Chapter 151: Hunminjeongeum Free Release
Chapter 151: Hunminjeongeum Free Release
[Ara Hangul Hits the Lower Limit for 5 Straight Days]
[Earth Resource Pulls Out of Acquisition, Leaving Ara Hangul Shares Unsold]
[Ara Hangul Minority Shareholders Form Group: "We Will Hold Current Management Accountable"]
Ara Hangul's management team called an impromptu press conference.
"Earth Resource and CEO Kim Shin approached us first with acquisition interest. Publicly announcing the withdrawal through the media is an act that seriously threatens shareholder losses and corporate management. We plan to consult with a law firm to investigate any illegal elements behind the recent stock plunge..."
Ara Hangul's stock price had been halved.
With shareholders up in arms, management was cornered and had to do something.
―Where's their shame? They played the media first themselves.
―Earth Resource already explained everything. They asked the acquisition price, but it was too high. While we were mulling it over, Ara Hangul leaked it to reporters. In the end, they said it was too expensive and passed. Done.
―Wasn't it the current management who told the media that Kim Shin was buying? They stayed quiet during the limit ups. Now that it's limit down, they're panicking?
―All talk. These guys are the culprits.
Neither the media nor public opinion sided with Ara Hangul's management.
Normally, a few pro-business outlets might have backed Ara Hangul, but Isung Group was indirectly involved.
The press could fight the government on freedom of speech, but picking a fight with a conglomerate was no easy feat.
[Ara Hangul: Responsibility for Failed Acquisition Talks Lies with Current Management]
[Ara Hangul Management Demanded Unrealistic Sale Price]
[Ara Hangul Misses Growth Opportunity]
"Editor-in-chief, aren't we being too blatant in taking Earth Resource's side?"
"What can we do? Do you even know your salaries this month are coming from Earth Channel?"
With the mobile era, newspaper sales had plummeted.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say they survived on online traffic, but lately, people weren't reading news articles on portals much.
Folks searched for news on video platforms instead, and media outlets got a cut of the ad revenue.
"We need articles favoring Earth Resource to rack up views and ad money. Why should we investigate from Ara Hangul's angle and get hate?"
"You're right."
"And they'll learn their lesson this time."
"Who will?"
"Ara Hangul's majority shareholders and execs. They've held a near-monopoly, so they don't know how scary the world can be."
The rookie reporter asked the editor-in-chief.
"You mean public opinion will do it? But it's not a company that sways to that. Even if the stock drops, it'll recover eventually."
"So many people don't realize how ruthless the world is. Thanks to Kim Shin, Isung Group's sucking up the honey."
"That's true."
"You think other companies are just watching? What if they switch to Hunminjeongeum to cozy up to Kim Shin?"
"That would tank their revenue."
"If Kim Shin sets his mind to it, he could deal a massive blow to Ara Hangul."
"You think he'd really do that?"
"Not for face value. He's in a different league—why fight a mid-tier firm? Other companies are salivating but holding back because it'd look too obvious."
Korean companies were indeed keeping a close eye.
Cutting ties with Ara Hangul wasn't hard, but breaking into Isung Group's turf to snag contracts from Earth Resource? Not so simple.
* * *
Emergency meeting at Ara Hangul's headquarters.
Major shareholder and CEO Son Joo-seung ripped into the executives.
"How do you all plan to clean up this mess? Don't just sit there—any brilliant ideas?"
"......"
Son Joo-seung had personally handled the share sale negotiations. He'd caused the screw-up, but now the execs had to share the fallout.
Sales Director Bae Hyun-su spoke up.
"Our company posts steady annual profits with stable revenue streams. The current stock drop is excessive—it'll rebound in a month or two."
The corporate affairs section chief chimed in.
"Exactly. Our fundamentals are rock-solid: high operating margins, low debt ratio, assets exceeding market cap. It was a blue-chip stock ignored due to lack of hype. Once this crisis passes, the price has nowhere to go but up."
"See? That's what I thought."
CEO Son Joo-seung shared the sentiment.
Refusing acquisition didn't bankrupt the company—how long could the stock stay limit down?
'If it hits lower limit again tomorrow, maybe scoop up more shares?'
Investing personal funds and buying back treasury stock could yield fat profits later.
Like other firms, if Ara Hangul rolled out subscriptions, revenue would follow.
'Turn crisis into opportunity. That's the art of management.'
Ara Hangul had weathered no major storms before.
Son Joo-seung decided to turn this into a phoenix-from-ashes moment.
'Another couple of limit downs would be perfect.'
The nagging thought drowned out the execs' cleanup proposals.
"We tell them a stock team employee leaked the acquisition news to the press."
"We announce growth plans to investors—R&D, tech secures, overseas expansion—and emphasize our solid, high-credit standing."
Son Joo-seung, listening, suddenly cut in.
"What if we blow this up bigger?"
"Pardon?"
"We've got nothing to lose. Worst case, stock drops more."
"......"
"From management's view, falling prices aren't all bad."
Ara Hangul's execs sensed the danger but couldn't object.
CEO Son Joo-seung held 43% stake, and with his wife and kids, over 56%.
* * *
[Ara Hangul Management: "Kim Shin Toyed with Korea's Software Industry"]
[Ara Hangul CEO Son Joo-seung: "I Suspect They Used Our Firm as a Stepping Stone for Hunminjeongeum Acquisition"]
Ara Hangul's management came out swinging harder than expected.
Traffic-hungry small online news sites printed their narrative.
[Kim Shin Toys with Korean Indigenous Firms. Short-Selling Scheme?]
[Kim Shin Loves Conglomerates, Ignores SME Struggles]
[Kim Shin Snubs Korea's Flagship Word Processor]
―Still blaming Kim Shin bro for this.
―Economy 24 analysis? Never heard of it.
―Clickbait title got it on the portal.
―Shorting Ara Hangul? Barely any short interest—what nonsense.
―Is this K-media freedom?
―Ara Hangul's going all in to the bitter end.
Public opinion was rebutting on my behalf.
"Hmm... It's gotten this bad."
I felt a twinge of sympathy for Ara Hangul, basically.
Not acquiring them was just the price being too steep—I hadn't wanted to concede anyway.
"They stood to lose the most once Earth Channel launches."
I had not expected their management to counterattack like this.
―Kim Shin: VP An Myeong-guk!
―VP An Myeong-guk: Heh heh heh. VP sounds nice.
An Myeong-guk seemed more relaxed since his promotion to Biolife VP.
Money and status did make people happier, after all.
As someone who'd lived it, I knew best.
―Kim Shin: How's the Hunminjeongeum team?
My Korean subsidiaries included Dream Art Rainbow and Biolife.
I'd moved the Hunminjeongeum team from Isung Group to Biolife in Gwangmyeong and put An Myeong-guk in temporary charge.
Bonus: With the VP bump, I told him to drop formal speech.
As owner, I took honorifics briefly, but after 4+ years as his boss...
―VP An Myeong-guk: They're on schedule and doing great. Big-corp vets are different.
―Kim Shin: In what way?
―VP An Myeong-guk: Dawn arrivals, midnight departures. Laser-focused during work hours.
They were Isung Group programmers with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
They were model members of Korea’s corporate elite and archetypal workaholics.
―Kim Shin: Is there a Hunminjeongeum staff group chat?
―VP An Myeong-guk: Yeah. Want an invite?
―Kim Shin: Yes.
Moments later, I joined the Hunminjeongeum development team's Kakao group chat.
―Kim Shin: Hi everyone. Nice to meet you.
―Han Jeong-sik: Who is this?
―Oh Min-gi: This is the Hunminjeongeum team chat. How'd you get in?
―VP An Myeong-guk: I invited him. Earth Resource CEO Kim Shin.
―Han Jeong-sik: ???
―Kim Byung-chul: Huh???
The Hunminjeongeum team from Isung totaled 32.
Some quit or moved affiliates when the project was scrapped last year, but all reassembled.
―Kim Shin: Welcome, everyone from Isung Group.
―Kim Shin: Office isn't fully set up yet, so bear with rough conditions for now.
Despite my words, the chat went silent.
'CEO popping in making them uneasy?'
Devs were quirky—O Myeong-woo and Eddie proved that.
As long as they nailed the work, personality didn't matter.
Even that was better than the ranking wars over otome games among Earth Resource’s programmers.
―Kim Shin: Team Leader Han Jeong-sik.
―Han Jeong-sik: Uh...... Yes, sir.
The typos betrayed his nervousness.
―Kim Shin: When can we relaunch Hunminjeongeum?
Silence stretched.
Was I being too pushy?
―Han Jeong-sik: Tomorrow. We've kept updating till project kill.
―Kim Shin: Great. Web and cloud versions will take longer, right?
Quicker reply this time.
―Han Jeong-sik: Not hard. One month—no, one week to wrap.
What hell did they endure at Isung?
A week was impossible, even rushed.
―Kim Shin: No need to rush that hard. Don't burn out—take it steady.
―Kim Shin: Starting with office suite, we'll steadily invest in computer software.
―Kim Shin: US too, but we'll expand Korean team as needed.
―Kim Shin: So the whole world can use Hunminjeongeum freely.
―Kim Shin: Looking forward to working together.
* * *
The stock hit the daily lower limit again and again.
Since Kim Shin's acquisition fell through, Ara Hangul's stock kept tanking relentlessly.
[Ara Hangul Spends 30 Billion on Treasury Stock Buyback]
[CEO Son Joo-seung: "I'll Use Personal Funds to Buy Shares. Prices Are Too Low"]
While investors ignored them, Ara Hangul aggressively boosted stakes.
A week later, the news broke.
[Earth Resource Announces Full Free Release of Word Processor and Office Suite]
[Earth Resource CEO Kim Shin: "A Decision for Users Worldwide"]
[Hunminjeongeum: Free Downloads on Earth Channel, Plus Web and Cloud Support]