My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 430 Suspicion
In the so-called Republic of Korea, there are reasons why young people regard military service as going to the execution ground. What people fear is not only the waste of two years of their youth, but also the low treatment and bullying that are prevalent in the military.

Just three years ago, in 2005, a shocking bullying scandal broke out in the South Korean military. A captain ordered all 192 soldiers in his unit to line up outside the toilet and eat small pieces of the accumulated feces because someone in his unit had not flushed the toilet after using it.

This incident caused a huge uproar at the time and sparked a nationwide outcry against bullying in the military. However, in the end, the Ministry of National Defense only announced that it would severely punish the perpetrators, and no one was punished for the bullying incident.

Similar incidents to those involving Kang Soo-won's elders are likely not uncommon in the South Korean military. The reason no one seems to be protesting is twofold: firstly, ordinary people without powerful connections simply lack the ability to seek justice; secondly, the military is notoriously willing to spend money to cover up scandals. Whenever something bad happens, the military is quick to pay off the victims and their families.

Just like the situation faced by Jiang Xiuyuan's elders this time, the reason why they took away the deceased's ashes and did not continue to make trouble was because the military's compensation and pension were generous enough. As for why they made trouble again later, there are many possibilities.

After fiddling around at his desk for nearly an hour, the file Jiang Xiuyuan sent was finally downloaded successfully. An Rusong patiently watched the video in the file from beginning to end.

Okay, the video is very violent, and there's been no blurring or censoring what's been done, so both the perpetrator and the victim are clearly visible in the footage. The only downside is that the equipment used to film it isn't very powerful, resulting in some blurry images.

Even so, some of the bloody and violent scenes in the footage were too much for Lin Ya-en to bear watching, and she would occasionally curse "beasts" in the background.

"These guys are absolutely lawless!" Lin Ya'en cursed angrily, her face flushed after watching the last video. "Every single one of them should be shot!"

An Rusong, however, was not as excited as she was; he was considering the nature of the matter.

Consider these videos and the diary Jiang Xiuyuan mentioned. Without a doubt, these two items are not easily obtained by ordinary people. Especially the videos; the person who filmed them is the perpetrator, and whoever obtained these videos and the diary must have been an ally of the deceased.

So the question is, why would this person suddenly mail several videos along with the diary to the deceased's family so long after the incident? What was his purpose?
Some might say that this person had a change of heart, or couldn't bear the pangs of conscience, and thus mailed the two items to the victim's family to ease their conscience. But An Rusong doesn't believe in such possibilities, because he has never believed in anything like conscience.

It wasn't that An Rusong was overly suspicious, but rather that some questions were simply impossible to answer. For example, why didn't the person who possessed these two items mail them to the victim's family sooner? If he was worried about retaliation, why is he no longer afraid now?

Furthermore, having these two items in his possession, he could easily have made multiple copies and mailed them to various newspapers and television stations, which would undoubtedly have been more effective. Why, then, did he choose to mail them to the victim's family?
Of course, An Rusong didn't necessarily need to find answers to such questions. In the end, this matter had nothing to do with him. As for Jiang Xiuyuan asking him for help, this little woman didn't expect him to uphold justice and punish those despicable perpetrators. What she wanted was for An Rusong to put this matter on NGN's news pop-up, expose it, and use the pressure of public opinion to force the 171st Infantry Brigade to conduct a full investigation into the case and seek justice for her elder's son.

After sitting in the chair and thinking for a while, An Rusong turned to the side, tilted his head slightly, looked at Lin Ya'en, and asked, "Do you know anyone from the 171st Infantry Brigade?"

Just as Lin Ya'en was about to say something, he remembered something, reached out and slapped the other person's fair thigh, and said, "I'd better call Brother Zhongtai and ask him if he has any connections."

"What do you want to do?" Lin Ya'en asked curiously. "You don't really want to get involved in this, do you?"

She paused for a moment, then quickly added, "The 171st Infantry Brigade is under the command of the 55th Division. Lin Jizhi is an old-timer from the 29th class of the Army Academy; he studied at the German Army NCO School."

Hearing what she said, An Rusong turned to look at her again.

Having spent some time with military personnel, both American and South Korean, An Rusong has gained some understanding of certain aspects of the South Korean military system.

As mentioned before, although the South Korean military lacks its own wartime command authority and its combat capabilities are fragmented, the complexity of its internal system is absurd. There are countless groups and factions categorized into numerous groups. Take, for example, the "Ilsimhoe" (One Heart Society), a direct descendant of the President. Although many members of this organization have either retired or been marginalized in the past few decades, especially with Kim Yong-sam's purges, the "Ilsimhoe" still wields considerable influence within the South Korean military system today.

Besides the "Ilsimhoe" (or "Ilsimhoe"), there was another small group within the South Korean military system, primarily composed of members from the 34th to 45th graduating classes of the Royal Navy. This group was also exposed and dealt a blow during Kim Yong-sam's purge of the military. However, even so, this group did not disappear. On the contrary, as the older officers from the 30th graduating class and earlier were gradually marginalized within the military system, these younger officers gained control of most of the discourse within the military.

In addition to these two groups, there are also some officers with experience in Germany who have formed a relatively loose group. This group has one characteristic: they have an extremely tough attitude and stance on the North Korean issue. Kim Kwan-jin, the current Minister of National Defense, is one of its members.

Of course, there is no conflict or opposition between these groups. On the contrary, there are even overlapping relationships between the members of each group. Take Kim Kwan-jin, for example. He is a member of the acquaintance group and also has a background of living in Germany.

According to Lin Ya'en, since Lin Jizhi, the commander of the 55th Division, was an officer of the 29th class of the Army Academy and also had experience in Germany, his relationship with Jin Kuanzhen should have been quite close.

“Major General Lin Jizhi is not only protective of his own, but also very concerned about his reputation,” Lin Ya’en continued. “Most importantly, he is currently facing a rare opportunity for promotion. At this time, if a scandal like this is exposed, regardless of whether it will have any effect, Major General Lin Jizhi will definitely hate you to death.”

Obstructing someone's career advancement will inevitably lead to enmity, and Lin Ya'en is certainly right about that. Although An Rusong is not afraid of Lin Jizhi and is not worried about retaliation, the problem is that offending someone for no reason is clearly not a wise move.

“I never intended to provoke a major general for no reason,” An Rusong said with a smile. “I just wanted to inquire about how the 171st Infantry Brigade is handling this.”

He turned his head to look at the computer screen, found a name from the compressed file name of the video, and said, "What kind of attitude does Jiang Youli have when he asks this question?"

Lin Ya'en looked at him, puzzled.

“You see, after Jiang Youli was cremated, his family had obviously reached an understanding with the troupe,” An Rusong explained. “This shows that Jiang Youli’s family was willing to accept compensation and resolve the issue in this way.”

Lin Ya'en thought for a moment, then nodded.

"So this time, although these videos can prove that Jiang Youli did not die a natural death, and that the 171st Infantry Brigade covered up the bullying scandal and falsified the issue of the soldier's death, what is the specific attitude of Jiang Youli's family? What went wrong when they communicated with the 171st Infantry Brigade?" An Rusong frowned slightly as he pondered.

"How do you know that Jiang Youli's family has already communicated with the 171st Infantry Brigade?" Lin Ya'en asked curiously.

"Isn't this just human nature?" An Rusong shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Since Jiang Youli's family was able to reach a compromise with the 171st Infantry Brigade before, what will be their first reaction when new circumstances arise, whether they are angry or have other emotions? Obviously, their first reaction will be to seek justice from the 171st Infantry Brigade. They will only seek help through other channels, such as hiring a lawyer, if that path is blocked."

Lin Ya'en suddenly realized that An Rusong's reasoning was quite reasonable.

“Actually, I have some connections in the 171st Infantry Brigade. Do you want me to inquire about it for you?” Lin Ya’en continued.

“I think I should talk to Brother Zhongtai,” An Rusong shook his head and said, “You’re just a lieutenant. Getting involved in this kind of thing might just get you into trouble.”

(End of this chapter)