Chapter 293: Vice-chairman Jin Dong-ki!

“Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi!”

Chairman Lee Hak-jae slammed his hand on the table, and Jin Dong-gi looked up.

“Just in case… no, to be precise, due to the cross-shareholding structure between affiliates, you absolutely must not move the shares you hold arbitrarily. You do know that touching company assets before bankruptcy is a clear case of embezzlement, right?”

If Construction goes bankrupt and Soonyang Construction’s shares are transferred to the creditor banks, the control over the affiliates will collapse.

Jin Dong-gi’s role as the parent company controlling Construction and Heavy Industries—the implication was clear: don’t even think about transferring all the shares to Heavy Industries and discarding the shell of Construction.

Until now, the prosecution had turned a blind eye, so these things happened frequently, but didn’t the Prime Minister just say? If necessary, they’d even mobilize the National Tax Service.

Wouldn’t a government considering mobilizing the National Tax Service be able to move the prosecution?

If the government turns its back, even a chaebol is no different from an ordinary company.

“Heavy Industries has provided a lot of payment guarantees for Construction, right? We at HW also hold a significant amount of Heavy Industries’ promissory notes. If Construction collapses, Heavy Industries will also falter; it won’t recover anyway.”

Finally, Jin Dong-gi spoke.

“Enough with the threats. Tell me what you want.”

“Why would I?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the one who should state what you want. I’m the one who decides whether to grant it or not. Are you still under the illusion that you’re the vice-chairman of the still-intact Soonyang Group?”

Chairman Lee Hak-jae shook his head.

“You have only one choice. Give everything to your brother Jin Young-gi and take the bone he throws you. Or quietly help HW with a smooth acquisition. Which is it going to be?”

This was a reality he didn’t want to hear or believe.

Jin Dong-gi knew that if he could just hold on for two years, no, even just one, they could recover.

According to the information he diligently gathered while running around the Middle East corporation, Dubai would emerge from its moratorium sooner than expected. The US financial crisis would last quite a while, but the impact on Asia would be less severe, according to the experts.

The thought of losing everything due to a mere year was unbearable.

“Do you really have to take everything? Just give me a little time, and I can resolve this issue.”

“You know very well that you can’t choose what isn’t there….”

Chairman Lee Hak-jae wore a slightly regretful expression. After all, weren’t they once close, calling each other ‘brother’?

“Time—it’s precisely the lack of time that makes companies disappear. Do you think Chairman Jin acquired companies with just money? He created the current Soonyang Group because he didn’t miss the timing for acquisitions and didn’t give them time to recover.”

“So? Are you going to make Soonyang Construction’s bankruptcy the top news story?”

“Didn’t I say? If you help with a smooth acquisition, we’ll handle it quietly?”

Jin Dong-gi sighed.

“Why go this far? You’re not even the owner of HW Group. You’re just a salaried chairman. Wouldn’t it be better to secure some actual gains? That’s why I asked you to tell me what you want….”

“Because I’m a salaried worker.”

“What?”

“My owner wants Jin Dong-gi’s Soonyang. I’m just doing my job to earn my keep. Haha.”

An investment firm devouring a company? This was unbelievable.

It was clear that Lee Hak-jae, who had always been in his father’s shadow, was now eyeing Soonyang.

The second-in-command’s hidden delusion—he likely believed he was the one who built Soonyang and that he should have received the chairman’s position.

“Vice-chairman Jin, they say cancer patients go through five stages when given a terminal diagnosis: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. I don’t know which stage you’re at, but it would be better to act more intelligently. Skip the rest, accept reality, and salvage whatever you can. I’ll leave you with much more than Vice-chairman Jin Young-gi would.”

Lee Hak-jae tried to persuade him with a soft voice, but Jin Dong-gi only showed a bitter smile.

“You, who used to be my father’s lackey, dare to lecture me? Now that people call you ‘Chairman,’ do you want to imitate the father you served? Where do you get the audacity?”

His voice was low, but he spoke while suppressing explosive anger.

“If I end up penniless, you’ll be ruined too. What? Cancer patient? Five stages? This is absurd….”

Jin Dong-gi abruptly stood up from his seat.

“Even if I become a beggar, I’ll give it to my brother… to my nephew, before I let you get even a single brick of Soonyang!”

As Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi declared and stormed out, Chairman Lee Hak-jae let out a chuckle.

“Anger… still in the second stage.”

Anger blinds people.

Giving it to his nephew might be something he’d regret deeply later.

Or perhaps? Whether it’s his brother or nephew, regret is inevitable?

* * *

“HW is directing the creditor banks?”

“Yes. Lee Hak-jae wants Soonyang.”

You’ve got it wrong, Uncle.

Hadn’t he noticed yet because he was in such a desperate situation? Or was it because he thought I didn’t have enough money to orchestrate such a grand scheme?

“The money tied up in Dubai is so large; I don’t see what I can do.”

“There is one thing.”

Was there still a way out?

“As you know, we only hold shares in the core affiliates and the shell company that acts as the holding company.”

“That’s right.”

“The affiliates hold a lot of each other’s shares through cross-shareholding. What Lee Hak-jae is aiming for now is precisely the shares held by those affiliates. If he secures all those shares, the shares we hold will lose their controlling power.”

“That’s right.”

“Losing the shares held by the affiliates would be a disaster. So….”

“If we touch those carelessly, the creditor banks will object, won’t they?”

“Sell them at a fair price and use that money to partially resolve the debt. Then it’s part of our self-rescue measures, and there’s nothing to object to.”

“Is there a place that will buy all those shares at a fair price? It will require astronomical amounts of money.”

“That’s why I’m asking you. You and I are joint holders of the controlling stake, aren’t we? If the affiliate shares disappear, the power of your controlling stake will also weaken.”

Was he trying to say they would sink together? It even sounded like a threat.

“Mobilize all the funds from Soonyang Financial Group to secure the shares owned by the construction affiliates. That’s the only way to thwart Lee Hak-jae’s plan.”

“You mean use that money to repay the debt of the construction affiliates?”

“Yes. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”

Repaying the debt and protecting the shares.

It was indeed killing two birds with one stone. For my second uncle, not for me.

Either way, I would be incurring enormous additional costs to buy shares that would eventually be mine.

“I refuse.”

“What?”

Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi began to glare sharply.

“Did you make the same offer to my eldest uncle? Soonyang Electronics and Soonyang Corporation’s financial power is not inferior to the Financial Group’s.”

“W-well, that’s….”

“Especially Soonyang Corporation, which ventured into the Middle East along with Construction. It’s not the time for my eldest uncle to stand by and watch. Surely you discussed it with him?”

The gaze that had been fixed on me wavered.

“Why? Did he refuse to buy affiliate shares and say he’d consider it if you handed over the group’s controlling stake entirely? And in return, he generously offered a couple of non-core affiliates?”

I poked at his sore spot as he kept his mouth shut.

“Even the person who should be responsible refused, so why should I?”

“It’s because your shares could become useless.”

“That applies to everyone. But I’m not worried. I can protect my shares.”

His eyes widened, perhaps because it was something he hadn’t considered at all.

“If HW takes Soonyang’s affiliate shares, I’ll just take back the Financial Group’s shares. The owner of HW Group is Miracle. And I’ve invested a significant amount of money in Miracle. I’ll hand it over at a very cheap price.”

He seemed to have caught on to my plan now. His voice trembled as he cautiously asked.

“You’re thinking of completely separating from the group this time?”

“Of course. I realized that my uncles are constantly trying to take over my company, and if their businesses falter, I’ll also be in danger. Did you think I’d just stand by?”

“Do-jun! That won’t do. A spin-off… we can’t break up Soonyang like this!”

If the main construction affiliates went to HW and the Financial Group was spun off, Soonyang would no longer be Soonyang.

I found my second uncle’s concern laughable. Someone who was already being pushed out of Soonyang was still talking about Soonyang’s fate….

“Uncle, my eldest uncle has already started the succession process. Passing the group’s controlling stake to Young-joon implies a spin-off. Isn’t it a sign that he intends to protect what he has secured? The splitting of Soonyang is inevitable.”

Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi fell silent. He had also planned to proceed with the succession process and give the money earned from the Dubai World project to his son.

Though it was all ruined now.

“I apologize for being blunt, but you have very few options, Uncle. Either you hand over all your shares and prevent Soonyang from being taken by someone else, or you cooperate with the creditor banks to prevent the company from going bankrupt….”

Faced with the harsh reality he didn’t want to believe, I subtly offered him one last option.

“There’s also this method.”

He raised his head and began to stare intently at my mouth.

“Hand over all your shares to me instead of my eldest uncle.”

“What?”

“Don’t get angry; think carefully. I have a significant difference from my eldest uncle. I can take care of Tae-joon, you see.”

His eyes widened at the mention of his son’s name.

“If my eldest uncle takes over the group, no one but Young-joon and his family will be allowed to set foot in Soonyang’s main building. But I’m different. Both Tae-joon and Sung-joon will take on important roles in Soonyang. Third-generation joint management—I promise you this.”

“Under you, you mean?”

I shook my head at his mocking tone.

“You already know, don’t you? I don’t receive reports from the presidents of the Financial Group. We only discuss things together when major events like this US financial crisis occur. Both your sons will become independent professional managers. Of course, Sung-joon needs to prove his abilities, but I think Tae-joon has already proven himself.”

His children were more important than the company, it seemed.

Vice-chairman Jin Dong-gi stormed out, his face flushed red.

Pride was important, but if it clouded his rational judgment, he still had a long way to go.

He needed to experience the reality more brutally.

* * *

“We’ve hidden what we needed to hide and obscured what needed to be obscured, but it looks like it will be over 600 billion won.”

Vice President Jang Do-hyung hesitated before handing over the documents.

“You’ve hidden a lot. There are companies that paid 150 billion won in taxes while handing over a small food company with less than 2 trillion won in sales. And I only paid 1.3 billion won. It should be over 1 trillion won to be normal.”

“It’s already done. Is there really a need to spend 600 billion won under the guise of voluntary tax payment?”

“Vice President. I’m not a taxpayer who diligently pays their taxes. It’s a waste, but it’s necessary. This isn’t about paying inheritance tax; it’s about preventing inheritance.”

“Sigh… That’s true, but….”

Vice President Jang Do-hyung kept sighing as if he still found it wasteful.

It’s not the amount of money that matters, but how it’s used.

Well, for people without money, the amount is also important.