Chapter 37
The reaction in Gyeongju’s online community regarding Do Josoon’s trial and death sentence was divided into two main opinions.
“That bastard deserves to die!”
“Go to hell, Do Josoon!”
“Because of that guy, North Gyeongju is a mess!”
The first group welcomed Do Josoon’s sentence with open arms.
Naturally, the majority opinion came from the citizens of North Gyeongju, who had suffered under Do Josoon’s rule and exploitation, and no one sympathized with him. The general response was that he deserved what he got.
Even South Gyeongju, which was not directly affected, had a similar sentiment.
They were aware of the situation in North Gyeongju, and many residents of South Gyeongju had suffered losses due to Do Josoon’s actions.
Moreover, the trial process was recorded live and on video, so just seeing the disgraceful behavior Do Josoon displayed during the trial left no room for sympathy.
However…
“This is judicial murder by the Balhut Cult!”
“It’s not under Korean law. Punishing under the laws of the Balhut Cult is an unjust law!”
“This is a religious trial! It’s a witch hunt! This is not a fair trial!”
Surprisingly, there was a faction that strongly opposed the Balhut Cult’s trial.
However, upon closer examination, it became evident that those opposing Do Josoon’s execution were all either part of his gang or those who had collaborated with him.
“Damn it, we’re next in line!”
With a powerful figure like Do Josoon being sentenced to death so easily, they naturally believed that they would be next.
The people of North Gyeongju remembered the atrocities committed by these individuals, and they knew that for their survival, Do Josoon had to be seen as a martyr standing against the Balhut Cult’s oppression.
“If we do nothing, we’re dead!”
“Damn it! What should we do?”
“He’s a martyr! We need to portray Brother Do Josoon as a martyr resisting the Cult’s oppression!”
They were gripped by the fear of death.
In reality, the Balhut Cult was too preoccupied with the reconstruction of North Gyeongju to pay any attention to them, but to these people, the Cult seemed like a religious order that could drag them into the courtroom at any moment.
One fortunate aspect for them was…
“A trial? Ha. A trial in this apocalypse? Ridiculous.”
“Are they trying to mock us? Or are they bragging about how comfortable they are? They’re indulging themselves. Those bourgeois.”
“Why don’t they use that leisure to save our region?”
In online communities in other regions, most of the public opinion was critical of the trial conducted by the Balhut Cult.
Indeed, in this apocalyptic world, holding a trial was seen as a luxury, and those who had not yet reclaimed their cities criticized the Cult for wasting time that could be spent helping other regions.
In other regions, someone like Do Josoon would have been executed on the spot, not kept alive for a trial, so the perceived display of luxury by the Balhut Cult didn’t sit well with them.
From the perspective of the Balhut Cult, it was a war crimes trial to win the hearts of the people for their rule over North Gyeongju, but did other regional communities understand that?
They would only judge based on appearances without delving into the deeper context.
“Why is this cult thriving? It’s already hard enough to survive.”
For survivors in other regions, the Balhut Cult seemed like a cult conducting archaic religious trials to eliminate competitors.
Now, let’s turn to the previously unmentioned regions of South Korea, especially the capital, Seoul.
After the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse, Seoul found itself in a desperate situation, unworthy of the title “Republic of Seoul.”
As the city with the highest population density in South Korea, it was extremely vulnerable to the zombie apocalypse disaster.
Thousands, even tens of thousands, of citizens turned into zombies overnight, rampaging through the city, and Seoul’s police force was unable to quell the chaos.
What made things worse was that, at the beginning of the apocalypse, Seoul gave up the golden time to resolve the crisis on its own, which was a maddening reality.
“I’m finally taking a long break after a while. Dear citizens.”
In this emergency, the president decided to go on vacation.
It happened just three months after taking office, and without a second thought, he went on vacation, effectively squandering the golden time that could have been used to address the zombie crisis.
If the president had realized the seriousness of the situation and acted quickly, it’s possible that South Korea wouldn’t have suffered as severely from the zombie crisis.
South Korea was not a country that would fall so easily, and it had the economic and military power to rank among the world’s top nations.
If they had kept their wits about them, they might have secured safety in Seoul or, even further, safeguarded the major cities across South Korea.
However, the administration, which saw a sharp drop in approval ratings right after taking office, coined a new term—”early lame duck”—for their incompetence.
“The president was merely following his schedule. So citizens, focus on your livelihoods without worry.”
Instead of taking responsibility, the president downplayed the severity of the situation and tried to cover up his incompetence.
This alone was shocking, but in reality, the president stayed at his vacation spot, receiving reports from his aides and staff only belatedly.
It was only several days after the disaster began that he finally issued orders, and by then, many incidents had already occurred.
Yes, it was only a few days late.
The president’s authority and power were still intact, and if he took responsibility and united the ruling and opposition parties, it was still possible to turn the worst scenario into a less disastrous one.
“The ruling party is ready to address this crisis!”
“The opposition party is on board as well! We’ve made a decision to stand united!”
Both the ruling and opposition parties saw the crisis as a serious threat and were prepared to address it together, without any preconditions.
“This is all fake news.”
“”What?””
However, the president, who was the commander-in-chief and head of state, contributed nothing to resolving the crisis and refused to take responsibility.
Instead of uniting the nation and working to solve the crisis, the president did nothing.
There could have been some logical explanation for this.
From the president’s perspective, safe in a secure location, if bureaucrats reported that a zombie crisis was occurring, who would believe it?
Naturally, from the president’s viewpoint, it would have seemed like fake news at the time, so he decided to remain on vacation.
However, no matter how one might try to frame or justify it, the fact remained that the only chance to turn the worst situation into a less disastrous one was missed.
But here, a question might arise.
South Korea is a country with a military conscription system, and it’s a nation at armistice.
With North Korea, an adversary, to the north, South Korea had invested heavily in its defense budget, maintaining a military ranked among the world’s top.
Even in this zombie crisis, it was unlikely that the entire South Korean military would have been wiped out, and there was the Capital Defense Command that protected Seoul.
In other words, there should have been ways to use the remaining forces to protect Seoul from the zombie threat.
“Why didn’t they evacuate to a safer place earlier? This shows that the situation didn’t warrant military deployment. It’s all leftist propaganda.”
Even then, the president misjudged the situation.
After returning from vacation to Yongsan, the president instead claimed that the crisis was a leftist propaganda and stirred up unnecessary ideological conflicts.
This rendered the government and parliament ineffective in handling the situation.
As a result, the government’s crisis response was severely lacking, and communication with government agencies gradually broke down.
“Your Excellency! This is a real situation! This is no joke! Our forces are losing control. South Korea is in a national crisis!”
“We need the president’s decisive action! Let’s overcome this crisis together with one heart!”
“The opposition party is ready to cooperate without any conditions. Please, we urge the president to make a decision!”
Thus, some level-headed officials continuously appealed to the president, emphasizing the national crisis, and there were politicians in parliament, both from the ruling and opposition parties, who were genuinely trying to avoid the worst-case scenario and solve the crisis.
The ruling and opposition parties, united in their plea about the national crisis, urged the president to stop the meaningless ideological conflict and to form a national cabinet that united both parties.
“Why should we cooperate with criminals when South Korea is so safe?”
“Uh… what?”
Though the ruling and opposition parties managed to find common ground after a long time, the president rejected the idea of a national cabinet.
Instead, he insisted that South Korea was safer than anyone else and refused to cooperate with the opposition, whom he labeled as criminal suspects.
With the honeymoon-period president rejecting the national cabinet, the National Assembly effectively came to a standstill.
“What? What does that even mean? I don’t know, it’s terrifying.”
Ultimately, the president only grasped the true gravity of the situation after South Korea’s military lost control.
With such a president, the government’s crisis response was sorely lacking, and for the military, which was vulnerable to outbreaks, the zombie apocalypse was a nightmare.
If even one soldier got infected and turned into a mutant zombie, it meant that dozens of zombies would emerge as the unit crumbled.
“We can’t take it anymore! Let’s survive on our own!”
The infected zombies spread to other units, infecting them in turn, and soldiers who had been waiting for orders from the government eventually abandoned civilian control and started to act for their survival.
“National Cabinet! Please, let’s make it work this time!”
“There’s still a way to turn this into a less severe situation! We need the president’s decision!”
But the president’s complacency caused the initial response to be extremely delayed, leading to the military either turning into zombies or breaking away from control entirely.
In this situation, the president’s only option was to accept full responsibility and work with the National Assembly to normalize the country.
Although he had already lost all administrative power and become a mere figurehead, South Korea was still a stable country, and the president’s authority, though diminished, remained intact at this time.
“All this evil was caused by the leftists!”
However, the president’s choice was not to acknowledge and accept responsibility. Instead, he blamed everything on the opposition party.
If he had taken full responsibility, apologized, and resigned, the ruling and opposition parties might have been willing to cooperate with him.
But the stubborn, self-righteous president, unwilling to admit his mistakes, blamed all the problems on the opposition party, making them shoulder the responsibility for his failures.
“What the hell is he talking about!”
The opposition party erupted at the president’s sudden ideological war declaration, and even the ruling party sided with the opposition, criticizing the president’s statements as madness.
With the president refusing to accept any accountability, both the ruling and opposition parties failed to form a national cabinet, instead clashing with each other in a conflict they did not desire.
In this dire situation, even the ruling party members sided with the opposition, calling out the president’s stance as nonsensical.
In their efforts to address the crisis, they tried to use legislative power to contain the president, but his irrational barrage of vetoes blocked even that.
The most unfortunate aspect was that the newly elected president held a tight grip on his faction within the party, holding significant control over it.
“We’ve successfully regained power. Why should we cooperate with the opposition?”
“Idiot, we’re a minority government!”
Even within the ruling party, divisions arose between supporters of the president and those of the party leader, leading to intense internal conflict.
This firm base of support allowed the president to wield his veto power effectively.
“Are you really thinking of picking a fight with us?”
“No! This was all done by the president and his close associates without consulting us!”
The extreme conflict and ideological battle intentionally stirred by the president eventually led to a failure to form a national cabinet.
The failure to establish a national cabinet fostered distrust between the government and the National Assembly, leading to new conflicts and making it seem like Seoul was about to plunge into a massive civil war between the two political factions.
“So, are you saying that the government and the National Assembly already collapsed with the massive rains in August?”
“Yes.”
However, before these political factions could engage in a civil war, the truth was that South Korea’s strength could no longer sustain their foolishness, and both the ruling and opposition parties, along with the president, ultimately collapsed.
It wasn’t even due to an attack from the other side; rather, it was the wrath of nature that brought them down.
What delivered the final blow to the South Korean government and National Assembly was not human foolishness but a massive deluge that submerged Seoul.
“Look, it’s been two months since the zombie incident and the flood, and they haven’t cleaned up anything. And now you’re telling me there’s no government to handle this? Are you kidding?”
“Ah! There are a few so-called legitimate governments. Want me to connect you?”
“No, never mind.”
The torrential rains and flooding that hit the southern regions of the Han River caused most rivers to overflow and roads to flood.
With the zombie apocalypse already pushing South Korea’s sovereignty to its limits, this single massive rainstorm obliterated it.
Even in normal times, this level of torrential rain and flooding would have resulted in countless injuries and deaths.
And since this happened in Seoul, where the zombie crisis was already underway, the city was plunged into uncontrollable chaos by the heavy rain, and with the silence from the National Assembly and the president, it was fair to say that the South Korean government had essentially vanished.
“How many actual members of the National Assembly are there in those so-called legitimate governments?”
“Hardly any. When the National Assembly fell, many members either died or went missing. Even those who survived can hardly be considered alive.”
“So, they’ve become zombies.”
As the government disappeared, various self-proclaimed governments emerged, none of which consisted of elected officials but opportunistic groups that rose during the chaos.
Yet, in times of crisis, heroes often emerge, and among the Awakened in Seoul, Kim Suho became the most powerful force, rescuing surviving citizens, officials, and government personnel amid the chaos, allowing them to hear the harsh truths.
And as they listened to the grim reality of what had become of their country,
“It’s the end times, truly the end.”
They could only laugh bitterly as they came to terms with South Korea’s collapse.
But nothing changed, and Kim Suho and his followers had to face the daunting task of reclaiming Seoul without any government support.
—
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