Episode 168
“So…” I said, looking at the errant sales representative with a stern expression. “You bought them just because the company’s CEO told you they were good?”
“I-I’m sorry, sir,” the sales representative said with a sullen face. “I did check one bag, and they’ve been a regular client… And they said it was urgent…”
“Enough with the excuses. What happened to their CEO? You have to get a refund or something.”
Park Jong-bum shook his head. “He fled the country.”
“Fled the country? What do you mean?”
“Apparently, his company was in trouble. He scammed us to raise cash before disappearing.” He added, “His company is in chaos now that he’s gone.”
I slammed my hand on the table. “That bastard scammed us?”
I had helped countless CEOs create slush funds and escape overseas, but this was the first time I had been scammed.
“Find him and bring him back. We have to make an example of him. People have to know what happens when they cross me.”
“We’ve traced him to the Philippines, but his trail goes cold after that. It’ll cost a lot to track him down, probably more than the 300 million won we lost.”
300 million won, 1 billion won, 2 billion won… what did it matter? The goods were worthless anyway.
That CEO had probably assumed that a large company like Chunha Group would just write it off as a minor loss. That’s why he had been so brazen.
And that’s why I couldn’t let him get away with it.
“I don’t care if it costs 1 billion won. Find him. People have to learn their lesson. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it.”
I looked at the sales representative, who was sweating nervously.
The base salary for a Chunha Trading sales representative was 800,000 won, but with incentives, the average monthly salary was 1.5 million won. 300 million won was more than he could earn in ten years.
“And what about the loss? What should we do about it?”
“I-I’m so sorry, sir. I should have been more thorough.”
“You know that legally, you can’t hold an employee responsible for the company’s losses. But there’s an exception: gross negligence.”
The sales representative’s eyes widened in alarm. “N-negligence, sir?!”
“Like, if you received a kickback from the CEO in exchange for the deal…”
“Absolutely not, sir! I swear! I would never do such a thing!”
I said in a low, threatening voice, “Are you sure? Even a meal or a drink can be considered a bribe.”
He said with an indignant expression, “I swear, sir! Company policy strictly prohibits accepting any gifts from clients! I never did! Honestly!”
I sighed, looking at him. “Fine, I don’t want to suspect my own employees. But you still have to be punished for your negligence.”
He looked at me nervously, and I said, “Three months’ suspension.”
Both he and Park Jong-bum looked surprised by the lenient punishment. He stood up and bowed repeatedly.
“Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!”
“But make sure you’re thorough from now on. Understood?”
“Yes, sir! Thank you!”
“You can leave now.”
After he left, Park Jong-bum asked, “Are you really letting him off that easily?”
“I would have taken everything he owned if it had been intentional. But it doesn’t seem like it. And…” I chuckled. “…this is also a good PR opportunity. The kind and forgiving chairman.”
Image-making was about everyday actions, not just grand gestures.
“It’s good that it was just a mistake.”
It was the sales representative’s negligence, not a systemic problem, which was fortunate.
“Retrain the employees and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And how could he be so naive? Does he really think anyone would do anything out of kindness?”
“That’s what I’m saying. Even a long-term client can betray you. I’ll retrain them.”
In the capitalist world, money was power, the alpha and the omega.
So it was human nature to pursue it relentlessly, by any means necessary. And he had trusted someone blindly?
I had met countless people who approached me with sweet words and promises. Their goal had always been the same: to exploit me for their own gain.
“Never trust anyone’s words. Everyone acts in their own self-intere……”
I suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Park Jong-bum looked at me, concerned. “Sir, are you alright?”
“I…” I said, sweating, “what have I been doing…?”
I had started investing in the IT sector just because I heard it was a good opportunity.
And although I had chosen a cautious approach to minimize the risks, I had already doubled the investment and was about to abandon my initial plan. I had been lulled into a false sense of security by the media’s hype and the experts’ optimistic predictions, believing the IT bubble would last forever.
Was I really so naive, so willing to bet on an uncertain future? I was no different from the Daehoo Energy branch manager who had clung to the hope of a future windfall from a worthless oil field.
“I’ve been foolish.”
“Sir?”
I wasn’t the type to be swayed by others and follow the market blindly.
I had lost my way. I had been foolish.
I shook my head and said with a hardened expression, “Director Park, call Maru. Emergency meeting.”
“I made a mistake.”
Maru and Park Jong-bum looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not about whether the IT sector is good or bad, profitable or not. I’m acting like a guest at someone else’s party, enjoying the free food without contributing anything. I have to control the game, that’s how I’ve always operated. But I became too cautious, too hesitant because of the uncertainty.”
I closed my eyes. “I started with 500 billion won to test the waters, and then I doubled the investment when the price went up. And now I’m even thinking about abandoning my plan and trying to time the market. This is not how Park Sol operates. I’m not even controlling the game, I’m just following the trend.”
Park Jong-bum said with a hesitant expression, “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Our current investment is 1 trillion won, right?”
He nodded. “Yes, the principal was 1 trillion won, and we’ve already made over 300 billion won in profit. In just one month.”
I nodded. “Good. Maru.”
“Yes.”
“How much cash do Chunha Group and Joongang Investment have combined?”
“Let’s see… Joongang has a little over 1 trillion won, and Chunha Group has about 1.5 trillion won.”
“What about the funds in China?” The massive profits from the secondhand electronics components department store were being kept in China, in preparation for the succession battle at Haixin Group.
“China? About 2 trillion won. Why?”
“That’s a total of 4.5 trillion won. Good. Bring in the money from China. We’re taking over the IT sector.”
Park Jong-bum looked bewildered. “What do you mean?”
“We’re investing the entire 4.5 trillion won.”
Maru and Park Jong-bum gasped. “All of it?!”
“Let’s turn the IT boom into a supernova. A storm.”
“Chairman, the entire IT sector’s market capitalization is only about 10 trillion won! And that’s after our 1 trillion won investment inflated the bubble! The market is too small for another 4.5 trillion won!”
“That’s why it’ll work. It’s difficult to manipulate a large market, but we can control the Korean IT market. And the media and the government are on our side, promoting venture companies and supporting small businesses.” I smirked.
“We’ll keep pumping it up. We’ll maintain an insane upward trend that even the skeptics can’t resist. It’s not difficult with our resources, is it? And then, at the peak… boom.”
“But what happens when the 4.5 trillion won bubble bursts…? People will…”
“It’s already a bubble. Are the current stock prices even real? It’s going to burst eventually, so let’s use it. It’s no different from what we’ve always done. 5.5 trillion won in total, including the 1 trillion won we’ve already invested. That’s more than enough to absorb all the shares.”
“The repercussions will be severe.”
I smiled. “They will be. And we’ll make a fortune. Chunha Group will start withdrawing its investment midway. Joongang Investment Corporation will continue pumping. And then, at the right moment, we’ll burst the bubble and have Chunha Group step in as the savior. It’s our usual playbook. Let’s begin. Buy any company with ‘dot-com’ or ‘information’ in its name. No due diligence, just buy everything.”
I chuckled. “You’re worried about the uncertainty? Then I’ll create the certainty.”
A storm.
There was no other way to describe the IT frenzy. The stock market went crazy after I started pumping it.
Any IT company that went public immediately hit the 15% upper limit and halted trading. Even unrelated stocks in the medical sector were surging.
Park Myung-sik, hoping to make a small investment in the booming IT sector, visited a securities company. “You’re saying I can’t even buy 1 million won worth of shares?”
“All IT stocks have hit the ceiling and halted trading,” the trader explained.
He looked at the time, puzzled. “It’s only 10 AM, an hour after the market opened. They’ve already hit the ceiling?”
“It’s been like this for the past few days. Buy orders are disappearing instantly. It’ll probably be the same tomorrow.”
“So if I had bought at 9 AM, I would have made a 15% profit in an hour.”
He felt like he had just lost 150,000 won. “Are there really no shares available?”
“No, yesterday, they hit the ceiling before 10 AM and remained there until the closing bell.”
“Can you buy them for me tomorrow morning?”
“I can place a buy order, but with so many buy orders and no sell orders, it’s unlikely you’ll get them at the current market price.”
“Is that so?” He thought for a moment. “Then place a buy order at the upper limit. Buy as many shares as you can.”
Even if he bought at the upper limit, he would still profit if the price went up the next day. In a bull market, the latecomers were always the losers.
“Yes, sir.”
He stood there for a moment, thinking, and then said, “Wait a minute.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to the bank. 1 million won isn’t enough.”
All the brokerage houses were filled with people like him, waiting in line.
If the stock price increased by 15% every day, you could double your money in five days.
People, lured by the dream of getting rich quick, were joining the frenzy I had created, convinced that they wouldn’t be the ones left holding the bag when the bubble burst.