Chapter 272: My Heart Is Weakening

After visiting Chairman Song Young-ju in the hospital, I opened the door and stepped outside.

Seeing Manager Ma and Chairman Song’s secretary both wearing uncomfortable expressions in the quiet lobby made me chuckle.

I turned away after hearing a bit more about Chairman Song’s health.

“Let’s take our leave now.”

“Yes, Boss.”

I descended to the parking garage with Manager Ma. Once in the car, I briefly recounted my conversation with Chairman Song.

“It doesn’t really matter if we have Chairman Song’s help or not. What matters here is the justification… So you’re looking for a justification, Boss.”

As expected, Manager Ma hit the nail on the head.

It didn’t matter if I didn’t isolate Il-seong from the business world.

Il-seong would eventually collapse anyway, and no chaebol would lend a hand to those who were falling.

I just needed a reason to honor Chairman Song Young-ju’s request.

It would be a significant shift if Daehyeon turned completely against Il-seong. This too would become the future I created.

Chairman Song Young-ju must have known this yet had no choice but to make that decision. So, there was no helping it; I had to support him without fail.

“I didn’t intend to go this far, but I can’t help feeling my heart weaken.”

Seeing Chairman Song’s noticeably frail face only added to my heartache.

Muttering self-deprecatingly, Manager Ma gave me a faint smile.

“You truly are the Boss, in my opinion.”

“Oh really?”

I smiled back slightly and asked for his reasoning. Although Manager Ma answered in his usual tone, there was a firm trust behind his words.

“Because you care deeply about those close to you.”

Those close to me. I nodded as I recalled the people beside me.

Given the situation, I needed to make Song Chan-woo someone on my side as well.

“That’s a nice thing to say. For now, please ensure you have a clear understanding of the power dynamics within Daehyeon. We also need to know who the executives back. Find out who Song Chan-seong’s supporters are and if there are any executives favoring Song Chan-woo.”

“Understood.”

“By the way, I’m curious how Chairman Song plans to drop the bombshell. He has a flair for drama, so it might become a bigger issue than expected…”

After a moment of silent contemplation, Manager Ma opened his mouth again.

“I’ll pitch an article with the provocative headline of an all-out war between Daehyeon and Il-seong.”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s go with it. I’m curious about how Chairman Seo Yong-geon will react. He must be having a rough time these days. Didn’t I hear the bill was passed?”

The amendment to the Financial Separation Prevention Act and the Circular Shareholding Prevention Act smoothly passed through the National Assembly.

Some National Assembly members who were instructed by Il-seong ran around frantically, but a few individuals couldn’t halt the massive tide.

The conservative party, with a fifty-year history, acted as a surrogate for the moderate party, strategizing carefully, while the ruling progressive party pushed hard to pass core legislation in line with Kim Hak-gwon’s wishes.

The bills passed with overwhelming support. Unable to prevent the passage, Il-seong began to manipulate the media outlets they controlled to spread negative articles in hopes of swaying public opinion.

“Right. But they’ve given a grace period of five years for the current circular shareholding structure. Before that, they’re instructed to break links and transition to holding companies.”

“There’s no other choice. If they’re not careful, it might end up burning down the entire house just to catch one rat called Il-seong.”

The issue of circular shareholding wasn’t just an Il-seong problem. It applied to most of our country’s chaebols.

It was second nature for them to entangle their subsidiaries together, controlling them with minimal shares like a spider’s web.

Merely controlling subsidiaries through circular shareholding wasn’t a problem.

As long as a solid system was in place and proper monitoring could be conducted, it was an excellent way to run a business.

But this didn’t apply to chaebols in our country. They merely utilized circular shareholding to protect their kingdoms.

“And the amendment to the Financial Separation Act has a grace period until next year. Previously, only bank ownership was restricted, but now all non-bank financial companies need to be separated from their groups.”

Large corporations must sort out their shares in their insurance companies and fully separate them by next year.

Il-seong held three non-financial companies: Il-seong Life, Il-seong Fire, and Il-seong Card.

These companies were Seo Yong-geon’s cash cows. When financial strains hit the subsidiaries, he would implement capital increases to secure funds and raise their stakes.

If that’s blocked, even Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s cash liquidity will inevitably be restricted.

The semiconductor business was engaged in a chicken game, racking up huge losses, and the other subsidiaries faced funding problems due to the Jungwoo Group’s assaults. For Il-seong, this amendment to the Financial Separation Act could be fatal.

“Next year, huh…”

Was it 2003 when the credit card crisis occurred? If I wanted to hit Il-seong hard before separating the card companies, I would have to provoke the credit card crisis sooner than expected.

“Chairman Seo will have quite the headache.”

The car carrying me sped through downtown Seoul.

A large billboard whizzed by, glittering with a card image and the phrase inviting people to enjoy life.

* * *

In the conference room of the Il-seong Group, the executives’ heads were bowed in silence.

“You couldn’t stop the bill from passing or even sway public opinion. What on earth are you all doing in front of me?”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon slammed his hand on the table, shouting.

“…”

Basking in Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s anger, no one dared to respond.

“If you can speak, then say something! What are you all doing? Are you all planning to resign and go home to play with your grandchildren? Do you want to do that?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The executives bowed down like mice in front of a cat, showing their submissiveness to Chairman Seo Yong-geon.

“Huh…”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon, who had scolded them for a while, sank into his chair, letting out a deep sigh.

“We can take our time with the circular shareholding… But what are we going to do about the stocks held by Il-seong Life, Il-seong Fire, and Il-seong Card?”

“We need to get them from other subsidiaries, but we currently lack the funds.”

Hearing that there were no funds made Chairman Seo Yong-geon twitch his eyebrows.

“…What about loans?”

“Currently, the banks aren’t granting additional loans for some reason. If you want to get a loan, the bank has said that you’ll need to provide collateral in the stocks or real estate belonging to the Il-seong Group that you have…”

“What?”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon interrupted, his face contorted in disbelief.

“The bank wants me, Seo Yong-geon, to provide collateral? Are you serious?”

“…Yes, I apologize.”

“How dare you…!”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s face instantaneously transformed into one filled with rage, and a murderous glint shone in his eyes.

“Since when have the banks dared to command me? Who in our country would address me, Seo Yong-geon, like that?”

“…”

“Why are you all silent? Who? Which bank is it?”

“…All first-tier banks have responded that way. I tried to meet with the bank presidents, but they all refused.”

The mention of being turned away by the banks made Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s voice grow colder.

“So you didn’t even meet the bank presidents?”

“No. The bank presidents that I was able to reach told me they couldn’t assist us. Financial authorities issued guidelines after the IMF crisis stating that loans wouldn’t be granted without collateral, even for viable companies. In particular, they tightened monitoring for loans given to chaebols…”

“…”

Speechless, Chairman Seo Yong-geon grimaced, biting his lip.

Even if times have changed, how dare a mere bank employee refuse to meet with someone of my level from the Il-seong Group? It was preposterous.

“That can’t be the reason.”

“…Rumor has it that Taesan Financial threatened the banks. They said if any bank grants a new loan or extension to Il-seong, they won’t be able to conduct banking in Korea. They threatened to wipe them out by any means necessary.”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon, finding it ridiculous, ended up letting out a hollow laugh.

“Taesan Financial? Just because of one finance company, those high and mighty bank presidents would bow down?”

“…No one can match the cash reserves of CEO Kim Mu-hyeok. They have accumulaed cash since the time of Chairman Cheon Tae-san, and on top of that

“Kim Mu-hyek, Kim Mu-hyuk! It’s that guy again!”

Chairman Seo Yong-geon shot up from his seat. He was so furious that his face and body turned red, trembling in rage.

“I should have killed that bastard. I should have taken him out when I first stepped into Pyeongchang-dong…”

“Chairman!”

At the sound of Lee Seok-min’s gentle voice calling him, Chairman Seo Yong-geon turned his head.

With a pale face, Lee Seok-min shook his head slightly and gestured towards the gathered executives.

Then, Chairman Seo Yong-geon managed to regain his composure.

Noticing the executives looking at him with surprise, he cleared his throat and shifted the topic.

“Do the other chairmen have nothing to say?”

In response to Chairman Seo Yong-geon’s question, Lee Seok-min replied.

“Next week, there’s a Hanjong meeting. Honorary Chairman Song Young-ju of Daehyeon has called for the gathering. It’s presumed to be due to the recent amendments to the Circular Shareholding Prevention Act and Financial Separation Act.”

“Chairman Song? That old man?”

“Yes, Chairman, he’s asked for our presence. How should I respond?”

“Tsk, that stubborn old man. What public outings is he trying to do at his age? Didn’t he say he was near death?”

“…”

At his question, Lee Seok-min kept his mouth shut. After scanning the executives around him, Chairman Seo Yong-geon nodded slightly.

“We should go. The business world will need to unite this time.”

“Understood, I’ll convey that.”

With a bowed head, Lee Seok-min left the conference room. Chairman Seo Yong-geon turned to the remaining executives and spoke.

“You all come up with some methods too. Don’t just sit there, wasting time and resources.”

“Yes, Chairman!”

“Everyone, dismissed.”

As the executives rose and respectfully bowed, despite Il-seong Group’s faltering status, they placed their faith in Chairman Seo Yong-geon. He was the one who built the Il-seong kingdom, a tyrant yet undeniably capable.

With everyone having exited, Chairman Seo Yong-geon closed his eyes, lost in thought.

* * *

A week passed.

While in Busan, I handled my backlog of tasks and finally took a moment to relax, searching the internet for news in my study.

“Boss, the U.S. Embassy has been trying to reach you. What should we do?”

Turning my head away from the internet window in response to Manager Ma’s report, I replied.

“They’ve been reaching out? I think that’s enough, right?”

“Right. It’s not good to breach relations with the U.S. either. It might be good to meet here and listen to what they have to say before making a decision.”

“Alright. Set up an appointment. Tell them to come right away, but have Jessica come alone.”

“I’ll communicate that.”

After Manager Ma exited the study, I powered down the computer.

‘By the way, I think the U.S. might be starting to realize their mistakes…’

The U.S. believed they had achieved a complete victory in the war against Afghanistan, but they hadn’t accounted for the resilience of the cockroach-like Taliban.

Though they had taken over most of the territory with overwhelming firepower, the Taliban retreated into the mountains, caves, and underground.

For over ten years, the U.S. had been unable to escape the quagmire that was Afghanistan.

Not to mention, they were likely scheming to enter another quagmire in Iraq.

After organizing my thoughts for about two hours, Manager Ma entered the study with Jessica.

“Boss, I brought her.”

Seeing Jessica rush in at the first mention of a meeting, it seemed she’d waited anxiously for my contact.

She likely didn’t expect to wait this long for what she thought was a mere misstep.

“We meet again, right? I’m Kim Mu-hyeok.”

I stood up, smiled, and extended my hand to Jessica.