Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 224

224. 64th. Last All-in (1)

Morning of December 20, 2002.

In the study of our main family residence in Samcheong-dong, I watched the presidential election broadcast with the group’s top executives, a smile playing on my lips.

“Our bet paid off again, haha.”

“Indeed, heh heh. That fellow has some guts, doesn’t he?”

In response to Grandfather’s question, Lee Myung-jin smiled and said,

“Yes, Father. Sung-moon heard from Young-ran and told me that he rebuked reporters when his American in-laws visited. Said they were asking low-class questions, haha.”

“Heh heh, it’s common for politicians to be afraid of reporters, but he’s got some nerve. Still…”

Grandfather trailed off, watching the president-elect on TV, then his expression darkened as he spoke.

“Judging by his face, he seems to trust people too much, which worries me. I’m worried that even if all sorts of riffraff gather around him, he won’t be able to shake them off himself.”

This president-elect had an eye for talent no less than Grandfather, but he was too weak when it came to personal relationships, which ultimately led to a bad end. I groaned inwardly as I watched the president-elect on TV holding a bouquet and cheering.

‘We need to lay a good foundation for this country, starting with him. Especially since we’ve taken out Lee Young-baek, who should have become the next mayor of Seoul and then president.’

As a returnee who has caused a huge accident, I now have to clean up the mess. Therefore, I was planning to tear the mouths of anyone in the government, political circles, or judiciary who tried to create trouble with their petty power plays and feed them my money until they burst.

“Because of your concerns, Grandfather, we’ve decided to scout all the guys from the president-elect’s camp who are likely to cause trouble and relocate them to Standard Capital’s overseas branches for five years. We’ve also decided to take some guys from the opposition party.”

Grandfather smiled at my confident answer.

“Well done. If you give those who only crave power enough money to choke on, they’ll wag their tails like puppies, hehe.”

Grandfather’s rough words, spoken in a low voice, were absolutely true.

How many people in the political, government, and judicial circles of this country haven’t taken money from the Haedong Group? Grandfather hated disputes and only greased the wheels enough to avoid losses, but even I didn’t know the full extent of his connections.

“By the way, this year seems to be the last year mentioned in the document that President Jong-geum Park submitted… how is it going?”

At Grandfather’s question, his laughter gone, Jo Young-chan opened his mouth.

“The proportion of cash advances in last year’s credit card usage was 65 percent. Even with an annual interest rate of 30 percent, it’s easy to get a loan, so many people used it.”

In addition, Jo Young-chan briefly reported to Grandfather on the rapidly increasing number of credit delinquents, a problem largely unnoticed due to the World Cup fever.

“They were making money by playing the private loan shark game instead of focusing on payment processing, tsk tsk.”

Grandfather clicked his tongue at Jo Young-chan’s report. The credit card business was created to reduce the inconvenience of carrying around large sums of money, but what’s with this money-lending scheme?

“Still, thanks to the efforts of Chairman Lee [referring to the protagonist], President Park, and myself since the beginning of last year, Haedong Jong-geum only has about 400 billion won in card bonds left. Even that amount is expected to be repaid within the first quarter of next year.”

In the heat of last year’s World Cup, the Haedong Group’s financial sector quietly and quickly divested its card bonds.

The card bonds we released are bonds—no, bombs—in which credit card companies act as intermediaries connecting investors and credit card consumers. The bomb we were holding was the smallest in the entire financial sector, and the fuse would be cut before the chain explosion started, so there was no problem.

“In addition, we will recover our index fund investments early next year and use them to pay off the loans we received from Haedong Jong-geum, so there will be no problem with liquid funds.”

“Well done.”

Grandfather nodded calmly after hearing about my and Jo Young-chan’s perfect measures, but something was bothering me.

‘The North Korean nuclear issue didn’t explode, so the introduction of short-term foreign capital hasn’t stopped.’

The butterfly effect I caused was definitely a good thing for the country, but it was a bad thing for me and my family. Shouldn’t the card companies that are barely holding on collapse one after another if the infusion of funds from abroad is cut off?

Pondering with a stern expression, I said to Grandfather,

“We need to detonate the credit card crisis from abroad, Advisor.”

“What are you talking about?”

“For the credit card crisis to erupt, the supply of funds must be cut off, whether domestically or internationally. It’s difficult domestically, so we need to block the introduction of foreign capital.”

“What?”

Not only Grandfather but also the other group executives looked at me with wide eyes, quite surprised.

“Chairman Lee?”

“Chairman?”

“It’s also about taking over the Shinseong Group, but if we don’t detonate the credit card crisis now, South Korea could face a second foreign exchange crisis. I think I need to meet with Henry and Isaac.”

It could be easily handled with a phone call, but this is also a matter involving people, so emotions can’t be completely excluded. Above all, this matter requires us to borrow their influence for the sake of our family’s revenge, so it was only right to show sincerity.

“Hmm…”

Grandfather groaned and slammed his palm on the desk.

“Alright. But we must ensure that as few innocent people as possible are harmed because of our greed. Chairman Lee, you must also do your best.”

“Of course, Advisor. If I can only make those Jang bastards kneel before our family, I’ll bet all my assets.”

With my words, all the executives except Grandfather nodded with stern expressions. If we bet everything on this one game, everything will be over.

***

The first thing we did was fly to the United States, take a yacht, and go to Henry’s island in the Caribbean. Stepping onto the island, we entered the villa where we found Henry and Isaac enjoying the sun on sunbeds in front of the villa.

“You need to block foreign capital from entering Korea?”

“Yes. If we don’t detonate the credit card crisis now, South Korea will face a second foreign exchange crisis.”

“Hmm…”

While Henry was groaning, Isaac asked,

“But blocking the flow of money is difficult, Johnny. Is there a way?”

“Don’t you have the document I gave you before?”

When I gave an answer with a look of surprise, Isaac gave an awkward smile.

“Still, the method of using it must be accurate. You know?”

“Of course. When I contact you later, please send that document to S&P [Standard & Poor’s], Moody’s, and Fitch [the three major credit rating agencies] at that time. Under the names of Triumph and Chase Manhattan, hehe.”

If we put the aura of the two men who have become the two giants of Wall Street on it, the world’s three major credit rating agencies will not be able to ignore Park Tae-gon’s report. Park Tae-gon’s report, which they will package as their own, will be upgraded from a hand grenade to a Tsar Bomba-class [the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated] nuclear bomb.

“Is that all you need? If Shinseong Group’s affiliates support Shinseong Card, it will be able to breathe?”

I shook my head at Henry’s suggestion, smiling grimly.

“No. The probability of Shinseong Card surviving is zero.”

“Zero?”

Looking at me, who had made a firm statement, the two men smiled coldly.

“Shinseong Card has surpassed ten million members, with a market share of 20.8 percent. The amount of bad debt is so large that all Shinseong Group’s affiliates have been pouring money into Shinseong Card since the second half of last year. The fact that it hasn’t been reported in the media is because they’ve been suppressing it with the power of a huge advertiser, and the reason why the performance is normal is because the financial support is being provided in the form of loans.”

Henry and Isaac frowned at the sight of Shinseong Group, which was not even thinking of increasing capital even when its affiliates were failing, and was even using it to play money games.

“That’s really terrible.”

“That’s how I became rich. Just like when the 8.3 loan freeze [a measure implemented in South Korea in 1972 to alleviate the burden of private debt by freezing interest rates and postponing repayment deadlines] turned my family’s money into scraps of paper. I will make those in-laws kneel before my family.”

They squandered my family’s money and even killed me. Although I didn’t tell the whole truth, I had mentioned the 8.3 loan freeze, so Henry and Isaac nodded with grim expressions.

“So, we’ll let Shinseong Group pour money in on its own… What about the Korean banks?”

Even though Korean banks have been privatized, the combined holdings of Haedong Group, Standard Capital, Triumph Capital, and Chase Manhattan amount to 40 percent.

However, due to the separation of banking and commerce, voting rights are limited to 16 percent, so they seemed worried that the government might intervene.

“I’m about to tell you about that now, Henry.”

I looked at Henry and raised the corners of my mouth.

***

After sharing the plan from the triggering to the resolution of the Shinseong Group’s credit card crisis with Henry and Isaac, we discussed future investment issues. Only after completing all the measures did we return to Korea.

Of course, there were things to prepare in Korea as well, so after finishing the remaining preparations, I closely monitored the movements of the credit card market.

In the meantime, the year changed, and it became March 2003.

[SG Global’s Accounting Fraud: A Butterfly Effect? Discovering the Prelude to the Credit Card Crisis.

During a joint investigation by the prosecution, the Financial Supervisory Commission [a South Korean government agency responsible for supervising and regulating financial institutions], and the Financial Supervisory Service [another South Korean government agency that oversees financial institutions] into SG Global’s accounting fraud, a problem that could cause cracks in the entire financial market was discovered. While investigating funds that included SG Group’s bonds, they delved into why the redemption request size was abnormally large compared to the fund’s size. As a result, they discovered that the cause was credit card bonds sold to investors by credit card companies to pay for their customers’ card payments. The scale was initially reported to be 50 trillion won [approximately 40 billion USD], but the investigation revealed it to be over 90 trillion won…]

Reading the article in the Dongyang Ilbo [a fictional newspaper name], I clenched my fist.

“It’s done!”

“It’s done!”

“It’s done!”

Sun Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin, who were also reading the newspaper like me, shouted in unison like a round song. I immediately called Henry.

“It’s me, Henry. We should release that document tonight.”

[Understood. We will make sure our names are never revealed.]

After a brief call, I also called Isaac, clenched my fist, and cracked my knuckles.

“The final game has begun, hehe.”

###

At the same time.

“You fucking bastards!”

With a rough curse, Jang Min-jae tore apart the Dongyang Ilbo he was holding in both hands.

Jang Min-jae, who was putting all his efforts into Shinseong Card sales with his cousins to somehow replenish the family fortune that had been depleted due to insurance payouts.

The Dongyang Ilbo article seemed to mock Jang Min-jae, who had been repeating like a recorder to send collection agents to the increasing number of delinquent customers.

Jang Min-jae, who was constantly slamming the desk covered with torn newspaper scraps, took a breath and picked up the phone.

“This is Executive Director Jang of Shinseong Card, Mr. Chairman.”

[What’s going on?]

“Please cut off all the advertisements our group is giving to Dongyang Ilbo.”

Even though the existing advertisements were less than a billion won [approximately 800,000 USD], he was furious even at the thought of giving that money as advertising expenses. Jang Min-jae asked for some kind of retribution, and his father’s voice was heard.

[Alright. But… what about the card problem?]

“Th, that’s…”

Jang Min-jae couldn’t bring himself to speak.

The current discovered bad debts alone are well over 10 trillion won [approximately 8 billion USD]. Considering the bad debts that will be revealed in the future, he had no idea how much it would grow, so he couldn’t even dare to speak.

[Get a grip, Jang Min-jae! If you have time to hesitate, knock on the bank doors!]

“…Yes!”

Jang Min-jae blurted out an answer to his father’s roar from the receiver.

As soon as the call ended, Jang Min-jae hurriedly grabbed his jacket, coat, and bag and ran out of the office. But…

[I’m sorry, Executive Director Jang. We are also taking over a card company as a subsidiary, so it’s difficult to provide financial support to Shinseong Group.]

[The foreign shareholders are in an uproar. What can we do when they say they’ll call a shareholders’ meeting and fire us if we lend to Shinseong Group?]

[We’re in trouble ourselves, Executive Director Jang. We know how big Shinseong Group’s deposits are in our bank, but I think it will be difficult.]

Shinseong’s name doesn’t work… Jang Min-jae returned to the company with only a heavy sense of futility, but it was too early for him to be crushed.

***

While Jang Min-jae was looking deathly, a bombardment targeting Korea’s credit card business, specifically Shinseong Card, was beginning in New York on the other side of the world.

[According to our S&P’s [Standard & Poor’s, a credit rating agency] investigation so far, South Korea has been spreading credit cards to its citizens to stimulate domestic demand in an attempt to escape the foreign exchange crisis management system. The result is the credit card bond problem that has emerged in Korea overnight.]

The S&P analyst who appeared on CNN broadcast poured out a lot of negative outlooks on the Korean economy, but analysts from Moody’s [another credit rating agency] and Fitch [yet another credit rating agency] also appeared on News Corp or NBC broadcast and uttered the same thing, only with different shells.

[Among them, the problem of Shinseong Card, which is currently the number one credit card company in Korea, is expected to be the most serious. Even if we arithmetically calculate the scale of credit card bonds announced in Korea and Shinseong Card’s market share, the scale of bad debts is estimated to be at least 18 trillion won [approximately 14.4 billion USD]…]

“Oh, dear!”

Jackson Pierpont Morgan’s expression distorted as he watched the situation on TV. He took a rough breath and made a phone call.

“Mr. Jang! What’s going on?”

[Calm down. We are also looking for ways to fix it now.]

Unlike himself, Jackson’s voice grew louder at Jang Ho-gun’s calm answer.

“How are you going to fix it? Didn’t you launder all your slush funds through reinsurance that we subscribed to!”

It was investment companies of the former Morgan family that laundered Shinseong Group’s slush funds and invested them in the acquisition of Shinseong Fire’s reinsurance. They coveted the reinsurance acquisition but were fortunate to have withdrawn after receiving a commission of $200 million, but the problem is the $20 billion loaned to Shinseong Group, isn’t it?

“If this goes wrong, not only me but your family will be ruined! Do you know that?”

[I know. So please wait.]

The call ended with Jang Ho-gun’s blunt answer.

“Fucking yellow monkey!”

How dare a yellow-skinned monkey cut off a Morgan family member’s phone first… Jackson stomped on the phone he had thrown on the floor.

###

“Hoo…”

Jang Ho-gun, who had finished the call and sighed in Sung Ui-won’s office, said to Lee Soo-han, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Contact everyone who took our money right away. Public officials, gold badges [a Korean slang term referring to members of the National Assembly], everyone!”

All that’s left for Shinseong Group is to move the political circles and get a bailout. I don’t know if it’s possible, though.