chairman’s children had paid him even a courtesy visit.
At that, Jang Daeho’s expression grew uncomfortable, as if I’d struck a nerve.
“...It’s only natural to feel affection for the children I’ve known since they were younger than you. If you’re going to talk nonsense, you’d best leave.”
It was a clear dismissal, but I had no intention of giving up.
“Even without your help, I will not stop my attack on Ilseong.”
“You needn’t tell about your affairs.”
The goodwill he had shown earlier was now replaced with distance and a firm deanor.
“What will it take for you to help , sir?”
“The only reason I gave you any of my ti was out of respect for Chairman Cheon Taesan. But I’m starting to think I may regret that.”
His tone carried a clear sense of finality.
“Have you ever wondered why I live out here in the countryside? It’s because I’m sick of seeing this and that filth—beasts blinded by greed... the very sort you live among.”
It sounded as though he was referring to the succession war within Ilseong Group.
“That’s enough. You’ve used up all the ti I can give you.”
“Sir.”
There was no reply.
I considered using more forceful ans, but sothing about using such tactics on Jang Daeho didn’t sit right with .
“Sir. Whatever it is you want, I will give it to you—anything.”
He still didn’t respond, but I couldn’t just give up here.
Since learning about him, I had been wondering what sort of offer he absolutely could not refuse.
Finally, it ca to —sothing that, in today’s Korea, only I could make possible.
“I’ll bring your wife and children from the North to Korea. If they’re still alive, that is.”
“...What did you just say?”
The thought ca from my belief that even after coming south, the reason he had never remarried was out of guilt toward his family in the North.
“I said I will bring your family from your hotown here.”
Though his face remained stiff, the calm in his eyes began to tremble.
Then, anger flared across his features as he shouted.
“You’d better watch yourself!”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Isn’t what you want most your family?”
“...”
“You could have easily made a new family here in the South, but you didn’t. That’s because of the guilt you feel toward the family you left behind, isn’t it? You’ve lived alone all this ti, resenting yourself for abandoning your wife and children.”
So furious was he that his body trembled, glaring at as though he would kill .
But I didn’t avert my eyes, continuing to speak.
“You can atone for it, sir. Right now, it’s possible.”
“Do you think I haven’t tried? Do you know how much money I poured into it?!”
“Yes, I know. I also know every request for a separated family reunion was rejected.”
“And you know that, yet you dare to speak of sothing impossible? To my face?!”
His rage soon turned into grief, his voice shaking violently.
In every word was an unerasable sense of regret.
“You have no idea how painful it is for . You don’t know. Anyone who had truly suffered such a loss could never say such a thing to .”
“It’s possible.”
"To the very end..."
No doubt, Jang Daeho had already tried everything in his power.
Even with Seo Ilseong’s help to petition the governnt, the fact that he couldn’t even learn whether his family was alive or dead ant one of two things:
They were either dead... or designated by the North Korean governnt as a special control case.
“I’ll start by finding out whether they’re alive or not. I wanted to check beforehand, but since no one other than you, sir, knows the exact personal details of your family, I had to tell you in person. I truly apologize.”
Before coming to et him, I had wanted to investigate first, but even with all of Chief Ma’s digging, he couldn’t find anything detailed enough to be useful.
I even checked to see if there might be a governnt record of his requests for separated family reunions, but nowhere did Jang Daeho’s na appear.
“...”
“Sir.”
“That’s enough. I don’t want to suffer any more.”
“Sir.”
“Don’t make this harder on .”
“Just give their personal details. I’ll at least find out if they’re alive or not.”
“...”
Even as I pleaded, Jang Daeho closed his eyes without answering.
I didn’t press him further. I simply waited.
The room was filled with a heavy silence.
After who knows how long, he opened his eyes, his face clouded with grief.
“Can you truly do it?”
“As I’ve said before—it’s possible.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Believe . I’ll resolve the resentnt you’ve carried for fifty years.”
“Tell exactly how you plan to do it. Then I’ll think it over.”
In other words, he wanted to lay my cards on the table.
“I plan to work through the Chinese governnt. There’s no country better than China when it cos to dealing with North Korea.”
“That’s nonsense. And you think the Chinese governnt will entertain your request?”
“Yes. In this country, only I can make it happen.”
I said it calmly, but with conviction.
Jang Daeho studied my expression and my eyes.
He hesitated for a long ti, countless expressions flickering over his face before he finally stood, walked over to a bookshelf, and returned with a notebook and a photo album.
“For your sake, I hope you’re not toying with an old man.”
He opened the photo album.
The photographs inside were worn and frayed from years of being handled.
Looking at them with a faraway expression, he handed them to .
“My wife and children.”
A photo of him with his wife.
One of his wife alone, cradling a newborn.
And one of the whole family together.
Inside the album, there were only those three photos.
“These pictures are what kept alive. I lived clinging to the foolish hope that soday we’d be reunited. If I’d known we would be kept apart for this long...”
He trailed off, bowing his head.
It was a regret that had hardened over decades, impossible to touch.
Looking at the faded, well-worn photos, I spoke.
“Sir, I’ll make sure you can take a new family photo.”
“If you can do that, I could die with no regrets.”
“What are their nas and ages? And where did they live?”
“It’s all written here.”
He handed the notebook he’d brought.
Like the photos, the notebook’s edges were worn and frayed.
Turning past the first page, where the nas of his family were scrawled, I found every kind of detail—where they lived, their ages, and countless little things.
It was a notebook steeped in the determination never to forget them.
“That’s everything I can rember.”
“I’ll find them for you.”
“I can’t give you the photos, but you can take the notebook.”
I nodded.
With the personal details in that notebook, I felt confident I could track them down.
“Understood.”
“I don’t hold out much hope... but I’d like to believe you an what you say. If you really manage it, I’ll give you everything I own. Please...”
“If we find your family, give it to them instead.”
His face completely crumpled as he nodded.
“...I’ll leave it in your hands.”
“I’ll be going now. I’ll return with good news.”
He saw out of the house.
Even when we were so far apart we were little more than dots, he remained standing at the gate, watching us.
On the drive back to Seoul, I gave Chief Ma an imdiate order.
“Contact Wen Jiabao’s office and set up a call.”
“Yes, boss.”
If anyone had the influence over North Korea to find Jang Daeho’s family, it was Wen Jiabao.
There would be political complications, of course, but that was Wen Jiabao’s problem to manage.
A few days later, I was connected to Wen Jiabao on the phone.
His voice over the receiver sounded cheerful.
— Mr. Kim, it’s been a while.
“Yes, Vice Premier. I trust you’ve been well?”
— Thanks to you, Mr. Kim, my voice in the Party has grown stronger. Even after Jas returned to Arica, you established a China branch and invested in various projects here, hahahaha.
When Han Kyungyeong finished his China schedule and returned to the U.S., Wen Jiabao had contacted first.
He had said that if there was ever anything he could do, he would help. That was when I felt our relationship had taken another step forward.
“I appreciate you making ti during this busy year-end period. The reason I’m calling is because there’s soone I need to locate in North Korea.”
— In the North?
“Yes, Vice Premier. They’re people crucial to what I’m doing. I know it’s a difficult request, but I want to bring them from the North to South Korea.”
— ...
“Vice Premier?”
— You’re asking ... to find soone in the North ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and send them to the South?
Wen Jiabao’s voice carried clear incredulity.
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