Chapter 36. Apartment Collapse (4)
Midnight on the first day after the accident.
Ring, ring.
Seol Yubin, Daehan Daily.
Kim Hyeongseok, head of PR Team 1, quickly answered.
“Director, I have a few things I’d like to ask.”
“You saw me earlier. Why didn’t you ask then?”
“There were too many other reporters around.”
A bad feeling crept over Kim Hyeongseok.
She sounded like someone calling to verify a new fact.
“Go ahead.”
“I checked Handong Construction’s safety-management budget. It dropped sharply compared to last year. Last year it was 54 billion won, but this year only 9 billion was allocated. Is there a reason?”
“That’s because last year involved a lot of infrastructure investment, like installing safety rails and safety stairways. Since most of the basic infrastructure was already in place, the budget was reduced somewhat this year.”
“Handong Construction’s revenue is expected to rise more than thirty percent this year, and the number of construction sites has also increased. That seems strange.”
More construction sites naturally meant a major increase in safety equipment for workers.
Helmets.
Safety harnesses.
Breathing apparatus.
And yet the budget had gone down?
“Well...”
“On top of that, safety training was reduced from once a month to once every six months.”
Sweat began running down the back of Kim Hyeongseok’s neck.
With each question, she was getting closer and closer to JK.
He had to stop her before she reached that point.
“All of those decisions were led by the executive in charge of overall safety management.”
“You’re saying the executive responsible for safety management personally led the effort to reduce the safety budget?”
“That’s correct.”
Who would believe that?
What department head in the world would voluntarily cut their own budget?
If anything, they padded unnecessary items to increase it.
They certainly didn’t reduce it.
“Understood. In any case, it’s a fact that the safety-management budget was reduced, and it’s also a fact that this accident occurred after safety rules weren’t properly followed.”
“...Is that how you’re going to write it?”
“Yes.”
“We had our own difficulties as well...”
“I’ll fully include the company’s position. You can tell me now, or organize it and send it by messenger.”
“Yes. I’ll put it together and send it.”
Kim Hyeongseok felt as though his undershirt was soaked through with sweat.
“And one more thing.”
“There’s more?”
“I heard Handong Construction put strong pressure on the site to shorten the construction schedule.”
“That is absolutely not true.”
“Really? I interviewed subcontractor officials here.”
Deny it first.
Whatever she said, the story was going to run.
Even if it was true, he couldn’t admit it.
“There may have been some communication problems. We may simply have informed them of the schedule, and they interpreted it as pressure.”
“That isn’t very convincing. I looked through the work logs myself. They literally say, [Instructions from Main Contractor].”
Damn it.
What idiot had put something like that in writing?
“Reporter Seol.”
“Yes.”
“A lot of what you’re asking is extremely sensitive, and there are several points we need to verify separately.”
“Yes.”
Yubin answered in a deliberately flat tone.
“Would it be all right if I organize our position on the safety issue and the schedule together and send it to you?”
“Sure. But understand that the parts I’ve already reported and verified are going into the article as they are.”
“What? As they are?”
“You can check tomorrow’s paper.”
“Ha... Reporter Seol, we’re already having a very difficult time. Please show us some consideration.”
When denial and explanation both failed, begging was the final strategy.
And sometimes it worked surprisingly well.
But he had chosen the wrong person.
Yubin had no mercy to spare for a company responsible for a major disaster that had killed six people.
“Even if I don’t write it, this is going to be reported anyway. Every major media outlet in Korea is here right now. You can’t hide something like this.”
“...”
Click.
Kim Hyeongseok felt deeply uneasy.
From the drug scandal to the hospital escape story, the reporter who had repeatedly driven JK into a corner was Seol Yubin.
What kind of grudge did she have against him that they kept becoming tangled up like this?
This was serious.
The reason Kim Hyeongseok was so worried was because he had already received a report saying the safety-budget reduction had effectively been ordered by JK himself.
Until now, every article about JK had involved personal misconduct.
But reducing the safety budget wasn’t personal misconduct.
It was a management decision.
People were already questioning JK’s qualifications.
If this piled on top of that...
This wasn’t something Kim Hyeongseok could handle alone.
He immediately called PR Director Mun Byeonggeol.
“...That’s the current situation.”
“If it connects all the way to JK, we’ll have a problem.”
“His name hasn’t been mentioned yet.”
“If they keep digging, there’s no way they won’t reach him. The safety-budget issue is serious.”
“Then shouldn’t we prepare in advance?”
“How much more money are we supposed to spend...? This year’s PR budget is already empty. I’ll have to request additional funds from Finance.”
Mun Byeonggeol grew irritated just thinking about having to go beg that obnoxious finance division head again.
He was asking for company money to handle company business.
Why did the bastard act as if he were handing over his own personal cash?
“I think we need to stop this even if it means pouring in additional budget.”
“Exactly. Fine. Let’s look at tomorrow morning’s papers first and talk again. Tell everyone in PR to report at six tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
[Dokseon-dong Construction Site Collapse Kills Five... Shoddy Construction Blamed for Man-Made Disaster]
The next morning, every newspaper led its front page with the construction-site collapse.
The fact that it happened in Seoul made it big.
So did the fact that the contractor was Handong Construction, the country’s fifth-largest builder by revenue.
Even the same accident could receive very different treatment depending on whether it happened in Seoul or the provinces, Gangnam or Gangbuk.
If something happened in Gangnam, it automatically became a major story.
[Harok: You finally wrote a front-page lead.]
[Yubin: It’s just an accident story.]
[Harok: The reduced safety budget and the main contractor’s order to shorten the schedule were exclusives.]
[Yubin: Thanks to you.]
[Harok: Some people can’t catch a story even when you throw it right into their hands.]
[Yubin: Hehe.]
[Harok: What are you writing today?]
[Yubin: Interview with former Executive Director Ahn Changwan, who was in charge of safety management and retired last year.]
[Harok: Is he willing to talk?]
[Yubin: I spoke to him briefly. I was speechless.]
[Harok: Why?]
[Yubin: Handong is trying to dump the blame on him.]
[Harok: He already left, so I guess they think he’s expendable.]
[Yubin: But he heard that and got furious.]
