The Starving Pawn
One week later. The chairman's office at Sunjin Aluminum.
"Park Nam-gyu?"
Kang Byung-chul frowned as he skimmed through the documents his planning director had handed over.
"Yes, sir. He was originally quite well known in the Myeongdong underworld as both a errand-runner and a skilled stock manipulation technician. Recently, word has it he's been looking for a new partner to work with there."
"Is that so? Why would a stock man be in Myeongdong instead of Yeouido?"
"Well... are you familiar with the so-called King Ant of Bukchon, sir?"
Kang Byung-chul nodded. He knew the name well. In a chaebol family, it was impossible not to.
Ever since the real-name financial system had come into force, that had been the only channel where one could borrow large sums cleanly, with no loose ends to come back and bite you.
A heavyweight who kept his transactions spotless and his mouth shut.
"I know him well."
"Apparently he was caught manipulating stock prices using the King Ant's money and got driven out."
"That old man hates anyone playing games with his own money more than anything, doesn't he?"
"Precisely. So he was all but finished off in Yeouido and pushed out to Myeongdong. As it happens, the loan sharks there have recently been turning their eyes from simple moneylending toward direct investment, so it seems he's trying to stage a comeback."
"I see."
Kang Byung-chul stroked his chin.
He judged the man suitable. Nothing was easier to handle than someone who had been discarded by his original master.
"But we can't exactly hand him money of our own. Will he do?"
"Word has it he's found another backer in Myeongdong recently — he's been bragging around that he has plenty of capital."
"Hmm. If he has a sponsor, that's not bad at all. Who's this new backer?"
"That's the thing... only rumors of an emerging heavyweight player are circulating in Myeongdong."
"Is he real, then?"
"Yes. Park Nam-gyu supposedly lies about everything except money."
A fishy smile spread across Kang Byung-chul's lips.
A starving, desperate wretch. Yet his abilities were proven, and he even had a line of credit in his grasp.
There was no better piece on the board to use and squeeze dry without getting blood on his own hands.
An outcast, is he... easy to handle, then.
A hungry beast always hunts better than a well-fed one. And since the man carried a stain on his record, he was the perfect tail to cut loose if anything ever went wrong.
"Is his identity verified?"
"Yes, sir. We looked into his background — he does have a fraud conviction, but he's said to be tight-lipped. Above all, he's trying to make a comeback right now, so he'll do anything he's asked with plenty of enthusiasm."
Kang Byung-chul tapped the desk lightly with his fingers.
His deliberation didn't take long.
"Fine. Let's meet him."
"I'll arrange a time. When shall I set it for?"
"The sooner the better. Tell him to come tonight, this very evening."
"Understood."
When the director bowed and withdrew, Kang Byung-chul nodded in satisfaction as he watched him go.
An upscale Japanese restaurant nestled at the foot of Mount Bukhan.
Kang Byung-chul sat at the head of the table in a private room, while a man knelt on the tatami matting, bent low and prostrate before him.
"It is an honor to meet you, Chairman. My name is Park Nam-gyu."
Kang Byung-chul gave a ponderous nod, his eyes brimming with appraisal.
"So I hear you made quite a name for yourself in Yeouido."
"Not at all. A man like me doesn't earn his money cleanly, so my name simply traveled a little faster than most. It's nothing to be proud of."
Watching Park Nam-gyu confess so candidly that his own hands weren't clean, Kang Byung-chul smiled, as if mildly surprised.
"Is that a flaw? To make money, we inevitably have to bring tears to someone else's eyes. Talent is all I require of you."
"It's an honor to hear you say so, Chairman. You truly are a man of exceptional vision."
Park Nam-gyu groveled, bowing so deeply his forehead nearly touched the floor.
"Enough with the bowing. Take a seat — you'll hurt your neck."
At those words, Park Nam-gyu hastily raised his head and moved carefully to sit beside him.
"Do you drink?"
"If the Chairman pours it, I will."
When Kang Byung-chul lifted the sake bottle, Park Nam-gyu received the cup with both hands, reverently.
"You've heard from Director Jung, I take it?"
"Yes. He said the Chairman wishes to accumulate a significant stock position."
"Correct. You know Sunjin Sangsa, of course?"
"Naturally. Rumors are rampant that foreign interests are circling it these days. The share price has been climbing to the heavens."
"Right. That company belongs to my nephew's family — I can hardly let the foreign bastards have it, can I?"
Park Nam-gyu turned his head aside and drained the drink Kang Byung-chul had poured him in one swallow.
"So as the elder of the family, I intend to protect it. Helping my nephew, you see."
"A most natural course, Chairman. With a man like you standing guard, the Sunjin Group could never waver. And I am deeply moved by your great virtue and magnanimity!"
It was excessive flattery, but Kang Byung-chul didn't find it unpleasant. Park Nam-gyu's game was transparent as glass — but what mattered now wasn't the content, only the performance.
The sight of a man who knew exactly where he stood and groveled accordingly.
Precisely the kind of human being Kang Byung-chul wanted.
"However, there's a problem. Can you solve it for me?"
"Just say the word. I'd stake my life on it."
"I'm short on live ammunition."
At Kang Byung-chul's admission, Park Nam-gyu donned a deliberately worried expression.
"Why? Do you need live rounds to move?"
"Not at all. Hearing that ammunition is short, I've been considering where I might procure some. Our duty, after all, is to bring you money."
"And so — can you get it or not?"
Park Nam-gyu pretended to deliberate at length in silence, then soon nodded.
"Yes. If I contact a backer I've long known, I can borrow it."
"A backer? One of the Myeongdong loan sharks?"
"No, sir. There's a new backer in Yeouido these days supplying live rounds to men like me. I don't know who they are."
"You don't know? Then how do you make contact?"
"There's an intermediary. This world moves by whispers and handshakes, you see."
"You don't know who the backer is? That's a little unsettling."
"Chairman, in this business, mutual anonymity is actually the safer arrangement. Whatever you know of a man, you answer for."
"...There's logic in that."
Kang Byung-chul nodded slowly. A backer of unknown identity. If the money was reliable, nothing could be better.
"Roughly how much can you borrow?"
"Enough to acquire whatever stake you desire, Chairman. There are rumors this backer has deep pockets."
At Park Nam-gyu's answer, Kang Byung-chul laughed heartily.
"Good. Then we'll need to buy four percent of Sunjin Sangsa. Can you manage it?"
"I'll try. However, it may take some time. If we're to accumulate without moving the share price—"
"No, no. There's no time for that anymore. The price has already dropped, so forget about watching anyone's eyes — I want speed, and only speed."
"Understood. I'll move with speed as the priority."
"And keep this firmly in mind. My name, and Sunjin Aluminum's name, must never come to light. The Myeongdong money will be disguised as speculative capital."
"Of course. Rest assured, sir."
"If things go as planned, I'll pay you a far richer price later on."
At that, Park Nam-gyu bowed his head once more.
"It is an honor to serve you. I will work with all my strength."
Kang Byung-chul nodded.
"Good. I expect to be seeing a great deal of you from now on."
So saying, Kang Byung-chul filled his empty cup, and Park Nam-gyu turned his head and drained it again — a smile lingering on his face that Kang Byung-chul could not see.
Ten at night. Home.
I was leaning against the headboard, taking Choi Sung-hoon's call.
"Park Nam-gyu has just returned from meeting Chairman Kang Byung-chul."
"Already?"
A week ago, I had instructed Choi Sung-hoon to recruit Park Nam-gyu. Then came the task of setting up an office for him in Myeongdong and building the illusion of a new backer's capital — that had been the last item in the briefing. I had estimated it would take at least a fortnight, but apparently the other side was in a hurry too.
"Yes. Sunjin Aluminum contacted him out of the blue this afternoon, and he just finished the meeting. Just as we predicted, Chairman Kang proposed securing the shares without supplying any funds of his own."
It was a prediction that had read Kang Byung-chul's greed and cash crunch perfectly. The man wanted to secure shares with someone else's money, and Park Nam-gyu fit that need like a glove.
"Good. How did Park Nam-gyu respond? He hasn't flipped to their side, has he...?"
"I don't think that's a concern, sir. I'm holding a piece of information that makes betrayal impossible for him. The one I mentioned before..."
Ah, right. Choi Sung-hoon held critical evidence of one of Park Nam-gyu's old stock-manipulation frauds — the shackle that kept him bound.
"What does worry me, sir, is that entangling ourselves with this man could expose us to legal liability for fraud."
"No. You are never to do anything legally questionable on your end, Director Choi."
Of course, Park Nam-gyu had no idea I stood behind all of this. As far as he knew, Choi Sung-hoon alone was his new sponsor.
He was a piece to be used and discarded from the start — never one to be carried to the endgame.
"I'll have Director Jung Tae-sung hand Park Nam-gyu the documents on the shares Reborn Capital is holding tomorrow."
Choi Sung-hoon fell silent for a moment, then quickly grasped my intent.
"The strategy is this. We have Park Nam-gyu falsely report to Chairman Kang Byung-chul that he has secured the three percent stake held by Reborn Capital."
Kang Byung-chul would trust Park Nam-gyu. When told the shares had been bought with the new Myeongdong backer's money, he would relax, convinced that his side had already secured thirty percent.
"And later, when we fight the proxy battle, we'll retrieve the proxy letters for those shares."
"Then Chairman Kang will rest easy, believing he's secured the voting rights."
"Exactly. We simply make them relax, make them believe they've gathered enough. The most dangerous thing is an opponent throwing everything into accumulating more."
"Sound strategy, sir. We do need to stop them from buying up any further."
"And in the meantime, we'll accumulate more shares through SJ Holdings."
Choi Sung-hoon listened quietly, then hesitated mid-thought.
"But will they really be satisfied with just thirty percent? I suspect they'll want more."
"Leave that part to me. I'll expand Reborn Capital's holdings to carve out exactly that much empty space for them."
I had no intention of sitting idle either.
"So make sure Park Nam-gyu understands he must not lose Chairman Kang's trust. On that side, he trusts only you."
"Understood, sir. Leave it to me. I'll handle Park Nam-gyu personally."
After hanging up, I let out a long breath.
"Let's see. We can't just sit back and let this play out. We need to buy up more shares ourselves."
With that thought, I picked up the phone and called Jung Tae-sung.
"Sir, this is Jung Tae-sung."
"We need more Sunjin Sangsa shares. Reborn Capital needs to secure at least another four and a half percent."
"Reborn Capital's funds have already been fully committed to the existing share acquisitions. SJ Holdings has roughly twenty billion won remaining — shall we transfer it over as a loan?"
No — that money had somewhere else to go.
"No. Use SJ Holdings' remaining twenty billion to buy the political theme stocks tied to the current administration, as I mentioned before."
If the future hadn't changed, the impeachment crisis would begin soon. And with a general election on the horizon, this was exactly the moment for political themes to run wild. SJ Holdings' money had to keep compounding.
"Also, set up a meeting with Kim Jong-soo, the King Ant of Bukchon. The funds Reborn Capital needs will have to come from him. Tomorrow, first thing."