Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 387

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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387. What sort of proposal are you referring to…?

October 13, 1997, Gwanghwamun Government Complex Building 1.
The economic situation had grown so dire that the media was calling the announcement of the IMF bailout request a second national humiliation. With this, the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Finance and Economy Choi Jin-woo had concluded his brief inauguration ceremony and immediately convened an emergency meeting with senior officials.
The staff of the Ministry of Finance and Economy felt deeply flustered and deflated by such an abrupt replacement of the economic team at such a critical juncture.
However, the situation afforded no luxury for deliberation, so everyone set aside their concerns and focused entirely on preparing for negotiations with the IMF.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo himself was not an outsider but had risen from the ranks of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, the predecessor to the Ministry of Finance and Economy, so he quickly grasped the situation without any significant difficulties.

“Yesterday, the IMF negotiation team led by Director Todd Aiken entered through Gimpo Airport and settled into the Walkerhill Hotel.”

Exhaustion was plainly visible on the face of Jung Ji-hoon, Director of Financial Policy.
Listening to his report, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo gave a small nod from his seat and opened his mouth.

“What was the atmosphere like?”
“Overall, they displayed a rather rigid attitude and notified us that they would conduct on-site inspections of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Bank of Korea, and the Securities Supervisory Board starting tomorrow.”

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo leaned back against the sofa as if he had expected as much.

“They intend to apply strong pressure from the outset to secure the upper hand in negotiations.”

Then Shin Seung-gi, the Vice Minister seated on the left, spoke up with a stern expression.

“To avoid surrendering too much in exchange for the bailout, we absolutely must not lose the initiative.”
“I share that view.”

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo, observing the senior officials seated on both sofas, continued in a notably grave tone.

“We must draw out sufficient financial support from the IMF to resolve the foreign exchange crisis, but we must accept their conditions only within a range that is feasible given our circumstances and policy direction. Let all of you keep this as the objective of these negotiations.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”

It was no exaggeration to say that the fate of South Korea hung in the balance of these negotiations, and everyone’s expressions reflected unwavering resolve.
Observing the determination on his officials’ faces, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo turned his gaze toward Shin Seung-gi, the Vice Minister overseeing the practical negotiations.

“What do you think the conditions the IMF will demand of us in exchange for the bailout will be?”

Shin Seung-gi leaned forward in his seat and answered immediately.

“First, there’s a strong possibility they’ll demand we shift away from the government’s growth-first policies and instead pursue current account deficit improvements based on low growth and low inflation.”

Choi Jung-yeol, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, frowned slightly as he spoke.

“If fiscal spending decreases, economic recovery will slow accordingly, but there’s no avoiding it at this point.”
“We’re planning to strongly emphasize that Korea’s fiscal soundness is higher than other nations that have received IMF bailouts.”
“That’s a good approach. Make sure to stress that investments in education and infrastructure—which form the foundation for long-term growth—are unavoidable for the nation’s future.”
“Understood.”

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jung-yeol picked up the teacup before him, took a sip of coffee, and continued in a somewhat subdued voice.

“There will be interference from various sectors, but among them, structural reform in the financial sector will be their top priority.”
“Since excessive short-term foreign debt was the trigger for this currency crisis and financial institutions have become severely impaired due to cascading corporate bankruptcies, they’ll definitely pressure us for large-scale restructuring.”

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jung-yeol exhaled a small sigh, frustration evident in his expression.

“Hmph. The shock will be severe, but given the current state, some financial institutions can’t even operate properly. As painful as it is, some degree of restructuring is unavoidable.”

The non-performing loans that commercial banks had accumulated from the cascade of large conglomerate defaults had snowballed into a critical situation exceeding 32 trillion won.
All the executives nodded gravely in agreement with Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jung-yeol’s assessment.

“However, to minimize the damage, let’s reach an agreement to restructure troubled financial institutions through mergers and business transfers rather than closures.”
“Understood.”

At that moment, Jung Ji-hoon, the Financial Policy Director, carefully interjected.

“Beyond restructuring troubled financial institutions, it appears they’ll demand complete opening of the financial and capital markets.”
“Of course they will. America orchestrated this IMF bailout precisely to achieve that, so there’s no way they’ll let it slide.”

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jung-yeol crossed his arms as he spoke, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“We’ll propose that while accepting opening, we proceed step by step according to the schedule we promised when joining the OECD.”

For some time afterward, they continued to anticipate what the IMF might demand and discussed countermeasures one by one.
Though the humiliating situation of requesting an IMF bailout had occurred, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jung-yeol and his executives naively optimized that matters would be resolved without further major difficulties.
However, whether negotiations would proceed as smoothly as hoped remained uncertain.

***

The next afternoon.
Dressed in a perfectly tailored custom suit that hugged his frame, I sat in the back seat of a large Mercedes sedan, gazing out the window while listening to the news flowing from the radio.

[… Now for the next news.
The government has begun earnestly tackling the cleanup of non-performing loans, starting this week with the purchase of 3 trillion won worth of non-performing loans held by financial institutions.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy announced plans to purchase an additional 8 trillion won this year and 5 trillion won by January next year, for a total of 16 trillion won in non-performing loans, which would amount to 50% of the 32 trillion won in non-performing loans currently held by banks and comprehensive finance companies as of this month.
To this end, the government will establish an 8 trillion won non-performing loan resolution fund by this month and add 2 trillion won by the end of this year….]

Upon hearing the government’s announcement of its non-performing loan cleanup plan, I responded with cynicism.

“They threw the first punch to seize the initiative in negotiations.”

At that, Han Ji-sung, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head back to look at me.

“What did you say?”
“That news that just came out. It’s obvious the IMF delegation that arrived in Seoul will raise the issue of the massive non-performing loans held by commercial banks and finance companies in negotiations. So the Ministry of Finance and Economy made the first move.”

Understanding my meaning, Han Ji-sung continued speaking while still turned around in his seat.

“Still, if they proceed with non-performing loan cleanup like this, won’t the liquidity that’s been frozen loosen up as the Ministry of Finance and Economy expects, and won’t the financial institutions’ soundness improve so that credit ratings rise again?”
“Of course that would be best, but the IMF delegation won’t give in as easily as the Ministry of Finance and Economy hopes.”

I already knew that the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the government would soon regret underestimating the IMF delegation.
Shortly after, when the car stopped in front of the Westin Chosun Hotel located in Sogong-dong, a doorman in a crisp uniform approached and opened the car door.
I stepped out of the back seat and entered the hotel with Han Ji-sung, my attendant secretary.
Though it was Korea’s oldest hotel, having opened in 1914 during the Japanese occupation, the lobby was maintained with the pristine elegance befitting a five-star establishment.
I crossed the lobby with its dark marble flooring with familiar steps and headed up in the elevator.
Upon arriving at the top floor and stepping into the corridor, the entrance to the Japanese restaurant came into view immediately.
Yu Hyun-seok, who had been waiting outside, saw me and quickly approached, bowing respectfully.

“Has the guest arrived?”
“Yes. He came five minutes ago and has been waiting.”
“Oh my, I should have been here first. My apologies. Let’s go in right away.”
“I’ll show you the way.”

With those words, Yu Hyun-seok led the way.
Passing the omakase counter where chefs in white chef’s coats stood, we arrived at the entrance to a private room situated deeper inside, and Yu Hyun-seok slid open the door.
A man sitting before a large floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the sprawling cityscape rose from his seat upon seeing me enter.

“This is Park Seok-won, the president of Daehung Venture Capital.”

Yu Hyun-seok raised one arm and introduced me, gesturing in my direction.
A lean man wearing gold-rimmed glasses bowed his head slightly with a somewhat nervous expression and greeted me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Choi Jung-yeol, the representative of InterPlaza.”
“I’m delighted we could meet like this.”

I smiled and extended my hand first, and Choi Jung-yeol grasped it in return, and we exchanged a light handshake.

“I apologize for making you wait.”
“Not at all. I arrived earlier than our scheduled time, so please don’t worry about it.”
“Then shall we sit down and continue our conversation?”
“Of course.”

I and Han Ji-sung took our seats at the spacious table, while Choi Jung-yeol sat across from us alongside Yu Hyun-seok.
I picked up a rolled hand towel on a wooden stand, wiped my hands, and opened my mouth leisurely.

“Before coming here, I visited the internet bookstore you recently opened. The layout is remarkably clean, making it very convenient for consumers to select books.”
“Thank you for the kind words.”
“I heard you personally designed the website layout.”
“I didn’t do it alone—I just contributed a few ideas.”
“Regardless, your touch is definitely evident in it.”
“Ha. I suppose so.”

Choi Jung-yeol laughed with a slightly embarrassed expression.
It was unusual to hear such praise face-to-face, but honestly, I didn’t dislike the compliment.
Just then, two female servers knocked and entered, placing small bowls of shrimp soup on the table.

“The food here is famous for being refined and delicious, so please try some.”
“Ah, yes.”

I picked up a spoon first and spoke, and Choi Jung-yeol followed suit, tasting the soup.

“How is it?”
“I haven’t been to many Japanese restaurants, but as expected from a five-star hotel, the taste seems different.”
“I’m glad it suits your palate.”

The four of us toasted lightly with sake served as an accompaniment, then savored each dish as it arrived, dining in a warm and convivial atmosphere.
The seasonal sashimi and sushi were particularly fresh, melting delicately on the tongue the moment they entered the mouth.
We enjoyed every last bite of the crispy vegetable tempura and the fragrant grilled pine mushrooms that followed, finishing with a palate-cleansing dessert.
Judging that the atmosphere had ripened sufficiently, I refilled Choi Jung-yeol’s cup with sake and naturally steered the conversation toward the main purpose.

“When I decided to make this investment, I cannot tell you how relieved I was to hear that you would continue to remain with the company.”
“Thank you for saying so.”

I set down the sake pitcher and met Choi Jung-yeol’s gaze directly.

“I mean this sincerely—if you had told me you were leaving the company, I would have reconsidered the InterPlaza investment.”

Choi Jung-yeol didn’t respond, but he seemed pleased by the recognition of his value.

“That’s why I arranged this dinner—to present you with a proposal.”

Only then did Choi Jung-yeol snap to attention, straightening his posture and listening intently.

“What sort of proposal are you referring to?”

I smiled as I spoke.

“As you know, our investment has secured us a 75% stake in InterPlaza.”
“Of course.”

Choi Jung-yeol nodded, his expression growing slightly tense as he wondered what I was driving at.

“I intend to give you 15% of the InterPlaza stake we’ve secured.”
!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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