November 7, 1997
– Government Complex I, Gwanghwamun
It was Ipdong, the day marking the official beginning of winter, and a sharp chill filled the air.
Inside the Deputy Prime Minister’s office for Economic Affairs, senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy had gathered under noticeably grim expressions.
Although the government had managed to conclude negotiations with the IMF after a difficult process, the backlash...
2025-09-06 17:51:57 +0000 UTC View PostNovember 5, 1997.
As Paul Townsend’s remarks in Japan were reported and the detailed terms of the agreement with the IMF were revealed through the media, a public backlash erupted, accusing the government of submissively accepting one-sided demands.
[Financial Markets Thrown Open—Even the Living Room Given Away]
[Criticism Mounts Over Weak-Kneed Negotiations]
[Wave of Suicides Driven by Bankruptcies and Une...
2025-09-06 17:51:53 +0000 UTC View PostAssemblyman Jang Myungjun.
I had seen him several times before.
He was, in fact, the beloved son of the late Chairman Jang Youngju of the Hyundai Corporation.
I still remembered having a fairly long exchange with him at the funeral, and thanks to Assemblyman Choi Jaeseok arranging this meeting, we were able to talk now without any awkwardness.
“The fortune-teller said I would meet a benefactor this year—turns out that must be you, Chairman Kim. I’m delighted ...
A few days later.
I met with Assemblyman Choi Jaeseok.
While Brexit and the turmoil in British politics were important, Korea’s general election was only a few months away, and I had to devote significant attention to the political climate at home.
"Is everything going smoothly with preparations for the general election?"
"This is the first time since I entered politics that the race has been so chaotic. The progressive opposition forces have split into two, with...
A showdown between artificial intelligence and a professional gamer.
It became a huge hit not only in Korea but also in the United States and Europe.
The next day, the head of the planning department reported the level of public interest using
performance metrics.
“The match was streamed on YouTube, and at one point, the number of viewers surpassed two million. The replay views increased by a million in just one day.”
“It seems to have garnered quite a bit...
It had been a while since Chun Min-jung last visited the Vice Chairman’s office.
From the moment she stepped in, she wore a bright smile, like a puppy waiting to be praised.
“You must have completed a project.”
“How did you know? We’ve finished the Smart Set-Top Box project!”
Taewoo Electronics had already launched Pixi, a set-top box equipped with artificial intelligence.
However, it was still in its early stages and could only perform basic fun...
After finishing our day’s work, we were enjoying a light beer in Captain Kang’s office.
We were about halfway through our cans when Team Leader Han walked in, raising a thumbs-up as he entered.
"Mission accomplished!"
"Judging by your expression, it went well?"
"The stakes turned out to be bigger than we expected. But isn’t this a bit lacking for snacks? You could’ve at least picked up some squid peanuts. Are you seriously crunching up instant noodles as ba...
A few days later.
Team Leader Han set foot on Korean soil after a long time.
Originally, I planned to call him back after the subprime mortgage crisis ended, but because of the KIKO situation, it was brought forward a bit.
“I’m sorry to call you back to Korea during such a busy time.”
“No, thanks to experts like Rajan, a lot of work has been reduced. Because they’ve been
analyzing data nonstop, I’ve even been able to leave work on time lately.”
...
President Bush sat with his legs crossed, exuding arrogance.
I took the seat across from him—not overly polite, but not disrespectful either—waiting for him to speak.
“You’ve been stirring up quite the spectacle. I assume you didn’t do it thinking the White House wouldn’t find out?”
“I did it hoping the White House would notice. I’ve sent thousands of reports to the White House, the U.S. government, and the Fed. But since I’ve never received a proper r...
When interest rates fall, housing prices rise.
When interest rates rise, housing prices fall.
It was a simple formula that everyone knew, but Wall Street chose to ignore it.
Did they ignore it because they didn’t know?
More likely, they ignored it precisely because they knew it all too well.
In their frenzy to scoop up money blinded by madness, they themselves became consumed by that very madness.
“If the real estate bubble causes the expected sho...
The first recipient of the Fisher Black Prize.
The youngest ever chief economist at the IMF.
The man who openly criticized Alan Greenspan, the “world economic president.”
All these words described Raghuram Rajan.
Despite achieving nearly all the accomplishments one could at a relatively young age—he was still in his 40s—his appearance when visiting SAVE Investment Company was surprisingly modest compared to his achievements.
“Thank you for visiting...
The next morning.
While I was resting at the hotel, an unexpected visitor came to see me.
It was someone I saw more frequently than anyone else in Korea, but never expected to meet in the U.S.—my grandfather.
"What brings you here, Grandpa?"
"I couldn’t bear the thought of you relaxing alone in America, so I flew over."
"I’d love to rest, but my schedule’s so packed I can’t even catch a break. But really, what brought you all the way to the U.S.?"<...
A quiet mountain lodge in Gyeonggi Province.
Surrounded on all sides by trees, the secluded lodge was nearly impossible to find from the
outside. Inside, Assemblyman Choi Jae-seok was enjoying a pleasant drink with Kim Min-jae.
"Congratulations, Governor of Gyeonggi Province."
"It's all thanks to you, Vice Chairman. I managed to win the election by a mere 2%. The factory relocation issue you created helped sway the hearts of the Gyeonggi residents."
"While I may...
When election season arrived, it wasn’t just the politicians who got busy.
With countless incidents and developments erupting simultaneously, media outlets were also buried in nonstop reporting, churning out articles around the clock.
But was there ever a day as hectic as today?
The chief of strategy brought me real-time reports of the articles flooding out of newsrooms.
“Vice Chairman, every major media outlet is covering this story.”
“They’ve don...
FDA staff visited Centurion.
I didn’t bother meeting them myself and left the reception to Dr. Kim Jangwoo and CEO Seo Jeongjun.
Two weeks passed that way.
The FDA staff came by almost every day to monitor treatment results firsthand.
And today, we finally heard very good news.
“The MERS treatment has officially gone on sale.”
“They started selling it faster than expected.”
“And there’s even better news from CEO Seo Jeongjun. He says the...
2025-09-05 14:32:04 +0000 UTC View PostCenturion was in a frenzy of celebration.
The research team, who had succeeded in developing a treatment for MERS in such a short time, was finally taking a well-earned rest and savoring the joy.
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks to you, Chairman, we were able to develop a MERS treatment so quickly. Of course, we’ve only just cleared the first stage of clinical trials, but the results have been excellent.”
Dr. Kim Jang-woo’s voice cracked as he spoke.
He had...
2025-09-05 14:31:57 +0000 UTC View PostSeok-won’s large Mercedes sedan pulled up in front of the Walkerhill Hotel at 4:40 p.m.
He had arrived a little earlier than the appointed time, but his older brother, Park Jinhyung, president of Daheung Textiles, was already seated at the table.
When Seok-won entered the private room through the sliding door that the manager held open, President Park only turned his head slightly from his chair and spoke.
“You’re here.”
“I thought I’d gotten here first...
The meaningless back-and-forth dragged on for more than twenty minutes.
Jerry Wang kept laying out the cards he held, trying to figure out what I wanted.
Only after I repeatedly shook my head did he finally bring out the card of charter fees.
“Taewoo Group hasn’t entered the shipping industry, so I don’t know if you’ll care, but the charter fees contracted with Korean shipping companies can be renegotiated on my end.”
“Do you have such authority, Mr. Wang? ...
2025-09-04 16:42:19 +0000 UTC View PostDirector Chun Minjung had arrived.
She already seemed well aware, likely from the news, that we had been assigned to handle MERS.
“Can you build a system that will allow us to gather all the data obtained from MERS treatment?”
“It’s not difficult. If we tweak the systems used by Novo Nordisk and Centurion a little, we can make it work. And with AI, we can even collect information that we wouldn’t normally think to look for.”
As always, Director Chun spoke w...
2025-09-04 16:42:12 +0000 UTC View PostSeok-won was sitting alone in the spacious chairman’s office, reading a report, when a soft knock sounded on the door.
Without lifting his eyes from the papers in his hand, he spoke.
“Come in.”
The solid wooden door opened, and Na Seongmi, dressed in a two-piece skirt suit accented with a small brooch, stepped forward and said,
“Executive Director Yoon Kihoon is here.”
Only then did Seok-won look up from the report.
“Tell him to come in....
In the spacious chairman’s office, Seok-won sat on the sofa with one leg crossed, while Jung Gyucheol, president of Bluehole Construction, and Choi Taeho, president of Blue Sky, sat on either side of him.
“Thanks to your personal appearance at the briefing and the way you persuaded everyone, the mood among the local residents has completely shifted since that day. We’ve secured over ninety percent approval signatures for the space center’s construction, and land acquisition is ...
I returned to the company and summoned the head of planning.
While I had been at Centurion, he had gathered a great deal of information on MERS.
"At the moment there’s one confirmed case of MERS, but there are five suspected cases. The problem is that the patient’s movements overlapped with countless people—at the airport, on the plane, even at restaurants. It’s impossible to know how many more might end up infected."
"Is the government still holding back on relea...
I moved to the new drug development lab with Dr. Kim Jangwoo.
The first thing that caught my eye was the sight of more than 300 talented researchers working hard on drug development.
“Your research staff has certainly grown.”
“There are 350 researchers dedicated to drug development alone. If you add in the other departments, we have over 700.”
“And how many of them are working specifically on mRNA and DNA-based drugs?”
“Not many. Since there ar...
The next day.
The president of Taewoo Entertainment visited the vice chairman’s office.
He was President Oh Myung-soo, formerly the head of Taewoo Cinema, but now promoted to lead Taewoo Entertainment.
“Vice Chairman! The ratings were an absolute hit. There has never been a rating like this in cable channel history. The first episode alone hit 3%. At peak moments, it even surpassed 5%.”
“A 3% rating is quite impressive.”
“It’s not just impressive—...
2025-09-03 17:58:27 +0000 UTC View PostToday, the National Economic Party finally launched its election fund.
Named the National Economic Recovery Fund, it came in two forms: one as an investment in the party itself and the other as a direct sponsorship for individual candidates.
“How is the public responding to the election fund?”
“Over 50,000 people invested within the first ten minutes of the launch.”
“That’s still not enough. Increase promotional efforts through social media. Highlight h...
Crowdfunding.
It referred to the act of raising funds from a large number of people—and the concept didn’t
begin to take shape until around 2005.
Even for an IT expert, it could still be an unfamiliar idea.
But despite my brief explanation, Chun Min-jung instantly grasped the core of it.
“It’s definitely doable. If we combine a P2P system with existing fund mechanisms, we could have something up and running in as little as a week.”
“As expecte...
Captain Kang’s Office.
A highly satisfying contract had just been signed with five AOS developers.
The sum of 10 billion won was not the least bit regrettable, considering it secured a deal with the creators of a genre that would dominate the PC gaming scene for over the next 20 years.
That’s how grateful I felt.
Why else would I have assigned Captain Kang as their bodyguard for their return to the United States?
Team Leader Han, unaware of these sentime...
By the time 2005 had passed ten months, it was already late in the year.
With a cool breeze in the air, Team Leader Han returned to Korea for a short visit.
“Team Leader Han! You look great. I take it the in-flight meals suited your taste?”
“Every time I fly first class, it makes me feel like I’ve truly succeeded. I love it.”
“It’s been a while. You’ve aged quite a bit.”
Captain Kang also greeted him warmly.
We met at the restaurant ...
I headed to a traditional Korean restaurant in Myeongdong.
When I arrived, Captain Kang was already waiting for me.
“CEO Kang Su-gi arrived ahead of you and is waiting inside.”
“He’s already here? Looks like he’s really feeling the heat.”
“Just in case, I’ve stationed a hundred staff around the restaurant. Twenty more are posted on either side of the walls next to the room you’ll be using.”
“That’s a bit excessive, isn’t it? It’s ...
The conversation with Zheng Hongqin, the Central Committee (Executive Committee) member, proceeded smoothly.
I gave him a detailed explanation of how much profit the Shanghai faction was earning from the development of Mongolia’s underground resources. He was visibly pleased and offered me a drink.
"Thanks to you, we’ll be able to record another major achievement. The Elder will be very pleased."
"I’m always thinking about ventures that bring mutual benefit."
"Of...
2025-09-03 17:39:15 +0000 UTC View Post