Cheongryong Motors, which had made a name for itself as an SUV powerhouse, went through a major crisis during the IMF crisis. It failed to recover even afterwards, and was eventually sold to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) of China.
At the time of the acquisition, SAIC made a firm promise to invest a large sum of money to develop and release new cars and revive Cheongryong Motors. However, as soon as they completed the acquisition, they changed their tune.
Far fr...
“Who are you?”
I turned around and saw a high school girl with long, straight hair and horn-rimmed glasses looking at me warily.
“W-what? Who are you?”
“Who are you? Why have you been standing in front of my house?”
I looked back and forth between the girl and the house.
“This is your house?”
“Yes. Why?”
Then…
“Are you Seo Ga-yeon?”
“Yes, that’s me. Who are you?”
I wiped the sweat from my bro...
Salman was currently living as a temperate and composed royal.
But did that mean he had no desire to become king?
Understanding his ambitions, I presented him with Peter the Great's sword as a gift. Salman accepted the sword, carefully concealing his desires.
“Haha, you've brought me a very precious gift. It must not have been easy to obtain.”
“How could I bring an ordinary gift when meeting you, Lord Salman? I chose Peter the Great’s sword because I believ...
The next day
When I arrived at Tae-woo Electronics, Vice President Woo Sung-il personally delivered the daily report.
"Sales of the InoPhone continue to rise. Products from Factories 3 and 4 are selling out the moment they’re produced. Thanks to the InnoPhone, sales of Tae-woo Electronics’ home appliances have also increased."
"Looks like the InnoPhone helped shed Tae-woo Electronics’ outdated image a bit."
The contrast between the InnoPhone ...
Dimon spoke again, his expression turning serious.
"Since Taewoo Group holds 27% of the shares, acquiring a larger stake would theoretically allow us to take over the company. However, to ensure a stable acquisition, we need at least 40%."
"I secretly own about 13% of Taewoo Heavy Industries’ shares."
These were shares I had swept up from Myeong-dong.
I had invested a massive amount of capital to secure that 13%, but it was still far from the 40% Dimon required.<...
"Hah! Hanse Group going bankrupt? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a while."
Cheon Seong-deok let out a short, incredulous laugh before his expression hardened.
"You do realize that Hanse Group is ranked 18th in the industry—higher than your own Daheung Group?"
"Of course. It’s one of Korea’s leading conglomerates, with annual sales reaching five trillion won last year."
"And knowing that, you’re still claiming they’ll go bankrupt?"
<...
The reception room in the annex, much like Chairman Cheon Seong-deok himself, was not excessively lavish but carried an air of refined elegance.
At the center stood a walnutwood seating set, while a simple landscape painting adorned one wall. Opposite it, a large white porcelain vase sat atop a wooden shelf.
Sitting alone on the sofa, Seok-won idly gazed at the painting, which looked noticeably old. His eyes caught the inscription "Nangok (蘭谷)" in the corner, accom...
The next day,
Yeouido, Seoul’s Financial District
When exiting through Exit 3 of Yeouido Station, towering securities firm buildings lined both sides of the street.
Around lunchtime, it was common to see securities employees gathered in small groups, sipping vending machine coffee or leaning against the walls, smoking cigarettes while chatting before heading back to their offices.
With brokers and retail investo...
Eunsung Motors Pyeongtaek Factory.
Vehicles being produced moved along the conveyor belt, and workers assembled parts with quick hand movements.
Bang Mu-hyuk and Jo Min-seok worked facing each other across the conveyor belt, on the right and left respectively. The work they did was almost identical.
The difference was that Bang Mu-hyuk assembled the right wheel, and Jo Min-seok assembled the left wheel.
However, the difference in their wages was more than four time...
"SAVE Investment will cover all the funds required for the acquisition of NEXT."
"Are you asking for more shares in return? You already own 20% of the shares. Increasing your stake further would be difficult."
"I am not asking for more shares. Instead, I want ownership of the software that will be developed in the future."
"Software? Is that even profitable?"
I subtly steered the conversation toward my main point.
At this time, hardware was still considered ...
After a long flight, I finally arrived in the United States.
I wanted nothing more than to rest at SAVE Investment, a place that felt like home.
But I couldn’t.
A guest had already arrived and was waiting for me.
"DImon’s here early? There’s still a lot of time before our meeting."
"His face is completely swollen. He looks furious—like he just got into a fight."
"I don’t even need to ask what happened."
After a quick stop in the bathr...
Captain Kang was, as always, quick.
Just as I was about to leave work, he contacted me, saying he had secured evidence.
Wanting to see him after a long time, I decided to drop by his office.
"Welcome, sir!"
"Did you get the evidence?"
"It wasn’t even difficult. The guy’s a complete amateur. He didn’t even bother hiding the money—just had it deposited directly into his personal account. And get this—he recently purchased a brand-new apartment."
<...
Hwa-young, who was waiting for me at the coffee shop, waved her hand and said, “It’s hard to even see your face these days. How have you been?”
I took off my jacket, frowning. “I said I’d pick you up from school, why did you insist on meeting so far away?”
“Well, duh. What if my friends recognize you?”
I scoffed. “Am I some kind of celebrity? Do people just recognize me on sight? I’ve been on the news a few times and in a magazine once, that’s it. If...
[Mido Department Store 72,210 ▲ 1,040]
Section Chief Jung Hwan-yeop, who had rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and was sitting at his desk, shook his head as he stared at the stock price chart displayed on his monitor.
"It looked like it might falter for a moment at the start of the session, but it ended up breaking 72,000 won after all."
Hearing his muttered remark, Assistant Manager Yoo Seok-hyeon pee...
Hanyang Country Club, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province
Located just 30 minutes from Seoul, the club's convenient location meant that even on a weekday afternoon, many people were out enjoying a round of golf under the warm spring sunshine.
On the lush green practice putting area beneath tall pine trees, men and women dressed in colorful golf attire were refining their strokes. Meanwhile, a distinguished group of individuals made their way into the elegantly designed cl...
Chairman Park Tae-hong, momentarily at a loss for words, furrowed his brows and turned to Seok-won.
"Explain it in a way that makes sense."
"It’s exactly as I said. Let’s make the shares they fought so hard to buy completely worthless."
Seok-won shrugged.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
At the chairman’s repeated question, Seok-won smiled and answered calmly.
"Mido Department Store is at the center of the group’s governance structure because...
After World War II, the world was divided into two camps. And with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the hegemony of the world was taken over by the United States.
The world economy revolved around the United States and the US currency, the dollar, and the United States was in an unshakeable position, militarily and economically, that no other country could match.
The only country that had even chased up to its knees was Japan. But they followed too closely, and as a result, the...
Word spread quickly that Hanho Savings Bank had lent 200 billion won to Daemun Group.
People initially dismissed it as a rumor. No one believed that a struggling bank like Hanho, on the verge of being designated as a high-risk institution, would lend such a large sum to Daemun Group, which was also facing financial difficulties. But when the details of the deal, including the unusual collateral, became known, everyone was stunned.
Hanho was accepting miscellaneous items and dist...
"I'll be going now. Take care of yourself."
The meeting with Chairman Jang ended quickly.
It seemed my grandfather had really just wanted to boast about me—after a single cup of tea, he stood up to leave.
"Min-jae, what was your real intention in bringing up Wall Street with Chairman Jang? Surely, you weren’t seriously offering to help him?"
"Grandpa, what do you think it would take for Tae-woo Group to become the number one conglomerate in Korea?"
"I do...
Even if I took the president position at Taewoo Electronics, I would just be a puppet.
I wouldn’t be able to go against Grandpa’s wishes, nor would I have the authority to implement the reforms I envisioned.
That’s why I needed shares.
For the first time in my life, I decided to dig in my heels and throw a fit to get them.
"I’m young, and my influence is limited. Holding a substantial share in the company is the only way I can properly manage Taewoo Electro...
A few days later.
The controversy surrounding the false smear campaign against InoPhone was quickly resolved.
The newspaper that had initially raised concerns published a correction along with a full exposé of the incident.
Meanwhile, renowned international media outlets and industry experts came forward to defend InoPhone, flipping the situation entirely in its favor. Rather than harming its reputation, the scandal only fueled the phone’s popularity.<...
Mido Department Store’s stock, which had skyrocketed to 23,000 won in the morning session before seemingly pausing for breath, erupted once more in the afternoon when Daeheung Group countered with a public tender offer at 40,000 won per share.
[Mido Department Store 36,490
+26,840]
"It’s going up again!"
"This is insane!"
"That’s right! Keep climbing!"
"Damn it! If only I had just closed my eyes and bought some this...
The next morning
Despite the fact that the stock market had yet to open, more than 30 to 40 individual investors had already gathered at the Daehung Securities trading hall in Yeouido early in the morning.
The investors were a diverse mix—from elderly gentlemen wearing fedoras to middle-aged men in ties and women with permed hair. They huddled in small groups, chatting amongst themselves, or paced anxiously between the large stock market display board and the ...
Donghae Group Headquarters
As soon as Woo Ho-geun hurriedly pushed open the door to the chairman’s office, a thunderous roar erupted.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
The chairman’s furious voice boomed through the room, making the walls tremble. Woo Ho-geun struggled to mask his dismay and averted his gaze from Chairman Woo Yong-gap, whose face was flushed red with rage.
“Please, have a seat and hear us out calmly.”
Jeon Hae-chul...
Hyun-joo noona told the Golden Gate employees about her pregnancy. Her belly was slowly starting to show, making it difficult to hide any longer.
The male employees were startled, but some of the female employees seemed to have already guessed. In any case, everyone rushed to congratulate her.
Hyun-joo noona is the first Korean and first female head of Golden Gate branch, and also the third-largest shareholder of OTK Company. Because of this, domestic and foreign media covered t...
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Kim Min-sik, President of Hanho Savings Bank.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Moon Sang-ho, Managing Director of Daemun Group.”
They were meeting at a high-class room salon, notorious for its discretion. Moon Sang-ho had arranged the meeting.
“So this is a room salon. I thought it was just something you saw on TV. This world is truly a strange place, isn’t it?”
Moon Sang-ho frowned at his crass remark, but Kim Min-sik c...
Times Square | New York, USA
Times Square, famous for drawing large crowds in the U.S., was even more packed than usual today.
“What’s going on here?”
“I heard Steve is holding a demonstration for the phone he made.”
“That phone supposedly has a lot of issues, doesn’t it?”
“That’s just false information spread by a competitor. So, today, they’re holding this demo to prove that all the reported issues with INO PHONE are ...
Vice President Woo Sung-il couldn't help but admire his own networking skills.
Getting his hands on classified information about INO-PHONE in just one day—now that was impressive.
Eager to deliver the good news, he grabbed the documents and headed straight to the president’s office.
"President Park, I’ve secured all the relevant documents on INO-PHONE, including its flaws."
"Impressive as always, Vice President. If only our employees could learn from you—so...
The executive meeting ended.
President Park Jin-hoon returned to Taewoo Electronics.
Up until now, he had been holding back his rage.
But the moment the Vice President stepped into his office, he exploded.
"Immediately conduct a thorough investigation into INO-PHONE and find every possible flaw!"
"U-Understood, sir."
"Leak those flaws to the media. That should send sales plummeting, don’t you think?"
At that moment, the Vice President grasped...
Daeheung Group Headquarters
Late in the afternoon, the spacious lobby, lined with artificial marble, was in chaos, packed with over forty reporters.
The media had rushed in after receiving word of an urgent press conference from Daeheung Group.
As PR staff hurriedly guided them toward the first-floor auditorium, the arriving journalists exchanged greetings with familiar faces and gathered in small groups, chatting amongst themselves.
One reporter, ...