sinovels Chapter 77 Busan entertainers cannot serve as brand ambassadors
Chapter 77 Busan entertainers cannot serve as brand ambassadors
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a place that is extremely sensitive to public opinion. Almost every bureau and department has a special team to collect, analyze and respond to public opinion.
For such a top priority as bidding for the World Expo, there is naturally a dedicated public opinion working group in place.
As soon as Jung Do-hoon entered the office this morning, he sensed something was amiss amidst the busy work atmosphere.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-wo called Jeong Do-hoon and summoned him to her office.
"Minister, what instructions do you have for me?"
"The Busan City Government announced through the media this morning that they will select Busan-born celebrities as Expo ambassadors through online voting. What do you think?"
Jin Zhen turned the screen around and presented the relevant news reports to Zheng Daoxun.
"The 'Publicity Ambassador' sub-project should be funded under the unified management of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Are they trying to preemptively force the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to allocate these funds to the Busan City Government?"
Jung Do-hoon's considerations went beyond just the budget; they touched upon deeper levels. However, Kim Jin-ah, sitting opposite him, was a scholar directly hired from the university. Her perspective on issues was inevitably different from that of a professional bureaucrat like Jung Do-hoon.
What Jung Do-hoon needs is to get more information from Kim Jin-ah, rather than simply becoming a passive executor.
Therefore, he did not reveal all of his judgments, but only released a portion of them according to Jin Zhenwo's way of thinking.
Jin Zhen nodded slightly: "This amount of money is not small, nearly 20 million US dollars, and there may be more to be raised later. What the Busan City Government will do with this money after it gets its hands on is completely outside our supervision, so Do-hoon, your choice last night was correct."
Jinzhen, what I'm worried about is what if the Busan city government misappropriates this money elsewhere?
If problems arise afterward, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was involved in the negotiations, will also be held responsible. Out of consideration for risk aversion, it is imperative to resolutely prevent this matter from being pushed forward.
If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does nothing, then any subsequent investigation will not trace back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Minister Park Jin also sounded out the Ministry of Finance and Strategy this morning, and they are not currently opposed to the Busan City Government's actions. However, as the leading force in external publicity, we must not delegate matters that should be decided by the Blue House to the local authorities. We need to make a symbolic objection to this matter."
Jung Do-hoon understood that the Blue House would not mind allocating the funds to the Busan City Government.
Based on his memories from his previous life, the National Assembly elections will be held next April. Busan and the surrounding areas together have nearly 60 seats. Given that they are unlikely to be able to retain their seats in Seoul, the Blue House will have to hold onto its base of support, and Busan is one of the most important vote banks.
This funding was a incentive to win over Busan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is caught in the middle, unable to interfere with the Blue House's decisions, but also needing to ensure its own security.
Therefore, this matter needs to be opposed, but not resolutely opposed.
Since we cannot oppose the allocation of these funds, the only thing we can oppose is the specific matter of Busan entertainers.
"I understand. I will raise this question at the next joint meeting regarding whether Busan artists have greater international influence."
Jung Do-hoon nodded slightly, and Kim Jin-wo responded with a satisfied smile.
When he left the office, Jung Do-hoon did not immediately return to his workstation. Instead, he went to the balcony and lit a cigarette. His administrative officer, Bae Dong-young, immediately came over and smoked with him.
"Sir, what's with that long face so early in the morning?"
Seeing Bae Dong-young's nonchalant demeanor, Jung Do-hoon smiled helplessly.
If he plans to stay in the civil service position for the rest of his life, he really doesn't need to think so much about the future.
But he will eventually have to climb up step by step.
Jung Do-hoon remembered clearly that Yoon Sang's crazy act at the end of 24 had completely torn a scar in the National Power Party, and the Seoul faction and the Donggyeong faction, led by Busan, formed two forces.
Internal strife and external threats from the "common democracy" are bound to cause a bloody storm.
Unfortunately, I returned to China at the end of 25 in my previous life, so I didn't have much information about the undercurrents that were brewing there.
However, based solely on the information currently available, we can draw a conclusion—
The Dong-kyung faction that Yoon Sang is trying to win over is definitely not someone that Jung Do-hoon can have much contact with, and he must try his best to keep his relationship with them clear in his work.
Furthermore, in 24, all of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' budgets will undergo a review. If he loosens his stance on allocating funds to the Busan City Government, or even shows support, he will inevitably get himself into trouble.
Therefore, what he had to do was to firmly oppose the allocation of funds to the Busan City Government.
This deviates from Minister Park Jin's instruction to "symbolicly oppose" the action. Although the direction of the action is the same, the intensity is different.
"Nothing much, I was just thinking, among K-pop artists right now, who has the highest international influence?"
"Then it's undoubtedly BTS, right?" Bae Dong-young flicked his cigarette ash. "They've even been received by the White House. What other group gets that kind of treatment?"
Bae Dong-young was unaware that the final ambassador would be chosen from among the members of a new K-pop girl group.
The final choice in the previous life was Liu Zhimin.
It's ironic, isn't it? Jung Do-hoon was originally the one most opposed to Yoo Ji-min being the publicity ambassador, but now he has to find a way to support Yoo Ji-min.
"I mean, in K-pop girl groups, who has the biggest influence?" Jung Do-hoon smiled.
"Are they considering a brand ambassador?" Bae Dong-young realized what was going on. "Considering they're looking for a Busan-born celebrity... it should be Winter from aespa, right?"
"Old Pei, I need you to give me another candidate, someone other than Winter."
"So, we'll choose one from the five leading ladies? I'll vote for Jang Won-young..." Bae Dong-young recalled Jung Do-hoon's disdainful look when he first saw the draft of the publicity plan, so he ruled out Yoo Ji-min.
"I need a reason to support Yoo Jimin now," Jung Do-hoon said, stubbing out his cigarette. "A reason why Yoo Jimin is a better candidate to be the brand ambassador than Winter."
"Secretary, why have you changed your mind again..." Pei Dongyong muttered. Anyway, they were all on the same side, so it didn't matter if they weren't so serious when chatting.
"I have no problem with Yoo Jimin. I just object to using too many celebrities to promote the Busan Expo." Jung Do-hoon patted Bae Dong-young on the shoulder. "You're so familiar with K-pop. Now I'm giving you a task: write a proposal to explain in detail why Yoo Jimin is more suitable than Winter as the ambassador. Start with international influence. Go."