My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 453 An unexpected invitation

The call was quickly connected, and when An Rusong brought the phone to his ear, he heard a deep, middle-aged man's voice.

"Is this An Rusong, Chairman An?" the voice on the phone said.

"I am An Rusong. May I ask who you are?" The other person spoke very politely, and An Rusong asked in return.

“I am lawyer Song Shiyong,” the middle-aged man on the phone said.

“Lawyer Song Shiyong?” An Rusong frowned, then began to recall the lawyers he had ever met, but he couldn’t remember knowing a lawyer named Song Shiyong. For some reason, the name sounded strangely familiar to him.

“Ah, I’m Mr. Jeon Doo-hwan’s private lawyer,” the guy named Song Se-yong added over the phone.

Upon hearing this, An Rusong suddenly remembered that Quan Douhuan's lawyer had that name; he had seen it in the newspaper by chance before.

For the past few years, Chun Doo-hwan has been embroiled in legal battles with the South Korean government, or more precisely, dealing with its attempts to settle scores. One of the most troublesome issues has been the South Korean government's persistent pursuit of a hefty fine of 2205 billion won, imposed in a final judgment in 1997.

This ruling was made in 1997, and 11 years have passed since then. The president has not turned over a single penny. In his own words, he has no money. After all, when he resigned as president, all the funds in his personal account added up to only 29 won.

In short, over the past decade or so, despite the progressive regimes granting the president a lenient pardon and even the treatment due to a retired president, progressive politicians have always dragged him out for criticism whenever necessary.

To deal with this trouble, President Jeon, whose personal assets were less than 29 won, hired a large number of lawyers to represent him in court. Song Se-yong was the most famous of them.

"So it's Attorney Song," An Rusong said with a smile after learning the other party's identity, although he was confused as to why he had suddenly called him. "I remember now, I saw your brilliance on the news last month."

Last month, at the Seoul West District Court, Song Se-yong defended President Jeon Doo-hwan. It was a two-year-long defense, the gist of which was that two years ago, then-President Roh, while commemorating the Gwangju Uprising, suddenly issued an order to confiscate all the medals of honor of former presidents Jeon Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.

Naturally, Jeon and Roh refused to accept such an order, leading to a protracted legal battle. It wasn't until last month, several months after President Roh left office, that the Seoul West District Court issued its final ruling, allowing Jeon and Roh to retain their medals of honor.

"President An, you flatter me. I was just doing my duty," Song Shiyong said with a smile.

After saying that, he paused slightly and then said, "It's like this, Chairman An. The reason I'm calling you today is because I've been entrusted by Mr. Quan to extend an invitation to you."

"Oh?" An Rusong hesitated before giving an "oh".

“Tonight, Mr. Quan is preparing to host a small banquet in the main room of his private residence in Yeonhee-dong, and hopes to invite Chairman An to attend,” Song Shiyong said. “I wonder if Chairman An will be able to spare the time to attend?”

An Rusong was somewhat surprised. He had no connection with Quan Douhuan. The previous contact between them was just some casual encounters. He couldn't imagine why this controversial old man in South Korea would think of inviting him to some so-called banquet.

However, despite feeling surprised, An Rusong smiled and said without hesitation, "Of course, no problem. It is an honor for me, a junior, to receive Mr. Quan's invitation. I will definitely attend."

“That’s wonderful,” Song Shiyong said with a smile. “Then it’s settled. The banquet will be at seven o’clock in the evening. Mr. An, would you like me to arrange for someone to pick you up?”

"No need, I will be there on time," An Rusong politely declined.

Song Shiyong did not tell An Rusong the exact address, only that it was in Yeonhee-dong, but the address of Quan Douhuan's private residence in Yeonhee-dong was not a secret at all.

In the past few years, the South Korean government has tried many methods to pursue the so-called "Cheon Doo-hwan Pursuit Law," which involves pursuing fines from President Chun Doo-hwan. For example, auctioning off the properties under President Chun's name would be the best option. However, President Chun seems to have been prepared, as he does not own any properties. The four properties in Yeonhui-dong are all under his wife's name, so the South Korean government is powerless to do anything about it.

Of the four properties owned by President Quan in Yanxidong, there are three buildings and a courtyard. His private residence is the courtyard among these four properties, and its exact location has been exposed in the news countless times. After hanging up the phone, An Rusong looked at his phone screen. The time was 1:20 PM, several hours before the banquet was scheduled to begin.

"Whose call was that?" Sun Manzhu's voice rang out behind him just as he was about to put his phone away.

An Rusong glanced back and said, "Lawyer Song Shiyong, that's the guy who specializes in representing Quan Douhuan."

Sun Manzhu paused for a moment, then walked over from the doorway and sat on the sofa next to An Rusong, asking curiously, "What does Quan Douhuan's lawyer want with you?"

“They said they invited me to a banquet tonight,” An Rusong said, shrugging. “As for what it’s about, I don’t know. Hmm, I guess it might be related to online publicity.”

Sun Manzhu nodded. To be honest, as An Rusong's wife, she didn't know much about what her husband was doing, mainly because she had never asked him. However, she also knew that the people her husband was currently associating with were all people of high status and position, so asking too many questions about her husband's affairs was not a wise choice.

“Then go ahead,” Sun Manzhu said. “Since you’ve been invited to someone’s banquet, you should bring a gift. You don’t need to worry about things here; I’ll take care of it.”

“Hmm,” An Rusong nodded, reached out and rubbed the other person’s leg, then stood up, walked to the bedroom door, and glanced inside.

On the large bed in the bedroom, Li Caicao was half-lying at the head of the bed, engrossed in watching TV, unaware of what was happening at the door.

“I’ll head over now,” An Rusong said as he stepped back from the doorway. “Call me if anything happens.”

Sun Manzhu didn't say anything, she just nodded at him.

A few minutes later, the black Chevrolet slowly drove out of the underground parking garage of the clinic building. An Rusong sat in the back seat, frowning in thought. He really couldn't understand why Quan Douhuan had invited him to the banquet.

As mentioned before, although Chun Doo-hwan has now retired from politics, his influence in South Korean political circles is still very strong. When Lee Min-bok and Park Dae-sung were competing for the party's presidential nomination, they both sought political support from Chun Doo-hwan.

At that time, Jeon Doo-hwan refused Miss Park's request for help. He even publicly declared that Miss Park's political ability was as immature as a child's, and that he would never support Miss Park in order to prevent her from ruining her father's reputation.

Well, as a reborn person, An Rusong really has to admire President Jeon. Although the old man is not a decent person, he still has a good eye for people. Judging from the facts of his previous life, Miss Park's ability to govern is indeed naive.

When faced with Sun Manzhu's question, An Rusong said that the President Quan invited him to the banquet, possibly for some kind of propaganda using the NGN software. In reality, such an answer was only good for fooling a woman like Sun Manzhu. An Rusong knew perfectly well that the President Quan's invitation to the banquet couldn't possibly be for that kind of reason.

The reason is simple: President Quan is politically aligned with Li Minbo, and President Quan provided considerable assistance to the latter during his presidency. Therefore, if President Quan needs to rely on An Rusong, he doesn't need to personally intervene; he can simply delegate the task to Li Minbo.

For President Quan, a founding member of the Communist Party, to bypass Li Minbo's side and invite him to a banquet seems highly unusual. Without any clues, An Rusong would have a hard time guessing the reason behind it.

Coincidentally, An Rusong had recently obtained some intelligence from Jenny, and this intelligence was the most valuable clue. He seemed to be able to connect tonight's banquet with the previous intelligence.

Previously, Jenny had mentioned that a new situation had emerged within the Grand National Party: Ms. Park had joined forces with former neutral Park Hee-tae, and not only that, they had also won over 19 neutral members of the National Assembly within the party.

The emergence of this new situation has undoubtedly greatly enhanced Ms. Park's voice within the Grand National Party. A number of the five founding fathers, including President Jeon, are also members of the Grand National Party. So, are they also involved in this change?

To be fair, An Rusong doesn't seem to be a member of the Grand National Party, since he's not a party member. However, while he's not a party member, he is a financial backer of the Grand National Party, a so-called "external financial supporter." Given his control over media, trying to win him over isn't entirely incomprehensible.

(End of this chapter)