147. proposal
Seeing Prime Minister Kiichi’s head bowed down, Hoyoung’s first emotion was not embarrassment.
pure surprise. and wonder.
Hoyoung was surprised that the Prime Minister of Japan knew his identity, and was curious about how he came to know.
‘Even the US couldn’t figure it out, but was Japan’s intelligence power so great?’
In fact, Hoyoung never made a secret that he was the real owner of Gaia Investment overseas.
However, it was true that it was the first time that the other person brought up the story of Gaia Investment when conducting business as Hermes or H&H’s Yun Ho-young.
“How did you find out?”
The question Hoyoung just asked was like an answer that Prime Minister Kiichi was true.
Hoyeong had no intention of lying or avoiding it.
Prime Minister Kiichi raised his head and looked into Hoyoung’s eyes.
“To tell you the truth, I heard from someone three days ago.”
“Who is that?”
“George HW Bush. I am the former president of the United States.”
“You mean the former president of the United States? Why is he talking about me… ah! no way?”
In an instant, Hoyoung realized what had happened.
The son of former President George HW Bush was the current governor of Texas, George W. Bush.
It was clear that his son Bush had told his father about the ADSL business he was working on with Hoyoung.
And Prime Minister Kiichi was a representative pro-American politician.
Even now, the relationship with the United States was very important, and the father Bush had a close relationship to the extent that he visited Japan several times as a state guest.
“Gee, it looks like Governor Bush isn’t as heavy-mouthed as I thought.”
“HW Bush is a former president, but we cannot ignore the connections and connections he still has in the political and business worlds. No wonder the governor consulted with my father.”
Prime Minister Kiichi said with a gentle smile.
“okay. How did my story come about?”
“You told me about the ADSL business going into Texas, and I said that there was a request for ADSL in Japan and that I was reviewing it. Then, the story of Hermes Telecom came out.”
Hoyoung nodded.
By this point, I could fully understand what was going on.
However, I thought that only one thing would be different from what Prime Minister Kiichi knew.
‘What my son Bush discussed with his father may not be the ADSL business, but the donation I was supposed to give.’
Fortunately, it seemed that his father, Bush, hadn’t told Prime Minister Kiichi all these trivial things.
“Then what does it mean to ask for help?”
When all of Hoyoung’s questions were answered, he turned the topic to the next question.
“As you know, it is true that I am the owner of Gaia Investment. But no matter how much money I have, it’s a lot on an individual basis, and I can’t imagine how I can save a country?”
Hoyoung’s words were sincere.
He had assets unimaginable to the average person, and those assets continued to grow even now.
But that was never enough to stop the bubble economy.
Japan’s budget in 1993 was about 200 trillion won.
This budget was a whopping five times as much as the Republic of Korea’s 1993 budget of about 40 trillion won.
It is impossible even if you beat all the money that Hoyeong has.
“I am not asking you to support the Japanese economy, which is now collapsing.”
“What do you mean?”
“If things go on like this, the economic crisis will get worse out of control in the future.”
Hoyoung nodded and agreed with Prime Minister Kiichi.
There is no need to think deeply, because Japan has not been able to escape the miserable situation for over 10 years.
The famous lost decade was still in progress.
Then, Prime Minister Kiichi continued with a powerful voice.
“But I think right now is the last time we can stop it.”
“So. What do you want me to do for you?”
“Could you please purchase the major bonds held by Japanese banks right now?”
“Bank bonds?”
Hoyoung frowned slightly.
In response to his negative reaction, Prime Minister Kiichi sat closer to Hoyeong and began to explain.
“Do you know what has been Japan’s biggest problem in the past 2-3 years?”
“What was it?”
“The stock price and the land price, which had skyrocketed without knowing the sky, fell to the bottom in an instant. To be more precise, real estate is 20% of the price in the 1980s, and stock prices have fallen to 30%.”
Prime Minister Kiichi’s expression was serious.
It would not be an easy task to show off one’s private parts to a foreigner.
“The biggest problem here is that if the debtors are unable to repay their money, they have to sell their collateral, but even if all the collateral is disposed of, only a disproportionate amount of the loan is returned to the bank.”
“It looks like most of the bank’s collateral was real estate and stocks.”
“you’re right. As a result, a huge amount of bad debt was created.”
“If things go on like this, it will be obvious that the bank will go bankrupt due to bad debts.”
“Yes.”
Hoyoung nodded.
It was because he realized what Prime Minister Kiichi wanted from Hoyoung.
The impact of a single bank on a country is enormous.
Businesses in particular, as well as ordinary citizens, are extremely dependent on banks.
It was to the extent that the saying, ‘Business is done with bank money’ became an orthodox theory.
“If a bank goes bankrupt, the large corporations associated with that bank will be staggered first. Of course, since it’s a large company, I don’t say that a single bank will go bankrupt right away, but…”
“I will reduce the investment amount first. First and foremost, it will reduce facility investment.”
Prime Minister Kiichi looked at Hoyoung in surprise for a moment.
He thought Hoyoung’s insight was unusual.
“That’s right. Japanese large corporations continued to invest in huge facilities in the 1980s, 20% of the previous year. However, as interest rates continued to rise, lending became more and more difficult, and as mentioned earlier, stock and land prices plummeted, causing non-cash assets to plummet. Therefore, we will stop the bold facility investment.”
“And the next step would be to undertake a large-scale restructuring to reduce fixed costs.”
“You are correct. Most companies have already reduced overtime, and some companies have already laid off part-time workers.”
The next sequence is obvious.
More and more workers will become unemployed, and if workers become unemployed, their income will drastically decrease and their purchasing power will decrease.
If that happens, the domestic market will inevitably shrink.
“If one big company stumbles like that, it will be a small business next.”
“yes. I just want to avoid that situation.”
Now he knew what Prime Minister Kiichi wanted to say to Hoyeong.
He wants Ho-young to dispose of his bad debts.
Prime Minister Kiichi was one of the many people who insisted on resolving bad debts first, even by injecting public funds.
If banks live, companies live.
If companies live, they can delay the time of the long-term recession as much as possible, and may be able to come up with other ways during that time.
But two questions still remain.
“I don’t understand this. What you just said is asking me to buy bonds that may go bankrupt… There’s no way I’d do something like that unless I’m out of my mind, right? What can you do for me?”
“You are right. I can’t make you this kind of request without any conditions.”
Prime Minister Kiichi turned his head for a moment and spoke to the policy director next to him.
“Director of Policy, can you please leave your seat for a while?”
“Yep. Okay. Let the two of you speak.”
The policy director jumped up and immediately left the room.
‘What the hell are you trying to say?’
Hoyoung had a question.
The policy director was Prime Minister Kiichi’s closest aide.
I had no idea what the hell he was going to say after he bit him.
“sorry. I think I might be able to talk about something sensitive.”
Giichi cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“To be honest, the amount we need now is about 2 trillion won.”
“Two trillion won? Are you saying you can save Japan with just that much money?”
“haha. That’s just about it.”
Hoyoung laughed.
“I am not saying that 2 trillion won is small. It’s an amount that I can’t guarantee if I can get it now. However, I think that the amount is far short of enough to solve this economic recession.”
“It certainly is. But that amount can definitely help priming.”
“Prime water? After 2 trillion won is invested, what are you waiting for?”
Prime Minister Kiichi had a firm expression.
“Do you know what I felt after surviving in politics for decades?”
Prime Minister Kiichi suddenly said something out of the blue, but Hoyoung replied silently.
“What is?”
“Politicians are ruining the country.”
“yes?”
“Of course I am one of those politicians. I’m human too, so I can’t guarantee that I’ve always made the right choices. But···.”
Prime Minister Kiichi paused for a moment as if his emotions were overflowing.
The emotion Hoyoung found on his face was anger.
“The fate of the country is not important to them. And the bankruptcy of the economy doesn’t matter either. All they care about is factionalism and their interests.”
Hoyeong did not dare to answer Prime Minister Kiichi’s words.
It’s not because it’s hard to find an answer, but because it doesn’t seem like a stranger for some reason.
“It is a well-known fact that the economy is collapsing rapidly every year. It’s because the media beats me every day. So, I have continued to insist on disposing of bad debts. If the government injects public funds first, and then injects follow-up funds from the business world, it will definitely be solved.”
“However, the injection of public funds has become impossible.”
“you’re right. If banks are to be saved by injecting public funds, someone must control the enormous amount of tens of trillions of dollars.”
“So that’s where the problem comes in. We have to decide who will handle the money.”
“yes. The reason Japan is currently in crisis is not that one or two banks are struggling with bad debt. All banks are in a similar situation. Even the central bank of Japan.”
Hoyoung seemed to know what Kiichi was trying to say.
“It is impossible to save all banks with public funds. You have to decide which bank to keep alive and which bank to let die.”
“It means you can make a killing club.”
“And the most important factor to be selected as a bank to be saved will be which company the bank lent money to.”
Kiichi’s pupils shook at Hoyeong’s words.
He was sincerely admiring Hoyoung.
“Yes… It is. You are amazing. To think that you have already figured out the situation with just that much of a story…”
“haha. Is there one more thing left? And the criterion for selecting a company is likely to be the faction it supports.”
“Exactly. This job is to wield a huge sword that can dry up the political funds. So, the Liberal Democratic Party, the New Party, the Democratic Party, etc… Partisans oppose the injection of public funds unconditionally with the conviction that if they cannot have the hilt, then no one should have it.”
Hoyoung laughed out loud when he realized the story behind the injection of public funds.
Blowing away one of the ways that might have stopped the bubble just because of a fight like this.
Of course, it is not certain that reviving banks with public funds will prevent Japan from sinking, but even so, it was not a story without a possibility.
“I see now. Then, what can you do for me, so why are you explaining it this far?”
“However, I think Japanese politicians will definitely come to their senses if they get hit in the back. Ho Young. I will not ask you to buy only non-performing loans.”
“then?”
“Obviously sooner or later there will be banks that are on the verge of bankruptcy. I’ll give you the right to take over those banks. We will take action so that it can be acquired at half the price of the appraisal.”
Kiichi’s expression was serious, and Hoyoung had a hard time hiding his surprised expression.
An unexpected opportunity came to Ho-young.