Chapter 816: A Change in Leadership

People were quick to tear apart Choi Woo-sik’s every action, especially when they gathered in groups of two or more.

That was because his behavior had completely defied common sense.

After my long vacation I returned to Seoul.

After dealing with the backlog of work at the Myeong-dong office I welcomed Yoon Hyun-joo and Eva.

“Did you have a good holiday Boss Kim? I hope this year brings good fortune to everyone.”

“Thank you Director Yoon.”

We exchanged simple New Year’s greetings and sat down.

Before another conversation could start I got straight to the point.

“Eva, have you finished preparing for the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting?”

“Yes Boss. I plan to submit the request to convene an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to the board of directors tomorrow. I will also hold a press conference right after.”

As expected her work was precise. I added to her statement with satisfaction.

“The media will continue to publish negative articles about Chairman Choi Woo-sik. If Eva takes the front stage, it’ll fuel public opinion even further. That’s a smart move. Keep doing that.”

Eva responded with a bright smile.

“I’m good at handling reporters Boss. I just hope there aren’t any reporters asking weird questions this time.”

Eva frowned, her brow furrowing as she recalled a reporter who had questioned the source of Future Investment’s funds.

“The Chinese were behind that reporter. Or rather, it was their trick. There won’t be any reporters asking questions like that this time.”

I had investigated the people behind that troublesome reporter and ordered that they receive due punishment.

That should be a lesson to them. They wouldn’t dare try that again. Just in case though I planned to keep the reporters under strict control.

I turned to Yoon Hyun-joo, who had been listening to our conversation.

“Director Yoon Hyun-joo, how is the atmosphere in the group? It must be chaotic since Chairman Choi Woo-sik was arrested right?”

“Definitely. No one expected that arrest. But how did you find the slush fund? I didn’t even know about it.”

The evidence related to the slush fund that Yoon Hyun-joo supposedly submitted to the Prosecutors’ Office was actually the information I had given to her.

All she had to do was take it to the Prosecutors’ Office.

“It’s not like we’re called experts for nothing. They tried their best but to us it was full of loopholes. Right Eva?”

“Of course Boss. The antics of Korean chaebols are like child’s play to us. If they had siphoned company funds in such a way in the U.S. they would never get out of prison.”

I had personally created hundreds of paper companies to launder money by transferring it back and forth.

And I avoided detection by closing down key parts of the interconnected paper companies like a spider web.

Even Han Gyeong-yeong who had directly overseen the operation wouldn’t be able to determine the identities without a relationship chart of the paper companies.

On the other hand, Choi Woo-sik’s method was very simple.

He set up a company in a tax haven and created false sales.

Anyone in the financial industry could easily spot that method if they paid just a little attention. It was one of the worst ways to hide money.

Thanks to that I was able to track the flow of funds and find his slush fund accounts.

I collected all the evidence and handed it over to Yoon Hyun-joo, who then took it to the Prosecutors’ Office to file a complaint against Choi Woo-sik.

“That might be enough to fool the Korean Prosecutors’ Office but not Eva’s eyes.”

Yoon Hyun-joo nodded, her eyes fixed on Eva as if seeing her for the first time.

“That’s why the fees for laundering your assets under a borrowed name are so high Director Yoon. A lot of manpower and money goes into such a complex system.”

“Yes. I trust you Boss Kim.”

“You’ll have to wait at least six months to a year for it to run smoothly.”

“That’s alright. I’m not in a rush for money. I can wait.”

I handed Yoon Hyun-joo the documents that Manager Ma had brought over.

“You like to do things thoroughly right? This is the contract. It states that once you take over management you will hand over all the production factories to us as promised…”

Before I could even finish speaking Yoon Hyun-joo took out a fountain pen from her bag.

She signed her name immediately. It felt a little surreal seeing the signature.

“…Aren’t you going to read it?”

“I trust you Boss. If you were going to scam me you would have done it from the beginning. I’ve heard a lot but it’s more than I imagined.”

She smiled as she put the pen back in her bag after signing.

I put the documents back into the envelope and handed it to Manager Ma.

“I appreciate it but don’t trust people too much.”

“I don’t anymore. I trusted you so that’s why I signed.”

I nodded slightly at her answer.

It hadn’t been long since she’d been betrayed by someone she’d trusted for a long time so it would be strange if she didn’t have some distrust.

Plus, although she said she trusted me, there was no telling how long that trust would last.

“Are you managing the board members and executives well?”

“Yes. I called a board meeting for this afternoon. I’m planning to call them in for interviews individually after it’s done.”

“You can replace the board members after the shareholders’ meeting so make sure you manage them well now. Decide who to bring along and who to discard and treat them differently.”

Yoon Hyun-joo smiled coldly at my words. It was surprising how quickly her kind expression could change.

“Well that’s what I learned from my father. You don’t have to worry.”

She had grown up watching her father stay on top of the political game so worrying about her was pointless.

“And…”

I told her the things she needed to do starting from today and she nodded repeatedly while listening.

* * *

Eva arrived at the main gate of the KS Group headquarters.

Reporters who had been contacted in advance were already waiting there.

“Director Eva! What is the reason for convening an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting?”

Reporters rushed toward Eva as she got out of her car.

Eva opened her mouth with a bright smile.

“I’ll submit the request for the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting first and then take some time for you after that. Could you please step aside?”

“Ah, okay.”

Most of the reporters gathered there had received a fair amount of pocket money from Eva.

Instead of rushing recklessly they chose to readily step aside at Eva’s request.

Eva left the reporters behind and entered the headquarters.

About 30 minutes passed and Eva came back out to the main gate.

The reporters who had been sitting on the ground waiting for her rushed towards her again with their cameras and microphones.

Eva’s bodyguards surrounded her, blocking reporters who got too close.

“Calm down. Don’t rush at me like that. Could you gather your microphones together and give them to me?”

Eva spoke to the reporters in an elegant manner, standing right in front of the main gate.

The reporter who appeared to be the most senior gathered the microphones from each broadcasting company and handed them to Eva.

“Thank you. You’re Reporter Jung from the Goryeo Daily right?”

“Ah yes that’s me. You remember.”

“Of course.”

Reporter Jung smiled as well at Eva’s charming smile while handing her the microphone.

“Since we don’t have much time I can’t answer all your questions. Would you gather about ten questions and ask them as a representative?”

“Ah okay. Please wait a moment.”

The scene resembled a master giving food to animals but no one questioned it even a little.

Reporter Jung went back to the group of reporters and started to organize the situation.

“Director Eva decided to answer about ten questions. We have to decide what questions to ask so…”

Since several broadcasting companies and media outlets had gathered there it took quite a bit of time to collect and decide on the questions.

However, Eva didn’t rush them and waited with her elegant smile still on her face.

Reporter Jung who had returned asked while smiling.

“You waited a long time right? Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. Shall we start the interview now?”

Reporter Jung nodded and opened his mouth with the list of questions in his hand.

“First of all, I’m curious about the reason you requested to convene the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.”

“It’s to remove Choi Woo-sik, the head of the KS Group.”

The answer came right away. Eva didn’t beat around the bush.

The reporter who asked the question, as well as all the other reporters were stunned by the direct answer.

“Th…The, the word remove…?”

“Is that a question?”

“Ah, no it’s not.”

“Hehe, I was just joking. I was just teasing you because you looked so shocked. It means that I will literally replace the head of the company.”

“…Is that even possible?”

Eva who was about to tease them again crossed her arms after seeing the reporters’ reaction.

Then she opened her mouth in a proud tone.

“Future Investment not Choi Woo-sik is the largest shareholder of KS Corporation. It should be public information today. Future Investment has acquired all the shares that Sovereign held. As the largest shareholder we are just exercising our rights.”

“….”

Never in the history of Korea had an investment company ever taken over the management rights of a large corporation.

“Should we interpret this as Future Investment directly taking over the management?”

“No. We will hold the ownership but not manage it. If a suitable person appears we plan to hand over the management rights. Some people who have a negative view of our company say that we might sell off a big corporation to a foreign investment company.”

Eva paused her words and stared at the camera.

“But I promise you one thing. The person we entrust the management to will be a Korean citizen and the KS Group will be a Korean company. That is the truth without an ounce of falsehood.”

The question list that the reporters had compiled together had become meaningless.

The reporters all started to raise their hands and ask Eva what they were curious about.

* * *

I chuckled while looking at Eva’s face which was plastered on the main page of the portal.

“She’s a celebrity, a celebrity.”

“It seems like her statements were much stronger than what you expected Boss.”

“Eva must have thought everything through. She is more of an expert in these matters so I entrusted it to her.”

When I entrust work to someone I don’t think the process is important.

I only focused on the result and if they brought me the result I wanted I didn’t care what the process was like.

And Eva had never let me down once.

I closed my laptop and asked.

“How much longer?”

“He’ll arrive soon.”

“We’re meeting the Legal Team Leader out front right?”

“Yes Boss.”

“I wonder what he wants to talk about by asking for a meeting.”

I briefly recalled last night.

I had sent Yoon Hyun-joo and Eva away and was finishing up my remaining work.

That was when the Legal Team Leader of KS Group had visited my Myeong-dong office without an appointment.

Although he had come without an appointment I was willing to meet him.

After looking at me silently for a while, he told me that Choi Woo-sik wanted to meet me.

I accepted the offer and now I was on my way to the detention center to meet him.

“Welcome, Boss Kim Mu-hyeok.”

I met the Legal Team Leader in the detention center parking lot.

“You applied for a visitation in advance right?”

“Yes. You can go right in.”

I nodded and entered the detention center.

Choi Woo-sik who had become gaunt over the last few days was waiting in the lawyer’s meeting room.

He jumped up from his seat as soon as I came in.

“Boss Kim!”

Unlike before he greeted me warmly.

“Chairman, your face is quite haggard after just a few days. Doesn’t the prison food suit your taste? You will have to eat it for quite a while. You should get used to it even if it doesn’t.”

The smile disappeared from Choi Woo-sik’s face at my mockery.