My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 452 Clinic

Although Lee Min-bo has repeatedly reiterated within the party that he will firmly support Ms. Park in the next presidential election, you can't judge a book by its cover, and who knows what will happen when he steps down?
Therefore, the antagonism between Miss Park and Lee Min-bok has not completely disappeared; it has only been temporarily hidden.

Similarly, with Lee Min-bo's victory in the presidential election, many of the centrists within the Grand National Party joined him, such as former MP Kung. Meanwhile, some with firmer stances, or whose interests clashed significantly with Lee Min-bo's, chose to remain centrists.

Thus, the seemingly united Grand National Party is actually still divided, and this situation will never change because it is the norm for political parties in South Korea, not only for conservatives but also for progressives.

The Park Hee-tae that Jenny mentioned is currently the most senior and influential centrist representative in the Grand National Party. If he chooses to side with Miss Park, then this change in the situation will have a huge impact on the Grand National Party.

One of the most direct consequences is that Lee Min-bo's faction will change from a majority to a relative minority. At that time, although the Grand National Party will still be able to control a majority of seats in the National Assembly, Lee Min-bo will be constrained by Ms. Park's faction within the party, and he may have to compromise with Ms. Park in many aspects.

Consider the information Jenny just mentioned, which states that Park Hee-tae bribed members of the National Assembly from the Grand National Party, including Ko Sung-deok, who is a centrist within the Grand National Party. If nothing unexpected happens, then the 19 members of the National Assembly who accepted bribes should all be centrist members of the Grand National Party, representing a significant political force.

Of course, just from the fact that Jenny was able to provide such confidential information, An Rusong can also draw another conclusion: the United States' involvement in and control of South Korean politics is absolutely comprehensive. For Washington, there may be no secrets in Seoul's political circles.

“Darling,” Jenny said, lifting her legs and placing them on An Rusong’s shoulders, leaning slightly forward, “if you’re playing a political betting game, then I suggest you don’t put all your chips on the Blue House side. It seems wiser to pay a little more attention to Park Kim-hye’s side.”

An Rusong remained silent. He was aroused by the woman at the table and no longer wanted to think about those pointless political issues.

It must be admitted that the American intelligence was very accurate. Less than two weeks after An Rusong learned from Jenny that Park Hee-tae and Park Kim-hye had gotten together, Park Hee-tae was elected as the new party representative in the Grand National Party's internal election. The party representative is the leader of the Grand National Party, the first person to hold this position.

Considering that Park Hee-tae obtained the position after defeating the candidate nominated by Lee Min-bok, in essence, Lee Min-bok, as president, had already lost effective control over the entire Grand National Party, or rather, the party forces he led had become a relative minority within the Grand National Party.

As mentioned before, this change was actually quite unfavorable for Li Minbo's rule in the following years, because he had to make some of his policies based on the opinions of others.

According to An Rusong, there are two main reasons for this situation:
First, Lee Min-bo lost too much public support on the issue of the South Korea-US beef import agreement, which led to a significant drop in his personal prestige within the Grand National Party. At the same time, some moderates within the Grand National Party were worried that he would ruin the favorable situation, so they decided to join forces to restrict him.

Secondly, the anti-corruption measures implemented by Lee Min-bo have, to some extent, raised concerns among the chaebols behind the Grand National Party. The fact that Park Hee-tae and Ms. Park were able to get together may have been due to the efforts of these chaebols.

It must be recognized that the biggest difference between the progressives and conservatives in dealing with the issue of chaebols is that the progressives advocate for strict investigation of issues such as collusion between government and businesses and corruption between officials and businessmen, while the conservatives emphasize the role of chaebols in promoting South Korea's economic development and advocate for a "pro-business and pro-market" approach.

The anti-corruption measures implemented by Li Minbo after taking office easily evoke the ideas of the progressive faction, so it is understandable that the chaebols want to restrict him.

Of course, to say that Lee Min-bo has lost control of the situation is an exaggeration. He is still the president, the master of the Blue House, and the forces supporting him within the Grand National Party are still very strong. If the combined forces of Ms. Park and Park Hee-tae go too far, it could very well lead to the collapse of the entire Grand National Party. Therefore, as long as Lee Min-bo does not step down, the unity of the Grand National Party can still be maintained.

But as Jenny said, as a staunch supporter of Li Minbo, An Rusong had to consider his own interests more at this time.

Also in the first three weeks of June, just as Ahn Ju-song had predicted, the Blue House began to push further to control the three major television stations. However, the situation of SBS was completely different from that of KBS and MBC. Ha Geum-yeol, who had only been appointed president of SBS at the end of last year, did not have the same pride as Jung Won-joo and Eom Ki-yong. After hearing unfavorable news about himself, he immediately chose to surrender to the Blue House.

In early June, Ha Geum-ryul made extensive personnel and program reshuffles at SBS. A large number of television programs that were not friendly to the Blue House and often reported on sharp political topics were canceled, and the program directors and hosts were relegated like criminals. Compared to the new presidents of KBS and MBC, Ha Geum-ryul went even further. Some program directors were even reassigned to warehouse work. In addition, under Ha Geum-ryul's instructions, SBS produced a documentary program specifically about President Lee Min-bok's inspirational journey from his childhood to his presidential campaign.

Also in early June, despite pressure from all sides, Lee Min-pak, the head of the Blue House, embarked on a four-day state visit to China less than a month after concluding his visit to the United States.

This move demonstrates that Lee Min-bo truly adheres to a pragmatic principle in foreign relations. While prioritizing ROK-US relations, he also highly values ​​ROK-China relations. Similarly, China attached great importance to Lee Min-bo's visit, with Chinese leaders even holding a grand welcoming ceremony for him at the East Gate Square of the Great Hall of the People.

The strategy of prioritizing both US-South Korea and China-South Korea relations seems to fall under the progressive camp, which explains why the chaebols are wary of Lee Min-bo.

However, in An Rusong's view, with Lee Min-bo's trip to China, the economic ties between China and South Korea will inevitably become closer. Most importantly, it seems that the good days for "Korean Wave" members to make money in China are just around the corner in the next few years.

Samsung Seoul Hospital, International Medical Center.

After calming down Li Caicao, who was a little nervous, and exchanging a few words with Sun Manzhu, An Rusong came out of the bedroom in the ward and sat on the sofa in the living room.

Li Caicao was due to give birth, and to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, An Rusong arranged for her to stay in the maternity ward of the International Medical Center starting the day before yesterday.

The International Medical Center is also part of Samsung Seoul Hospital, but it's not open to ordinary Koreans. It caters to foreigners or foreigners residing in Korea. Of course, it does treat Koreans, but only if you have sufficient funds. Otherwise, ordinary people can't afford the high fees.

Putting aside the nurses' attentive service, just looking at the environment, the ward where Li Caicao is staying looks even more upscale than a four-star hotel.

The obstetrics department at Samsung Seoul Hospital is actually quite good, but the ward conditions and the quality of the food are worlds apart from what we have here; there's simply no comparison.

Although An Rusong is not extremely wealthy now, he is a genuinely rich man, and of course he wants to provide the best conditions for his woman.

Just as he sat down on the sofa, a nurse who had been standing by the door quickly came over. She first placed a form in front of An Rusong, then poured him a glass of water and placed it in front of him. Finally, she bowed to him and then quietly retreated to the doorway.

The receipt details the hospital's charges for yesterday. It needs An Rusong's signature at the very end of the last page.

An Rusong picked up the receipt and looked at it. Yesterday, nothing was done, and no medicine was given to Li Caicao. The only expenses were for hospitalization and food, plus the doctor's visits a few times. The total cost was less than 2.9 million Korean won, which is about 15,000 yuan.

He picked up a pen from the coffee table in front of him, signed his name on the receipt, and just as he put the pen down, An Rusong felt a vibration in his pocket—his phone was ringing. He had put his phone on vibrate so as not to disturb Li Caicao.

He gestured to the nurse at the door, indicating that she should take the form, and then took out his phone from his pocket to check the caller ID.

The phone screen displayed an unfamiliar number that An Rusong had never seen before. He frowned, instinctively wanting to hang up, but as his finger touched the button, he changed his mind and pressed the answer button on the other side instead.

(End of this chapter)