thenovelthief Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Translator: Dreamscribe“CEO-nim. How did it go?”
“.......”
The executives were simply waiting for CEO Kim Doo-young, to arrive at the office.
They were hoping he would take out the silk pouch Jung Jin-ho had given him and pull off another brilliant move. But the answer was already written on Kim Doo-young’s face.
“Director Jung told us to prepare to sell off every company we acquired.......”
“Pardon? Th, then are we dismantling Kwangwoon Shipping just like this?”
“Well, it’s not a complete dismantling. He wants us to keep only the bare minimum and spread everything we acquired to each country.”
“But that’s no different from a complete dismantling.”
“We must prevent the shipping division from being dismantled!”
Their reaction was understandable.
They had worked so hard to grow the company.
They had gone through countless overseas shipping companies one by one, selected targets, acquired them, and built today’s Kwangwoon Shipping.
“What can we do? CEO Jung, his heart is too kind.”
“Pardon?”
“If CEO Jung had ignored the requests from each country and insisted on keeping the company until the end, what do you think would have happened?”
“Well.......”
“First of all, I would’ve been the one thrown behind bars, and the same goes for all of you sitting here.”
He wasn’t joking.
Had they ignored everything until the end, not a single executive here would have escaped prison. They would have been accused with the absurd charge of disturbing the international trade market.
That was how much the EU and multiple governments had their swords drawn against Kwangwoon.
“To calm them down, CEO Jung must have had no other choice. He said he didn’t want to keep going while sacrificing us.”
“R, really, CEO Jung-nim actually said that?”
“Yes. I kept telling you all. When you look at how President Jung normally does business, he seems utterly ruthless, but he takes care of his people incredibly well."
These executives knew very well who held the real power in the Kwangwoon Group.
But when they first saw CEO Jung Jin-ho, they had let their guard down a little because he had the kindest-looking face in the world.
However, after seeing his extraordinary actions, and how mercilessly he crushed competitors, their thoughts began to change.
In the end, after witnessing him destroy an entire nation’s economy without hesitation, they couldn't even breathe properly in front of him.
Yet that same man, who seemed to have neither blood nor tears, was now looking after his subordinates even at the cost of giving up company profits.
A tsunami of emotion swept through the meeting room.
“There’s only one way we can repay CEO Jung. First, sell everything at the highest possible price.”
Shipping was currently in an all-time boom.
Thus, breaking up this large company and selling it off was guaranteed to be a loss.
But to minimize that loss, they had to sell it at a high price.
“Yes. That’s the only thing we can do now.”
“We have to sell for the highest possible price to repay his kindness. But...... what about the people already overseas? Even if we tell them to come back, there won’t be positions left here.”
“Tell them to endure for about one or two years. CEO Jung said the side acquiring our company probably won’t be able to fire people right away. The sale terms will include a clause guaranteeing a two-year employment period for our people.”
It felt like they were about to shed blood tears, but what choice did they have?
With the heart of ‘cutting off one’s own favorite general’ they had no choice but to let go of this company.
They were on the verge of tearing up at CEO Jung’s decision to tear down the tower he had built with his own hands, all for the sake of the employees.
“But...... don’t we only need to keep the core minimum necessary for the company to operate, and we don’t actually have to sell everything else?”
But there was something strange.
Jung Jin-ho had told them to keep only the minimum and sell everything else.
“Moreover, he said there would be no restructuring. But if we sell off most of our shipping division...... isn’t this basically a charity project?”
That was true as well.
The company wasn’t closing its doors completely, but it also wouldn’t need nearly as many employees as before.
Even so, Jung Jin-ho said the company would remain as is and that there would be no restructuring.
“On top of that, you said he told our people, the ones who will be transferred elsewhere after the company gets split up, to endure for one or two years. And he even added it as a sales condition.”
“Doesn’t this seem like he’s temporarily entrusting the divided companies somewhere else?”
Temporarily entrusting the split-up companies of Kwangwoon elsewhere.
Looking at Jung Jin-ho’s actions now, it really did seem that way.
If a company gets split, restructuring is inevitable, yet he was saying he would keep all employees without any layoffs and only have them handle the minimum amount of work.
“Does he think the outlook for the shipping business is bad?”
“Not at all. It’s actually the opposite. Everyone is saying the shipping business will do even better in the future. That’s why the EU and other countries are trying to break us apart.”
That was the correct assessment.
So why did Jung Jin-ho make such a decision?
“Isn’t he really trying to sell at the highest point and buy back at the lowest point, like an investment?”
“Judging by evaluations, this isn’t the lowest point, though?”
“That’s true, but.......”
At that, Kim Doo-young also became curious.
Was Jung Jin-ho truly a kindhearted philanthropist?
Or a cold-blooded investor?
***
“CEO-nim. Here...... the Hong Kong-related documents.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
I glanced at the team members fidgeting nervously in front of me.
For some reason, the employees seemed unusually cautious around me today.
Even my hyung, when he called earlier, sounded like he was strangely concerned about something.
It felt like everyone in the company was acting overly careful in front of me.
“Manager Lee, stay for a moment.”
At those words, the employees hurried out as if they had been waiting for the chance.
Hye-rin ssi approached me with a completely frozen expression, shuffling timidly.
“W-w-what is it? W-why me...?”
“Why are you termbling like that?”
“Y-you suddenly told me to stay behind...... so I thought maybe I did something wrong.......”
“No way. You’re always the one who helps me the most.”
Hye-rin ssi’s position was Manager, but she was also handling secretary duties for me.
I told her she didn’t need to, but she said doing at least this much made her feel a little less guilty about receiving such a high salary......
Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
“Is something going on in the company?”
“Huh?”
“Everyone seems to be watching my mood today.”
“That’s because we thought you might be in a bad mood today.......”
“Huh? Why would I be?”
“Well.......”
Hye-rin ssi hesitated, then answered cautiously.
“It’s because Kwangwoon Shipping is all over the news right now. You put so much effort into growing Kwangwoon Shipping, and suddenly it’s being forcibly divided due to pressure from the EU and various countries.......”
Ah. So that was it.
I’d been wondering whether there was something I wasn’t supposed to know, or if I was somehow being ostracized without realizing it.
But once I heard the reason, it was nothing serious.
“You’re really not bothered at all?”
“Why would I be? If I were really upset, would I even have come to work today? And we’re supposed to have a team dinner today. So tell everyone not to worry and just act normally.”
“Ah! Really?”
“Yes. Tell everyone to come back in.”
“Yes!”
Hye-rin ssi trotted out in her usual lively manner.
I heard her talking to the others outside for a moment, and then everyone came back in smiling.
But Department Head Seo still looked heavy-faced.
“CEO-nim. Are you truly alright?”
“Yes. I’m really fine.”
“But I...... I was so furious I couldn’t even sleep. Those bastards. This is why people say the EU guys are all punks, isn’t it?”
"Right. I also felt my blood boiling when I heard the Kwangwoon Shipping news."
“Those damn bastards!”
The team members were genuinely angry.
Although we work at this securities firm, we can’t say we played no role at all in the growth of Kwangwoon Shipping.
“Everyone, let’s not get too worked up. They say when something bad happens, something good follows afterward, right?”
I was human, so of course I felt angry too.
But the illusion my intuition showed me that day had been clear.
Shipping, which was now experiencing an all-time boom, would soon collapse.
In other words, the EU was voluntarily coming to pick up something that was about to turn into garbage.
And they were even paying money to take it.
“As expected of our CEO-nim. How does he have such a steel mentality.......”
"Having a steel mentality and beast's heart like CEO-nim isn't something just anyone can have, as Department Head says every day."
“Right. His capacity is just different.”
If my intuition hadn’t shown me that series of visions, I’d probably be in a room tearing open a bottle of soju by now.
“But is the media really that noisy about it?”
“Yes. If you turn on the TV right now, that’s all they talk about.”
“But this is actually having a positive effect on us. Until now, Kwangwoon’s public evaluation was average, but because of this incident, we’re getting a wave of sympathy.”
“I’ve already prepared a separate report summarizing the current public sentiment.”
I looked over the report my employees had made.
Public opinion about Kwangwoon had always been mixed.
But now sympathy was skyrocketing because people believed we were being unfairly robbed of our shipping business by those punks.
“Kwangwoon Securities as well, and even our Exchange, also PicPic, are seeing a sudden increase in Korean users. It seems we’re getting an unintended marketing boost.”
“Really?”
We were totally fine.
The people were getting angry on our behalf.
In the eyes of the public, the EU looked no different from outright robbers.
Thanks to that, Kwangwoon’s image was rising sharply.
‘They clean up the shit for us and raise our corporate image at the same time.......’
Maybe I should have the Foundation send some extra donation money to Europe later?
***
The one leading the charge in restraining Kwangwoon was the EU.
There was a clear reason they suddenly began pressuring Kwangwoon.
“Starting with Taiwan’s TSMC, they first toppled Taiwan’s economy, and afterward they attacked countless major corporations by manipulating semiconductor supply, creating gigantic platforms like PicPic and the Kwangwoon Exchange. Then they attacked the UK and France in turn, pocketing massive profits.”
"It sounds brutal just hearing about it. Are you saying all that was really done by one company in Korea?"
“Yes. The more you dig, the more unbelievable the atrocities they’ve committed. For money, they’ll cross any line. But what’s even scarier is that even when Kwangwoon was right under our nose, we never felt threatened by them.”
Moreover, ordinary people had no idea what Kwangwoon really was.
They thought it was simply a company doing good business.
“You saw it last time. They stirred up SNS, caused riots across multiple French cities, and then shamelessly handed out recovery funds.”
“Yes. And the problem was that the amount was larger than expected, so the citizens cheered loudly for them.”
“Exactly. They’re incredibly calculating. They know how to sway the masses.”
After witnessing even the UK get flipped over by Kwangwoon, EU nations collectively agreed that this couldn’t continue.
“Kwangwoon is able to wield such power primarily because its shipping force is overwhelmingly strong. There are even rumors that both the US and China have connections with Kwangwoon, and in the end, even those two couldn’t restrain them because of Kwangwoon’s massive shipping system.”
Perhaps that was why.
Kwangwoon had crossed the line.
And not just with anyone, but with the two pillars of Europe, widely known as bullies: the UK and France.
“The UK left with Brexit, so fine. But touching France, the representative of the EU, is a direct challenge to Europe itself. That’s why, unusually, the nations are pooling their strength to restrain Kwangwoon.”
And their first target was the core of Kwangwoon: shipping.
If they disabled this part, Kwangwoon would no longer be able to wield the same influence as before.
Because of that, they had created hundreds of scenarios and prepared thoroughly to force Kwangwoon to surrender its shipping division.
“Who would have thought it would end this anticlimactically.”
“Exactly. Judging by their reputation, they were nothing short of a crazy dog, yet they gave up this easily?”
“Perhaps it’s actually wise. If they rose to that level, it means they’re quick to read the room. They must have already done the math. If they resisted here, they’d get beaten from all sides and the entire Kwangwoon Group could disappear.”
It was disappointing.
The moment Kwangwoon resisted, they had planned to crush them so badly they would never rise again.
But it seemed those guys also knew when to retreat.
“So what happens now?”
“Since the EU started this first, it’s only right that EU member states take the spoils. Above all, this is shipping. Isn’t shipping in an all-time boom right now? Just look at the BDI index, it's already passed 2,000.”
The overwhelming forecast was that the BDI would soon break through 2,500.
“Kwangwoon knows that as well, so they don’t intend to sell cheap. They plan to split the company entirely and sell each part at the highest possible price.”
“That’s going to be a bit of a burden, no? Do you think the price they proposed is reasonable?”
“To be honest, it is expensive. But considering the future growth of the shipping industry, it’s absolutely not a loss. Quite the opposite, it's a profit.”
“Good then. Encourage our European companies to take as much of the shipping business as possible.”
Since the EU had led the charge in pressuring Kwangwoon, it was only right for the EU to take the corresponding credit and rewards.
“But Chairman, isn’t Kwangwoon retreating too easily?”
“Someone said earlier, Kwangwoon knows how to read the room.”
“But they could’ve dragged it out through lawsuits and bought some time.”
“Let’s not overcomplicate things. We’re already drowning in work after Brexit. The fact that the entire EU had to step in because we couldn’t handle a single company on that tiny patch of land called Korea is embarrassing enough.”
The EU Chairman didn’t want to escalate things any further.
With EU’s reputation already at rock bottom because of Brexit, the last thing he wanted was to cement the image of the EU struggling helplessly against a single corporation.
“And the shipping industry outlook is good going forward, right? There’s no reason the shipping industry would suddenly collapse.”
“Well, if every country suddenly closed their borders and issued lockdown orders?”
Someone cracked a joke, and everyone burst into laughter.
If something like that ever happened, it would be straight out of a movie.
But everyone knew one thing:
Something like that would never happen. (TL: (￣y▽￣)╭ Ohohoho.....)
*****
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