New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 160

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 160. Organizing and Tidying Up (5)

The crisis in the US real estate market was still several years away.

There was no need to worry about it now, and for the moment, I had to focus on organizing the various subsidiaries that Tiger Fund had aggressively acquired.

“Deputy Branch Manager, how are the subsidiary stock prices?”

“There are differences between subsidiaries, but overall they’re on an upward trend. Not to mention Hana Bank, Daehyeon Construction and semiconductors have also risen slightly.”

These were companies we had pulled up from rock bottom.

Just by holding onto them quietly, the stock prices were bound to rise.

Moreover, since we were continuing massive investments, a significant surge in the near future was as clear as day.

“Starting next year, we’ll begin full-scale large investments. So we need to increase our holdings as much as possible before stock prices rise further.”

“The Korea Branch has been steadily purchasing shares, but there are limits to expanding our holdings with just the stocks available in the market.”

When we acquired the companies, we had negotiated on the condition of bringing over all the shares.

So there were no additional shares held by creditors, and if we forcibly bought up all the stocks released to the market, it would inevitably affect stock prices, so share accumulation had to proceed carefully.

“To secure shares without affecting the market, the only way would be to buy shares from major shareholders.”

“Most of the companies we acquired were on the verge of bankruptcy. So most major shareholders had already cut their losses and left long ago.”

“Aren’t there any remaining major shareholders?”

“There are major shareholders whose whereabouts we can track, but they’re in places that are difficult to approach.”

The Deputy Branch Manager was being cautious with his words.

But now wasn’t the time for that.

We had to secure as many stocks as possible from companies that would grow explosively next year to maximize profits.

“Where exactly are you being so cautious about mentioning?”

“…Myeongdong. The Myeongdong loan shark market has held large quantities of major corporation stocks since long ago, and they hold quite a few stocks of the companies we acquired as well.”

“I’ve heard about the loan shark market a few times.”

I had heard stories about the Myeongdong loan shark market several times.

There were even rumors that major corporation chairmen practically commuted to Myeongdong during the IMF crisis.

“Though the scale has shrunk considerably now, before the IMF there were even stories that the Myeongdong loan shark market held more cash than banks.”

“Did the Myeongdong loan shark market shrink significantly because of Japan?”

“It started shrinking from the foreign exchange crisis, and it’s facing even greater difficulties due to Japanese loan sharks.”

Japanese loan sharks were already familiar entities.

When negotiating with the government, I had proposed creating Sunshine Loans to keep Japanese loan sharks in check, and even now we were operating Sunshine Loans well with commercial banks and generating decent profits.

“They’re losing their former glory and now even their survival is threatened.”

“Actually, it’s abnormal for the loan shark market to grow that large. Before the foreign exchange crisis, Korea’s financial system was inadequate, so the loan shark market filled that gap and expanded. But now that institutional finance has grown, loan sharks are finding less and less room to operate.”

When light grows stronger, darkness diminishes.

The relationship between institutional banks and the loan shark market was no different.

As the financial system grew, the loan shark market lost its footing, and with Japanese loan sharks legally expanding into the third-tier financial sector, Myeongdong was declining even faster.

“Hmm, Myeongdong must be quite desperate now. Desperate people eventually wait for a lifeline. Negotiations might be easier than expected.”

“Are you thinking of meeting directly with Myeongdong loan sharks?”

“We have to. Please arrange a meeting with the most influential figure in Myeongdong.”

“If we’re talking about the core of the Myeongdong loan shark market, there’s the ‘Myeongdong Trio’. However, those elders are famous for their difficult personalities, so they won’t be easy to deal with.”

I was already used to dealing with difficult people.

Hadn’t I spent tiresome amounts of time with Chairman Robertson until recently?

No matter how much they were the godfathers of the Myeongdong loan shark market, they couldn’t be as difficult as Chairman Robertson, who built one of Wall Street’s top three funds.

“Please arrange a meeting. If you need any connections, I’ll provide them.”

“I’ll arrange a meeting as quickly as possible. To gather them in one place, you’d normally need to be a major corporation chairman or commercial bank president, but using Hana Bank, we can definitely bring them together.”

“While the meeting is being arranged, please send me all materials related to the Myeongdong loan shark market. I need to get a clearer understanding of Myeongdong’s situation.”

The Myeongdong Trio.

I couldn’t take lightly those who had survived so tenaciously.

I had to understand everything from Myeongdong’s situation to the loan shark market structure to be able to handle them properly.

***

Myeongdong consisted of alleys tangled like a spider web.

In each alley sat teahouses that exuded an old-fashioned atmosphere,

and among them, the place that boasted the longest history was Hwashin Teahouse.

Hwashin Teahouse wasn’t just a simple meeting place.

It was where loan sharks, politicians, and even journalists came and went, where Myeongdong’s power and information intertwined.

Located deep within the alleys, it was good for avoiding outside attention, and for today I had reserved the entire teahouse.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Jung-hoo, Branch Manager of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.”

“Heh heh, I heard you were young, but you look even younger than I expected.”

“It’s an honor to meet the elders of Myeongdong like this.”

The Myeongdong Trio.

They were called the masters of Myeongdong.

Gwanghwamun Bear, Madam Park, and Chairman Kang.

Until before the foreign exchange crisis, they were figures so influential they could summon major corporation chairmen to lecture them.

“I didn’t know people from Wall Street thought so highly of us.”

“Wasn’t Myeongdong the center of the Korean economy? Since you’re the elders of such a Myeongdong, naturally I should show proper respect.”

“Hmm, you’re speaking in past tense. Do you also think Myeongdong has died considerably?”

Gwanghwamun Bear frowned.

With his bear-like massive body twitching, he didn’t hide his displeasure, and the reactions of the other two weren’t much different.

“I’ve heard that Myeongdong is quieter these days than before. But how could Myeongdong’s symbolism disappear so quickly? I still consider Myeongdong one of the major strongholds of the Korean economy.”

“Thank you for viewing us favorably. But no matter how nice the words, depending on who’s listening, they can sound sarcastic.”

The big player of Myeongdong called Madam Park.

Her gentle voice was filled with strength, and I could feel the pressure in her words telling me to stop dragging things out and get to the point.

“I understand you’re having a hard time with Japanese funds.”

“Japanese sakura funds are coming over and causing chaos. And thanks to Tiger Fund, where you work, and commercial banks creating something called Sunshine Loans, we’re suffering damage too.”

“It was a policy for people’s welfare. I didn’t anticipate that it would cause damage to Myeongdong as well. I apologize.”

Actually, Sunshine Loans were just an excuse.

The Myeongdong Trio’s customers were corporations.

Sunshine Loans targeting ordinary people didn’t significantly impact their business.

Even so, saying such things was nothing more than complaining, and knowing this, I still bowed my head in apology.

“I heard the Blue House pressured you. So we can’t blame you.”

“Thank you. But Sunshine Loans don’t seem to have been very effective. Every year, larger amounts of Japanese loan shark funds are flowing into Korea.”

“From the Japanese perspective, wouldn’t the Korean loan shark market look like a gold mine? Japanese loan shark market rates are only 29% at most, while Korea exceeds 66%.”

Even with simple calculations, it was double the business.

Even doing the same loan shark business, if you moved money in Korea you could do double the business, so Japanese loan shark funds had no choice but to flow into Korea.

“It’s hard to watch Japanese loan sharks destroy the Korean financial market.”

“Are you planning to fight those Japanese loan shark bastards with Hana Bank? Banks and loan shark markets are completely different domains.”

“That’s why I’ve invited you elders. Things impossible through Tiger Fund or Hana Bank might be possible together with you, don’t you think?”

I extended my hand to the Myeongdong Trio.

It was preliminary work to acquire the Tiger Fund subsidiary shares they held.

But they didn’t trust people easily, and instead looked at me with wary eyes.

“Why is someone from Wall Street showing such interest in the Korean loan shark market? You’re not going to spout nonsense about people’s welfare, are you?”

“Since when have people who play with money worried about people’s welfare? We just move when we smell money, don’t we?”

“Tsk tsk, you should go to a hospital first. Where in Myeongdong do you smell money?”

This wasn’t flattery to win over the Myeongdong Trio’s hearts.

Though money had flowed out of the Myeongdong loan shark market, the loan shark market itself was actually growing.

“Certainly there’s no smell of money in Myeongdong’s back alleys. But rather, there’s an even bigger smell of money in central Myeongdong.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s become an era where you need to do lending business in the light, not in the shadows. And a situation has opened up where you can move much larger amounts of money than before.”

Myeongdong’s money always flowed in the shadows.

On the surface, they acted like investors buying major corporation shares or bonds.

But in reality, most of it was money that banks would never handle – high-interest loans, money laundering, illegal collateral transactions.

“Are you telling us to abandon Myeongdong that we’ve carefully cultivated and nurtured?”

“I’m not saying to abandon it. I’m saying to expand it. Right now, Japanese loan sharks are gripping the 3rd financial market tightly. But Myeongdong can push those bastards out and take that entire market.”

“Easy to say. Even if we scrape together all of Myeongdong’s money, it’s not enough to push out the sakura funds. The scale of funds is completely different. We absolutely can’t push them out with our power alone.”

Myeongdong was currently being overwhelmed by money.

No matter how much Myeongdong had dominated Korea’s private loan market for decades, their opponent was Japan.

Since the economic scale was completely different, the fund scale had to be different too.

“Tiger Fund will support the insufficient funds.”

“Hmm, so you’re saying Tiger Fund will give us money and we should jump into the 3rd financial market. What benefit does Tiger Fund get from that?”

“The 3rd financial market is no different from a blue ocean. If we could, Tiger Fund would want to jump in directly, but we can’t.”

“A Wall Street fund that even owns KEB Hana Bank can’t jump into the lending business. So you want to use us to suck money from the 3rd financial market?”

It was accurate.

In the future, the 3rd financial market could grow more than 10 times.

“We’ll support 3 trillion won under the name of operating funds. Half will be investment money, half will be loan money,

and we want to receive 30% equity shares and some voting rights of the 3rd financial company the elders will create.”

“Hehe, the size is certainly different. To have the financial power to put down 3 trillion won in these times.”

“If the elders’ funds and 3 trillion won are combined, wouldn’t we be able to sufficiently push out the Japanese loan sharks?”

No matter how much money the Japanese lending companies had.

Not all of those funds had entered Korea, and if we applied strong pressure before they grew further, we could sufficiently drive them out.

“It’s not a bad proposal.”

“This is the most certain way for Myeongdong to regain its former reputation.”

The eyes of the Myeongdong Trio quickly exchanged glances.

Though they had handled black money in Myeongdong alleys their entire lives.

The number ‘3 trillion won’ was enough to shake their hearts.

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