Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 474

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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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474. They’re completely like thugs.

“New Wave’s export orders have increased 60% compared to last quarter.”

Sunlight streamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, flooding the President’s Office with warmth as I set down my coffee cup on the plush leather sofa.
Then I turned my gaze toward Yun Ki-hun, seated to my right, and spoke.

“Seeing them increase orders again so soon suggests MP3 players are quite popular in the United States.”
“It fits perfectly with young consumers’ constant demand for new products, and the widespread internet adoption has made it far easier to create or download MP3 files and listen to music than before. That’s had a significant impact.”

Yun Ki-hun continued with a smile as he looked at me.

“On top of that, your strategy of launching products through Best Buy, which controls 48% of the American consumer electronics market, has also played a major role in this success.”

After such blatant flattery, I smiled gently and asked.

“So now we need to deliver over 700,000 units. Can Digital Wave actually handle all that?”
“They’re planning to subcontract first to handle the current orders, and then expand the Manufacturing Plant in Namdong Industrial Complex to increase production capacity.”

I nodded slightly, crossing my arms and crossing one leg over the other as I sat back.

“Production capacity can’t suddenly expand like a rubber band just because orders come flooding in. To meet the volume, subcontracting is unavoidable.”
“That’s correct.”
“But if we become so focused on meeting order quantities that we neglect quality control, we’ll lose far more than we gain.”

Yun Ki-hun, understanding my meaning immediately, responded.

“I’ll tell Digital Wave to pay closer attention to quality control.”
“Don’t let them brush it off—call President An directly and tell him yourself.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Yun Ki-hun naturally shifted the topic and continued.

“Also, MC Soft has finished the beta service for their online RPG game Lineage and will begin official service starting next week.”

“I actually tried the game myself, and it’s optimized well enough now—there’s barely any lag during gameplay, and most of the bugs from the early stages have been resolved.”
“You play games, sir?”

Yun Ki-hun wore an expression of surprise.
At that, I averted my gaze slightly and let out a small cough.

“Since it’s a game made by one of our invested companies, I was just running a test to see if it turned out properly.”
“But judging from how you mentioned the lag and bugs have disappeared, it seems you’ve been testing it throughout the entire beta service period, not just once or twice.”

It was something you couldn’t know unless you’d played consistently.
Caught off guard by Yun Ki-hun’s unnecessarily sharp observation, I awkwardly tried to change the subject.

“Anyway, once we launch the official service, the game needs to run even more smoothly since we’ll be charging users. You’ve expanded the servers sufficiently, right?”

The way I was trying to brush past it made it clear I’d been playing the game earnestly during the beta service.
But Yun Ki-hun deliberately pretended not to notice and responded to my words.

“I understand we’ve made full preparations since we had sufficient testing time compared to the original schedule. And I’m told that once we transition to paid service, staff will be on standby 24 hours a day to respond in real-time if any issues arise.”

Originally, the plan was to convert to paid service much earlier.
But after I pointed out that if we rushed into paid service without being fully prepared and the game didn’t run smoothly, complaints would pour in and users would turn away, potentially causing the game to fail at launch, we extended the beta service period by an entire month.
Thanks to that, we were able to catch large and small bugs and spread word-of-mouth, significantly increasing the user base.
It was already a mega-hit game, but with my involvement, the completeness improved even further, naturally painting an expression full of anticipation.

“I’m already looking forward to seeing how the results turn out.”

After that, I received reports on the invested companies for quite some time.
Since there were many companies I’d been involved with, the reporting took quite a while.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out.”
“Go ahead.”

As Yun Ki-hun stood up and left, the Female Secretary from the secretarial office came in and cleared the teacup from the table.
While I remained on the sofa carefully reviewing the report Yun Ki-hun had left behind, the vibration alert sounded.
I lifted myself up and picked up the mobile phone placed on the desk.
Then I checked who was calling and immediately pressed the answer button.

[Is it okay to talk?]

At the heavy voice of Lee Chul-gyun, I sat down in the desk chair and spoke.

“I ordered an investigation yesterday, but there’s no way it’s finished already. What’s happened?”
[The Rothschild Fund, an American investment firm managing the restructuring of Hansan Group, has presented a proposal to the creditor consortium today to sell four core subsidiaries—including Manyoung Machinery, heavy industry, cement, and construction—to foreign investors for 1.8 billion dollars.]

Seok-won leaned back and furrowed his brow slightly as he listened.

“1.8 billion dollars comes to roughly 2.4 trillion won. That’s not even enough to cover all the debt.”
[That’s correct. The financial debt of the four Hansan Group subsidiaries being sold amounts to approximately 6.35 trillion won. After deducting the sale proceeds, they’re essentially forgiving over 3.95 trillion won in debt.]

Seok-won exhaled sharply, as if utterly dumbfounded.

“Unbelievable. Not only are they selling off the crown jewels at fire-sale prices, but they’re also wiping out nearly 4 trillion won in debt using taxpayer money.”

Every single domestic commercial bank had received astronomical bailout funds from the government due to the foreign exchange crisis.
So when financial institutions forgave debt, it was essentially the same as erasing loans with the blood-earned taxes of ordinary citizens.
Lee Chul-gyun, too, seemed infuriated by the shameless behavior of the Rothschild Fund, his voice carrying rare emotion.

[They’re complete thugs.]

Seok-won clicked his tongue inwardly and tightened his grip on the phone in his hand.

“The fact that they’ve stated such specific figures suggests they’ve already found a buyer. Who is it?”
[I apologize, but I haven’t been able to uncover that information yet.]

It was disappointing, but the Rothschild Fund wasn’t careless enough to leak such crucial information, so I didn’t press further.

“What’s the creditor consortium’s reaction?”
[As you predicted, there are complaints about the fire-sale prices. However, with so many non-performing loans beyond just Hansan Group and the creditors desperately needing every dollar, the consensus is forming toward reluctant acceptance.]

Seok-won’s expression turned cynical as he spoke.

“Even if they incur losses from forgiving the debt, the government will cover it with taxes, so they’re just letting it slide.”
[That’s certainly a factor. Additionally, the recent strike at Manyoung Machinery likely influenced the creditor consortium’s rush to sell off the assets and sever ties with Hansan Group.]

Once Hansan Group entered court receivership, the Rothschild Fund provided a 1 billion dollar bridge loan and took charge of improving the financial structure by selling off core subsidiaries to reduce debt.
In the process, when they pushed for massive layoffs, the Manyoung Machinery union demanded employment and collective agreement succession, launching a full-scale strike.
Since Manyoung Machinery’s shutdown—producing critical automotive components—would cripple the entire domestic automotive industry’s production and threaten the nation’s international credibility, the government classified it as an illegal strike and deployed police force.
While inventory levels varied slightly by automaker, critical components from Manyoung Machinery—air conditioners, intercoolers, and distribution panels—had reserves of only one day to a week at most.
If the strike dragged on, the production lines of domestic automakers would inevitably grind to a halt.

‘The real reason the government rushed to deploy public force was probably to prevent the strike against layoffs from spreading like wildfire to other companies.’

Manyoung Machinery was not the only domestic company suffering difficulties due to the International Monetary Fund crisis and undergoing massive layoffs.
Nearly every domestic enterprise was implementing layoffs and wage cuts, enduring what was literally a harsh winter.
If the strike at Manyoung Machinery were to ignite the suppressed grievances of workers and spread throughout the entire industrial sector, the situation would spiral beyond control.

‘With Russia’s moratorium declaration already making exchange rates unstable again, if that happened, it would be nothing short of a nightmare for the government.’

That was why they braced themselves for the incoming criticism and immediately deployed thousands of police officers to suppress the strike early.

“They’re still being criticized for deploying public force against the Manyoung Machinery strike. So they want to unload it at a bargain price and escape this headache, it seems.”
[That’s right. With signs of it becoming a political issue, the creditor consortium probably wants to distance itself from Hansan Group at all costs, worried about getting caught in the crossfire.]
“Then it’s safe to say the Rothschild Fund’s proposal will be approved at the creditor consortium meeting.”
[It will be.]

Seok-won nodded while holding the phone to his ear, as the handling of Hansan Group had proceeded according to the Rothschild Fund’s intentions even in his memories before regression.

“First, verify whether the Rothschild Fund invested the full one billion dollars they promised to the government as bridge loans into Hansan Group, just as I mentioned. And check whether they improperly used the restructuring fund entrusted to them by the Industrial Bank. On top of that, thoroughly investigate whether there were any backroom dealings with Lim Jong-myung, Chairman of Hansan Group.”
[Understood.]

There was quite a bit of work to do, but Lee Chul-gyun answered with confidence.

[If anything new comes up during the investigation, I’ll contact you again.]
“Do that.”

Seok-won ended the call and set his phone down on the desk.

“They’re trying to dupe the Blue House and government, desperate for foreign investment, extracting only what they want and then disappearing with the profits. But as long as I’m here, that won’t happen.”

Seok-won muttered coldly, his eyes flashing with a sharp gleam.
In reality, the Rothschild Fund had entered Korea wearing a mask of benevolent investor, claiming they would first inject capital into struggling companies to clear their debts and normalize operations, then resell them for profit.

“But they dazzled the Blue House and Korean government with promises to invest one billion dollars, yet they didn’t use their own money at all—they sourced most of the investment capital from domestic banks.”

While receiving all manner of credit and favorable treatment, they actually brought in no foreign currency. Instead, they borrowed funds from domestic banks to purchase premium companies at bargain prices and pocket the gains.
In the process, they even enjoyed the privilege of having massive amounts of debt forgiven using the people’s tax money.

“It wasn’t just the Rothschild Fund—most of the hedge funds that entered the country during this period extracted national wealth through these same methods.”

In the process of reclaiming those premium companies sold at rock-bottom prices years later, the hedge funds reaped massive profits once more.

“First, I’ll teach those Rothschild Fund bastards a lesson for trying to pull such a dirty trick.”

A cold smile played across Seok-won’s lips.

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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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