Episode 151
“Brother, you’re on TV a lot these days.”
While I was sitting in the break room, Kangbaek spoke to me.
“Don’t even talk. I’m going to die of exhaustion because of that.”
Sihyeon shook his head and answered.
Yangji Guild was the only guild in the world made up entirely of ex-convicts.
Therefore, it was an issue that attracted people’s attention, and naturally, the media was also covering it in a significant amount.
It was even introduced in foreign media.
Thanks to this, Sihyeon was busy working as a prison guard and dealing with the media.
People usually listen to ex-convicts with prejudice.
So Sihyeon, the prison guard, had no choice but to take a more active role.
Still, it was a little better because there were ex-convicts like Cheolhyeong and Mujik who acted as examples during the Ganghwado disaster.
In particular, Cheolhyung was once again being talked about on the Internet due to his neat mask, sophisticated speech, and high level of education.
In addition to receiving generally favorable attention, there was even a fan cafe created on a portal site.
It reminded me of when a fan cafe for handsome criminals opened up in the past.
‘Rather than the model student style, the bad boy style that is talented and good-looking and has such a dark past is more attractive’ or something like that.
In any case, it was rewarding to have Cheolhyeong become the guild leader.
“Still, I’m jealous of you. I think you’re the first prison guard to appear in the media so much.”
“It’s just tiring when your face becomes known.”
Sighing, Sihyeon got up from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“To the director.”
“What? Warden?”
Kang Baek opened his eyes wide.
This was because prison guards were rarely called to the warden’s office.
“Okay. See you later.”
Sihyeon waved his hand and left the lounge.
◈ ◈ ◈
The warden’s office was outside the main gate.
I went out the front door and was on the second floor of the General Affairs Department building.
The stairs were blocked by a glass door, so you had to enter a password to go up.
Sihyeon entered the password and went up to the second floor.
As we entered the room where the director’s office was located, the female employee who was sitting looked at Sihyeon.
Sihyeon bowed briefly and opened her mouth.
“Is the director there?”
“Ah, Chief Sihyeon Lee. Please come in.”
The female employee said with a smile, as if she had already heard the story.
Sihyeon opened the door to the director’s office and entered.
The interior of the office caught my eye, unlike the provincial office or the security chief’s office.
The chair and desk looked like expensive items made of high-quality wood.
“hello.”
As Sihyeon walked in, he stopped and raised his hand in salute.
The warden said while receiving a salute.
“Welcome. Please sit there.”
Sihyeon slowly sat down on the guest sofa that the director had mentioned.
Without realizing it, I remembered the past.
When I was at the 9th level terminal at the Korean Prison, I was briefly called into the warden’s office to encourage a new employee.
At that time, I had to stand in a relaxed posture the entire time the director was talking.
I was so nervous that I hoped he wouldn’t talk to me.
Compared to back then, it felt completely different.
The director got up from his chair, walked over to the sofa, and sat down across from it.
“You did something big this time.”
The warden opened his mouth with a strange expression.
It was a face that was difficult to tell whether he was speaking positively or negatively.
He was a major general who had been appointed a year ago.
Until now, we haven’t talked much, either professionally or personally.
The staff’s evaluation was that it was just an acceptable store.
It is neither too tight nor too loose on employees.
“Yes, it just happened to be like that.”
“I guess so. You probably didn’t spread it.”
“of course.”
“okay.”
The warden made a clicking sound with his clasped hands.
It seemed to be a habit.
“You’re probably wondering what people think up there, right?”
“Yes, it is.”
Sihyeon answered without hesitation and looked into the director’s eyes.
I heard that even if a current prison guard makes a small press release, the staff in charge at the headquarters will check everything.
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In fact, the Ministry of Justice has uploaded scraps of articles featuring prison guards in small local media.
But this time, the prison guard is being talked about so much on the public airwaves as well as the major media.
The higher-ups were naturally watching this incident carefully.
“Your dream is pretty big, right?”
The director asked that somewhat out of the blue.
“yes?”
Sihyeon asked back with an expression of confusion.
“That’s why you didn’t do it this extravagantly. Do you think an ordinary person would do this, forming a guild with ex-convicts?”
“This is something I pursued with all my conviction because I wanted to help inmates who have been released from prison.”
“I know. I’m not reprimanding you, so there’s no need to explain it like that. If you’re from level 7 and want to get to a high place, you can’t do things like everyone else.”
The director said with a knowing look on his face.
It seemed that Si-hyeon thought that he had done this to get promoted.
Sihyeon didn’t bother to say anything more.
No matter what he thought, it was just the director’s personal opinion.
“Headquarters is planning to actively support you. Isn’t that obvious? Your arms are bent inward, and you are the most well-known prison guard among the prison guards right now. So you absolutely cannot allow your image to be tarnished. What do you think? ?You didn’t expect this to happen either?”
The warden asked, making a bone-popping sound in his hand again.
“I haven’t thought about it like that. If that’s the headquarters’ policy, I’m just grateful.”
Sihyeon answered politely.
“Hmm, okay. Well, okay. Let’s go.”
“all right.”
Sihyeon got up from the sofa.
I saluted and was about to go out the door when the warden opened his mouth.
“The people above don’t hate people like you.”
“What are you talking about….”
“Honestly, our organization is a bunch of people who don’t care what people think. They rarely get into the media. But anyway, you caught people’s attention a few times.”
“….”
“Well, keep doing your best.”
For the first time, the director had an amused smile on his face.
◈ ◈ ◈
After coming home, eating dinner, and washing up, Sihyeon sat in front of the computer.
The simplest way to know how public opinion was going was to look at the comments on articles on large portal sites.
So, it became my daily routine to check articles and comments related to this work after work.
“huh?”
There was an article floating on the main page.
Because of the high level of interest in this incident, it was not an uncommon occurrence.
However, it was different from before to see the words ‘Ministry of Justice Correctional Headquarters’ in the title.
Several days have passed, but the correctional headquarters has not yet revealed its position on this incident.
‘Is that it?’
Sihyeon recalled what the warden said when he called her that afternoon.
The headquarters has established a policy of active support.
It seemed as if those words were not just something he said for nothing, and he took action in earnest.
– Ministry of Justice Correctional Headquarters “After the creation of the guild, the recidivism rate was zero, which is very encouraging.”
Sihyeon clicked on the title and read the article.
-(Seoul = Jeil News) Reporter Go Choong-myeong = The Ministry of Justice’s Correctional Headquarters finally opened its mouth regarding the Yangji Guild.
In a phone call with Jeil News on the 11th, an official from the Correctional Headquarters said, “We confirmed that it is true that ‘the recidivism rate of Yangji Guild ex-convicts is zero’, which has already been reported in the media. This is a very encouraging thing that is unprecedented in the world.”
In addition, it was explained that the ultimate goal of correctional administration is to minimize the recidivism rate.
He also added that the Yangji Guild, which was founded with the help of a correctional officer’s conviction, presented a direction for the future direction of correctional administration.
This official also said, “It is also a stimulus and example to many current correctional officers who are having difficulties with correctional reform.”
However, he added, “It may have been inevitable to protect the personal information of ex-convicts, but we regret the harm it caused to ordinary hunters.”
Lastly, he said, “With this incident as an opportunity, we will continue to devise and implement various ways to lower the recidivism rate of those released from prison.”
“Are you okay?”
Sihyeon laughed and muttered.
The official’s words were very positive.
It seemed like he was only watching the trend of public opinion like a cow watching a chicken, but when he decided to move, he moved very quickly.
In any case, support from the affiliated organization was welcome.
Sihyeon read the article’s comments with a brightened face.
-Zero recidivism rate? Is this true?
-Is that really that great?
-Look at the recidivism rate statistics that someone compiled. Haha, I’m really speechless.
-Someone check it out.
-s*xual violence, robbery, murder, injury, arson… All the violent crimes you know have a recidivism rate of over 60%. The recidivism rate within one year is over 40%.
-what? Is it f*cking real? Is the recidivism rate within a year that high? Have you ever been to a prison cell?
-That’s why everyone says that reformation is a rip-off. The US also has no answer, so we use both reform and severe punishment.
-That’s the rate at which recidivists commit repeat offenses, and first-time offenders are a bit low. Still, the average is over 30%.
-Huh, so you’re saying it doesn’t make sense statistically?
-Isn’t that why the media is causing such a fuss?
-The guards have videos of released prisoners, right? Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.
-No, how scary is that prison guard that he even gets scared when he goes out? Haha, that’s really amazing.
-You really followed suit. If they were human, they would have felt something from the Ganghwado disaster.
-Isn’t it because there are a lot of criminals with criminal convictions there? All the ex-convicts who sacrificed themselves to save people from the Ganghwa Island disaster went there.
-Anyway, that prison guard is real.
Most of the comments were about the recidivism rate.
This may be because people became aware of the fact that it was such an unusual event through media reports.
In addition, the Correctional Headquarters also officially mentioned it.
I felt like I would have to mainly focus on this in the future.
Anyway, if things continued like this, it seemed like this would end well.
The guild members who left had no choice.
Sihyeon clicked on another article.
◈ ◈ ◈
“No, why does that guard, a babbler, come forward and do such a damn thing?”
Sun guild leader Seongjin spoke in an unpleasant voice.
When investigating the Yangji guild, it was reported that there was one prison guard.
I also learned that the prison guard was once called a hero or something in the media.
But I didn’t pay much attention.
The important thing was that it was a guild full of ex-convicts, and I thought there was nothing a single prison guard could do if that fact was revealed.
However, when the prison guard came to the forefront, public opinion’s reaction became strange.
There were still quite a few people who viewed it negatively, but the number of people who understood it was increasing.
In addition, after news broke that the recidivism rate was zero, it felt like public opinion was turning more and more towards the prison guards.
Naturally, Seongjin did not like this development.
I wanted to receive more harsh criticism from people, so I could feel more relieved.
“Still, many hunters escaped. That alone….”
“It’s not enough. It’s not enough.”
Seongjin frowned and muttered as he interrupted Secretary Kim.
However, in this situation, I couldn’t think of any way to inflict more damage.
“Secretary Kim.”
“yes.”
“Next time there is a joint attack, tell them to actively state their intention to do it with the Yangji guys.”
Seongjin and other members of the Sun Guild still thought that being humiliated at the Isang Gate was simply due to extreme bad luck.
It was worth it.
This was because the attack force itself had a clear advantage.
If it were normal, you couldn’t help but think that something like that could never happen.
Seongjin planned to pay back exactly what he received.
“I will do as you instructed.”
Secretary Kim bowed his head.
fantasy,
