Key Currency
A key currency refers to a currency that serves as the standard for international settlements and financial transactions. In our search bar, the dollar is called the key currency. Until now, I had never felt any inconvenience from the fact that our won wasn't a key currency. Why? Because everything worked out just fine with only the won. Of course, I had felt a bit annoyed when I heard that our won's status would drop once I went to the Philippines. When dealing with the American soldier or Nakamura, if it was a foreign currency transaction, I just accepted their preferred unit for their convenience. And while I mediated in between, I also took a cut as a currency exchange fee. Back then, it felt good—like I was playing the role of Kim Seondal the swindler.
But now that I had to pay a fee to buy dollars instead of just handing over won, it felt like a waste of the world. When I asked if there was any way around it, they looked into it and came back with an answer. The problem was they wanted a twenty percent fee. I had charged that much myself the last time I handled currency exchange in the Philippines. Ah, there was Hyung. It had been a while since we last spoke—I should give him a call and ask if he could lend me some dollars.
"Hyung, how have you been?"
"Yeah~"
He sounded more relaxed. Things must be going well for him.
"Hyung, I need some dollars. Do you have any on hand?"
"How much do you need? Should I send it over?"
"Five million dollars."
"You're insane."
I explained the situation. I had bought some goods but didn't have the money to pay the fee.
"What did you buy?"
"Five hundred kilos of coke."
"You're insane."
Why could I picture him clutching the back of his neck?
"Send just one kilo our way. Perfect timing. We had a buyer lined up but were short on product."
"Got it. What about the dollars?"
"Do you need cash?"
"No, SkyBank is fine."
So there was a way.
"There'll be about a twenty percent fee. You still want to do it? I know an exchanger."
Come on, I had plenty of friends who would do the exchange for twenty percent.
"No, that's why I was looking for another option. The fee felt like too much of a waste. Can we handle it in Korea?"
"How are things in the Philippines? The kids doing well?"
"They're just starting to walk. Cute as hell."
"The security team is working hard, so nothing major has happened. I should probably send Team Leader Lee back, but I'm not sure."
"Respect his wishes. If he wants to come back to Korea, let him. If not, he can stay there."
"We can fill the manpower gap in Korea."
"Alright then."
"And the profits are starting to pile up. Things have stabilized, so I'll send some over. Want it in dollars?"
"No. Don't send it to Executive Director Ha—wait, I promoted him. Just hold on to it. There's already plenty of money there."
"Want me to give you a title too?"
"I'm already the president."
I told him to call if anything came up and that I'd visit soon. When I contacted Executive Director Ha and asked him to send just one kilo to the Philippines, he told me to have Secretary Ko handle it. The senior was already drawing lines. I called Secretary Ko again and gave the order. I told Manager Eun-seong to clean up the site and secure the goods, then headed down to the welfare center.
Executive Director Ha and Director Jo looked at me like I was a walking disaster but pretended not to notice. I had thought it was only a hundred kilos. I figured the leftovers and scraps would be enough. All sorts of excuses came to mind, but I didn't say any of them. I had developed a sense of pride now.
I considered staying the night but decided to head back up instead. I felt too self-conscious.
By the time I arrived at the mansion in the evening, Madam Lee greeted me. She mentioned that a secretary had arrived and that a room had been prepared on the second floor. I told her she had done well and asked where the secretary had gone. She said the chairman had sent him off to take care of some work.
After getting home, showering, and lying down, the events of the past two days flashed through my mind like a panorama. How many such goods must be floating around in the world's oceans? I fell asleep imagining myself as the protagonist of a cartoon, sailing the seas like a treasure-hunting pirate.
"ODA refers to projects in which the governments or public institutions of developed countries provide support to developing countries, primarily aimed at their economic and social development and welfare improvement."
"ODA projects have traditionally consisted of grants or loans, but recently the scope has expanded to include activities involving technology transfer and volunteer personnel."
"In the past, aid was mostly provided in the form of unconditional grants to countries affected by war or other disasters. However, recent surveys show that conditional aid—loans with favorable interest rates and repayment periods—is also on the rise."
"While ODA is typically led by national governments, in our country's case, the private sector also participates."
I had come to attend the in-person lecture. Today was the day for student presentations, and the topic was ODA projects. From what I could gather, it seemed to refer to aid programs. I knew that after the Korean War, our country had received a great deal of aid. I vaguely remembered seeing in a documentary that we had taken out loans to build highways and steel mills.
"Well done."
"What are the advantages of ODA projects? What about the disadvantages?"
"Who wants to go first with the advantages?"
"Um… I think there could be advantages from a human rights perspective."
"That's right. Aid initially tends to focus on necessities. What else?"
"It would also be good for the country's image."
"Because we're helping? That makes sense."
"What about the disadvantages?"
"From a developed country's standpoint, it would feel wasteful to send money abroad that should be spent domestically."
"Hmm… That's exactly what I wanted to say. So why do developed countries spend money supporting underdeveloped nations?"
What else? Because there's something to gain. When our country took out loans from Japan or the United States, we had to give up certain interests, and other countries had to repay with resources or operational rights.
"If I just give you the answer, it wouldn't be a proper class, would it? Think it over and submit a report~"
The classroom erupted in boos, but the professor walked out without so much as blinking.
After class, the class president approached me.
"Hyung~, why haven't you been coming to school lately?"
He spoke to me directly.
"No reason to."
I had dropped Marriage and Family, and the rest were all online anyway.
"Since you're here after so long, let's grab a meal together. I'll give you a progress report too."
I had been planning to head straight home, but the mention of a progress report left me no choice. It was only a partial involvement on my end, but for these friends, it was a major life project.
When they suggested a restaurant near the school gate, I said we should go somewhere quieter. Don't worry about the cost. Yunjeong then made a recommendation.
"That place is expensive."
"Let's go there. It's been a while—my treat."
"Whoa!"
The six of us headed to an Italian restaurant with private rooms.
"Order whatever you want. I'll have… the chef's recommendation."
I had no idea what anything was.
"Is it okay if we drink wine?"
"Yeah, go ahead. No more classes today, right?"
"Yes!"
They chatted excitedly, decided on the menu, and placed their orders.
"I don't have much time, so let's get the report out of the way."
"Yes. Since last month, Agent Hyeseon—well, Deputy Manager Hyeseon—has been busy, so we've been handling things ourselves. The president said she got promoted because of the increased workload."
I had told them to promote her, so Hyeseon must have moved up too. Was she under Yeoni now?
"And they secured a warehouse for us. They said not to worry about the rent."
"The warehouse is in Ansan. We route orders there for storage, then load them into containers for export once they're ready. We're shipping out a container every week."
"Besides Mexico, we've been doing some sales on our own and sending shipments to a few other places. We've sent some to Japan and China too."
Oh, really? That was impressive. The volumes were still small, so they couldn't fill a container on their own and had to share space with other shipments—mostly electronics.
After the class president finished, Yunjeong continued.
"Monthly sales are around two hundred million won, with profits of about twenty million won."
"Honestly, if we cut our salaries, there'd probably be more left over."
Oh, no, that wouldn't do.
"No. We didn't start this to make money for ourselves."
"We're grateful for that. So with the remaining profits, we've been buying goods ourselves and exporting them to Japan and China. It's just one-time deals for now."
I was relieved that the money-laundering operation under Eunsu's name was running smoothly. An annual sales scale of 2.4 billion won wasn't bad at all. My salary was being deposited into my account too. If I ever needed to liquidate it, I could claim it as dividends and it would serve as decent seed money.
"Can I see the financial statements?"
Yunjeong, who apparently carried them around, pulled up the statements on her tablet. There was a decent amount of retained earnings—around seven hundred million won. Most of the assets were cash, with only minor items like laptops listed as equipment. When I asked how they had managed so much in just one year, she admitted there had been an accounting error. The initial capital I had put in wasn't retained earnings but equity capital, which was why the capital amount had looked strangely low. I didn't point it out and simply praised them for running things well.
Their expressions brightened at the compliment.
"Hyung, how do we increase sales?"
The class president asked, his ambition showing.
How would I know? I had only set this up because of Mr. Gonzales's orders from Mexico.
"I wouldn't know."
"Wouldn't we need to expand our client base?"
At those words, Myeongjae chimed in.
"It'd be nice if we had clients like the one in Mexico."
So you want to smuggle cocaine too?
"You think those kinds of clients are easy to find? If it weren't for Hyung's connection, we wouldn't have even gotten the contact info."
They bickered among themselves until the food arrived.
"Is there anything difficult?"
I quietly asked the juniors who had been sitting silently—the ones in the same year as me.
"No, nothing at all."
They were standing at attention. When I spoke to them, Yunjeong shot them a glare. The discipline was solid.
"Don't push yourselves too hard. Grow it little by little."
I finished the meal, gave them a monetary gift, paid the bill, and headed home.