Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Translation: Godtl
The noisy, chaotic storm had passed.
When a tempest sweeps through, someone must clear the fallen debris and rebuild the collapsed structures.
The shareholders' meeting marked the beginning of that cleanup.
"This situation has taken an odd turn."
"According to plan, we should have been going through restructuring procedures by now."
"Though I wonder how much longer this company can last. I heard Jintetsu Group provided some emergency oxygen this time."
"Yes. But there must be limits. It's literally just an oxygen mask, after all."
Frankly, even from Hanjong Group's perspective, they couldn't comprehend why Gwangun Securities had suddenly taken over Hanjong Shipping.
Just because they made a deal with Jintetsu didn't mean the shipping business would miraculously revive.
It was unclear whether they'd partnered with Kangsung and Daekwang to screw over Neriot for real, but by now, Gwangun must be drowning in regret.
"Those bastards probably have no clue what to do next, right? They couldn't have bought shares intending to actually take over management."
"Exactly. No matter how securities firms aren't restricted by the Separation of Banking and Commerce Law like banks, they're still just middlemen who buy and sell. Especially with shipping—it's doubly difficult to manage."
"Right. They probably thought they'd make a killing by selling the shares at a high price. But then they accidentally became national heroes and got stuck between a rock and a hard place. Heh."
Han Gu-jung, president of Hanjong Shipping, was annoyed that some meddler had disrupted Hanjong Group's carefully laid plans, but he wasn't too worried.
At least he could keep his presidential title a little longer.
"Plus, the group managed to offload all remaining shares at a tidy profit, didn't they?"
"Indeed. Hanjong Shipping has been such a dutiful child. Even at the end, it squeezed out every last drop of honey."
Now, all that remained was to hold onto their executive positions.
The current majority shareholder was Gwangun Securities.
Though a shareholders' meeting had been called, it was no exaggeration to say Gwangun Securities effectively held all decision-making power.
Which meant they might try to appoint new management here.
"But you know as well as I do. Shipping isn't just hard to manage—it's nearly impossible without the backing of a major conglomerate. So they'll have no choice but to rely on us."
"Is that so?"
"Of course. If Hanjong Group sweet-talks them with promises of support from the shadows, Gwangun Securities will play along. Those guys have zero interest in management right now. They're just itching to dump their shares and run."
And President Han Gu-jung had urgent business to attend to.
Under the original plan, this wouldn't have been necessary.
But with things gone awry, it was now a critical issue that required the president's authority to push through.
"But will Gwangun let it pass?"
"We'll either slip it past them unnoticed or force their hand if necessary. Gwangun must be weighing their options too. If we extend an olive branch, they'll surely take it."
"Then preserving our positions comes first."
"Unless Gwangun's gone mad, they can't just fire us. Hanjong Group stands behind us, after all. Not to mention we hold all the expertise and systems that have kept this shipping business afloat. If they disregard that and cut us loose? Then they're turning their own shares into worthless scraps."
President Han Gu-jung was absolutely certain Gwangun Securities wouldn't dismiss the existing executives.
For one, Han Gu-jung himself was blood-related to the Hanjong Group family—his backing was rock-solid.
With that confidence, the executives strode boldly into the auditorium where the shareholders' meeting was being held.
"..."
The atmosphere was icy.
The shareholders' piercing glares burned into them.
Pretending not to notice, they moved to take their reserved executive seats.
"Well, well. I had my doubts, but you actually showed up. Quite the thick skin you've got."
"...?"
Are they talking to us?
President Han Gu-jung furrowed his brow and glared at the man holding the microphone on stage.
"I'm Hwang Dae-un, CEO of Gwangun Securities. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend today's meeting."
A wave of fervent applause and cheers erupted from the shareholders.
This was only natural.
After all, Gwangun Securities was the hero who had pulled the shareholders out of the quagmire.
"People say our Gwangun is driving up Hanjong Shipping's stock price just to profit from it, but let me make this clear: We are nothing like those unscrupulous executives who abandon shareholders at the first sign of crisis."
Another pointed remark, deliberately provocative.
Everyone knew exactly who Hwang Dae-un was targeting with those words.
"Therefore, as part of this fresh start, we will remove the Hanjong Shipping name and rebrand as Gwangun Shipping."
"W-what?!"
"Furthermore, every single shameless executive still clinging to their seats today will be removed from the company."
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Finally unable to hold back, Han Gu-jung shot up from his seat, shouting.
"You think some securities guy who's only ever played with money can run a shipping business? You really think that's possible?!"
"Of course not. I have no intention of personally managing this company. But I will bring in professional executives a hundred—no, a thousand times more competent than the current ones and turn this place around. Not with an owner-friendly system, but a shareholder-friendly one. And even if I did take over, I'd still do a far better job than the executives who ran this company into the ground and then tried to flee."
"...!"
"If any shareholders disagree or have objections, feel free to speak up."
No one defended the executives.
Instead, voices of condemnation erupted from all sides.
"How dare you show your faces here?!"
"You rats who abandoned ship first!"
"Do you even own 1% of the shares?!"
"Stop muddying the waters and get the hell out!"
Under the onslaught of hostility, Chairman Han Gu-jung's face flushed crimson before he finally fled the room.
His hands and legs trembled violently.
Never in his life had he been humiliated so openly to his face.
And how could he have been?
As the president of Hanjong Shipping and a blood relative of a major conglomerate family, who would have dared insult him directly?
And that man—Gwangun Securities, Hwang Dae-un, was it?
"That arrogant bastard."
Just because he took over one company and got hailed as a hero by the public, now he's acting like he owns the place?
Firing all the executives who actually know the system and bringing in outsiders?
Let's see how well that works out for him.
But then, a sudden thought struck him.
'...Does he know something?'
＊＊＊
"You did great today, boss."
"Whew. I'm sweating bullets here. Did I do okay?"
"Okay? The shareholders loved it so much I thought we were at a fan meeting!"
"Ugh. I don't know. The moment I stepped up on that stage, my mind just went blank. Thought I'd die from nerves."
Today, the boss had stood before the shareholders as both the president of Gwangun Securities and the largest shareholder of Hanjong Shipping.
Even though I wasn't the one up there, my heart was pounding—yet he remained composed, laying out his plans and engaging with the shareholders.
Especially when he announced the removal of the executives.
A shareholder-first management approach, not owner-first.
When he declared that professional executives would lead the company with greater transparency and efficiency, the shareholders erupted in cheers.
Honestly?
Today, more than ever, I felt proud of him.
"You're truly our guild's greatest asset."
"Heh. Damn right I am."
The boss let out a sigh of relief, as if finally relaxing after successfully concluding the shareholders' meeting.
But the real challenge was just beginning.
As Chairman Han Gu-jung had pointed out, we had zero experience in managing a shipping business.
Even with professional executives in place, until the system was fully established, we'd have to oversee everything ourselves.
"Let's go meet that guy first."
"Ah, Director Kim Du-yeong?"
"Yeah. You said that out of all the executives, he's the only one worth keeping."
"Right. From the profile Kangsung provided, his dedication to the company seems extraordinary."
Whether he was truly fit to be the next president of Hanjong Shipping—no, Gwangun Shipping now—was still unclear.
That would be determined through internal evaluations.
But my gut had chosen him.
Whether it was because I genuinely believed he was leadership material or for some other reason, I didn't know.
"Filling the management positions won't solve everything. Since taking control, we've been digging into the company's internal affairs, and the debt we uncovered is way worse than expected."
"How is it possible for the debt to be this enormous?"
"I don't know. We'll need to dig deeper to find out."
Just the surface-level debt already amounts to 3 trillion won.
An astronomical sum.
The real problem is that more could surface upon further investigation.
"Ah. You've arrived."
Director Kim Du-yeong, who had been waiting at the appointed location first, seemed visibly tense.
"But the person beside you is..."
"Ah, this is Department Head Jeong Jin-ho. Let me explain in advance—even if the two of us were to discuss matters privately, I'd just end up repeating everything to him like a parrot afterward. So rather than that, I thought it'd be better to have him join us. Besides, his decision-making authority is higher than mine. Haha."
"So he's practically like your Zhuge Liang, then?"
"Yes. It was his strategic mind that brought Neriot to its knees and secured Hanjong Shipping for us."
"!?"
At that, Director Kim Du-yeong's gaze toward me shifted sharply.
"Honestly, I was surprised. When I heard you were cutting all the executives, I assumed I'd be let go too. But then I learned you dismissed every other executive and kept only me..."
"Yes. That was also Department Head Jeong's decision. You joined the company as an employee in its early days and climbed all the way to an executive position, didn't you? Not to mention you held onto your shares until the very end. By all accounts, you seemed like someone with overflowing affection for the company."
"But surely there must be others like me. Yet you preserved my position alone... Do you perhaps know something?"
"Huh? What do you mean...?"
Director Kim Du-yeong quietly studied our expressions.
"Have you confirmed the extent of the company's debt? Since you've suddenly taken over, you probably haven't grasped everything yet."
"What we've confirmed so far is 3 trillion won. That's just the publicly disclosed amount. But corporations often have hidden debts they don't disclose, so we're currently investigating."
The debt disclosed to the market isn't everything.
Companies are obligated to disclose all debts, but many exploit legal loopholes to conceal them.
That's why we're conducting our own separate investigation.
"Yes. Once you complete the internal audit, you'll find the company's debt amounts to roughly 5 trillion won."
"F-five trillion...?!"
For a moment, my vision swam.
That's far worse than expected.
How could the debt have piled up this much?
"But why did you ask if we knew something?"
Director Kim Du-yeong hesitated briefly before letting out a sigh.
"Truthfully, I've been wrestling with this dilemma. Should I leave this company as it is? Or should I reveal everything I know? While I was agonizing over this, Gwangun contacted me. They told me I was being considered as a candidate for the next management team."
"What exactly do you know...?"
"Are you familiar with Debt Transfer Special Clauses?"
"Occasionally used among affiliates, right?"
Debt Transfer Special Clauses.
Where an affiliate borrows money under the name of its parent group.
Literally, a special agreement where the group repays the debt on behalf of the affiliate.
"But groups rarely publicize these clauses. If disclosed, the group's debt ratio would spike, provoking shareholders. So usually, they're kept secret and negotiated privately."
"Wait. Then you don't mean... Hanjong Shipping...?"
"Doesn't it strike you as odd? Even if Hanjong Shipping was once Korea's top-tier shipping company, how could it possibly have 5 trillion won in debt? It's an excessive amount disproportionate to its scale."
That was something both my brother and I found suspicious.
No matter how tough the shipping industry had been, 5 trillion won in debt made no sense.
"On top of that, even knowing full well that the shipping industry collapsed due to fierce competition and declining trade, who would lend that kind of money? It's bizarre."
"So Hanjong Group secretly signed these clauses?"
"Yes. Only a handful of executives knew. These are copies of those contracts."
Contracts signed through various financial institutions to secure funding.
Not a single one was disclosed.
Doing so would have jeopardized Hanjong Group's stock price, incited shareholder backlash, and above all, exposed their shady dealings.
"Some involve falsified accounting records, others used Special Purpose Companies to hide debt, and there are even off-the-books transactions included."
"How... how is this even possible in this day and age?"
"Without help from government officials, it would've been impossible. Moreover, the financial institutions only agreed to lend the money because of this special agreement. They likely believed that even if Hanjong Shipping couldn't repay the debt, the parent group would cover it."
The problem was that even this special agreement had loopholes.
"This isn't a publicly disclosed contract—it was made in secret. If Hanjong Shipping goes bankrupt, the agreement disappears with it. Even if financial institutions produce the contract, they'll have trouble collecting since the agreement itself is illegal. They'll get bogged down in legal disputes over its validity. This is precisely the loophole the group was exploiting."
"But wouldn't the lenders fight back?"
"It seems the Hanjong Group chairman intended to take full responsibility. But... well, everyone knows. That man's on his last legs anyway."
At this point, my brother seemed to realize something.
"So the dying man shoulders all the blame..."
"Exactly. The heirs get to spend the money freely. They might pay some fines after an investigation, but that's it. You know how lenient our country is toward conglomerates."
Hanjong Group had already been quietly working on succession planning—unlike other chaebols who make a spectacle of it.
They'd been sourcing the necessary funds for succession from here all along.
"The lenders must be furious. Honestly, it's common for conglomerates to secretly borrow through subsidiaries using special agreements. They probably thought this was another routine deal. They never could've imagined the group planned to bankrupt the subsidiary."
The financial institutions were just doing business as usual.
Hanjong Group was simply planning to stab them in the back—an audacious scheme.
"I agonized over whether to expose this. Even if I spoke up, who would listen to someone powerless like me? I was going to bury it. But after Gwangun specifically reached out to spare me... it felt like divine providence."
Director Kim Du-yeong handed over all the copies he possessed.
"Gwangun's being hailed as a hero right now. They'll have far more impact exposing this than I ever could. And... I don't need to remain in management, but please let me keep working for the company. I truly want to revive this shipping business."
With that, Director Kim rose from his seat first.
"..."
My brother and I sat dumbfounded, staring at the space he'd left.
Who could've guessed the person my intuition led me to would be carrying such a bombshell?
"Damn. These motherfuckers..."
My brother belatedly downed his drink and let out a hollow laugh.
"So they weren't focused on shipping at all—just building slush funds. No wonder their succession was so smooth without any noise."
"You think they used it as a slush fund channel too, hyung?"
"Yeah. I wondered why they kept increasing debt. They were milking it dry before bankrupting it to silence everything. These guys are insane. How did they plan to handle the fallout?"
"If they'd actually bankrupted it, the plan would've worked. Just as Director Kim said—pay some fines after an investigation. They had government help too."
"Ha. No wonder people call this Hell Joseon. Jesus, Du-ya. This is giving me a headache—never saw this coming."
My brother shook his head in disgust.
There's a reason people warn against the domestic market.
It's always some spectacular scandal that defies common sense.
As I was clicking my tongue while examining the contracts—
"...Hmm?"
The contracts in my hands suddenly shimmered gold, the color spreading from where my thumb touched them.
'Gold? This is new.'
Then something occurred to me.
"Hyung. About this."
"Hmm?"
"If we expose all these contracts to the media first, then trigger the debt transfer clause... wouldn't that mean we wouldn't have to repay the 5 trillion won?"
"...What? Wait."
My brother blinked rapidly before his mouth curved into a wide grin.
"This is the jackpot, isn't it?"