The Weight of Restraint
Kim Hyuk-soo would have responded instantly if the name “Esquires” had surfaced among the fervent followers. He would have mobilized every resource at his disposal to grind them down without mercy. After all, his sole superior, Choi Hyun-hee, was the kind of man who demanded ten results for every single order given. Years earlier, when Kim Hyuk-soo had answered one of Choi’s questions with a simple yes or no, the chairman’s gaze had turned ice-cold. The memory still sent a chill down his spine. From that day forward, Kim Hyuk-soo had learned to move proactively, anticipating his superior’s intentions. That habit had carried him to his current position.
Yet this time he could not act as he normally would. The target was ID Group. Yoo Jae-won had once casually canceled a meeting with Chairman Choi, and when Kim Hyuk-soo had tried to retaliate on his own, Choi had stopped him. Even then, ID Group’s influence had been formidable. Now, several years later, the conglomerate had grown beyond comparison. It had acquired the legendary Microsoft outright, posted staggering profits on Wall Street, and held billions in cash reserves. Its recent investments in Japan had dominated the country’s newspapers, shaking the very foundations of the Japanese economy. The same pattern had appeared with the Onkyere Daily. ID Group had placed more than twice the advertising volume that Ilseong had withdrawn. If Kim Hyuk-soo had pulled Ilseong’s ads from the paper, ID Group would have filled the gap without hesitation.
Kim Hyuk-soo wanted to strike, but the consequences were too unpredictable. In a capitalist society, capital was the ultimate weapon, and ID Group’s cash reserves now rivaled Ilseong’s. He reached the only prudent conclusion: gather information on why ID Group was supporting Kim & Jung Law Firm, then await Chairman Choi’s decision.
“Understood. I will not forget this matter.”
“Good. If anything else comes up, don’t hesitate to call.”
After organizing his thoughts, Kim Hyuk-soo decided to report directly to Choi Hyun-hee. The intelligence chief’s expression made it clear he had no other choice.
“ID Group? Why would that brat get involved?”
“It appears the aggressive investigation into Busan Group originated from Yoo Jae-won’s petition. That is why we saw such an unprecedented outcome. When the investigators who carried out his request were forced to resign, he extended his support.”
Kim Hyuk-soo answered without hesitation. Unlike the tight-lipped Kim Chang-wan, Jung Byung-woo was notoriously loose-tongued. He openly boasted about the power behind him and, after obtaining his attorney’s license, had been frequenting the Prosecutor’s Office, handing out money to juniors while urging them to investigate according to law and principle. Kim Chang-wan was little different; after registering as an attorney, he had visited the Supreme Court to encourage fellow and junior judges while distributing funds. These stories reached Kim Hyuk-soo through Ilseong’s planted scholars in the judiciary without any effort on his part.
“I cannot fathom what he is thinking,” Choi Hyun-hee muttered, referring not to Jung Byung-woo but to Yoo Jae-won. Kim Hyuk-soo fully agreed. A chaebol should behave like a chaebol; this was incomprehensible under the Korean corporate tradition.
“We have not moved against ID Group itself, correct?”
“No. Per your previous instructions, we are on standby.”
“Well done. Acting on impulse would have been disastrous. He is simply too large a figure.”
Choi Hyun-hee fell into brief contemplation. Yoo Jae-won’s presence had grown so immense that Ilseong could no longer touch him lightly. Yet leaving him unchecked risked destabilizing the judiciary. Expanding Ilseong’s influence over the courts was no longer merely a business matter; it was directly tied to succession. The Busan Group incident had only clarified the lines between allies and enemies.
“We will observe ID Group for now and decide on a response later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Hyuk-soo answered respectfully, a pang of resolve tightening in his chest. He silently vowed to serve Choi Hyun-hee so faithfully that Ilseong would one day crush even ID Group with ease.
“The response against Kim & Jung will be led by the Busan Group’s remnants. The atmosphere in the appellate court must be completely different from the first trial. They will likely begin with character assassination through the media. We only need to match their pace.”
“Understood.”
Choi Hyun-hee paused, then tossed a file across the desk.
“Meet the people listed inside. Make sure they understand that resistance will bring them nothing good.”
The file contained several résumés—longtime Ilseong executives, most of whom had spent decades at the company. The purge list was finally complete. Every name belonged to someone loyal to the previous chairman, someone who had openly resisted Choi Hyun-hee’s new management philosophy.
“Yes, Chairman.”
These old men who relied solely on their seniority would soon learn the cold reality of the world.
Early November. Yoo Jae-won woke as usual and powered on his computer. The machine automatically connected to Nextcom and opened the news page.
— Ilseong Group Announces New Corporate CI!
— Ilseong Group Executes Massive Personnel Overhaul! Over 30 Executives Replaced, Including Presidents.
— Chairman Choi Hyun-hee Officially Launches New Management System!
Every Korean newspaper carried the same three stories. The articles read like press releases from Ilseong’s publicity department, lavishly praising Chairman Choi’s decisive leadership. The old Ilseong logo—four red squares arranged in a cross—had been replaced by a slanted oval containing the English words “Ilseong” in a distinctive typeface. It was the logo Yoo Jae-won remembered from his previous life.
“I wonder if they will finally reach first-tier brand status this time.”
In his previous life, Ilseong’s products had never quite reached that level even by the late 1990s. Their appliance defect rate had hovered around ten percent; people used to say that if you wanted reliable white goods, you bought from Geumseong. The problem had been so severe that Chairman Choi once staged a public bonfire of defective products at a factory. Ilseong’s true rise had come through semiconductors. Memory chips had flooded the company with cash, which it then poured into new ventures—most notably mobile phones. Eventually, Ilseong had become the only smartphone maker capable of challenging Apple’s iPhone.
“It will not be so easy this time.”
Yoo Jae-won steeled himself. Not only would it be difficult—he intended to make it impossible. The first step had already been taken. Mirae Electronics’ second semiconductor plant in Daejeon was being built entirely with his capital, from foundation stones to the smallest screws. The most advanced equipment had been ordered from ASML, and patents for flash memory had been secured. Even Fujio Matsuoka, the inventor of flash memory, was now in Korea transferring technology to Mirae’s engineers.
“Come to think of it, Sambo Computer’s CI change is also urgent.”
Sambo Computer had transformed into a manufacturer selling millions of high-end PCs annually. It now ranked just behind HP and Dell, having long since overtaken Compaq. No domestic conglomerate could match its dominance. The success had begun with design and been cemented by the Android operating system. The Egg series had become the de facto reference platform for Android. Consumers wanted Egg PCs above all others, and software developers optimized their applications accordingly. Sambo Computer was breaking sales records daily while focusing exclusively on PC manufacturing and stockpiling profits. Its only shortcoming was its name, which lacked international recognition. Most Americans knew the Egg series but had never heard of Sambo Computer; many assumed the machines were made by ID Group itself.
Yoo Jae-won wanted Sambo Computer to grow into a global enterprise that moved in lockstep with him. A worldwide CI would raise its profile and allow it to compete in the coming smartphone era.
“I should have a serious talk with him soon.”
Lee Yong-kwon had always taken Yoo Jae-won’s advice seriously; a positive response was likely. There was another trump card as well—one that could be deployed in the near future.
“If Mirae Electronics is the first to commercialize copper-interconnect semiconductors, the game against Ilseong is over.”
Current semiconductors used aluminum wiring because of its reactivity. Yet aluminum’s high electrical resistance caused heat and speed limitations. Copper wiring solved these problems, dramatically increasing operating speeds. The difference in performance was enormous, though the manufacturing process was far more complex. Yoo Jae-won had chosen electronic engineering as his major precisely for this reason. Announcing semiconductor research as a known programmer would raise eyebrows, but an electronic engineering student studying semiconductor fabrication would not.
Through Mirae Electronics, high-performance memory and copper-wired CPUs would emerge, multiplying computing power several times over. Corporate productivity and R&D capabilities would surge, and ordinary users would experience computing environments far beyond anything currently imaginable. If the technological acceleration that had begun in the 1990s arrived several years earlier than in his previous life, the twenty-first century would advance even faster. Then the dream he had failed to achieve before could finally be realized—and Ilseong’s greatest weapons, semiconductors and smartphones, would be neutralized in the process.
The pleasant thought was interrupted by the chime of ID Talk.
A one-on-one request from Choi Kang-wook. Yoo Jae-won accepted immediately.
— The smear campaign against Attorneys Kim Chang-wan and Jung Byung-woo has begun.
They spoke frequently enough that pleasantries were unnecessary.
“A smear campaign?”
— Articles are claiming the two men left the prosecution and judiciary under disgraceful circumstances and have now found powerful sponsors to stage a flashy comeback.
“That’s all? How disappointing.”
Yoo Jae-won had expected a more aggressive response from Choi Hyun-hee. Ilseong was not above fighting in the mud when necessary. Yet instead of attacking ID Group directly, they were targeting the two lawyers—much like a general too strong to strike, so the enemy shoots the horse instead.
— Yes. Specific allegations regarding Attorney Jung’s misconduct have already appeared in the papers.
Jung Byung-woo was an ambiguous figure. As Choi Kang-wook had once described, he was not an upright man. He was an opportunist willing to do anything to advance. That did not mean he lacked prosecutorial skill; he was an excellent investigator. His motivation, however, had never been to uphold the nation but to further his own career. That was why he had thrown himself into the Busan Group investigation without hesitation. Like many prosecutors of the era, he accepted drinks and gifts while exercising his discretion freely. A thorough audit would reveal enough dirt to cloud even a rainy day, yet by the standards of the time he was not especially corrupt.
“Which newspapers?”
— Daehan Ilbo and Dongha Shinmun.
A pity. Those papers had already been marked by Yoo Jae-won after the highway accident incident, so he had never placed advertising with them. He could not retaliate by withdrawing ads as Ilseong had done. There was only one option left.
“Then we begin our own public campaign. Let’s reveal exactly why those two were expelled from the prosecution and judiciary. This is the perfect opportunity to show the public how thoroughly the chaebols have captured the judicial system.”
Jung Byung-woo’s personal flaws were nothing compared to the judiciary’s systemic corruption. Attorney Kim Chang-wan, unlike the murky Jung, was a man of impeccable integrity. He had been famous for rendering judgments based solely on the law, immune to lobbying or pressure. To the powerful, he had been a thorn in the eye—until the Busan Group case allowed them to remove him along with Jung.
“We protect the weaker link, Attorney Jung, while placing Attorney Kim at the forefront. Exposing the judiciary’s capture by the chaebols will lead to only one conclusion.”
— That sounds like an excellent plan. I will proceed immediately.
“When is the opening ceremony for Kim & Jung Law Firm? It hasn’t happened yet, has it?”
— The interior work will finish soon, and operations will begin, but we had not planned a formal ceremony. Shall we hold one?
“Yes. Make it grand. I will attend.”
— You will be present, Chairman?
“If I attend, the media’s attention will naturally focus on the two attorneys. I will also bring several distinguished guests.”
— Understood. A standard event will not suffice. We will prepare the most lavish ceremony possible.
After ending the call, Yoo Jae-won opened his November schedule. Unlike the empty October calendar, November was packed with events. Leisurely days were coming to an end. Among the major items were Remington’s wedding, a trip to Russia to collect Dr. Shailov and the other recruited personnel, and now the grand opening of Kim & Jung Law Firm. Plotting the itinerary, he could fly to Korea, then to Russia, and finally to the United States with the Russian team. Every item promised excitement. He could hardly wait for the days to arrive.