The President's Insistence
Several days had passed since the rule-breaker incident. "Why are they going this far for me?" "I never imagined the government would react like this either." "You said it was already confirmed, right? Well, then I guess I have no choice but to attend?" Yoo Jae-won complained into the phone. The person on the other end was, of course, Choi Kang-wook, the second-in-command at ID Group.
"It just shows how highly the government values you, Mr. Chairman. Try to see it in a positive light." Choi Kang-wook's words were meant to soothe him, but they only confirmed the inevitable: Yoo Jae-won had no choice but to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the 93 Expo. When he explained that he needed to prepare for the high school equivalency exam on the 21st, the higher-ups had readily understood—and simply moved the ceremony to the 22nd.
It was an event the president himself would attend. Foreign dignitaries, including Jacques Solerand, chairman of the Expo committee, and other officials were also expected. Chairmen of major conglomerates that had applied to participate in the Expo would be present as well. An extraordinary gathering of VIPs, each with tightly packed schedules. Shifting the date by even a few hours would have caused problems, yet the ceremony had been delayed by four full days. President Roh, for instance, had a summit scheduled around the 20th with Soviet President Gorbachev. Preparations before and follow-up work after such a meeting would be grueling, yet the groundbreaking had been postponed without hesitation.
The move made President Roh's intentions crystal clear: he wanted a photograph with Yoo Jae-won seated right beside him. He had drunk deeply from the "Yoo Jae-won elixir," as they called it. In hindsight, it was only natural. Through ID Group, the government had received an unimaginable windfall in taxes, and countless citizens had taken pride in Yoo Jae-won's achievements in America and around the world. That pride had even translated into votes, delivering a landslide victory for the ruling party in the recent local elections for basic council members.
"Understood. This is a direct order, so there's no getting out of it. I'll have to attend." If Yoo Jae-won had been reborn as President Roh and there had been someone as successful as himself, he would have wanted that person glued to his side as well.
"Yes, I'll convey that." After ending the call, Yoo Jae-won set the receiver down with a small sigh. Keeping his distance suddenly would not be easy. The simplest and surest solution would be to leave for America as quickly as possible.
"Since I'm meeting him anyway, I might as well ask for a few favors on behalf of President Park." Everything in this world was give and take. When Yoo Jae-won met the president on the 22nd, he planned to request several things for Busan Group and secure firm commitments. It seemed only fair to collect some travel expenses, at the very least.
"Boss! We have the results of the investigation into why Next Inc. withdrew their investment request. However… the intelligence team's report is so unexpected that I'm not sure how to present it." Remington's report arrived at a moment when Yoo Jae-won's mind was already unsettled. He had expected the investigation to take longer, yet the report had come back remarkably fast. What puzzled him more was Remington's hesitation before delivering it.
"What is it?"
"They submitted the investment application without knowing that ID Investment belonged to you, sir. They say if they had known, they never would have applied in the first place."
Huh? What did that mean? What problem could there possibly be with an investment firm being owned by Yoo Jae-won?
"Steve Jobs publicly cited two reasons. One is that ID Group appears to have intentions of acquiring Next Inc. The other is that ID Group has close ties to the manufacturer of the Egg PC, which worsened Next Inc.'s struggles." Hearing the two reasons, Yoo Jae-won understood exactly why Remington had called them absurd.
An acquisition? He had no interest in taking over Next Inc. even if ten of them were offered for free. While the company had pioneered the personal workstation market, its prices were astronomical. Its production facility was equipped with automated lines capable of manufacturing a million units per year. Steve Jobs had apparently believed that workstations priced at a minimum of six thousand dollars—typically ten thousand—would sell a million units annually. In reality, they were moving only a few thousand units a month. The entire operation was a massive liability.
The second reason was equally ridiculous. ID Group had no factories. They had an organization that assembled packaging, but it only produced cardboard boxes and bound manuals. There was not a single facility that handled metal components. The Egg PC was entirely handled by Sambo. Steve Jobs was blaming Yoo Jae-won for his own product's lack of price competitiveness.
"Based on my detective experience, I suspect Steve Jobs's true motive is jealousy toward you, Boss."
"Ah, I see." Yoo Jae-won immediately understood. His current position was no less dazzling than Steve Jobs's own glorious comeback era. In fact, it shone even brighter—he had swallowed Microsoft whole, after all.
From Steve Jobs's perspective, while searching for reasons his company was struggling, the Egg PC would have been the most obvious target. Then, when he approached ID Investment for funding, Yoo Jae-won's name had appeared, catching him completely off guard.
So Steve Jobs had not known that ID Investment was Yoo Jae-won's company when he first knocked on their door.
"That sounds like something Steve Jobs would do." He was the type of person who remained oblivious to the wider world and poured all his energy into the fields that interested him. It was entirely plausible. Then again, acquiring talent like Steve Jobs as easily as picking up a pebble on the street would have been the truly strange thing.
"We'll maintain our investment interest. The meeting offer is still valid, so please arrange it."
"I still don't understand why someone like him deserves your personal attention, Boss. Wasn't Apple's innovation the Lisa, which failed spectacularly?" Remington's point was valid. The Lisa, which Remington mentioned, had been Apple's ultra-expensive PC released several years earlier—the predecessor to the workstations now coming out of Next Inc.—and it, too, had been a spectacular failure.
"You never know what the future holds for people. He's already reached the top once, so climbing back up might not be so difficult."
"Hmm, understood." Steve Jobs might still have enough leverage to play hard to get, but the chances of Next Inc. staging a complete turnaround were extremely slim. With the successor to the Egg PC—featuring a more refined design and far superior performance—already in mass production, Next Inc.'s decline would only accelerate. Once that happened, Steve Jobs might change his mind, and they could establish contact then.
Still, Yoo Jae-won felt a twinge of unfairness. He had done nothing to harm Next Inc., yet Steve Jobs harbored resentment toward him. It was simply one of the unintended side effects of growing corporate influence. It was easier to think of it that way.
April 22nd. The groundbreaking ceremony for the 93 Daejeon Expo was held in grand fashion. As expected, Yoo Jae-won stood to President Roh's right, shovel in hand. In the military, meaningless labor was called "shoveling," but this time the shoveling was literal—scooping dirt with an actual shovel. The handle and shaft were adorned with tacky, multicolored ribbons. The VIPs took turns scooping sand from the pile in front of them and tossing it forward.
In the twenty-first century, one could simply press a button to detonate pre-planted explosives or set off fireworks for a spectacular effect. Today, however, it ended with nothing more than a bit of shoveling. The attendees, though, were among the most prominent figures in Korea. Political heavyweights like President Roh and Kim Young-sam, future Chairman Jeon Byeong-heon, Ilseong Group's Chairman Choi Hyun-hee, and numerous other chaebol leaders who had applied for special pavilions at the Expo were all present. Daejeon regional politicians filled the rest of the seats.
Among them, President Roh stood out the most. As the man who held the nation's power in his fist, his security detail and treatment were on an entirely different level from the other VIPs. Naturally, Yoo Jae-won came second. Among all the invited guests, no one had synchronized with the president's movements as closely as Yoo Jae-won. The fact that the groundbreaking date had been moved to the 22nd simply because Yoo Jae-won might not be able to attend due to his exam was common knowledge.
Even more absurd was the weather: it had rained on the 18th, but the 22nd dawned bright and clear. Upon seeing this, the attendees had fallen over themselves praising Yoo Jae-won as a man favored by heaven. Strangely, even knowing it was flattery, hearing it still felt pleasant.
At any rate, today was a perfect example of why people in high positions tended to develop strange personalities. The ceremony concluded without incident. After each guest performed their ceremonial shoveling in front of the press and cameras, they listened to speeches by President Roh and Expo Committee Chairman Jacques Solerand, applauding enthusiastically, and that was the end.
The warm spring sunlight and gentle breeze made drowsiness threaten to overtake him, and resisting the urge to doze off had been the hardest part. Though the ceremony itself had passed safely, the day was not over. A luncheon at a hotel in Daejeon awaited, where President Roh and the other VIPs would dine together.
On the way to downtown Daejeon for the post-ceremony event, Yoo Jae-won was the only guest riding in the president's armored limousine. It was an obvious privilege, yet no one voiced any complaints. They might grumble in private after the event, but in the group setting, everyone maintained their composure.
"Chairman Yoo, how did the exam go?" President Roh spoke first, his face full of goodwill. Yoo Jae-won, feeling they might actually grow close at this rate, answered quickly.
"Yes, thanks to you, there were no disruptions to my studies, and I did well. When I graded it at home, I didn't miss a single question."
"Not a single mistake? That means a perfect score, doesn't it? So Chairman Yoo has secured the national top rank. I knew you would." President Roh's expression brightened even further. It had, of course, been his decision to postpone the groundbreaking ceremony for Yoo Jae-won's high school equivalency exam. If Yoo Jae-won had failed after all that, it would have been a serious loss of face. A perfect score and national first place, however, was more than enough to justify the decision.
A president might seem free to act without worrying about such trivial matters, but reality was different. At the pinnacle of politics, every action and decision carried political weight. Repeating mistakes led to problems. Inside Cheong Wa Dae, the president enjoyed legally guaranteed authority and could push through by force. Outside, in the National Assembly, the story changed. The Kim Young-sam faction absorbed through the three-party merger was rapidly gaining strength within the Democratic Liberal Party. Even within the same party, the power struggle was ongoing, so even a minor blemish could damage one's political standing.
This time, too, President Roh's choice had been the right one.
"No major problems with your business?" The president's next question sounded to Yoo Jae-won like an inquiry about whether he would be paying even more taxes this year.
"Ah, there are a few. As the company grows, there are simply too many issues to consider."
Thanks to that, instead of his usual "No problems at all," Yoo Jae-won openly admitted there were several difficulties.
"I thought so. When an organization gets large, unexpected problems always arise. What kind of problems are we talking about?" President Roh's face suggested he was ready to solve anything Yoo Jae-won mentioned.