I visited the home of Daehyun's honorary chairman, Song Yeong-ju, as promised. Guided by a secretary, I entered his study. I bowed my head as I looked at Chairman Song, who had a completely different aura compared to when I came with my grandfather.
"Hello, Chairman."
"Yes. Have a seat in front of me."
"Yes."
When I sat down, Chairman Song also left his desk and sat in the seat of honor on the sofa. Chairman Song looked at me searchingly for a while before opening his mouth.
"I don't know what I can teach you. But since it's a favor from Chairman Cheon, I'll meet you a few times."
"Yes."
"Do you know anything about my relationship with Chairman Cheon?"
"I don't know."
Nodding his head, Chairman Song started the story about him and my grandfather.
"There are exactly two people in the Republic of Korea that I acknowledge, and your grandfather is one of them. The Chairman of Ilseong? The presidents? I don't think those people are any better than me."
His confidence is truly amazing.
"But I acknowledge your grandfather. No, I mean I respect him. The first time I met him, it was in Busan when the Korean War was in full swing..."
For a quite long time after that, I had to listen to the story of my grandfather and Chairman Song from their first meeting until now.
"There was a time when the ever-victorious Cheon Tae-san stumbled. Was it 1972? I think the administration issued a freeze on private loans back then."
August 3, 1972. Due to the private loan freeze triggered by a presidential decree, most people in the underground economy, including loan sharks, took a huge hit. It was a ridiculous policy where the person who lent the money had to state the source of those funds to get it back.
It was something that was only possible because it was a military regime.
"Thanks to that, the current conglomerates were born. It means they didn't pay back the money to the loan sharks back then. But... do you know how your grandfather overcame that?"
"I don't know."
"Hahaha. Isn't it funny? He used that in reverse to grow his wealth even more. He used every method to get revenge on the companies that didn't pay him back. He would set fire to their factories or attack their families as they walked by... In the end, he either got his money back or inflicted an equivalent amount of damage."
"He was a scary person..."
"Of course, he's a scary person."
Chairman Song let out a hollow laugh at my words. After laughing for a while, he continued.
"At that time, there was no businessman who wasn't scared of Chairman Cheon. Nowadays, anyone can live large calling themselves a conglomerate, but back then, it wasn't much. They took out loans to run companies, and used that as collateral to take out more loans to do business. The government was the one that broke that chain... Too big to fail!"
Too big to fail. It was a Go term, but it was often used as an economic term. Many companies survived because of this logic.
By pouring in the taxpayers' hard-earned money, that is. During the IMF crisis, a flood of large companies would go bankrupt for the first time, putting that term to shame, but up until now, it was the phrase that conglomerates believed in the most.
"Forbes? I heard that Yankee magazine or tabloid calls me the richest man in the Republic of Korea. Nonsense. Your grandfather is the richest man in the Republic of Korea. In cash, not things like stocks."
Finally, Chairman Song's talking, which lasted for about an hour, came to an end. Even though I had knowledge of the future, the vivid stories from the field that Chairman Song had walked through since his younger days were of great help.
"Thank you. I enjoyed listening to your good words."
"It seems I talked too much by myself... So, do you have any questions or anything you're curious about?"
Chairman Song looked at me with a slightly curious face.
"By any chance, what are your thoughts on the real-name financial system?"
"The real-name financial system..."
"Yes."
"Hahaha. It must be done. It definitely must be done. But not now. Our country still needs to develop. The moment it is implemented, we will probably fall into great chaos. The president is probably contemplating it because of that too. It's something even those military regimes couldn't do easily."
There was conviction in Chairman Song's voice.
"But looking at the incidents the current president has done, wouldn't it not be strange no matter when he does it? He is someone who carried out unexpected things in a blitz, like the eradication of Hana-hoe and the disclosure of high-ranking public officials' assets..."
"Hahaha. I dislike that gentleman, but looking at things like that, he does his job well. Still, not right now."
I looked at Chairman Song and slowly nodded my head.
"I thought it would be announced this summer. Since your thoughts and my grandfather's thoughts align, I won't say any more."
"Hahaha, you still need to learn more."
I had thrown the bait, and now it was time to receive some proper advice.
"May I ask another question?"
"Sure. Go ahead."
"What if, just what if. What if the Republic of Korea goes bankrupt? And because of that, national chaos arrives, would it be right to use that to make money?"
Chairman Song opened his eyes wide and let out a hollow laugh.
"The Republic of Korea fails?"
"I said what if."
"Even as a what if, such a thing will not happen. The Republic of Korea going bankrupt... Do you mean a default?"
When I nodded, Chairman Song put on an amused expression and spoke.
"Right, let's say there is such a thing. And there is an opportunity to make money from it. It would be painful for others, but it could be an opportunity for yourself. Is this what you mean?"
"That's right."
Chairman Song nodded his head nonchalantly.
"Then of course you should grab the opportunity. If you don't grab it, someone else will make money with that opportunity. That's the economy. If someone takes a loss, someone else makes money. It's impossible for absolutely everyone to make money together."
I had already made up my mind, but the uncomfortable feeling in a corner of my heart was slightly eased because of Chairman Song's words.
"But, a default... I've never thought of such a thing once. It was novel."
"Even if it's not Korea, those situations happen often in other countries. So I wondered what it would be like if this happened in our country too."
At that, Chairman Song made a proud expression.
"Hahaha. Right, you should always think ahead like that. That is how you can make money. You, you look exactly like your grandfather."
"Thank you."
"Since you look smart, you probably know, but the economy is like a living organism. Don't be too greedy. Because that monster might eat you up."
"Yes, I will keep that in mind."
With those last words, the private meeting with Chairman Song, which lasted about two hours, came to an end. Making a promise to meet again next week, I left Chairman Song's mansion. Leaving Chairman Song's house, I drove straight to Yeouido.
Yeouido, this small island was the mecca of the Republic of Korea's finance. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, that would not change. It was the time when the market closed and people poured out of the brokerage firms.
Among them, a man spotted my car and approached quickly. It was Han Gyeong-yeong. He opened the passenger side door, got in the car, and showed a smile.
"Mu-hyeok, it's been a while."
"It has. We only talked on the phone every day, it's been a while since we saw each other's faces. Your face looks a lot better?"
"Hahaha, it's because I've been excited lately."
The stock market was booming too, but this person's intuition was definitely outstanding. I handed over the funds of 100 million won and thought it wouldn't matter if he blew it all, but the return rate has already exceeded 50%.
"First, let's go eat. Where is it good? Didn't you say you have a firm grip on this place? Shall we check out your noble taste buds?"
"Hehehe. Don't worry. Let's go. I'll tell you the location from the side."
A little later, we arrived at a Korean beef restaurant in Yeouido. The parking lot was already full of people who had finished the market and came to eat. We barely found an empty spot to park and entered the restaurant.
"Phew! There are a lot of people."
Guided by a staff member, we were fortunately escorted straight to a room without waiting. We ordered, sat down, and I asked about how he had been.
"How is it? Is it doable?"
"Can't you see my face? I'm so happy I could die. Yesterday I noticed a strange vibe in one stock, so I followed it in. It was dropping continuously, but when I started buying, it stopped dropping. And today, as soon as the market opened! Man, wasn't it skyrocketing?"
He used all sorts of difficult terms and spoke with excitement, but I couldn't understand him.
"I gave it to you so you could get a feel for it with the expectation that you'd blow it all, but it seems I underestimated you too much."
When I spoke with a smile, Han Gyeong-yeong, whose shoulders were puffed up with pride, spoke in a confident voice.
"You're more amazing for noticing my abilities that even I didn't know about. Thanks to you, I've gained confidence too. Well, I jumped into a bear market from 1990 to 1992, so I was bound to fail... The amount was small too..."
From the early 90s to the early 92s, bear markets repeated quite a bit. In other words, Han Gyeong-yeong had jumped into stocks at a bad time. He ended up living in hiding, chased by loan sharks, so what more needs to be said?
Eventually, the government couldn't hold out either and opened the way for foreign direct investment. It was exactly 10%, but it kept increasing, and when the IMF crisis hit, the limits disappeared. The meat began to cook properly.
I ate with Han Gyeong-yeong and made small talk. When the staff member who was grilling the meat left, I got to the point.
"You have stocks you're holding right now, right?"
"Yeah, there's about 100 million in, and about 50 million in the account. Why?"
I set down my chopsticks and spoke.
"Clear it all out starting next Monday. Do it unconditionally by the close of the market on the 12th at the latest."
At my words, Han Gyeong-yeong also set down his chopsticks and showed a puzzled expression.
"What? The mood is good right now? It's not the time to pull out. It's a continuous bull market. Right now is a time when we should keep holding."
The current mood was that several stocks, like Ilseong Fire, were showing strength and pulling the stock prices up. In this kind of atmosphere, it was no wonder he couldn't understand when I suddenly told him to sell everything.
"Brother, when I first agreed to work with you, I told you. Even if you run wild as you please, if I tell you to sell, you sell, and if I tell you to buy, you buy. We put that as the top priority. You haven't forgotten, right?"
Sensing my voice becoming stiff, Han Gyeong-yeong started to walk on eggshells around me.
"I haven't forgotten. Still, I'm saying this because it's a shame. I can give this much advice, can't I?"
I nodded my head.
"Right, you can give advice. Accepting it is what I have to do. Right?"
"Huh? Yeah. That's right."
He answered, but his expression was not accepting at all. I slowly smiled.
"Good. You have your own thoughts, so you must oppose. Let's make a bet."
"A bet?"
"Yeah. If the stocks plummet after August 12th, I win, and if the stocks go up or stay the same, you win. How about it?"
"..."
I had no reason to make a bet like this. But I had to make him believe me. That way, whenever I say something, he would execute it right away without talking back.
I provoked him with a smile on my face.
"Why? Are you scared? If you're scared, then fold!"
"Who? Me? Who's scared! Fine, let's bet. But, what are we betting on?"
"If you win, I'll give you all the money in that account right now."
At that, Han Gyeong-yeong opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"All of it?"
"Yeah. Instead, if I win, you follow me unconditionally from now on, even if you have doubts when I speak. How about it?"
"We were supposed to do that originally, weren't we?"
"You're not accepting it right now. Isn't that right? Instead, if I win this time, you have to agree with my words unconditionally. Deal?"
"Deal! I don't have anything to lose either."
There was confidence on his face. Looking at him, I smiled too.
"Well, we'll see later if you have nothing to lose. By the way, you have US citizenship, right?"
"Huh? Yeah. How did you know that?"
The second reason I chose this person. It was precisely because he was a US citizen.
< A private meeting with Chairman Song Yeong-ju. > End