The Genius Grandson of the Loan Shark King - Chapter 84 (84/840)
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#84
The Government is Already Dead.
Future Building.
On the 1,000 pyeong of land in Daechi-dong that I had taken from Chairman Hyunbo, I built a single building instead of the two originally planned.
I thought that when Han Kyung-eung comes to Korea, he might use it, but then I changed my mind, thinking it would be better to get a small office if I wanted to play the role of a good guy.
In the end, this place was supposed to become Eva's base.
"The top floor is decorated like a hotel. You can stay there."
"When can I see it?"
"By the end of this year. How do you like it? It's my gift to you."
"GOOD!"
Eva seemed genuinely pleased, looking up at Future Building with a huge smile on her face.
"For now, I'll stay in a hotel suite and prepare."
"You said it's okay to recruit anyone?"
"Yeah. Do you have anyone in mind?"
"Not yet. I need to meet them first. I need to prepare in advance to start working by the end of the year. It's going to be busy. But will you stay with me today?"
Eva gave me a seductive look.
"Hehehe. I haven't made any other plans for today. I'll show you around Seoul. Is this your first time coming here as an adult?"
"Yeah. Let's start with something spicy."
I took Eva to a restaurant I had reserved. It was a hanjeongsik restaurant that foreigners often visit.
We discussed the preparation process while eating, and on the way to the hotel, Eva said:
"The night view of Seoul is as good as Hong Kong."
"It has developed a lot, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. I didn't expect it to be this good."
Eva muttered, looking out the window.
"Is it true that a country like this is in crisis?"
"You've seen Thailand."
"Thailand and Korea have completely different economic scales."
Eva was right.
Thailand and Korea had a significant difference in economic scale.
The second country in Asia to join the OECD.
On the surface, the Republic of Korea was an economic powerhouse that had achieved the Miracle on the Han River.
But it was just an empty shell, a castle built on sand.
"Indonesia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong won't be safe either. The hyenas of Wall Street don't discriminate. Their ultimate target will be Korea."
Korea was not originally part of their plan, but seeing Korea wobble due to the Southeast Asian economic crisis, they decided to attack.
With the backing of the United States, they pressured the IMF to continuously impose favorable conditions on Korea.
"Believe the boss. The crisis will be an opportunity for me. Thank you for including me in this event."
The car slowly stopped at the hotel entrance.
"Let's go in. Let's have a drink in the room where you'll be staying for a while."
Eva nodded and got out of the car with a proud look on her face.
Her appearance was enough to draw people's attention.
Eva, who came close to me, linked her arm with mine and said:
"Since today is the last day, this much is okay, right?"
As Eva said, after today, when she officially enters the political and financial circles, it will be difficult for us to meet like this.
"Sure, let's go."
The next day.
I left the hotel early in the morning.
"What's the schedule for today?"
"Except for the dinner appointment with Miss Cheon Ji-yeong, there are no other plans."
"Then take me to Myeongdong."
Hyun-sung was learning the basics of bookkeeping and the loan business under the guidance of Ssangkal in Myeongdong.
According to Ssangkal, he was learning faster than expected.
"Welcome, boss."
When I arrived at the office, Ssangkal Kim Ho-sik greeted me first.
"Mr. Kim, you look better."
"Hehehe, I've been loafing around lately with nothing to do. Other loan sharks are having a good time."
When the economy is tough and money isn't circulating, the first place to react is Myeongdong.
With banks and finance companies cutting off funds, the only place people can turn to is the loan market.
Especially, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed people are knocking on the doors of Myeongdong in a hurry.
They don't realize that it's a shortcut to hell.
"Mr. Kim, you need to launder your identity now. If you lend money now, it will be hard to collect later, making it difficult to operate in the open."
"I know. I was just talking."
While talking with Ssangkal, I entered the office and saw Hyun-sung sitting at his desk, looking at documents.
"Hey, how's it going?"
Hyun-sung looked up at my voice.
"Yeah."
His gruff personality hasn't changed at all since he came to the loan market.
I went behind Hyun-sung and looked at the documents. They were all loan documents.
"Are you getting used to it?"
"Kind of. It's still hard."
"You only need to understand the basic concepts. You won't be doing the actual work on the ground, so you don't need to know as much as the experts."
"No, I need to know. Otherwise, why would I be here? If I'm going to do it, I need to do it properly."
This showed Hyun-sung's stubborn personality.
"Sure, do your best. Let's go get some food."
Hyun-sung checked the clock on the office wall and tilted his head.
"It's not even 12 yet."
"So what? Let's go."
"Alright. I'll just wrap this up."
While Hyun-sung was finishing the documents, I sat on the sofa in the middle of the office and talked with Ssangkal.
"We'll start setting up loan companies next year. Set up straw men with reliable people. Hyun-sung will help, and you'll handle all the practical work."
"Thank you for the opportunity."
"Don't betray me. There are only two left now."
"I know."
Ssangkal must know better than anyone how Mange and Maji were dealt with. It's fortunate that he understands well.
"You'll be rewarded according to your efforts."
"Understood."
"It's natural to get crumbs when handling rice. I'll tolerate it up to a certain point, but don't cross the line."
"Understood."
Just as Ssangkal's warning ended, Hyun-sung got up from his seat.
"Done."
"Good. Let's go. Mr. Kim, see you next time."
"Sure, boss. Be careful on your way back."
We went to a nearby shabby restaurant.
It was nice to eat at a busy restaurant again.
"From next year, it's going to get busy."
"Yeah."
Myung-su was fulfilling his military service as a military prosecutor and planned to join the prosecution after his service.
Hyun-sung was exempted from military service after the accident.
"Thanks for helping me."
"No problem. I'm more grateful."
It was a relief to see that Hyun-sung, who was once a sore thumb, had settled into his role.
I didn't talk much with Hyun-sung.
Whether for my satisfaction or for Hyun-sung's future.
I just hoped this was a good choice.
After parting with Hyun-sung, I arrived at Pyeongchang-dong.
When I went to the study to greet my grandfather, he spoke first.
"You were out overnight yesterday."
"Yes, I had some business to take care of."
"Sit down. I have something to say."
"Sure."
My grandfather's expression was quite serious.
When I sat down, my grandfather, who seemed a bit hesitant, spoke heavily.
"The government contacted me. They want me to release dollars into the market."
Faster than expected.
The government claims to maintain 30 billion dollars in foreign reserves annually to reassure the public, while announcing financial reform laws to expand individual foreign currency holdings to 500,000 dollars and not asking about the source. Thanks to this, they maintain 30 billion dollars in foreign reserves.
"What do you think, Grandfather?"
"If pouring my dollars into the market could prevent an economic crisis, I would lend them to the government, but it would be like urinating on a sore foot."
That's true. Even if I pour all my grandfather's dollars, it won't make a difference.
It's better to hold on until the end and get a lot from companies and lend to them.
"Then, you'll refuse?"
"Will there be any problems? It's not good to be at odds with the government."
"Don't worry. The government is already dead. The chief prosecutor is on good terms with us, and the head of the National Tax Service is a long-time friend of yours, isn't he?"
The two heads of the investigative agencies that could threaten my grandfather were deeply connected to us.
"The government made a politically motivated decision. They ignored the warnings of the Bank of Korea and the reports of frontline officials, and the Minister of Economy is the one who did it."
This government bet everything on joining the OECD and achieving a per capita income of 10,000 dollars.
For purely political reasons.
The government failed to understand the current situation where finance companies were borrowing short-term foreign debts from the US and Japan and lending them to Southeast Asia and domestic companies.
Due to the US interest rate hike and the Southeast Asian economic crisis, a significant portion of the massive funds that had flowed into Asia was now flowing back to the US.
The fuse of the time bomb is getting closer to the end.
"Are you getting calls from large companies?"
"Not yet from the top 10 companies."
"Have you heard from Ahn Shin?"
My grandfather nodded slightly.
"Ahn Shin doesn't have a major shareholder. Who would come to me as a representative?"
"That's true. But who contacted you from the government?"
"The Minister of Finance contacted me directly. He was aggressive, saying it was an order from a VIP... What a fool. A fool like him is running the country's economy, so this is happening."
Thailand's surrender was just the beginning.
The attack on the Indonesian rupiah caused it to plummet. The attacks on several Southeast Asian countries, including Taiwan and the Philippines, began in earnest.
"In a few months, large companies will line up to contact us."
"Do you want something?"
"Just do what you usually do. Make them pledge shares of their core companies or issue convertible bonds."
"Hehe, understood. I don't know what you want, but I'll do it properly."
"Especially, I want to secure as many shares of Il Sung Electronics as possible. As many as possible."
"Il Sung Electronics?"
I smiled at my grandfather's puzzled expression.
"Yes, it's the core of the Il Sung Group."
"I'll try."
"Thank you."
After finishing the conversation with my grandfather and going up to my room, Manager Ma reported to me.
"PMC's establishment preparations are complete. The legal entity will be established next month, and the purchase of weapons will start in the spring of next year."
"Is that so? What about the Korean branch?"
"They plan to set it up in the spring of next year. They will send a team of Navy SEALs."
"Eric is doing well."
The money invested in establishing PMC has already exceeded 2 billion dollars.
The amount of money spent before even starting to buy weapons is terrifying.
"The money is pouring in."
"Of course, since we're creating a private army. But if we only take orders from the US government, we can recover the money quickly."
"That's true. And money isn't the most important thing. Tell them to keep going."
"Understood."
After dismissing Manager Ma, I called Han Kyung-eung.
- Hello.
Han Kyung-eung sounded sleepy, as if he had just woken up.
"Were you sleeping?"
- Ah... Is that Mu-hyuk?
"If you were sleeping, I'll call you later."
- No, wait a moment.
I could hear Han Kyung-eung moving around on the other end of the phone.
- Ah... What's up?
"Bro. How much is in the company in Bermuda?"
- Black Mouse?
"Yeah."
- A bit over 3 billion dollars.
"Okay. Invest that in Korea. As soon as the market opens tomorrow, bet on an exchange rate of 1800 won or more and a stock price of 400 or less by January next year."
- ...What? I'm wide awake now."
"1800 won, stock price 400."
Han Kyung-eung was silent for a long time.
"Do you understand?"
- Yeah, I understand, but... It's uncertain whether 3 billion can be burned. I'll check as soon as the market opens when I get to work in the morning.
"Sure, thanks."
- Is Southeast Asia over now?
"No, Hong Kong is left. There's still time, so bet 3 billion on Korea's collapse."
Korea didn't fall due to the attack by Wall Street.
The internal bomb exploded, leading to self-destruction.
If I abandon the Korean market, other hedge funds will surely take the opportunity.
I recalled what Chairman Song had said before.
"Then, of course, you should seize the opportunity. If you don't, someone else will make money from it. That's the economy."
Right, I should take it for myself.
Han Kyung-eung, hiding his identity, started buying all the futures and options available in the market under the name of a ghost company in Bermuda.
Hedge funds that had been touring Southeast Asia were now preparing to attack Hong Kong, the financial hub of Asia.
The biggest opportunity to make money from the Asian currency crisis had arrived.