Come with Me to the Land of Opportunity
Kim Seong-ho looked at Jo Chung-sep, whose mouth hung open, and smiled as he spoke.
"What do you think, Assistant Manager Jo? Doesn't around fifty billion seem about right?"
At Seong-ho's question, Jo Chung-sep hastily pulled himself together and answered.
"Fifty billion is perfect. Anything larger would be hard to move. I'll break it up appropriately and sell it off carefully."
Seong-ho smiled as he regarded Jo Chung-sep, who had clearly grasped his meaning.
He really does catch on quickly.
When Seong-ho had asked whether it was "about right," he had meant whether Jo could liquidate the holdings cleanly to match the target. Dumping fifty billion all at once was impossible; the positions would have to be unwound across multiple days, timed to the bids. That could mean dozens of trades at the low end, or thousands at the high end, before every last share was gone.
Jo Chung-sep had understood at once and answered that he would handle the cleanup himself.
He left the company around this time, didn't he?
Seong-ho recalled the Jo Chung-sep of his previous life. After resigning from Ilhyeon Securities, Jo had founded an asset-management firm with help from a client he had met while still there. The firm posted exceptional returns, word of mouth spread like wildfire, and almost overnight it became one of the most respected houses in the industry. Once established, Jo acquired a securities firm that had come onto the market and planted himself at the very heart of the regulated sector.
Even after the acquisition his ascent never slowed. One high-performing fund after another poured retail capital into his firm; Jo rode that concentration of capital expertly and rocketed his brokerage up the rankings in a short span of time.
The prodigy of the securities world.
In a stock market that could turn on a dime, Jo Chung-sep's unerring judgment and outstanding returns had earned him that title. Remembering the path the man had once walked, Seong-ho made him an offer.
"Assistant Manager Jo."
"Yes, Director."
Still open-mouthed in admiration, Jo snapped to attention at the summons. In the previous life he had been the prodigy of the securities world; right now he was just another ordinary man.
Seong-ho looked into the eyes that regarded him with absolute trust and extended the proposal.
"Once you've cleaned up this deal, what would you say to leaving Ilhyeon Securities and starting an asset-management firm of your own?"
"An asset-management firm?"
Jo's face registered pure astonishment; the idea had clearly never crossed his mind.
Seong-ho continued in a calm voice.
"I'll put up the capital. How about founding an asset-management company with the fifty billion I'm about to create?"
"But… Director, isn't that far too risky? If I were to mishandle your money…"
Shock had already given way to worry.
"I trust you, Assistant Manager Jo. We'll discuss the broad strokes together, so there's no need for excessive concern. Any mistakes will be my responsibility."
"Even so…"
"Have confidence."
Seong-ho explained exactly why he was making the offer.
"I have a great deal of work ahead of me. I can't pour my entire focus into the stock market and the broader financial markets. I need someone who can move capital on my behalf, and the person I have in mind is you."
Jo nodded as he absorbed the reasoning. Even if Seong-ho could not devote himself fully to the markets, leaving fifty billion simply sitting idle was unthinkable.
"The scale of the capital has grown too large to keep rolling it inside Ilhyeon Securities. It has to be managed independently. If you accept my proposal, I intend to invest that capital with you."
"What if you founded the asset-management firm yourself, Director? I could simply join as an employee."
Seong-ho shook his head.
"No. My capital is money that will be used someday. It can't be locked inside a company."
Jo nodded. If the funds would eventually be needed, they could not be used to capitalize a firm.
Watching him, Seong-ho thought to himself:
The results he produces as an employee and as a president will be completely different. Assistant Manager Jo needs to be the president.
The title "prodigy of the securities world" had come only after Jo founded his own firm and sat in the president's chair. If he remained someone else's employee, he would never match the footprint of his previous life. That was why Seong-ho wanted Jo to establish the firm himself while Seong-ho remained a silent investor.
There was another reason for the decision.
I don't need a new company. I just need ammunition.
Seong-ho had not the slightest intention of living a quiet life outside the tangled wars of the Ilhyeon family. On the contrary, he was forging ammunition precisely so he could enter that war in earnest, and capital was the ammunition that would be fired in the Ilhyeon battlefield. By putting Jo out front, he meant to secure far more of it.
Sensing that Jo was leaning toward acceptance, Seong-ho delivered his final words.
"Before long a massive board is going to open in the stock market. A land of opportunity is about to unfold. Won't you come with me?"
At that, Jo's hesitation ended.
"Very well. I accept your proposal, Director."
He bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Thank you for giving me such an enormous opportunity. From now on I will do anything you say. Just give the order."
"Haha. There's no need to go that far. We're essentially partners. All I need is for you to grow my money well. That will be more than enough."
"Partners? That's far too grand a word for me. You raised me this far and gave me this chance. I will repay your trust."
Jo looked at Seong-ho with an expression that left no doubt the words were sincere, then bowed once more.
"I will serve you with everything I have. Please treat me without formality. That is all I ask."
Seong-ho simply watched him in silence and smiled.
Since her first day back at the company, Lee Gyeong-eun had been so busy that the evenings she managed to eat dinner at home could be counted on one hand. The various projects Seong-ho had set in motion had finally hit their stride, leaving her with no time to breathe.
When she arrived home well past ten, Seong-ho took her coat and asked whether she had eaten.
"Did you have dinner at the hotel?"
"Yes…"
She collapsed onto the stool in front of the vanity as if she lacked even the strength to answer. When her eyes met Seong-ho's concerned gaze, she forced a nonchalant tone.
"Don't worry. I work at a hotel, after all. Eating well is one thing I do manage."
"Things must be very hectic."
Gyeong-eun nodded and, looking up at him, began to describe everything that had been racing forward lately.
"Thanks to you, the company is back on solid ground and we finally have some breathing room with cash. Several decent hotel properties have come onto the market recently, so we're looking at acquiring them with the surplus funds."
"You're planning to expand?"
"Yes."
When Seong-ho's brow furrowed, Gyeong-eun's face filled with worry.
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"Hmm…"
Still holding her coat draped over his arm, Seong-ho let out a short, thoughtful sound and appeared lost in calculation. The sight only deepened her concern.
"Seong-ho, what's the matter? Isn't expansion a good thing?"
"No. It isn't."
He nodded, walked to the bed, sat on the edge, and began asking questions.
"Which properties have you looked at?"
"Hotels in Sokcho and Pohang, and a resort near Suncheon."
"Even with surplus cash, taking over all three would leave you short. You were planning to cover the gap with loans, weren't you?"
"That's right."
She nodded and laid out their plan.
"We were going to raise about two hundred billion from the banks and cover the rest by issuing bonds. After acquiring the three properties we'd take our time securing funds for the remaining ones."
"The remaining ones? There are more than three?"
"Properties are also coming up in Incheon and Busan. The business division keeps saying they're priced below market and asking whether we should take those as well."
Seong-ho smiled faintly and nodded. He had not sat in on the meetings, yet he could picture every argument that must have been made.
He looked at her and asked,
"Do you know how much in bonds is currently outstanding under the Ilhyeon Hotel name, and at what coupon rates?"
"I… don't know the details…"
He nodded in understanding. Even a president could not be expected to carry every bond issue and rate in her head.
Then he offered his counsel.
"I think it would be best not to expand right now."
"Not expand? Why?"
The question was not born of defiance. Gyeong-eun trusted Seong-ho's judgment completely; she simply needed the reasoning so she could persuade others.
Seong-ho understood exactly why she asked and explained, in a calm voice, why the timing was wrong.
"This is the moment to clean up bonds and other debt."
"Pay down the debt first?"
"Exactly. No matter how much cash piles up in the warehouse, if you've borrowed heavily from outside, the interest alone can burn through all of it. So pay the debt first. This is the time to strengthen the foundation, not expand."
"I feel the same way, but the business division keeps saying that if we don't move now we'll never get these hotels at such low prices…"
"Sokcho, Pohang, Suncheon, Incheon, and Busan… When I was still at the company last year I never even heard of these properties. Yet only a short time after I left, this many come onto the market all at once. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
"They said that's why they're cheap."
She simply repeated what the business division had told her.
Seong-ho shook his head.
"There's always a reason something is cheap. Make sure the staff clearly understand that Ilhyeon Hotel does not scoop up every bargain that appears. If we buy indiscriminately just because the price is low, we will erode the image and value of a luxury hotel brand."
A look of dawning comprehension crossed Gyeong-eun's face.
"Now that you say it, you're right. The Suncheon resort is below the standard we should be acquiring, and the Pohang hotel is only a three-star business hotel. Neither matches the level of a company that aims to be the finest hotel."
Her expression cleared as she looked at him.
"I've felt uneasy ever since the expansion talk started. After hearing your explanation, I finally understand why. You're right—we need to clean up the debt first. Expansion should come only after that, and only when a property that matches our standard appears."
Seong-ho felt relief that she had understood. Knowing what was coming, he knew that if she had insisted on expansion the consequences would have been painful.
He turned his head toward the leather-bound diary resting on the side table. Only moments earlier he had been reviewing the entries written inside it, and the future it foretold left him no choice but to worry. The event that lay ahead would shake not only Korea but the whole of Asia.
And the first button of that event was about to be fastened by Lee Sang-jong, who came calling in Pyeongchang-dong.