After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 79
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
I Got Divorced and Found a Thousand Bitcoins Episode 079
The first class lounge had independent spaces where customers could rest comfortably.
Being isolated from the outside, they could sleep peacefully or conduct confidential meetings.
Kang Hyeon met with the National Intelligence Service agents in this place.
“You’re from the National Intelligence Service, right?”
First, he needed to confirm the identity of his counterparts clearly.
At Kang Hyeon’s question, the man who appeared to be the leader nodded.
“That’s correct. I’m Deputy Director Lee Yong-hun. I came out as the person in charge today.”
“I’m Choi Kang-hyeon. Well, you probably already know about me. But what business does the National Intelligence Service have with me?”
“Haha, you don’t need to be so on edge.”
“Rather than being on edge, it would be better to say I’m scared. The National Intelligence Service isn’t exactly an ordinary place, is it?”
“I acknowledge that. But today we came to ask you for a favor, President.”
Deputy Director Lee Yong-hun maintained a consistently humble attitude.
Seeing that the other party was being courteous and trying their best not to offend him, Kang Hyeon also realized his sincerity and lowered his guard.
“Good. Then let’s talk. What kind of favor is it?”
“You’re scheduled to meet Prime Minister Lao Xing on this business trip to India, right?”
“Don’t tell me you’re wiretapping too?”
“Absolutely not!”
Deputy Director Lee Yong-hun waved his hands dismissively.
“Wiretapping civilians? What era do you think we’re living in? That’s absolutely ridiculous. The only thing that could explain your urgent trip to India was contact from the Prime Minister, so we deduced it.”
It was plausible reasoning.
And it was actually correct too.
“So the reason you came today is because you have business with Prime Minister Lao Xing?”
“More precisely, we came because we have a favor to ask of President Choi Kang-hyeon.”
“A favor?”
“Yes. As you know, India is growing rapidly. It has become a very important position in world affairs. Perhaps in the future, it could serve as the world’s factory like China did in the 2000s.”
India and China were very similar.
Vast landmass, enormous population, and the fact that they were underdeveloped.
Because of these points, India was sometimes called the second China.
In reality, India was benchmarking China to keep pace with the global world.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that. But you didn’t come here just to explain that, did you?”
“Then I’ll get to the point. The reason Prime Minister Lao Xing requested today’s meeting is most likely to request delivery of immersion cooling systems.”
This was somewhat expected.
The timing of Prime Minister Lao Xing’s sudden request to meet was after immersion cooling became a hot topic.
But for the National Intelligence Service to bring up something related to that.
What could be the reason, he wondered, when Deputy Director Lee Yong-hun continued the conversation.
“The request we’d like to make to President Choi is to ask you to prioritize allocation of immersion cooling deliveries to South Korea.”
A priority allocation request wasn’t strange.
But for National Intelligence Service agents to come all the way here to discuss this.
“Does the National Intelligence Service handle this kind of work too?”
“Normally, the Minister of Science and ICT would have made a separate request, but since President Choi suddenly decided to leave the country, the Ministry of Science and ICT couldn’t respond in time.”
“So they requested the National Intelligence Service.”
“That’s right. When you return to the country, you’ll receive a meeting request from the Ministry of Science and ICT.”
If that was the case, the story made sense.
The National Intelligence Service would have been watching him anyway, so they could respond quickly to such issues.
‘The government was taking this issue quite seriously too.’
He hadn’t been involved with the Korean government until now.
To them, he would have appeared as a nouveau riche who suddenly made money.
But now he was involved in too many items to be seen that way.
For now, he had to postpone giving a definitive answer here.
“The answer I can give you right now is that due to our contract with S Group, the Indian government would be second priority.”
“Hmm… You’re saying anything more than that would be difficult.”
“I think it would be best to first confirm whether legitimate deals are possible through meetings with the relevant departments.”
“Phew, understood. I’ll convey that message to the Minister for now. And this is from our National Intelligence Service’s perspective, but you should hire separate bodyguards when traveling abroad.”
“Bodyguards?”
“Yes. Whether in India or the United States, you’re exposing yourself to the public too defensively.”
From those words, Kang Hyeon could tell that they had been watching him abroad.
“Did you put surveillance on me?”
“When a major figure meets with high-ranking foreign officials, monitoring is what our National Intelligence Service does. The important thing is that foreign countries aren’t as safe as South Korea.”
“Thank you for the advice. I’ll think carefully about that issue.”
“Then let’s meet again next time.”
He nodded at Deputy Director Lee Yong-hun’s words as he extended his hand.
“Next time, please contact me in advance. Don’t come so suddenly like this.”
“Haha, understood.”
Thus, the first meeting with Deputy Director Lee Yong-hun was concluded.
* * *
Arriving in India, Kang Hyeon was guided by hotel staff who came to meet him and checked into the hotel.
While he was unpacking and resting, Vice President Cha Tae-hun came to visit.
“President!”
“Vice President, you’ve gotten quite tanned.”
Vice President Cha Tae-hun, whom he met after a long time, had skin that was bronzed from the sun.
“The sunlight in India is strong. Even though I’ve been applying sunscreen well, it turned out like this.”
“When you come to South Korea, I’ll get you a dermatology appointment.”
“Haha! Thank you. But what brings you to India so suddenly?”
“I have an appointment with the Prime Minister.”
“With Prime Minister Lao Xing?”
“Yes. It’s probably because of what I’ve been doing in South Korea.”
“Ah! I heard you decided to make a deal with S Group this time? What was that liquid monster thing?”
“It’s immersion cooling. It’s a kind of cooling system that helps control heat generation in semiconductors.”
“Aha!”
Vice President Cha Tae-hun nodded.
“So he’s looking for you because of that.”
“That’s probably it. And I think he’ll also talk about the nickel mine.”
“When you meet with the Prime Minister, please also talk about the construction site.”
“Is there some problem?”
“Ugh, the local government guys are really ridiculous. They demand bribes whenever they get a chance.”
“Bribes?”
“More precisely, it’s called jugaad – if you go through people they know, they process things quickly. But to go through these people you know, you have to slip them money under the table.”
“Like China’s guanxi?”
“Exactly.”
China’s guanxi culture was very famous.
If you slipped money under the table to bureaucrats, work that would take a month could be processed the same day.
Also, for foreign companies to conduct business domestically, guanxi of slipping money under the table to bureaucrats was taken for granted in China.
It meant that India had a similar culture called jugaad.
Vice President Cha Tae-hun shook his head as if fed up with how much he had suffered from it.
“It’s serious. If the construction schedule gets delayed due to these problems, it would be that much of a loss.”
“These guys don’t care about that. Whether the central government assigned the work or whatever, filling their own pockets right now is the priority.”
Delays meant that much more money would be spent.
“Understood. When I meet the Prime Minister, I’ll discuss this issue.”
“Thank you!!”
The topics I needed to discuss with the Prime Minister had increased once again.
* * *
The next day.
Kang Hyeon met with Prime Minister Lao Sing at the Prime Minister’s Residence.
“It’s been a while, Prime Minister.”
“Representative Choi, have you been well?”
The corners of my mouth naturally turned up at Prime Minister Lao Sing’s even more friendly demeanor than before.
“Thanks to all your help, Prime Minister, I’ve been doing well. I hope you’ve been in good health too?”
“Haha, I’ve been keeping busy every day.”
“You should take care of your health as well.”
“Yes, yes. Now, let’s sit down and talk.”
I took a seat at the Prime Minister’s invitation.
Tea was placed in front of the two men sitting face to face, and the conversation soon began.
“You’ve accomplished something quite remarkable this time. Immersion cooling, was it?”
“I merely added my contribution to what Nereid was already working on.”
“Hehe, how is that an easy thing to do? You’re truly remarkable. Is heaven helping you? Or is your ability greater than I expected?”
I could only smile at such excessive praise.
This was a better response than directly addressing such comments.
Lao Sing also seemed not to expect a direct answer and continued speaking.
“I heard you’ve decided to work with Saseng this time?”
“Yes. Saseng made an investment, and in return, we agreed to provide them with exclusive access to immersion cooling.”
“I see. Then Saseng must be busy creating new facilities.”
That was correct.
Chairman Lee Jae-seong of Saseng was preparing to manufacture HBM5.
The existing Pyeongtaek Factory was producing HBM4, but the problem was finding a new factory to create the cooling system needed for Model 5.
“We want Saseng to build a factory here in India anytime.”
The meaning behind those words was clear.
He was asking me to talk with Chairman Lee Jae-seong of Saseng.
“The core of Saseng’s semiconductor manufacturing takes place at the Pyeongtaek Factory. Moving that to India won’t be easy.”
“But won’t new processes be needed to integrate immersion cooling into semiconductors this time?”
“If that were manufactured in India, the transportation costs would actually increase the unit price. Saseng would find it difficult to accept.”
A structure that was problematic in many ways.
However, Prime Minister Lao Sing had no intention of stopping his courtship of Saseng.
“Please have a good talk with Chairman Lee Jae-seong. If you do, I’ll offer you special conditions.”
“Special conditions, you say…?”
“I’ll exempt your consortium and KH Construction from taxes on the projects currently underway.”
Tax exemption.
It was a very powerful condition.
This was like the decisive card that various countries played when trying to attract large corporations like Saseng.
Vietnam’s tax exemption to attract Saseng’s factory was a prime example.
TSMC had agreed to receive conditions where they would get back 70 percent of their facility construction costs from the Taiwan government.
And Prime Minister Lao Sing was now discussing those very conditions.
“Of course, Saseng will receive the same benefits. Additionally, we’ll reimburse facility construction costs. With conditions like these, it won’t be a loss for Saseng either.”
“Hmm…”
“Didn’t Saseng recently get backstabbed by Vietnam?”
When the OECD created the global minimum tax system, Saseng, which had previously received tax exemptions, became liable to pay 15 percent tax to the Vietnamese government.
Accordingly, Saseng requested that since they would pay 15 percent tax to the Vietnamese government, this should be covered with subsidies.
The Vietnamese government also showed signs of creating legislation in a positive direction to retain Saseng.
However, once the law was implemented, the Vietnamese government delayed submitting the legislation for various reasons.
From Saseng’s perspective, they suddenly had to pay taxes in the trillions.
As a result, Saseng was internally considering downsizing their Vietnam factory and moving to other regions.
Prime Minister Lao Sing was targeting this opportunity.
“If you help me, I’ll support your business in India with open arms.”
Prime Minister Lao Sing’s blatant courtship.
This was a honey pot that was difficult to refuse.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
