A few days later
I boarded a flight to the U.S. with Dimon.
I had wanted to bring Chu Min-jeong along, but I couldn’t convince her to get on the plane.
“I never expected you to come to the U.S. with me, boss. Now that we’re here, can you finally tell me who we’re meeting?”
“There’s a company that is absolutely essential for the growth of Fintech Bank.”
“You flew all the way to the U.S. just to acquire a company? If that’s the case, couldn...
As the sun rose outside and the dim light of dawn broke through, Seok-won, who had stayed up all night, sat at his desk in front of several monitors.
[HKD: 7.80 (▼0.12)]
The fierce battle over the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate, where both sides had poured in astronomical sums without yielding an inch, had finally come to an end.
There had been several perilous moments when the exchange rate band was on the verge of breaking under the relentless assault...
As soon as the New York forex market opened, Quantum Fund went all in, dumping massive blocks of Hong Kong dollars like it was determined to end the battle tonight.
“Jesus! Quantum’s already sold over a billion dollars’ worth of Hong Kong dollars just in New York!”
“They were unloading like crazy in London, too.”
“Add what they dumped in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and they’ve offloaded more than four billion dollars today alone.”
“Holy shit!”
"Bought 20 at 7.85!"
"Okay. Done!"
"Goldman just put out a sell order for 50 at 7.87."
"Damn it. Buy them up, now!"
"Order filled."
"Lehman just listed 60 for sale at 7.87!"
At the frontlines of defending the Hong Kong dollar, the trading center of the foreign exchange reserves hadn’t gone dark for a single day since the speculative attack began. It was running 24/7 without a moment's pause.
As the relentless wave of Hong Kong dollar dumping ...
Central and Western District, Hong Kong — August 6, 1997.
“We've been releasing dollars to barely maintain the upper limit of the currency band, but the offensive is so fierce… honestly, I can't guarantee how much longer we can hold out.”
Jo-gang, the Director of the Foreign Reserves Bureau, looked noticeably gaunt after a month of battling against speculative attacks. His grim report caused the others gathered on the sofas to let out heavy sighs, their ...
I stayed in America and took care of things while the trade war was going on.
The TS Company factory, a joint venture between OTK Company and Samzasung SB, began its initial production. They were now seriously embarking on the production of OTK batteries for electric vehicles.
Professor Kim Ho-min came to the United States to tour the factory.
“Welcome.”
“Thanks to you, I even get to see America.”
“You originally studied in the US, right?”
Knowing your enemy and knowing yourself ensures victory in one hundred battles. I immediately instructed Maru and Park Jong-bum to investigate Daehoo Group.
“90 trillion won in sales, 4 trillion won in net profit, 40 subsidiaries, 200,000 employees, and a market capitalization of 45 trillion won. Whew.”
As expected of a chaebol.
“They’re doing well.”
Even with the slight recovery of export businesses after the IMF crisis, Daehoo Group’s 4 trillion won i...
Geumsan Hotel Banquet Hall (5)
Tae-soo quietly murmured under his breath.
"Kim Gwanghyun, Sung Yeonjae, Lee Heejung, Yoon Hyungon, Yang Geumseop, Hwang Jiwon, Park Youngjoo, Lee Manjong, Hong Hyunkyung, Choi Jaemoon, Ha Jaewook, Jeon Wooseok, Kang Yushin, Cho Chanik, Park Suyeon, Kim Suhwan, Jang Seungwan…"
These were the names of the people Han Ilkwon had hospitalized with injuries requiring more than 12 weeks of treatment.
"None of those names ...
Geumsan Hotel Banquet Hall (4)
Han Cheong-ho handed over a stack of photographs.
They contained gruesome, horrifying images—the brutalized remains of Secretary Song.
Upon seeing them, Park Jeong-hwan’s eyebrow twitched sharply.
There it was. A reaction.
“My secretary… was sent to Saudi Arabia. His family begged to at least recover his remains, so I pulled some strings to send them there.”
“…Did they find the body?”
...
Geumsan Hotel Banquet Hall (3)
Inside the Room
The room was thick with cigarette smoke.
Park Jeong-hwan and the heads of major conglomerates were smoking, filling the air with a pungent haze.
The acrid scent made Tae-soo feel momentarily lightheaded.
The first to greet him was Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan Group.
"Why so late? You should've come straight up as soon as you arrived."
"I apologize."
Tae-soo offered no excuses.
Geumsan Hotel Banquet Hall (2)
As Tae-soo took a step outside, the same voice called out from behind him.
It was an unpleasant voice, no matter how many times he heard it.
"Hey, waiter. Who did you bring here? Just looking at his face, I think I know. Are you a celebrity?"
"Uh, um..."
The employee, now directly questioned, stammered, unsure of what to do.
He hesitated, glancing anxiously between the man and Tae-soo, unable to move.
Geumsan Hotel Banquet Hall (1)
Cheongil Group Headquarters –
Chairman’s Office
Han Cheong-ho yelled into the phone.
"What do you mean the loan is suddenly blocked? You gave me a firm answer back then! Why are you changing your stance now?"
— I'm sorry, but our bank has suffered severe losses from the oil shock…
"So, after taking all the money you could, you're just going to wipe your mouth clean ...
Chu Min-jeong lowered her head.
She was terrified that if she made the wrong impression on Chairman Kim Tae-jung, she might be forced to leave Taewoo Group.
“Haha, you’re misunderstanding me. I’m not uncomfortable at all. In fact, I’m fully supportive. I called you here to tell you that I’ll handle the media, so feel free to meet and enjoy your dates without any worries.”
“It’s not a date… It’s an idea meeting.”
“Of course, an idea meeting. ...
KS Telecom Executive Meeting
With market share declining daily, the atmosphere in the conference room was grim.
And as if trying to shift the blame, Park Dong-hee, the vice president who had aggressively pushed for the acquisition of Cyworld, was raising his voice.
“What do you mean Cyworld’s user numbers are declining? What’s the point of acquiring a good platform if we manage it like this?”
“Competition from new SNS platforms is causing our market share...
August 5, 1997 — Wall Street, New York.
More than a month had passed since hedge funds began their assault on the Hong Kong dollar. As George Soros arrived at Quantum Fund's headquarters on 7th Avenue in Manhattan, he summoned Rodney, the CIO, and Ian, the chief manager, into his office.
The three men gathered around the leather sofa at the back of the room. Sitting at the head of the group, George Soros began speaking in a slightly subdued tone.
"There...
The Next Morning
As usual, Seok-won arrived at the office and sat down at his desk. In front of him lay a report from Goldman Sachs about Korea, faxed the night before by Landon from New York.
Though only about twenty pages long, the report’s contents were anything but light.
Its implications were grave. The moment Seok-won began reading, his face hardened—because what lay within had the potential to become the very trigger that would push Korea, already teeter...
Kim Yong-tae’s face was a mask of despair after meeting with the creditor.
“How did it go?”
“…I’m sorry.”
I had expected as much. He had been confident that the creditor would withdraw the lawsuit if he paid him 1 billion won. But if the creditor was that reasonable, he wouldn’t have filed the lawsuit in the first place.
Assuming the creditor’s motive was money, I asked, “How much does he want?”
I was willing to pay, even if it was a su...
I established Chunha Electronics in China with 50 billion won in capital, giving Kim Yong-tae a 5% stake.
The research team consisted of his original six members, including the team leader, and five additional researchers recruited from large corporations struggling in the economic downturn. The rest of the 150 employees were a mix of my existing Chinese staff and new hires.
“The labor costs are less than a quarter of what they were at my previous company, even though we have ...
The SNS project has finally been completed.
Mark created Facebook, and CEO Im Jae-beom created KakaoTalk.
Thanks to Chu Min-jeong’s help, two major projects were completed simultaneously.
"Starting today, the SNS and messenger apps will officially launch."
"For Facebook, it will first be released in North America and Korea, while KakaoTalk will be launched in Korea first before expanding to overseas markets."
The planning director’s voice was full of con...
A few days later.
Dragging my exhausted body, I headed to the office once again.
As soon as the Chief Planning Officer entered my office for the morning briefing, he sighed at the sight of my face.
“Did you not sleep properly again? You look exhausted. Perhaps it’s time to reduce your workload. If that’s not an option, you should consider taking a sleep aid. With the Chairman absent, if you also collapse, Taewoo Group will be in serious trouble.”
“I ...
A few days later.
Seok-won was touring an electronics factory in Bupyeong Industrial Complex, Incheon, accompanied by his executive assistant Han Ji-sung, and guided by Ahn Byung-seok, CEO of Digital Wave.
“This is the factory where we signed the OEM production contract for New Wave,” said Seok-won as he looked around, the loud hum of machinery filling the air.
“It’s larger than I expected,” he remarked.
“We needed a facility with solid infrastructure t...
By the afternoon, the New York stock market had completely turned into a bear market, with panic selling pouring in from all directions.
RING! RING!
“Sell 2,000 shares of Microsoft? I’ll put the order in, but with the market this bad, I can’t guarantee it’ll sell at that price!”
“Let’s sell 3,000 shares of AT&T at $22.30!”
“What? Say that again!”
“Sell 3,000 shares of AT&T at $22.30!”
“ExxonM...
I talked to Hyunjoo noona on the phone.
Noona said with a sigh, “You’ve caused another huge incident. You know the financial markets are in chaos right now, right?”
Uncertainty is what the market hates most.
Therefore, when Ronald fired the first shot in the trade war, stock markets around the world, not just in the countries involved, plummeted. Everyone is holding their breath, watching to see when this war will end and how far its repercussions will reach.
But...
2025-05-08 15:39:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe entire United States was engulfed in shock, and investigations were launched simultaneously at organizations related to the defense industry, including NASA, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), under the U.S. Department of Commerce, immediately suspended all sales of smartphones, communication equipment, and electronic products from companies such as Weihua, TZE, Ovo, and Bifo.
Shelves stocked with Chinese products disappeared from offline...
Ronald examined the board, then spoke with an expression of utter disbelief.
“It’s barely visible. How on earth did you find this?”
If I hadn’t had oracle, I wouldn’t have even imagined something like this existed.
“We were lucky.”
In fact, the issue of backdoors in Chinese products had already surfaced several times before. However, each time they brushed it off, claiming it was just a security vulnerability, not an intentionally planted backdoor.
“Imitation is the mother of creation,” as they say, so it’s commonplace for companies to copy each other and end up in lawsuits.
Didn’t Samsung Electronics, for example, engage in a monumental legal battle with Apple over smartphone design and technology patents?
But if it was just seeing and copying, this is simply copy-paste.
While companies in other countries might do similar things, it’s no exaggeration to say that China is the only country that engages in s...
I said with a sigh, as if resigned, “It would be faster to find the leakage route and prove it.”
Sergi said, “We are continuously checking if there has been hacking or unauthorized access to the server.”
“What’s the probability?”
Ryan shook his head. “Close to zero. All security is working normally. If there had been unauthorized access, there would be a record left.”
Taek-gyu nodded as if he understood. “Well, if you delete the record, a record...
Tenwei is the second-largest logistics truck brokerage company after Winmanbang.
The reason for the business suspension was that it had engaged in abuse of power against truck drivers, such as forcing them to overload, shorten time, and accept low commissions. Whatever the reason, when Tenwei’s service was suspended overnight, shippers and truck drivers were in chaos.
In Korea, they would have immediately filed an administrative lawsuit, but that’s out of the question in Chi...
Zhou Auto is the largest automobile group in China.
It operates Zhou Toyota, a joint venture with Toyota, and has five of its own brands, including Zhou Auto.
Last year, it sold 2.7 million units in China alone, ranking first among Chinese brands. (This is just the sales volume of its own brands, excluding joint ventures.)
Since it is primarily a domestic Chinese company, it is not well known in Korea, but in China, it is practically a national car.
Zhou Auto has u...
“Let’s confirm this again. Exactly how much debt do you have?”
“About 10 billion won.”
I shook my head. “No, ‘about’ isn’t good enough. You have to be precise. Think of me as your lawyer. You have to reveal everything. Do you plan to come back and ask for more help later if you’ve forgotten something? Tell me the exact amount, down to the last won.”
Kim Yong-tae glanced at his father, who was sitting next to him, and blushed. He had clearly downplayed t...
2025-05-08 15:06:55 +0000 UTC View Post