Chapter 352: Three Fires
Chapter 352 Three Fires (1)
The drizzle washed over the bustling Seoul. Although the rain was not heavy in the morning, it was very dense and there was no sign of stopping from morning to dusk. Some low-lying areas in the city of Seoul had already accumulated muddy water.
This rain brought not only precipitation, but also a sudden drop in temperature. The signs of warming weather had been obvious in recent days, but after this rain, the temperature suddenly dropped by about four or five degrees, and the body felt a little cold.
Daogudong, Zhao Chenghao's old house.
An Rushong leaned on the newly bought large sofa, holding Zhang Yuanhe, who was naked and looked like a molting little white sheep, in his arms. He reached out his hand to grope her chest while staring at the large-screen TV opposite.
Just this morning, the State Council led by the new president Lee Min-bo was finally established. In South Korea, the State Council is the core agency that represents the president in implementing various national policies. The establishment of this agency indicates that the new president and his party have reached a political compromise with various allied parties, opposition parties, and even opposition parties, and have formally established a new government.
In this election, the conservative Grand National Party won a landslide victory. Not only did their candidate win the presidency, but also many parties that belong to the conservative party or tend to be conservative also occupy an absolute majority of seats in the National Assembly.
This means that during the next two years of his administration, there is little chance that the policies and measures promoted by Lee Min-bo will be obstructed by Congress. At the same time, this also means that President Lee Min-bo will have much greater power than his predecessor, President Roh, because his policies will not be constrained by Congress.
In An Rusong's previous life, why did President Yin impose the aborted martial law? For no other reason than that his party had very few seats in the National Assembly at that time, and any policy measure he promulgated would be rejected in a vote in the National Assembly.
This means that President Yoon, the so-called president, has actually become a lonely man, and his decrees cannot leave the presidential palace at all. Therefore, if he wants to achieve something, he can only get rid of those who oppose him in Congress. Otherwise, even if he does not impose the failed martial law, he will be finished sooner or later.
In the time and space where An Rushong is currently located, Li Minbo's predecessor, President Lu, actually faced a situation that was not much different from that of President Yin, except that the former's situation was not as bad as the latter's.
But then again, the fact that conservatives hold an absolute majority of seats in parliament does not mean that the Grand National Party holds an absolute majority of seats in parliament. The nature of the two is different. After all, in South Korea's political arena, the Grand National Party is not the only party with a conservative stance.
This means that if the Grand National Party wants to have absolute say in the National Assembly, it must pull these conservative or conservative parties to its side. So how can it do this? It is very simple, that is, in the process of appointment and dismissal, it should make some concessions to these small parties and give them some important or unimportant government positions.
An Rusong was watching SBS TV's news program at the time. During the program, several key members of Lee Min-bo's State Council were announced, including Prime Minister Han Seung-joo, Unification Minister Kim Jong-il, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Kwan-jin, Defense Minister and others.
The news program did not release the full list of State Council members, but even among the few that were released, there were two or three non-Grand National Party members, who were the result of compromise between the Grand National Party and other parties.
The sound of "tap tap" footsteps mixed with the sound of news broadcast came from far away. After a while, Zhang Yuanya, dressed coolly, appeared beside the sofa. She put a fruit plate on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and then twisted her waist and placed her little butt, which had become perky, on the sofa armrest where An Rushong was resting his head, just blocking his view of watching TV.
An Rushong raised his hand and slapped the other person on the butt, then put his arm around her waist and pulled her off the armrest of the sofa.
With a scream, Zhang Yuanya fell on An Rushong, but soon, she turned into an octopus or a sloth, tightly wrapped around An Rushong's body and twisted around on him.
At this time, the picture on TV changed. Li Minbo, wearing a black suit, appeared in the TV camera, and behind him was the press conference scene inside the Blue House.
There was no voice of Li Minbo on TV, only his picture, and the background sound was still that of the announcer.
In the background, the announcer was explaining the news about Lee Min-bo that just happened this afternoon. According to the news report, Lee Min-bo, who had just formed the State Council, began to formally exercise the power of the president that afternoon. He submitted 8 bills to the National Assembly in one go, and these 8 bills will be voted on in the National Assembly in the next two days. The 8 topics submitted by Lee Min-bo have been made public by the Blue House Secretariat this afternoon. The announcer briefly introduced the basic content of the 8 topics on TV.
An Rushong is very interested in the news broadcast on TV, because it is directly related to the country's major policies. As the chairman of a unicorn company like NGN, the country's major policies are related to the company's future development in many aspects, and some are even directly related to the company's profits.
However, although An Rusong was concerned about the news, the two girls who were clinging to him at the moment had no interest in the news. The two sisters were just in high school, pure, beautiful, and full of energy. Not to mention watching the news quietly, even staying in a certain place for a while was a torture for them.
Especially the pair of sisters, they have completed the transformation from buds to blooming flowers under An Rushong's care. As the first and only man the sisters have ever experienced, An Rushong not only gave them a rich and stable life, but also gave them a lot of physical happiness. Therefore, the sisters are now obsessed with him.
Just as An Rushong was staring at the TV, he felt that Yuan Ya, who had been twisting and turning on him, suddenly calmed down. Then, a restless little hand untied the front strap of his nightgown.
Instead of blocking the girl's little movement, An Rushong turned his body to the side and adjusted his posture to create more convenience for the other party. Of course, even so, his attention was always on the TV news.
The first draft mentioned in the news was the so-called "747 Economic Development Plan" that Li Minbo mentioned during his campaign.
The reason why this draft is placed at the forefront and in the most important position is that the draft itself is the benchmark main line of Lee Min-bo's future governance, that is, the most basic policy program. The entire plan is ambitious and has great goals. If it can really be achieved, then during Lee Min-bo's future governance, South Korea will become a developed country.
This plan itself is also a clarion call for the conservatives to launch an attack on the progressives who have been in power for more than a decade. This is because South Korea's economic growth has been slowing down in the past few years. If Lee Min-bo can really make achievements in this regard, then the public's support for the conservatives will be expected to reach a new high.
Following this draft, the news also released a draft of the so-called "institutional reform" proposed by Lee Min-bo. According to the news, in the past decade of the progressives' rule, well, just in the few years when President Roh was in power, the South Korean government has added nearly 60,000 civil servants and more than half a hundred new government committees.
The bloated government agencies and the huge civil service group have brought a heavy burden to South Korea's finances. At the same time, the work efficiency of civil servants is also declining. These problems can no longer be ignored. Therefore, the first thing Lee Min-bo did after taking office was to abolish redundant government agencies and at the same time, rectify the lazy style of civil servants.
An Rushong tried hard to suppress the strange feeling in his body, but he was thinking about Li Minbo's plan in his mind.
It must be admitted that the current Korean government is indeed a bit bloated, and the number of civil servants is indeed too large. The society has also expressed great dissatisfaction with the civil servants' style of being redundant and lazy. Especially in the context of the country's economic downturn, the situation of civil servants receiving high salaries but doing nothing will naturally lead to greater dissatisfaction in the society.
So, from this point of view, there is nothing wrong with the proposal put forward by Li Minbo, and it is indeed an issue that urgently needs to be resolved.
But then again, the reason why Li Minbo pushed forward the institutional reform plan at the beginning of his tenure was probably not out of selflessness and for the sake of the country and the people. Ultimately, his fundamental starting point was political struggle.
This can be seen from the first four departments to be merged. According to the plan of the bill, the first four departments to be merged in the South Korean government will be the Unification Department, Oceans and Fisheries Department, Information and Communications Department, Women and Family Affairs Department, and Science and Technology Department.
Interestingly, the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs and Science and Technology were both established during the period when the progressives were in power. The former was mainly responsible for relations with North Korea, while the latter was mainly responsible for women's rights. As soon as Lee Min-bo took office, he first abolished these two institutions. His intentions were too obvious.
(End of this chapter)