CH105 | VOC

“Joongang Investment Corporation? You’re offering me the management of Joongang Investment?” Kim Min-sik exclaimed, jumping up from his chair.

[Yes, are you interested? I’ve been observing you, and I believe you’re more than capable.]

Kim Min-sik was speechless, overwhelmed with emotion.

[As you know, we’re Chinese capital. We’ve been operating cautiously in Korea due to the lack of trustworthy partners. But you, President Kim, are a reliable person. We’re very fortunate to have you. If you need time to consider, please take your time.]

Joongang Investment Corporation and Hanho Savings Bank.

Similar businesses, but vastly different in scale and influence.

Joongang Investment owned 70% of Hanho Savings Bank. It was more than just a parent company and a subsidiary.

Hanho was a stepping stone for short-term investments, while Joongang was the base for their Korean operations.

Appointing Kim Min-sik as the head of Joongang Investment was practically making him Baek In-hwi’s representative in Korea.

He had been feigning loyalty and obedience, desperately trying to prove his worth, but this unexpected offer moved him to tears.

No one had ever acknowledged him before.

His hard work and dedication had been taken for granted, and he had been discarded in the end.

Baek In-hwi, who had not only saved him from ruin but was now embracing him fully, filled him with a sense of euphoria he had never experienced before.

He said in a trembling voice,

“Am I… am I really qualified for this? I’m just a rookie who’s been a bank president for only six months. I… really… I…”

[Mr. Kim.]

Baek In-hwi addressed him by his name for the first time, not his title.

[I trust you. You’re capable and trustworthy. Don’t doubt yourself. Trust my judgment.]

These were the words he had longed to hear.

He wanted to be acknowledged, and he finally was.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. You’re my savior, CEO Baek.”

[Haha, a savior? Anyway, I’ll take that as a yes. And…]

Baek In-hwi paused.

[It’s not right for the CEO to have no shares in the company. What’s it called? Stock options? I’ll give you a 0.5% stake in Joongang Investment Corporation.]

Kim Min-sik felt like he had been struck by lightning.

“Shares? You’re giving me shares?”

A 0.5% stake in Joongang Investment Corporation, with over 2 trillion won in assets and growing, was worth at least 10 billion won.

Would he ever give such a generous reward to a complete stranger?

Absolutely not.

He was overwhelmed by Baek In-hwi’s generosity and trust.

Tears streamed down his face, and although it was a phone call, he knelt down and bowed his head.

“I, Kim Min-sik, will dedicate my life to you, CEO Baek. And…”

He glared.

“Your enemies are my enemies. I’ll show them no mercy.”

* * *

Time flew by, and September arrived.

The economy was still in shambles, but some companies, having restructured and strengthened their foundations, were showing signs of recovery, offering a glimmer of hope.

Of course, countless people had lost their jobs and were struggling, but on the surface, things seemed to be improving.

Hanho Savings Bank was nearing recovery thanks to its aggressive debt collection policy, and Joongang Investment Corporation was generating substantial profits by investing in promising companies.

Chunha Trading had weathered the tax audit without any problems and had grown significantly by acquiring several successful companies.

“The weather is nice.”

Chunha Trading was thriving, seemingly unaffected by the economic crisis. Thanks to the strong performance of the acquired companies, excluding the black division, it had grown from a mid-sized company to a mini-conglomerate.

I was old enough to be called “Chairman” now, but I had a problem.

“Too much cash.”

We had so much cash from our various businesses that the amount in the company safe, excluding bank deposits, was approaching 100 billion won. It was taking up too much space.

But there was a bigger problem.

“Gold bars.”

We had accumulated over 10 tons of gold bars from stripping electronic scrap.

It was worth 200 billion won.

The sheer weight of it was becoming unmanageable.

It was clean money, backed by proper documentation, so I didn’t want to deposit it in a bank. But it was also risky to store it separately.

“This is a headache.”

We had built a separate vault for cash as the business expanded, but it was reaching its limit.

“Should we expand the company and build a high-security vault…?”

As I was pondering this, the office phone rang.

“Hello, this is Park Sol.”

[Sir, this is the security office.]

“Yes, what is it?”

The head of security said in a slightly troubled voice,

[Those people are here again.]

“Again? Who?”

[The people from the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF)…]

I grimaced.

“They’re back again?”

* * *

“Hehehe, how have you been, sir?”

I said with an indifferent expression,

“I’m always well. Please have a seat.”

The man sitting in front of me was Yoon Do-yeong, a manager from the NACF.

He was in charge of the gold collection campaign.

“Have you reconsidered our offer?”

I said in disgust,

“Why do you keep asking? I told you I’m not selling my gold.”

He said with a pleading expression,

“Please reconsider. You’re running a foundation and are a role model for entrepreneurs. Please sell your gold to save the country.”

“Manager Yoon, I might be involved in charity work, but this is a separate matter. And I’ve already lost a lot of money because of that gold collection campaign!”

The gold collection campaign, launched to save the Korean economy, was portrayed as a patriotic, voluntary campaign by the government and the media. But for someone like me, who dealt with raw materials, it was utter nonsense.

“The price of gold has increased by 50% since last year. You shouldn’t say you’ve lost money. We’ll offer you a higher price for your gold bars. Please sell them to us.”

I said incredulously,

“Has it really increased? It just seems that way because of the exchange rate. The international price of gold has actually decreased because of that damn gold collection campaign! It would have more than doubled if it weren’t for that!”

Although the domestic price of gold seemed to have increased due to the rising exchange rate, the international price had plummeted because of Korea’s massive gold sales.

Korea, a supposedly developed country and a member of the OECD, only had 26 tons of gold reserves in its central bank, and now over 100 tons were being dumped into the international market.

The price of gold had plummeted by 10% in just one month.

“I have other sales channels. Why would I sell to the NACF? I can get 20 million won per kg through Naoshima Smelter. How much will the NACF pay?”

Yoon Do-yeong scratched the back of his head.

“That’s a bit difficult. But we can offer around 13 million won…”

“See? Why would I sell to you?”

He pleaded,

“Just think of it as saving the country. Chunha Trading is the largest gold producer in Korea.”

Korea had practically no gold mines.

The only gold they produced came as a byproduct of silver mining, and the annual production was less than 200 kg.

Chunha Trading, on the other hand, monopolized 80% of Korea’s electronic scrap and produced 5 tons of gold annually just from stripping gold plating. So calling us the largest gold producer in Korea wasn’t entirely wrong.

And when it came to gold exports, we were the undisputed number one, the leader of the urban mining industry, and a major player in the Myeongdong gold market.

It was absurd.

“You know the situation better than anyone. Why would I sell to you? I would be ridiculed in Myeongdong if I sold gold to the NACF.”

The public believed they were contributing to the national economy by selling their gold, but it was a lie.

The gold buyers took a cut, the NACF took a cut, the trading companies took a cut when exporting it, the international price was falling, so the buyers were offering lower prices, and the electronics companies were importing gold at the regular price to manufacture their products.

It would have made sense to sell the collected gold to domestic companies, but the purpose of the gold collection campaign was to earn foreign currency by selling gold and boost the sales of domestic trading companies. It was a vicious cycle.

That was the reality of the gold collection campaign, and why I refused to participate.

“Can I ask how much gold you have? I heard it’s close to 10 tons…”

I said angrily,

“Are you investigating my company’s gold reserves? I’m not selling, so please leave! I’ll ban you from entering the premises next time!”

I sent him away and sighed.

“This is tiring. The public is so gullible.”

Having reached a certain level of success, I could clearly see how the government was exploiting the public.

If I hadn’t started my business, I would have been just as clueless.

“Is he gone?”

Maru peeked into my office.

“He’s gone, come in.”

Maru wiped the sweat from his brow.

“That guy is persistent. He wouldn’t let go.”

“What can you do? It’s his job.”

“The gold collection campaign is gaining momentum.”

I scoffed.

“It’s foolish. Do you think that’s enough to solve the crisis? It’s just lining the pockets of the government and trading companies.”

100 tons of gold was only worth about 2 trillion won.

It wasn’t a small amount, but it was insignificant compared to the public’s enthusiasm and the media’s hype.

“Anyway, we need to find a new factory. Our vault is full, and the company has grown. We need a headquarters that reflects our size. We’re practically a conglomerate now, with over 20 subsidiaries.”

Maru smiled awkwardly.

“I guess you could call us a conglomerate.”

We had acquired over 20 companies, including four mid-sized companies, by lending money to the employees to buy shares in their bankrupt companies, in exchange for a 30% stake.

“And our vault is overflowing. We need a high-security vault that can hold 1 trillion won in cash and gold bars. I can’t sleep at night, worrying about someone robbing us. Security is paramount.”

Maru chuckled.

“It took us over two years to accumulate 10 tons of gold. It’ll take a while to fill the new vault.”

“It’s still satisfying. It’ll be full one day. The sight of all those gold bars lined up is exhilarating.”

As we were chatting and laughing, a thought suddenly struck me.

“Wait, do we have to limit ourselves to the gold we produce?”

“What do you mean? How else would we acquire it?”

“Think about it. Those foolish Korean trading companies are selling gold below market price.”

“It can’t be helped. Korea is a gold importing country. You need experience to sell at the right price. What do those guys know? They’ve only been buying.”

My eyes gleamed.

“But we have a lot of experience exporting gold. Who else exports gold in Korea? We can make a profit just by acting as intermediaries. And we can fill our vault at the same time.”