thenovelthief Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Translator: Dreamscribe“.......”
I quietly watched my younger sister lying on the sofa, humming while fiddling with her phone.
She couldn’t stop smiling, must be texting someone.
“Are you dating someone?”
“Gasp. H-how did you know? People say you're the god of investment, and now you can read minds too?”
“Hey. It’s all over your face. You’re practically drooling.”
“......You’re right.”
Still, she smiled and wiped her mouth like she was genuinely happy.
“There is someone I’m kind of flirting with these days.”
“From work?”
“Yeah. His face is totally my type. Plus, everything from the way he talks to his fashion sense is a perfect score.”
She’d been going on about how lonely she was lately.
Looks like she finally met someone good at her company.
“But oppa, it’s the weekend. You going out?”
“Yeah. Just throwing on something casual and heading to get styled.”
“Oh~ don’t tell me it’s a date?”
“No. I wish it were, but it’s work.”
“Seriously? On the weekend?”
“My job doesn’t really follow the whole weekday-weekend thing.”
If market fluctuations seemed minimal, I’d often rest at home even on weekdays.
But once things piled up, I had to work on weekends too.
Today was one of those days.
Ever since that talk with Chairman Kang Sung-ho, I had to keep pressuring Japan while simultaneously selecting and acquiring companies within it one by one, so there was no choice but to stay busy.
“Right, oppa, did you see it? Panmunjom?” (TL: Korean Demilitarized Zone.)
“Oh, yeah. I saw it.”
It was a historic day for South Korea, you could say.
The two leaders who met at Panmunjom.
Thanks to that, the domestic stock market also rose pleasantly, and smiles bloomed on the faces of our company’s employees.
And now people were starting to hope, wondering if reunification might really happen.
It was receiving major coverage abroad too, with all eyes turning to Korea. A situation where reunification might actually unfold was taking shape.
“From the Olympics to Panmunjom. So much happening in our country this year.”
That’s because the current administration had been speeding things up from the very beginning.
Since it was a government built on overwhelming support, it was pushing forward with strong momentum.
The only problem, if there was one, was that the person who had to cooperate with the North-South summit was none other than U.S. President Trump.
That was expected to be the biggest variable.
‘Anyway, I wonder if hyungn is doing well.’
Just because it was the weekend didn’t mean big corporations rested.
The Blue House, currently stepping on the gas, was no different. (TL: Office and residence of the President of South Korea)
Hyung used to say that once he became Chairman, he would avoid working on weekends, rest, and play games instead, but I’d never actually seen him rest on a weekend.
Because work kept exploding constantly.
I thought maybe he’d finally get a break this time.
But then, out of nowhere, he was called to the Blue House.
Still, to think hyung was invited to a gathering said to be for only the most important leaders of the Korean economy.
My hyung.
For some reason, I felt so proud and satisfied.
***
It’s not that unusual for the Blue House to host a dinner inviting the heads of major corporations.
It’s an event held whenever a new administration comes in, and every quarter they call in the Chairmen under the pretext of discussing economic development.
“.......”
That’s why this setting felt extremely awkward for Hwang Dae-woon.
Though he’d participated in a few government-led events before, this was his first time being invited to the Blue House itself.
"Chairman Hwang. You seem very nervous."
At least the good news was that he knew at least one person here.
“This is my first time at the Blue House.”
“Yes, I understand how you feel. I still get nervous every time I come here too.”
“You do, Chairman?”
“Yes. I always wonder what kind of outrageous requests they’ll make this time. You know how it is, when a new administration is trying to push forward policies, we big corporations have to support them. Sometimes it works in our favor, but sometimes it doesn’t. So I get nervous thinking about what might come out of it.”
That’s probably why the faces of the gathered chairmen today were all filled with mixed emotions.
“But Chairman Hwang, you don’t need to worry.”
“......?”
“This administration is probably most grateful to Kwangwoon. Not just the government, every domestic company feels the same.”
“To our Kwangwoon?”
“Didn't Kwangwoon essentially stop Japan from acting like thugs this time? Thanks to that, the government was able to hold its head high. The only thing we could do in response to their attack was stir up public opinion and push a boycott, but now we don’t even need to do that.”
“Is that so? Honestly, I don’t think I did anything.”
“You’ve been doing everything you can to let CEO Jung spread his wings freely. And you’ve been a strong wall of support behind him too. Just listening to what CEO Jung says, it’s clear how much your presence means.”
Even now, sitting in the chairman’s seat, Hwang Dae-woon felt that it was far more than he deserved.
The reason Kwangwoon had grown this big.
The reason he could now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who controlled the Korean economy.
It was all thanks to Jin-ho’s abilities, not his own.
That small favor he once offered had triggered a butterfly effect that had turned Kwangwoon into a massive financial group today.
That’s why he always carried that feeling in his heart.
He wasn’t in this position for his own honor or wealth, but solely to protect Jin-ho, who had given him such a valuable opportunity.
“And today, the main character isn’t me, or the people from the Blue House, but you, Chairman Hwang. You see those other chairmen over there? They’re all just glancing around, wanting to find a chance to talk to you. So go ahead and approach them first. Those guys are actually pretty shy and find it hard to make the first move?”
Really?
In fact, since Hwang Dae-woon arrived here, he hadn’t spoken to anyone until Chairman Kang spoke to him.
He was worried people might think he didn’t belong here and would scold him for showing up out of his league, but apparently, that wasn’t the case?
Just in case, following Kang Sung-ho’s advice, Chairman Hwang carefully approached the group of chairmen.
And as soon as he offered a polite greeting, sure enough.
“Aigoo, Chairman! I’ve been wanting to meet you.”
“I’ve heard you’re the hottest name in the industry lately. This is our first time meeting. Pleased to meet you.”
A flood of handshakes and greetings began.
***
“Did it go well? Was the food good? Honestly, of all things, I’m most curious about what Blue House meals taste like.”
“Don’t even get me started. I was so nervous I couldn’t tell if the food went in through my mouth or my nose. I couldn’t taste a thing.”
Hyung let out a deep sigh and loosened his tie.
“Still, you actually went to the Blue House. You suddenly look like a whole different person.”
“Heh. I know, right? Thanks to you, I even got to visit the Blue House. Life is strange, isn’t it?”
“So, what did you talk about there?”
“Well, it was just as expected. Looks like they’re planning several economic developments with North Korea, railways, roads, the Kaesong Industrial Complex, Mount Kumgang, and so on.”
“And the big corporations are going to invest in those?”
“Yeah. And apparently, there’ll be another summit in Pyongyang in a few months. This time, they’re planning to bring the heads of major corporations along too.”
That was news to me.
“Wait, you’re going to Pyongyang?”
“Yeah. Looks like I’ll be going to try the original Pyongyang cold noodles for real.”
It must not have been released to the media yet.
To think the two leaders would even meet in Pyongyang.
“Well, that’s the government’s official stance for now. Cooperate economically with North Korea as much as possible to help their development. The problem is the United States. We can’t help North Korea however we want. Not unless the UN and the U.S. lift the sanctions.”
Every administration had brought up investing in North Korea, and so on.
There had always been talk of various initiatives.
But nothing had ever been realized, because of the UN and U.S. sanctions on North Korea.
Right now, the two Koreas may be smiling and shaking hands, but unless those two entities lift the sanctions, we can’t do anything.
“And this is a different topic, but the Chairman of Daekwang Motors asked for a bit of help.”
“Is there a reason for us to help Daekwang Motors?”
“Daekwang has started producing electric vehicles to keep up with the times. The problem is their technology. Since they’re a latecomer, they still lack the necessary capabilities. So they want to buy back lost time with money.”
There are two companies considered pioneers of electric vehicles.
One is Tesla.
The other is Japan’s Nissan.
These two are called the early pioneers of EVs.
“Nissan is making headlines for all the wrong reasons right now. They're struggling in terms of management. Above all, now that you're partnering with Kangseong to pressure Japan, it looks like Nissan is truly on the ropes.”
“And the Chairman of Daekwang Motors wants to take advantage of that?”
“Yeah. What Daekwang wants is to take over the company, extract its technology, and at the same time significantly increase its market share in Japan. The problem is that Renault holds 40% of Nissan’s shares.”
The French car brand Renault owns 40% of Nissan.
That’s exactly why Nissan is having such a hard time.
Renault is pinning all management responsibility and poor performance on Nissan.
“They were trying to fully absorb Nissan by pushing for a merger with a guy named Carlos Ghosn leading the effort, but then Japan’s YCC collapsed and all manufacturing halted, and they suddenly realized it was a bad move.”
“So now they want to snatch up Nissan at a dirt-cheap price?”
“Right. And it’s not like they want to hog it all for themselves. They’re even offering to share the shares with us, and at an even lower price. The catch is that to completely absorb Nissan, Daekwang needs permission from the Japanese government. Daekwang could talk to them all day and get nowhere, but they’ll listen if we speak. That’s why they’re asking for help.”
Honestly, even acquiring those shipping companies earlier would’ve been impossible if things were normal, there’s no way the Japanese government would’ve approved it.
But if we hadn’t stepped in to revive those dying companies, there was no way they could clear the backlog at the ports or bring in new goods. So in the end, they had no choice but to approve it.
In effect, we threatened the Japanese government with a metaphorical knife.
On top of that, Japan was so overwhelmed by the YCC collapse that they couldn’t even react.
“What do you think? They’re offering us shares basically for free, and say they’ll handle the negotiations with Renault themselves.”
I briefly pulled up corporate data on Nissan with my phone.
Nissan was clearly going through a tough time.
Even just seeing their global revenue drop by 30% said it all.
But their EV technology was undeniably advanced.
The issue was Renault, who had a tight grip on them.
“Also, that Carlos Ghosn guy is another problem. He’s the chairman of the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance. If he opposes it, even with approval from the Japanese government, the deal won’t go through.”
Alliance.
It means a strategic partnership, not a merger.
It’s a fairly common business strategy, especially in the automotive industry, where setting up a full production line from development to manufacturing requires astronomical investment. So companies often choose this route.
They maintain their individual identities without merging, but form strategic alliances instead.
That’s the core of an alliance.
The problem was that Renault, while owning 40% of Nissan, was abusing its power and had even stripped them of their voting rights.
And at the center of it all was Carlos Ghosn, head of the alliance and chairman of Nissan.
“.......”
I stared at Carlos Ghosn’s profile listed in Nissan’s corporate data.
A very dark vortex was swirling from his face.
“Should I tell Daekwang to meet with him and negotiate first?”
“No.”
“Huh? You’re telling them not to meet him? He’s the one holding the key.”
I knew that too.
But something about that man gave off an overpowering sense that he was someone we should never get involved with.
Then does that mean we shouldn’t invest in Nissan at all?
Strangely enough, that didn’t seem to be the case either.
The moment I reached out toward the company Nissan, I felt a wave of good feeling flowed lightly through my fingertips.
Which meant, in the end, the real problem was this Carlos Ghosn...
“Tell them to leave Carlos out of it and try to keep the conversation going only with Renault.”
“Really? If Carlos opposes it, the whole deal might fall through... but still, it’s better to do as you say, Jin-ho. Oh right. What about North Korea? I heard the government plans to create a dedicated investment fund for this. Should we put something into it too?”
“If the sanctions against North Korea aren’t lifted, they won’t be able to create anything anyway, right?”
“True. But things don’t look normal right now. There’s a real chance the country might completely open up, like Germany once did.”
Indeed, even I thought that, based on recent news, the relationship between the two Koreas seemed fundamentally different than before. Maybe we were really heading toward a time when South Koreans could freely travel to Pyongyang.
“.......”
So I pulled up some images of North Korea on my phone and placed my hand over them.
“!?”
Suddenly, with a thunderous roar, I saw a vision play out in my mind like a film reel, one of the buildings exploded and collapsed.
***
Milon Tusk wanted to meet Jung Jin-ho immediately, but that wasn’t possible.
Meetings don't happen instantly like lightning.
More than anything, the other party was someone who practically controlled the global economy.
“Yeah. Of course he’s busy.”
Still, the tension was unbearable.
Every day of delay meant Tesla’s production capacity was falling apart.
“World Link? That’s what they want?”
“Yes. That’s the field Kwangwoon is most interested in discussing.”
While setting up the meeting, Tusk wanted to understand why Kwangwoon had attacked Tesla with such apparent hostility. But what they wanted turned out to be World Link.
Specifically, the satellite project that had only just begun testing.
“.......”
And at that moment, Milon Tusk felt chills.
He had to admit, they were sharp.
To the average observer, World Link was still just an experimental project in its infancy.
But Jung Jin-ho seemed to have seen right through to its core.
World Link was a project that would shift the entire paradigm of communication technology worldwide.
Currently, communication relies on base stations and complex cable networks, but once World Link is deployed globally, communication will be possible through space.
It would allow anyone to communicate from deep in the mountains or isolated islands where base station construction was impossible.
And when this technology advanced even further, it would be usable on Mars, where Tusk planned to build his colony.
In short, if World Link was fully realized, it could dominate all global communications.
That’s why the project had remained unlisted and kept as private as possible.
To prevent people from questioning the value of the technology.
“Maybe they’re trying to build a new telecom company in Korea? In partnership with us.”
It looked like Jung Jin-ho wasn’t simply trying to invest in the company, he wanted to go one step further and deploy World Link across South Korea and directly control it himself.
He had already dominated Korea’s finance, shipping, and semiconductors.
And now, was he aiming to take over communications too?
“That’s not going to happen. This project wasn’t meant to be developed for partnerships.”
But if they rejected him, he’d keep pressuring them using the battery issue.
It was a tight corner.
“Have you checked what Kwangwoon’s latest moves are?”
“Yes. This time, they’re trying to acquire Nissan together with Daekwang Motors.”
“Really? What a waste of effort.”
Tusk had also been keeping an eye on Nissan.
Tesla and Nissan, those two had pioneered the early EV market.
And in some aspects, Nissan’s EV technology was ahead of Tesla’s.
If they hadn’t ended up in that state after getting involved with a predatory company like Renault, Nissan would have had every chance to grow even further.
“The chairman over there would never sell Nissan. If anything, he’d force a merger with Renault instead.”
“Yes… But judging from how things are progressing, it looks like everything is heading in Kwangwoon’s favor.”
“What? How?”
“There was an internal whistleblower document that just came out. It revealed that Carlos Ghosn embezzled tens of millions of dollars and colluded with Renault to push all the investment responsibility onto Nissan. Because of that, an arrest warrant has now been issued for Chairman Carlos Ghosn.”
He had been so focused on Kwangwoon that he hadn’t even realized such chaos was breaking out inside Nissan.
“So everything was quiet until now, and then just as Kwangwoon and Daekwang start trying to swallow up Nissan, this explodes?”
“Yes. Chairman Carlos Ghosn is claiming that someone is spreading conspiracy theories and that he’s being arrested under false charges.”
“Is he actually innocent?”
“No. The crimes are real. But the fact that this whistleblowing happened right at this moment…”
“So Kwangwoon’s behind it again.”
Since Carlos Ghosn was bound to interfere with the acquisition of Nissan, did they swing the sword early and take him out from the start?
Jung Jin-ho.
The more one learned about him, the more terrifying he became.
The problem was, if Milon Tusk fiercely resisted and blocked the World Link project this time.
“That same sword might come for me too…”
Carlos Ghosn probably never imagined he’d be cleaned out right from the start like this.
And maybe it was because Milon Tusk had plenty of sins of his own.
He was now afraid of which of his weaknesses Jung Jin-ho would aim for with that blade.
*****
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