Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 423

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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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423. Who said anything about putting up gold?

I turned off the shower and stepped out of the glass enclosure thick with steam.
After shaking the water from my damp hair, I stood before the mirror and caught sight of my well-defined chest and sculpted abdominal muscles reflected back at me.
After a brief check of my face in the mirror, I wrapped a large towel around my lower body and entered the dressing room.
Along the walls, custom-built closets displayed an array of luxury brand clothing organized by type, as if an entire department store boutique had been transplanted into the space.
In the open storage unit at the center of the dressing room, dozens of exquisite timepieces—Rolex, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin—each meticulously crafted by master artisans, gleamed behind glass cases.
As I fastened a Gucci-logo tie over my dress shirt and stepped into the living room, the television across the way happened to be broadcasting the news.

[Good morning. This is the January 5th morning news.
The special live broadcast “Let’s Save Our Nation with Gold,” conducted by the three major broadcasting networks over the past weekend, collected approximately 7,013 kilograms of gold.
This event, held simultaneously in Seoul and nine major cities nationwide, drew 100,787 participants from all walks of life—government officials, celebrities, and broadcasters—who donated gold worth approximately seventy million dollars.
At collection sites established at broadcasting stations and banks, countless citizens brought out gold jewelry from their homes—rings, bracelets, necklaces, and various other items—pooling their efforts to overcome this national crisis.
The collected gold will be melted down to create gold bars, which will then be exported to earn foreign currency. The proceeds will be converted to Korean won and deposited into the bank accounts of those who donated the gold.
Meanwhile….]

Watching the television screen show people of all ages and genders lined up at collection sites with gold jewelry from their homes, my expression grew tense.

“A gold collection campaign… it certainly has been a tremendous help in overcoming the IMF crisis.”

The gold collection movement, initially started under the leadership of the Saemaul Women’s Association, spread rapidly across the nation through active promotion by the government and media.
It was reminiscent of the national bond compensation movement of the Korean Empire era, when citizens raised funds to repay debts owed to Japan.
It was a spontaneous action by citizens whose pride had been wounded by the IMF bailout request, made amid foreign mockery about popping champagne too early.
The gold collected during this period reached 227 tons—an astounding amount, twenty times greater than the gold reserves held by the Bank of Korea at that time.
The foreign currency earned from exporting this collected gold amounted to 2.2 billion dollars.

“Since the loans received from the IMF until the end of the foreign exchange crisis totaled approximately 21 billion dollars, this represented roughly 10 percent of that amount.”

Of course, it was far from sufficient to repay the IMF loans.
However, the world was astonished by the spontaneous efforts of citizens in an IMF-bailout nation to repay loans—a first among countries receiving such assistance.
It became the decisive turning point that changed the minds of many who had viewed Korea’s future darkly, just as they had for other nations receiving bailout funds.

“Seeing something like this, it’s clear that it wasn’t the government or politicians who overcame the IMF crisis—it was the people.”

If it had ended here, it would have been a truly beautiful happy ending, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
A few years later, it was revealed that seven major conglomerate subsidiaries that had been entrusted with exporting gold bars collected through the gold collection campaign had evaded approximately 2 trillion won in taxes through all manner of illegal methods.
Not only that, but some employees had even committed embezzlement on the scale of hundreds of billions of won.

“The people literally scraped together even stone rings from their closets to save the nation, and those conglomerates and traitors exploited that patriotism to secretly line their own pockets.”

I had no idea how profound the shock and sense of betrayal the people felt when these facts came to light.
Seok-won himself had scraped together all the gold he possessed before his regression and contributed it, only to discover it had ended up in the pockets of those scoundrels—a memory that remained vivid even now.

“This time won’t be any different.”

Seok-won’s expression turned bitter as he picked up the remote and turned off the television, which was still broadcasting news about the gold collection campaign.

***

“Let’s proceed with this matter as planned.”
“Yes, understood.”

After returning the signed approval document, I noticed that Executive Director Yun Ki-hun, who was standing before my desk, made no move to leave and remained where he was. I raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Is there something else you wanted to say?”

Executive Director Yun Ki-hun hesitated, glancing around cautiously before speaking.

“You’ve probably heard that Hyunwoo announced their own gold collection campaign yesterday, following Saseong Group.”
“And?”

I leaned back in my chair, forming a small triangle with my hands as I regarded Executive Director Yun Ki-hun.

“Since everyone is participating in the gold collection, I thought we should consider joining as well.”

After a brief moment of thought, I responded in an indifferent tone.

“We’re not a B2C business dealing with general consumers—we operate a B2B business conducting transactions between corporations. There’s no real need to concern ourselves with outward appearances, is there?”
“Of course, that’s true, but…”

Executive Director Yun Ki-hun, who had clearly expected a positive response, showed a slightly flustered expression at this unexpected answer.
Seeing him trail off, I spoke calmly.

“I understand the desire to help a country in crisis, even in small ways. However, that’s a decision each person should make autonomously based on their own will. If the company takes the lead in organizing a gold collection drive, won’t the employees feel unnecessary pressure?”

Though that wasn’t my intention, Seok-won’s point was valid.
If I were in their position and the company organized a gold collection drive, I’d feel awkward and self-conscious about not participating. Yun Ki-hun looked embarrassed.

“I think I was shortsighted, sir.”
“Still, all other companies are participating in the gold collection campaign. It would look bad if only we abstain.”

As Seok-won shrugged and spoke, Yun Ki-hun hesitated.
He couldn’t quite figure out what I was asking for, though he didn’t voice it aloud.
As Yun Ki-hun grumbled internally, I suddenly had a good idea.

“Since I don’t want to burden the employees, I’ll just make a donation as their representative.”
“You mean you’ll do it personally, sir?”

Yun Ki-hun asked, startled.

“Yes. If any employees want to participate in the gold collection, tell them to go to the event venue at the Broadcasting Station and contribute individually.”
“If you contribute gold, sir, we executives should participate as well. That would look better, wouldn’t it?”
“Who said anything about contributing gold?”
“Pardon?”

Yun Ki-hun opened his mouth in confusion.

“You just said you’d make a donation, sir.”
“That’s right. But I never said I’d donate gold.”
“Then….”

Yun Ki-hun blinked and stared at me.
I casually brushed past his questioning gaze and replied calmly.

“What’s the purpose of the gold collection drive?”
“To melt the gold into ingots and sell them abroad to earn foreign currency.”
“Then why go through the trouble of collecting gold? We could just donate dollars instead.”
“That… I see.”
“About ten million dollars should suffice.”

Hearing the amount, Yun Ki-hun gasped sharply.

“T-ten million dollars, sir?”
“That’s the minimum needed to maintain any semblance of dignity, wouldn’t you say?”

Unlike Yun Ki-hun, who was so startled he nearly forgot to breathe, I appeared utterly unperturbed.
Yun Ki-hun’s expression grew awkward as he realized this wasn’t merely about maintaining dignity—it would leave every other businessman in the country looking shabby by comparison.
Though the exchange rate had fallen significantly from its peak, the situation remained unstable, fluctuating around 1,500 won per dollar.
Considering that, it amounted to a staggering 1.5 billion won in Korean currency—there was no way not to be astonished.

‘When you think about how desperately both corporations and the government are scrambling to secure dollars, the true value of this gesture would be far greater.’

Even for a third-generation chaebol heir, the shock of casually producing such a sum during a foreign exchange crisis was undeniable.
Then it struck him—Seok-won was the mastermind behind the acquisition of the megabank that would be created from the merger of Ilhan Bank and Hansung Bank. Suddenly, everything made sense.

‘He’s no ordinary third-generation heir.’

Yun Ki-hun, who had been nodding to himself, snapped back to attention at my words.

“I’ll make the donation tomorrow. Have the PR department prepare a press release and distribute it.”
“You mean to have the media run the story, sir?”
“I’m no saint, and I’m donating this much money. There’s no reason the left hand shouldn’t know what the right hand is doing, is there?”

I replied matter-of-factly.

“It’s not that I lack patriotism in helping a nation facing hardship, but I’m not getting this money back later—I’m simply donating it. So I should at least secure a positive image by spreading the story through the press.”
“Y-you’re absolutely right, sir.”
“Just make sure not to be too blatant about it. Keep it tasteful.”
“Understood.”

In such difficult times, one misstep could make it look like bragging about money, turning a generous donation into something counterproductive.

“If there’s nothing else, you can go.”
“Ah, yes.”

Yun Ki-hun hastily bowed and left the President’s Office.
Alone once more, I rested my chin in my hand, my expression growing contemplative.

“Hmm… what should I do?”

To be honest, until just a moment ago, I hadn’t given this matter much thought.
But as I pondered it further, I realized that if I left things as they were, it was clear that unscrupulous individuals would line their pockets with the gold that ordinary citizens had painstakingly gathered from their homes and brought together—and I simply couldn’t allow that.

“The people are already struggling through such difficult times because of the International Monetary Fund crisis. If they discover that someone has embezzled the gold they worked so hard to accumulate, how devastated and betrayed they’ll feel.”

Beyond that, the people were doing everything they could to save the nation, and I couldn’t possibly stand by and watch someone commit treason from behind the scenes.
With my resolve hardened, I picked up the mobile phone on my desk.
I then found the number of Choi Jin-woo, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, in my saved contacts and pressed the call button.
After the dial tone, the other party answered shortly.

[Hello.]

From his weary voice, I could tell that while the worst of the situation had passed, the crisis was still unfolding.

“This is Park Seok-won.”
[Ah. Chairman Park, what brings this call?]

As he answered warmly, I spoke calmly.

“I hope I’m not calling at an inconvenient time.”
[No matter how hectic things are, you’re the benefactor who saved this drowning nation—of course I should take your call.]

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo chuckled and replied in a lighthearted tone.

“You’re making me embarrassed with such words.”
[If it weren’t for you, we would have faced national default—not just I, but everyone at the Ministry of Finance and Economy knows this. Why be so modest?]
“There’s something urgent I need to discuss with you. Could you spare some time?”
[If you ask to see me, I’ll make time even if I have none. But you wouldn’t call without good reason—what’s this about?]
“I’ll explain when we meet.”

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Jin-woo nodded readily without hesitation.

[Very well. Then come to the Gwanghwamun Government Complex tomorrow afternoon.]
“Just let me know the time, and I’ll be there.”
[I should have a brief opening around 1 p.m., so let’s meet then.]
“Understood.”

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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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