If You Want to Follow, Then Try to Keep Up

Choi Kang-wook’s expression was bright when he first brought up the topic.

According to the contract Yoo Jae-won had signed with the IMF, once the South Korean government repaid the funds, they were to be returned immediately. That was why.

But the ID Talk video call was already connected. Choi Kang-wook caught the subtle shift in Yoo Jae-won’s expression and his own face changed in response. In the old, blurry versions of the software, such minute changes would have been impossible to read. Now, thanks to steady upgrades in both software and hardware delivering HD-quality video, every detail was crystal clear.

“That’s right,” Yoo Jae-won said, nodding immediately in confirmation.

He turned the question back on Choi Kang-wook, who had taken one more step forward with a clearly positive attitude. “What exactly are the benefits of an early graduation?”

Yoo Jae-won nodded again. If Choi Kang-wook had started talking about escaping IMF oppression like the progressive press such as the Onkyorye Newspaper, this would have been the first time he felt truly disappointed. But of course, Choi Kang-wook was still Choi Kang-wook. If he hadn’t forgotten how the IMF’s Korea office was structured, he would never have said something like that.

On the other hand, the phrase currently trending among Korea’s self-proclaimed progressive media was “IMF oppression.” Thanks to the filter of Yoo Jae-won, the level of reform policies demanded by the IMF had been significantly softened and adjusted to fit Korea’s current situation. The contradictory mess that was the Korean economic system could not be fixed without a shock on the scale of the IMF. That was exactly why Yoo Jae-won was reluctant about an early graduation.

“Sigh. Wasn’t he the one who proudly called himself the Economy President? To bring political calculations into an issue like this.”

Yoo Jae-won found it hard to hide his disappointment. Of course, the Korean general election scheduled for next year, 2000, was important. If the Grand National Party or the Democratic Korean Party became the majority party in the National Assembly, it would undoubtedly make things difficult not only for the current ruling Democratic Party but for Yoo Jae-won as well.

So that was why they hadn’t shown themselves. The entities hit hardest by the reform policies carried out under the IMF’s umbrella were the chaebols. Originally, they would have become evangelists of neoliberalism, and the most powerful structural adjustments would have been carried out in the financial sector. In the past, the IMF’s solution to economic crises had been to completely open the capital market so that massive foreign capital could sweep in and buy up quality assets at bargain prices.

But this time was different. Industrial restructuring through big deals between chaebols was the core of the IMF reform policy. Some people were already saying that the ID Group and Mirae Group were simply devouring everything, but chaebols that had expanded like octopuses through debt-fueled management and owned dozens or even hundreds of subsidiaries had no right to complain.

The chaebols’ backlash was only natural, and their discontent seemed to have taken concrete form through lobbying directed at the Blue House and the political sphere.

“If we miss this opportunity, the chance to reform the chaebols may never come again.”

“I’m counting on you.”

The progressive media would push the keyword “IMF golden age,” while the conservative media would peddle phrases like “restoring national pride” and “restoring national credit,” lending strength to the early graduation narrative. The public would likely view it positively as well. But Yoo Jae-won was absolutely opposed.

“I’ll get the Tongil National Party moving too.”

It was too heavy a burden for Choi Kang-wook to handle alone, so Yoo Jae-won brought out the Tongil National Party card for the first time. There was not a single official line connecting the Tongil National Party and Yoo Jae-won. Although they had worn the hat during the previous presidential and general elections, those had all been temporary positions.

Privately, however, their relationship was extremely close.

“I’ll tell Director Kim Kwang-il, so use him for whatever you need and just give me a report afterward.”

Through Director Kim Kwang-il, of course. It had been only a month since Kim Kwang-il had become a member of the ID Group.

In that time, the Mirae Group had split into the Mirae Asan Group and the Mirae Motor Group. Jeon Jae-geun, who had received Mirae Motor and Mirae Retail, had fought until the very end to prevent the complete separation of the group. He believed that staying under one roof would allow him to plan for the future, and there were economic advantages as well.

However, Jeon Jae-gu, who had inherited the core of the group including Mirae Construction and Heavy Industries, pushed through the split the moment his deal with Yoo Jae-won was completed. Jeon Jae-gu’s thinking was simple. After the complete split, he would swallow the Mirae Motor Group again and become the true successor of Jeon Myeong-heon.

It made sense. Thanks to the IMF, the automobile market was frozen solid. Overseas expansion had shown no real results while continuing to drain money. On top of that, the pursuit by Ilsung Group, which had reorganized around automobiles, was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ferocious. Although Ilsung Motor had once faced criticism as the Chairman’s hobby project, the completion of its new models developed through technological collaboration with Japan was beyond imagination.

An obvious bleeding competition was in sight. Jeon Jae-gu’s scheme was to pretend to help Mirae Motor when it fell into difficulty and then swallow it whole.

From Yoo Jae-won’s perspective, it was a laughable idea. The moment the IMF crisis ended, Mirae Motor was destined to grow explosively. That didn’t mean he had any particular fondness for the Mirae Motor Group side, however. Although Mirae Motor had grown based on domestic demand, he knew better than anyone how the company had treated its domestic consumers. Moreover, it was a company that had sold cars like crazy in Korea without building even a single new factory in the country.

Until now, because of Jeon Myeong-heon’s face, ID Group had used Mirae Motor vehicles for official and business purposes. But if Mirae Motor continued down the same path as before, Yoo Jae-won had no intention of choosing them any longer. There were excellent cars all over the world. There was no reason at all to look for Mirae Motor.

Choi Kang-wook tilted his head at Yoo Jae-won’s words. That was only natural. He still didn’t know Kim Kwang-il’s true identity.

“Ah, about that.”

Yoo Jae-won explained to Choi Kang-wook why he had created the position of Group Communications Director for Kim Kwang-il as promised. As the title suggested, the role given to Kim Kwang-il was to oversee the group’s external public relations activities. Specifically, his duties included communication with the media, overseeing events hosted by ID Group, and taking responsibility for lobbying activities in the group’s interest.

Simply put, it wasn’t an exaggeration to call it the same “drinking-and-dining executive” position that existed in many other companies. But his real mission was something else: managing the notebook.

Whenever Jeon Myeong-heon wrote a name in the notebook, the person who actually took care of that individual was Kim Kwang-il. The notebook contained names not only from the Tongil National Party but also from the ruling Democratic Party, and even from the Democratic Korean Party and the Grand National Party.

“Yes. It’s not my style, but since Grandfather left it as his will, I intend to make use of it.”

Having inherited the notebook, Yoo Jae-won had decided to follow Jeon Myeong-heon’s method, which was why he had appointed Kim Kwang-il as Communications Director. Kim Kwang-il was simply continuing to do what he did best, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while his title and compensation had risen significantly, so he had no complaints.

Choi Kang-wook did not offer any personal opinion about Yoo Jae-won’s decision. There wasn’t even the slightest change in his expression that might have hinted at approval or disapproval. It was his way of showing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠respect for the choice itself.

With that, the discussion and countermeasures regarding the IMF early graduation were wrapped up. Yoo Jae-won moved on to the next item.

“By the way, when is Chairman Choi Hyun-hee going to the big house?”

The first-trial trial of Chairman Choi Hyun-hee, who had been sued over everything from toxic substance leaks at Ilsung Electronics production facilities to borrowed-name accounts and slush funds, was still not over. An arrest warrant had been issued and he had been detained, but he had been released because the first trial had not concluded before the warrant expired.

“The important thing is the content of the verdict.”

The judiciary’s attitude toward chaebols had always been consistent. No matter how serious the crime, they would receive five years in the first trial, have it cut in half in the second trial, and end up with a suspended sentence in the third. A clear example was the owner family of Daehan Ilbo. Those bastards were even worse than Choi Hyun-hee. The problem was that in their case, the first trial was already over and the appeal was underway. Their charges even included drug offenses and sexual crimes, yet the trial was proceeding exactly like Choi Hyun-hee’s. Although a fine of 320 billion won had been confirmed, the verdict for the owner family did not exceed five years in prison. If things continued this way, they would likely receive a suspended sentence in the second trial just like before, and the Supreme Court might finalize the sentence.

Unlike the first trial where they had used delaying tactics, the Daehan Ilbo side was now accelerating the appeal process. It was as if a suspended sentence was already a foregone conclusion.

“What is there for the Vice Chairman to apologize for? If the judiciary had done its job properly from the beginning, we wouldn’t have to worry about this.”

It was a problem created by the judiciary’s irregularities; it wasn’t something Choi Kang-wook should apologize for. The only hope lay in the changing currents within the judiciary.

Kim & Jung Law Firm had become the best law firm in Korea. At this point, Kim & Jang felt like a counterfeit. The idea that fair trials based on law and conscience would be recognized had become the prevailing view even in the Supreme Court. In the past, the trend after finishing a career in the judiciary had been to earn as much as possible during the one year of “former judge courtesy.” It had been such a serious problem that a clause preventing former judge courtesy had been added to the constitutional amendment.

It hadn’t disappeared completely even now, but the best route had changed to joining Kim & Jung Law Firm. The phenomenon had accelerated even further after Kim Chang-hwan, the firm’s first representative, became the head of the Corruption Investigation Office.

Jung Byung-woo, the lawyer in charge of the “Jung” side of Kim & Jung, was also highly likely to run in the 2000 general election. Rumors were widespread that he would run in his hometown of Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk, under the Tongil National Party nomination, and local reactions were very favorable. Even though it was traditionally a stronghold of the Democratic Korean Party, Jung Byung-woo’s name value carried even greater weight.

Finally, since the Corruption Investigation Office continued to send signals that it was watching the Choi Hyun-hee and Daehan Ilbo cases closely, there was a high possibility that this time the verdict would be different from the past.

“It would be good if we could win a landslide in the next general election and smoothly revise the criminal code as well.”

The constitutional amendment had truly been a miracle. After that, the National Assembly had entered a phase of watching and waiting, making it difficult for any meaningful reform bills to pass. Moreover, the Grand National Party and Democratic Korean Party, who opposed everything unconditionally, had clearly demonstrated what trolling looked like. Critically, there were also large differences of opinion between the Democratic Party and the Tongil National Party, who were in a coalition government. In the days of President Kim Young-sam, they would have pushed through using their majority like a bulldozer, but in the People’s Government that emphasized democratic procedures and consensus, it was difficult.

“Is there anything else you need to report?”

At Choi Kang-wook’s words that it was everything, the stiffness in Yoo Jae-won’s face finally eased. Things in Korea rarely went as he wanted, so it was hard to hide how his expression hardened while listening. Of course, Choi Kang-wook was probably feeling it several times more intensely, so Yoo Jae-won tried not to burden him unless absolutely necessary.

“Then it’s time to talk about our own matters.”

The unfortunate thing was that the real work was only just beginning. Until now, he had been receiving reports on the situation in Korea. From now on, it was time to take care of the group’s affairs.

“As you know, I’ve set quite a few plates in motion.”

For example, the specifications of the Xbox had still not been finalized even right before the IDDC 99 announcement. It was only after Gilbert’s incident that the specs had been dramatically upgraded.

“The problem is that in order to properly handle the things I’ve promised, the role of ID Electronics is crucial. It might be incredibly difficult.”

Choi Kang-wook answered with a reliable expression. That was how much confidence he had in ID Electronics. After all, ID Electronics was the result of merging three major domestic electronics companies. Its global market share in memory had surpassed 50 percent, and its share of white goods was enormous. Naturally, there were many overlapping areas within the organization. A complicated distribution network was a given, along with television production lines, washing machine lines, refrigerator lines, and so on. The white goods divisions each had their own production lines, and reorganizing them was still an ongoing process.

Small appliances had been easier to organize because many were produced through OEM methods. Still, there had been no layoffs. Half of the overlapping production lines were being converted for mobile phones and game consoles, and employee retraining was in full swing. Moreover, with the introduction of a five-day workweek starting in the summer of 2000, they actually needed to increase new hiring.

“On top of that, I want to expand the LCD lines. To an enormous scale.”

The man who had said he had set many plates in motion was now expanding the work even further. It was already an established fact that LCDs would replace CRTs. Nevertheless, many companies were hesitating because of the massive equipment investment costs and because the broadcasting infrastructure had not yet converted to HD.

Until recently, Yoo Jae-won had agreed with that sentiment. But now things were different. When it was time to go all in, he would go all in. Even if others couldn’t keep up, it no longer mattered.