CH415 | Heir

Bin Salman concluded his three-day schedule and returned to Saudi Arabia.

Not long after his departure, Vice Chairman Han delivered some excellent news.

“ The diabetes treatment has officially been approved by the FDA!”

“That should have a positive impact on Centurion’s stock price.”

“It already rose by more than ten percent just this morning. And this increase came even before the fact that the drug is also effective in treating obesity became widely known. That makes the situation even more promising.”

The diabetes treatment, Yugobin.

For now, it was known only as a treatment effective against diabetes.

But once it was officially released, the side effect of weight loss would soon draw even greater public attention.

“Even with FDA approval, boosting Yugobin’s sales will ultimately require support from the medical industry.”

“David is already pouring massive lobbying funds into the healthcare sector. Hospitals, pharmacies—you name it, lobbying is underway everywhere.”

There was a reason the United States was often called the paradise of lobbying.

In particular, within the pharmaceutical industry, survival without lobbying in the U.S. market was nearly impossible.

“Provide as much lobbying funding as needed.”

“We’ve already funneled ten billion dollars through the fintech bank to be used as lobbying funds. That’s comparable to the cost of a U.S. presidential election.”

“Ten billion dollars? Then I take it the plan is to lobby beyond the U.S. as well.”

“Yes. The lobbying campaign begins in the United States, but it will expand across Europe.
The European Union has not yet granted approval, so they’re starting with the U.S., but since the European release is imminent, lobbying efforts there will soon increase as well.”

Few countries rejected a drug once it had FDA approval.

That was why pharmaceutical companies staked everything on obtaining it.

The day when Yugobin could be sold not only in Europe but across the globe was drawing closer.

“Tell them to also focus efforts in Hollywood. After all, who’s more sensitive about weight than celebrities?”

“If a famous actor were to promote it on social media, the impact would be tremendous.”

“Have them reach out not just to actors but also to well-known influencers. If manpower is lacking, mobilize Taewoo Group’s PR team as well.”

“Centurion has already dispatched a large-scale PR team to the United States. We’ll soon be sending Taewoo Group’s PR team there too.”

Yugobin was a drug whose sales would naturally grow over time.

However, with aggressive marketing, that timeline could be shortened—and for Taewoo Group, time was a crucial factor.

“Through Centurion, we can make up for the sales lost in China.”

“If demand surges as you predicted, not only will recovery be possible, but Taewoo Group’s total revenue may actually increase.”

“The situation in China has gotten worse, hasn’t it?”

Since the official announcement of the THAAD deployment, China had been voicing continual protests.

And as time went on, relations between South Korea and China only deteriorated further.

“There’s no official boycott yet, but sales of Korean products in China have stagnated.”

“Isn’t it strange? If they’re going to stage a boycott, they should be targeting American products, not Korean ones. Yet Apple’s sales have actually risen sharply.”

“It seems to be a reaction born of confidence—they can’t wage an all-out confrontation with the U.S., but they believe they can easily deal with South Korea.”

A great power and a small nation.

That was the rhetoric Chinese officials had openly used.

The absurd claim was that South Korea, being a ‘small nation,’ should act humbly before China—and unfortunately, there were plenty of people who genuinely believed it.

“They’ll regret ever thinking South Korea is an easy target. And if they dare to directly provoke Taewoo Group, their regret will be far greater.”

“So far, they haven’t launched a direct attack against Taewoo Group. In fact, unlike other major Korean conglomerates, there’s even a sense that Taewoo is being protected.”

Of course it should be that way. After all, the amount of money funneled into the pockets of China’s high-ranking officials was no small sum.

“Things will change quite a bit starting next year.”

“That’s why we’ve poured all funds into short selling in China. Wouldn’t it be better to strike first, before we get hit from behind?”

“It’s definitely better to strike than to be struck.
Still, we need to delay as long as possible the moment they realize we were the ones behind it.
Even better if they never find out.”

“We’ve taken measures to ensure that even if they suspect something, they won’t discover that we directly orchestrated the short selling.”

Taewoo Securities had nothing to do with the Chinese short selling.

They had simply invested the funds in a fintech bank, which coincidentally participated in the short selling in China.

“However, the Chinese stock market isn’t reacting as much as expected.”

“It’s temporarily contained by various policies for now, but a makeshift dam only holds for so long—it will soon collapse.”

“The financial firms in the Financial Tower are very concerned. All the funds available to every financial institution have been poured into the Chinese short selling.”

“If any financial firm wants to opt out, tell them they’re free to do so.”

“Do you think any firm would? After experiencing what happens when you go against our strategy, no financial institution would dare exit first.”

The Financial Tower was like a religion.

Foreign financial firms were fanatics following Taewoo Securities as their guru.

And how could fanatics disobey their guru’s command?

Their minds had been numbed by enormous success.

Even if they failed once or twice, they wouldn’t leave.

“They’ve become obedient hunting dogs.
You have to feed well the hunting dogs that follow orders faithfully.”

“They’re all just standing by with their mouths open. If you look around the Financial Tower, most are staring blankly at the Chinese market. Not a single person is pressing the buy or sell buttons.”

“Tell them to be patient a little longer. The Chinese stock market will definitely move soon.”

Fortune favors the patient.

If they could just endure the last month of 2015, tremendous results awaited them.

“Everyone is holding out, but the news hasn’t been good. Starting next year, China plans to implement a circuit breaker system.”

“The circuit breaker is nothing more than a device to slow down the market’s decline.
Even China knows this. It’s their way of signaling that the stock market won’t do well next year either.”

Circuit breaker.

In Korean, it literally meant “circuit interrupter.”

It was a system designed to temporarily halt stock trading to prevent the market from collapsing.

But the circuit breaker only lasted 30 minutes.

And people swept up in market mania wouldn’t suddenly regain their senses in just half an hour.

***

The last day of 2015.

All employees had left for the day. Only the executives gathered quietly for a meeting.

“We will now begin the fourth-quarter executive meeting for 2015.”

As always, reports started with the subsidiaries showing the best performance.

Taewoo Electronics, Taewoo Motors, Taewoo Semiconductors, and this year, even Taewoo Construction, all had very strong results.

“Taewoo Construction recorded its best performance this quarter. New apartments sold out at a 100% rate, and all previously held inventory has been depleted. Next year, over 10,000 apartment units are scheduled for completion.”

“That’s not as many as I expected.”

“Compared to other construction companies, they follow regulations so strictly that they can’t handle too much volume at once.”

In apartment construction, most projects are carried out by local construction firms.

Taewoo Construction typically participated in major projects or oversaw management and supervision.

Unlike other companies, it had a reputation for meticulously inspecting every detail from start to finish.

As a result, some local construction firms would even say they preferred not to work with Taewoo Construction.

But what could they do?

During the downturn, no other company was aggressively building new apartments.

So local construction firms had no choice but to work with Taewoo Construction, following strict rules and regulations throughout the projects.

“Continue enforcing strict regulations. And make sure the apartment supervision process is thorough. Not a single steel rebar should be omitted.”

“There’s absolutely no risk of omissions. If anything, we apply design standards more rigorously than other construction companies, which increases construction costs and reduces net profit.”

Advances in science and technology had a massive impact on construction companies.

With precise and meticulous design methods, buildings could now be constructed using only the exact amount of materials required.

This allowed most companies to reduce construction costs.

However, Taewoo Construction still adhered to a conservative design approach, which made construction more expensive.

“Right now, it might feel like a loss, but as trust builds, people will choose apartments at higher prices than other companies can offer.”

“We’ll do our utmost to ensure Taewoo Construction brings no disrepute to Taewoo Group!”

Next up was Taewoo Semiconductors.

There was hardly anything to point out.

The only minor issue was that the ultra-large semiconductor complex had not yet reached 100% operational capacity.

But that was a matter time would solve, and it was still generating massive sales, so no additional support was necessary.

However, Taewoo Motors was a slightly different story.

On the surface, there didn’t appear to be any major problems—but in reality, there were concerns.

“Sales of internal combustion vehicles and electric vehicles continue to increase. In particular, internal combustion vehicles are steadily gaining market share in North America and Europe, and are recording strong sales in Southeast Asia as well.”

“Sales of electric vehicles are lagging behind expectations.”

“Unlike internal combustion vehicles, electric vehicles require infrastructure. That means they can’t be sold in regions of Southeast Asia lacking the necessary infrastructure. And even in areas with infrastructure, consumers are still hesitant to make purchases.”

It was definitely different from smartphones.

As with any product, early adopters bought first.

Then subsequent customers made purchasing decisions based on their evaluations.

Smartphones had a low barrier to entry.

But electric vehicles were expensive, and unlike smartphones, they didn’t offer a plethora of new functions.

As a result, many consumers were still reluctant to purchase them.

“It seems electric vehicles haven’t yet been recognized as truly innovative products. What about autonomous driving?”

“I’ll explain that part. Remote control, the stage prior to autonomous driving, is now fully feasible. We plan to implement remote control first, then move on to autonomous driving.”

These were the words of Chun Min-jung, director of the Artificial Intelligence Center.

No one felt uncomfortable with her attending the executive meeting at such a young age.

Most subsidiaries were already benefiting from the AI Center, and everyone recognized Director Chun’s abilities.

“So you mean we should start with remote control first.”

“Yes. Only after stability is proven through remote control can we transition to autonomous driving. However, implementing remote control requires several conditions, and applying it to private vehicles is challenging.”

Was it because this was an executive meeting?

Director Chun spoke in a very formal tone, unlike usual, which created a slight sense of distance.

“This issue could be resolved through collaboration with taxi or rental car companies.”

“We plan to start collaboration with rental car companies for remote control in the first quarter of next year. In the second half of the year, we intend to implement autonomous driving.”

Among the companies managed by Captain Kang, there were also rental car firms.

The remote control system could be applied as early as tomorrow.

Moreover, since they also owned a cross-country freight company in the U.S., the possibilities for experimentation were endless.