Drones, Donations, and the Ballot Box
"Who is this gentleman?" Yoo Jae-won asked, feigning ignorance even though he already knew the answer.
"This is Donald Rumsfeld," Brin Lacestand introduced him. "He served as Secretary of Defense under President Ford and later acted as a special envoy to the Middle East during the Reagan administration." As chairman of the Veterans Association, Lacestand rattled off the man's military résumé with obvious pride.
Rumsfeld had indeed been a highly capable officer during his active years. "It's an honor to meet the renowned Chairman Yoo. I'm Donald Rumsfeld."
"A pleasure. I'm Yoo Jae-won, chairman of ID Group."
The two men exchanged greetings and business cards. Yoo Jae-won's card was deliberately minimalist. The front bore only the large ID Group logo, while the back listed his name, email, and a mobile number managed by his secretarial office—the lowest-tier card he carried. He kept a separate set featuring his personal T-Touch Phone number, reserved exclusively for individuals at the very top of his talent list, though he had yet to meet anyone worthy of receiving one.
"Gilead Sciences?" Rumsfeld's card was unusual. Instead of a defense contractor, it displayed the name of a pharmaceutical company. A quick search through his Memory Palace brought up the relevant information: the firm behind Tamiflu, the controversial influenza treatment that had generated enormous profits during the novel flu outbreaks of the early twenty-first century.
Rumsfeld himself had never been directly involved in the company's operations or development. His role had been that of a lobbyist leveraging political connections. This year, he had stepped down from his position to join the Republican camp ahead of the presidential election. He was not attempting to connect directly with candidate Bush but was instead trying to align himself with Dick Cheney, Bush's running mate.
Rumsfeld had attended the Veterans Association charity gala on the rumor that Cheney might appear, only to encounter an even bigger fish in Yoo Jae-won. While Rumsfeld seemed pleased by the meeting, Yoo Jae-won was not. In his previous life, after Bush defeated Al Gore amid controversy, Rumsfeld had returned as Secretary of Defense. He bore significant responsibility for the U.S. military's failures following 9/11, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War. Had America made wiser decisions, the Middle East might not have remained a source of instability well into the mid-twenty-first century. Instead, repeated miscalculations had only compounded the problems. Naturally, Yoo Jae-won felt no warmth toward the man.
"I didn't expect you to attend today's event, Chairman Yoo. Even Chairman Brin, who rarely shows surprise, was quite taken aback by the news of your arrival. Furthermore, ID Group has never entered the defense industry, has it?"
Completely unaware of Yoo Jae-won's inner thoughts, Rumsfeld continued with undisguised curiosity. He knew Yoo Jae-won leaned Democratic, yet the man was far too significant to dismiss on that basis alone.
"ID Group's social contributions focus on supporting vulnerable populations. I recently reviewed the activities of the ID Foundation, and they have been remarkably diverse. However, there was nothing related to veterans. That is why I came this year, starting from the beginning of the year. And it is not as though ID Group has no presence in the defense sector at all."
ID Group had supplied a large-scale cloud computing system to the CIA. If that did not count as a defense contract, what would? Moreover, one of the items under development at the High-Tech Research Institute for nearly a decade was drones.
"Drones, you say?" Both Brin Lacestand and Rumsfeld immediately showed interest. The U.S. military was already operating the Predator unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, which had delivered better-than-expected results in several operations. Plans were in place to deploy an armed variant equipped with Hellfire missiles starting in 2001.
"Is ID Group also developing drones like the Predator?" Rumsfeld asked, sounding as though he were hearing this for the first time.
"We first unveiled a quadcopter drone at the '92 Expo. It is now widely used in film production as well. Of course, we have continued developing military models. They were not yet up to my standards, so they remained confidential, but a proper product will be ready by the end of this year."
Brin and Rumsfeld nodded with genuine admiration. It was now clear that Yoo Jae-won's attendance at the charity gala had not been solely to make a donation. Military drones meant doing business with the U.S. Department of Defense, an industry where personal connections were especially crucial. The picture was complete: Yoo Jae-won had come to build the defense-sector network he lacked.
At that moment, Brin Lacestand and Rumsfeld's eyes met. Though they shared similar temperaments and a degree of friendship, they were rivals in this instant.
"You've come to the right place. I have several friends at the Pentagon whom I would be happy to introduce. There are also attendees here today who are quite interested in unmanned aircraft."
Experience was not to be underestimated. Brin Lacestand made the first move. While Rumsfeld hesitated, lost in thought, Brin advanced without pause.
"If it's drones, I imagine Gates would show considerable interest."
Gates? Yoo Jae-won's eyes widened slightly. The name immediately brought to mind the helpful Bill who had already faded into the pages of history.
"There is a man named Roberts Gates. He used to work at the CIA and has been very proactive about introducing unmanned aircraft."
"Ah, you mean former CIA Director Roberts Gates."
"Are you acquainted with Gates, Chairman Yoo?"
He was not. While ID Group had established connections through supplying search systems to the CIA, Roberts Gates had already stepped down as director, so they had never met face-to-face. Still, there was no doubt that Roberts Gates was an important figure.
"I have only heard of his reputation. I would be grateful for an introduction."
"Of course. I will arrange a meeting as soon as possible."
Yoo Jae-won brightened at Brin's words. Through Brin's introductions, he would later build relationships with high-ranking U.S. military officers and influential veterans. It was not free, of course. He did not pay Brin directly. Instead, during the fundraising portion of the charity gala, Yoo Jae-won demonstrated his sincerity by making a donation.
He took out his checkbook, wrote a large 3, and added six zeros. Three million dollars. Brin, who had been watching to see how much he would give, was visibly startled. While it was not the largest donation the Veterans Association had ever received, it was the biggest since Brin had become chairman.
"I cannot be outdone!" Ted Turner, who had stayed until the end with Yoo Jae-won, also took out his checkbook and wrote a check for one million dollars. Ted Turner's fortune had grown so substantially that even this amount did not make him blink. Moreover, though Ted Turner himself might not realize it, his current situation was far better than it had been in Yoo Jae-won's previous life. Without Yoo Jae-won's intervention, Time Warner's merger partner would have been AOL. That merger between the modem-based AOL and Time Warner had been self-destructive, recorded as one of the worst in history. The expected synergies never materialized because AOL's slow modem network could not handle Time Warner's video-heavy content. Most critically, AOL had been a representative example of an outdated IT company that failed to adapt to the internet era. The merged entity had naturally suffered losses of tens of billions of dollars within a year. For Ted Turner, whose assets were mostly Time Warner stock, it had been devastating. The only reason he had not gone bankrupt was his vast real estate holdings in the American Midwest.
The Ted Turner standing beside Yoo Jae-won now had become one of the wealthiest men on the East Coast. The bubble's collapse had been somewhat painful, but as it burst, the wheat had been separated from the chaff, and the stocks of companies proven to be wheat had begun rising again. Naturally, Yoo Jae-won's companies were the very best of that wheat. Android Corporation's stock price had quadrupled in just a few years. Time Warner Nextcom's stock had followed a similar trajectory. Its previous peak had been 150 billion dollars. During the bubble's collapse, it had fallen below 100 billion and even dipped into the high 80s. After the collapse ended, it had begun another powerful rally and was now charging toward a new all-time high. Ted Turner's wealth had increased by tens of billions of dollars, and his spending had grown accordingly.
Having made his presence felt at the Veterans Association charity gala, Yoo Jae-won traveled to Washington, D.C., the next day to attend his most important schedule of the East Coast business trip. Even in January, the political capital of the United States felt bustling. This was only natural, as the biggest event in politics—the presidential election—was scheduled for November. America's unique electoral system meant that even with eleven months remaining, the atmosphere of the election was already palpable.
Korea was different. In an election year, public opinion polls would be conducted on potential candidates to gradually build momentum, after which each party would hold primaries before entering the general election. Parties whose primaries concluded early could begin their campaigns sooner, but formal campaigning lasted only a month. The American presidential election operated differently. Korea used a direct election system in which voters cast ballots directly for presidential candidates, whereas the United States employed an indirect system through the Electoral College. It was very similar to how parliamentary systems hold general elections to form a legislature and then select a prime minister. The key difference was that the electors chosen in the American presidential election existed solely to select the president.
The Democratic and Republican parties had already begun their primary races to select presidential nominees. The Iowa caucuses would begin in a few days, and the primaries would continue until July. If votes heavily favored one side, the opposing camp would typically concede, ending the primary race before then.
"Even in the worst case, the primaries should conclude by July."
President Clinton, whom Yoo Jae-won had not seen in some time, exchanged greetings and pleasantries in the safe house in Washington, D.C., before moving straight to the main topic. Naturally, the subject was the 2000 presidential election.
"With Vice President Al Gore's victory, correct?"
Al Gore's opponent was former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. In Yoo Jae-won's Memory Palace, the man was recorded in only about five lines. A former basketball player who had joined the New York Knicks as a forward, he had performed so well that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983. Leveraging that popularity, he had entered politics and been elected to the U.S. Senate from New Jersey. That was the entirety of his record.
"Of course. The difference in stature is simply too great. There should not be much concern about the general election either. Though Al's excessive seriousness is a flaw, many citizens recognize his abilities."
What had changed from before was Al Gore's presence. Even in the past, he had been one of the stronger candidates among those the Democratic Party had produced. However, the timing of the IT bubble's collapse had damaged his popularity. Furthermore, as the scion of a political dynasty spanning four generations, possessing enormous wealth and a Harvard education, his image as a typical East Coast elite had prevented him from connecting with the American public. In contrast, while Bush was also from an oil family, he had cleverly used his folksy Texas cowboy image to increase his relatability. The contrast in their images had been cited as a major factor in the 2000 election.
Now, however, the story was slightly different. The IT bubble's collapse had arrived much earlier. Responsibility for it fell on Clinton. Fortunately, the Nasdaq and Dow Jones indices were showing strong rebounds. From what Yoo Jae-won could see, the rally was likely to continue through the end of the year. All indicators favored Al Gore.
"By the way, what is this about a sure-win strategy? What exactly do you mean?"
At Clinton's follow-up question, Yoo Jae-won wondered what he was talking about. When he had arranged the meeting with Clinton, he had never used the words "sure-win strategy." He had only said that if they corrected just one thing, there would be no surprises. Apparently, that had been transformed into "sure-win strategy" in Clinton's ears.
"You are planning to introduce touchscreen electronic voting machines for this election, are you not? Do not use them."
Yoo Jae-won spoke firmly. Clinton, who had been listening with an expectant expression, soon looked surprised. He had not anticipated that the chairman of the world's largest IT company would object to electronic voting machines.