thenovelthief Chapter 161
Chapter 161
Translator: Dreamscribe“CEO-nim. Here is the list.”
I tilted my head in curiosity at the list the Vice President handed over.
“What kind of list is this?”
"The Chairman is heading to the United States this time, and they came seeking advice on who it would be good for him to meet while there."
“The Chairman requested this himself?”
“No, it seems the Strategy Team was the one seeking advice separately. I heard that over the past few years, they've been gradually expanding Kwangwoon’s network within the US. But since he can’t meet everyone this time, they sent this request hoping to hear your opinion on which government officials would be most worthwhile to meet.”
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I could offer any useful advice.
I don’t know much about politicians in the US, nor can I tell who would be beneficial to our company...
‘...is what I thought, but that wasn’t the case.’
The names on the list began blinking with a subtle light.
These were people my hyung would meet in person. I couldn’t let him waste time meeting the wrong people.
I carefully examined the list.
I made sure to check again and again only those names that gave off a strong intuitive glow.
“Tell them to prioritize setting up meetings with the people I’ve marked here.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll pass this on to the Strategy Team as is.”
“Good. Also, I’ve heard gun incidents are becoming more frequent in the US these days, so double the number of bodyguards and make security airtight. Even if people say it’s overkill, it’s fine. Please make sure they don’t try to save money on this.”
“Yes. I’ll be sure to convey that.”
It’s a dangerous era already.
The Russia–Ukraine war has broken out, the former Prime Minister of Japan was assassinated, and in the US, gun incidents are continuously occurring from elementary schools to public facilities.
Given all that, I couldn’t help but worry about my hyung’s safety.
“By the way, does the Chairman have to keep going back and forth to the US from now on?”
“The Chairman does believe it’s better to build his network through direct meetings.”
“He can do that in the beginning. But I’m not thrilled about him having to keep traveling back and forth so often. He already struggles quite a bit with jet lag every time he comes back from a trip.”
Hyung doesn’t particularly enjoy business trips abroad.
He prefers staying at home and playing games over traveling overseas, and more than anything, he’s often mentioned how adapting to time zone differences gets harder as he gets older.
That was on my mind now.
“Then rather than having the Chairman travel overseas for meetings himself, we’ll need to appoint someone responsible who can handle the practical work abroad.”
“Yes. Unless it’s a really important meeting, I also don’t want him traveling around so much. Could you check with the headquarters to see if there’s someone suitable for the role?”
“Would it be alright if the person isn’t internal? I think headhunting someone from outside who’s good at this kind of work wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Yes. Please look into it.”
“Understood. I’ll discuss it with the headquarters and investigate further.”
Wasn't he someone who had originally been planning to retire but was practically forced into the Chairman's seat?
That’s why I felt especially guilty seeing him working busily every day because of me.
But with this arrangement, at least he won’t have to struggle with business trips anymore.
And no, it’s definitely not because his business trip this week is about to ruin my important raid plans.
***
“Is this the meeting schedule?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Chairman Hwang Dae-woon scanned through the schedule.
It was quite a tight itinerary.
But compared to what Jin-ho was doing for him, this level of hassle honestly meant nothing.
“So these are the people it would be efficient to meet? According to the Strategy Office, I mean.”
Below the schedule, there were detailed profiles of the people he would meet.
Now it was up to Hwang Dae-woon to figure out how to win them over to Kwangwoon’s side.
“Yes. However... actually, this list wasn’t decided by the Strategy Office.”
“Hm? Then who?”
“CEO Jung Jin-ho personally selected the names and handed the list to the Strategy Office.”
“What? Jin-ho did it himself?”
“Yes. The Strategy Office had drawn up a list to some extent, but they felt it would be better to seek CEO Jung Jin-ho’s advice.”
Hwang Dae-woon nodded.
He didn’t want to make him worry about things like this too.
Still, seeking Jin-ho’s advice had been the right move.
“At the very least, since Jin-ho gave his recommendation, I feel at ease.”
“Yes. After reviewing the list, the Strategy Office also said it was an excellent selection. It’s composed solely of people who would truly be helpful if they cooperated with our company.”
Just looking at the list, their credentials were impressive.
Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Director of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Science, Speaker of the House, and so on.
Among them, the one that stood out was the Secretary of Commerce.
“The Secretary of Commerce has ties to our company too?”
“The Commerce Department’s main focus of containment is China. It oversees the U.S.’s industrial competitiveness, especially the technological hegemony struggle with China. If they cooperate with Kwangwoon, they might see it as a way to more effectively contain China.”
“Does this person have strong influence internally?”
“Yes. The Aiden administration considers competition with China a top priority. That’s why they appointed a close aide as Secretary of Commerce.”
Aiden had been vocal about containing China since his vice-presidency.
Even after becoming president, he passed numerous laws aimed at checking China and remained cautious of China overtaking the global economic hegemony.
Looking at his core legislation, it was clear that they were foundational efforts to contain China.
“If Kwangwoon is going to work with the U.S. government, we’ll need to clearly show how that cooperation can put pressure on China.”
“Yes. That seems to be the key point. The Strategy Office has prepared materials on that as well.”
“Then is there anything else we should know about this Secretary of Commerce, Lee Henderson? Like his hobbies or something. If he enjoys golf, we could bond over that while talking.”
“Yes. Secretary Henderson does play golf, but not frequently. From what we’ve gathered, he generally prefers staying at home. When he works, he works. When he rests, he rests only at home. So his hobby is said to be gaming.”
“What? Gaming?”
“Yes. It’s something they found from an old interview.”
Gaming, huh.
For some reason, that gave him a good feeling about how things might go.
There’s just something about old-school gamers connecting with each other.
“Do we know what kind of games he plays?”
“No. Not yet... Shall we find out?”
“Find out quickly. Before the meeting.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
But suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
All the people on this list must be so busy they hardly have time to sleep. Would they even have time to meet him?
“There’s no need to worry about that. We made inquiries, and they responded that they would meet you even if it meant canceling all prior appointments.”
Even those extremely busy individuals were canceling plans just to meet Hwang Dae-woon.
It was a clear indication of Kwangwoon’s stature.
All thanks to Jin-ho, no doubt.
“Ah. And by CEO Jung Jin-ho’s order, the security personnel in the U.S. have been tripled.”
At those words, Hwang Dae-woon let out a short laugh.
“What? That much? That’s unnecessary.”
“Yes. But he said that because he’s worried about your safety, it’s non-negotiable.”
“Well, if Jin-ho says so, there’s no helping it. He’s only doing it out of concern for me.”
Truly, he was a younger brother who worried about his hyung to an extreme degree.
And so, today again, he was deeply thankful.
To have someone right by his side who cared for him even more than family.
***
“Did you all see it this time? The Chairman of Kwangwoon Group visiting the U.S.”
“There’s probably no one here who didn’t. It was such big news that even Wall Street was shaken.”
“Did you see the security detail guarding Chairman Hwang Dae-woon? At first, I thought a president was visiting or something. I mean, how could anyone bring that much security...”
“He’s a high-priority figure. And I’m sure he wanted to demonstrate his power as well.”
Accompanied by an extravagant security detail, Hwang Dae-woon was busily moving about, meeting political figures.
Usually, meetings with political figures were held in secret, but he didn’t care about public scrutiny.
“It must be intentional. And from what I heard, he arranged the meetings right before his U.S. visit, when even setting appointments months in advance wouldn’t be enough. As a result, many people canceled their prior appointments just to meet Chairman Hwang Dae-woon. From start to finish, every bit of it is laced with ulterior motives. It’s all to flaunt Kwangwoon’s power.”
However, there was no legal basis to sanction this.
How could you stop someone from visiting the U.S. and meeting people?
What’s more, those people canceled their own schedules just to meet Hwang Dae-woon.
“Kwangwoon is acting as if they have nothing to fear right now. We have to crush this company before it’s too late. You all know, don’t you? Just how influential Kwangwoon is. Wall Street is trembling over their every move.”
Eileen, the Director of the Antitrust Division, was wary of how large Kwangwoon had grown.
After swallowing up FaceWeb, they had now devoured Bluezone as well.
“FaceWeb was one thing, but letting them take over Bluezone too is absolutely unacceptable. We need to implement strong regulations to make them spit it back out and break it up.”
“That would cause even greater backlash. Just look at public opinion right now. So many people suffered from the recent Elliott crisis. And Kwangwoon helped our citizens by donating a whopping 1 billion dollars. While other companies just stood by and watched.”
“Are you defending Kwangwoon right now? You know very well that their actions weren’t out of goodwill.”
“Even if it wasn’t goodwill, it was still a billion dollars. What company gives out that kind of donation? And Kwangwoon didn’t stop there, they’ve already announced additional donations to help even more American citizens.”
“You do know those donations are being made entirely through KW Coin, don’t you, Secretary?”
“What does that matter? What matters is that they’re helping people!”
Eileen shot back with a fierce glare.
“I'm aware of the meeting between Secretary of Commerce and Chairman Hwang Dae-woon. Seems like you’ve already decided to side with them.”
“Ahem. That phrasing makes me a little uncomfortable. I’m simply putting America first, as always. And my job is to prevent China from taking global supremacy. In that regard, we desperately need Kwangwoon’s power.”
“There are plenty of companies that can replace Kwangwoon.”
“Are you sure about that? What if Kwangwoon decided to side with China? Their infrastructure, semiconductors, resources, and more, if those fall into enemy hands, it would be devastating for us. I’m not here to pander for votes like the rest of you. This is about America’s national security and future.”
“I agree with that statement.”
"No. Is everyone here out of their minds right now!?"
It wasn’t just the Secretary of Commerce defending Kwangwoon.
At the moment, rather than checking Kwangwoon, many believed it was more important to leverage them to counter China and Russia.
Eileen was frustrated.
Kwangwoon was trying to swallow up all of America, yet these people still thought America’s main enemies were China and Russia.
But the real enemy was already inside!
“Mr. President, please say something. You know better than anyone that this situation isn’t normal.”
That’s why Eileen turned to Aiden for help.
Aiden had always led his close aides with strong leadership.
He was also a stubborn man, once he made up his mind, he never changed it.
If he could use that same strong leadership now, he could rally his scattered inner circle, currently in disarray because of Kwangwoon.
“.......”
But Aiden said nothing.
His eyes looked dazed, as if he wasn’t all there.
Word had already spread that he was deeply shaken by the sudden resignation of his Chief Secretary, one of his closest aides.
Still, he had always stayed focused during meetings like these, so what was going on?
“Mr. President...?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Aiden come to his senses.
“Eileen.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
"Did we, um......."
Everyone, including Aiden’s aides, leaned in to listen.
“...have dinner yet?”
“......Excuse me?”
The flustered aides couldn’t come up with any response.
“Mr, Mr. President. We all had a light meal together before the meeting, remember? Just sandwiches.”
“Hm? We did?”
“Yes. If you're feeling hungry, shall I ask the secretary to bring you something?”
“.......”
Eileen quietly observed Aiden’s eyes.
How should she put it?
They looked unfocused.
“Ah, ah. Right. I must have been confused for a moment. Haha.”
With that, Aiden stood up from his seat.
“That’s enough for today. I’m tired, so I’m going to go rest now.”
“Pardon? But, Mr. President, regarding this matter, you need to give us your opinion-”
“Next time. Let’s talk next time, Eileen.”
With those words, Aiden actually left the conference room.
“.......”
They could only stare at each other with blank expressions.
And there was one thing they all understood.
They were all thinking the same thing.