227. Loans (2)
Police began controlling traffic on Gangnam-daero, which has 8 lanes of round-trip traffic.
“sorry. I’ll take control for just a little while, 15 minutes. Please take another detour.”
The police begged the public for their understanding.
– It is 20 seconds before the VIP party. 10 seconds… 5 seconds… open.”
“open.”
The current commotion on Gangnam-daero was all the president’s fault.
As soon as President Kim Il-sam hung up the phone with Ho-yeong, he went directly from the Blue House to the Hermes headquarters.
He was in such a hurry that he gave orders to the police to shorten the time to the Hermes headquarters by changing traffic lights.
It’s a shame because it was 1997, when there weren’t many private cars, but if it was 2020, it would have been controversial, but he didn’t care.
It took only 15 minutes from the Blue House to Hermes in Gangnam.
that time.
Hoyeong, who was waiting for the president at Hermes, was also a little surprised by President Kim Il-sam’s ability to act.
When told to wait because I will go right away, Hoyoung naturally canceled all the meetings behind him.
And I called Eric in the US and asked how much Gaia Investment could lend right now.
Some time ago, Hoyoung instructed Eric to convert his non-cash assets into dollars as much as possible.
Eric faithfully fulfilled Hoyoung’s words, and sold almost all stocks except for the shares in a few companies (Apple, Blizzard, Google, etc.) designated by Hoyoung.
Since all of Dell Computer’s shares were liquidated, Hoyoung has now officially decided to completely withdraw from Dell Computer’s management.
Eric used his skillful skills to dispose of his stocks in a way that would yield maximum profits, and thanks to that, Hoyeong was able to receive a truly surprising answer.
– today···. The amount available is a whopping $50 billion!
50 billion dollars.
It was a staggering sum indeed.
The current exchange rate was around 1,600 won.
Hoyoung remembers that the original exchange rate at this time was around 2,000 won.
Compared to that, it seemed to have succeeded in defending the exchange rate to some extent, but the fact that it was a tremendous exchange rate did not change.
“Assuming you exchange money into Korean money… haha···. 80 trillion won.”
Even when Hoyoung heard this huge amount, he didn’t say he was happy or cheered.
Instead, he let out a dejected laugh.
“It’s rather unrealistic.”
In fact, $50 billion in cash was just the tip of the iceberg.
The companies Hoyoung invested in were growing in size even at this moment.
In particular, H&H, which can be said to be his foundation, was already recognized as a global company beyond Korea.
Although it is still in the form of a stock company, it was clear that H&H, which was not even thinking about going public because there was no shortage of capital, would literally be an astronomical amount if the stock were to come out on the market.
and Hermes.
Hermes Telecom was also standing tall as a world-class telecommunications group.
Unlike its original history, Pantech is leading the global mobile phone market, and Hoyoung’s ADSL is spreading all over the world.
And the optical cable waiting to be sortie now.
The technology was almost complete, which would lead to a huge innovation that, if competitors heard, would lose all motivation to run the business.
Hoyeong looked at her right wrist.
“Gaia…”
Even if he was alone, you can be confident that he would have achieved some level of success.
No matter what anyone says, he is Yun Ho-young. Because he was a man called the god of coding.
However, it would be impossible to compare it to now with Gaia.
“Did you call?”
“No, just.”
When he heard his name, Hoyoung laughed as he saw Gaia answer like a knife.
It is said that he created artificial intelligence, but it seemed that he could not think of a life without his faithful Gaia.
Brilliant-
Hoyeong was knocked out of her thoughts by the interphone ringing.
It looks like the president has arrived.
– Sashimi, Chairman. hand···. A guest has arrived!
The secretary’s voice over the intercom was very exasperated.
In an instant, Hoyoung realized what he had forgotten.
“Oops. You didn’t tell me the president was coming.”
Hoyoung replied with a laugh that he was still far away.
“Tell them to come right up.”
.
.
.
“It’s okay if I went, but thank you so much for coming this far.”
“no. It’s for the country, so I have to come like this.”
Hoyoung sat face to face with President Kim Il-sam in his office, each having coffee in front of them.
Despite the huge age difference between Kim Il-sam and Ho-young and his position as president, Kim Il-sam naturally used honorifics with Ho-yeong.
“I am very happy to think that I can contribute my strength for the country. Thank you for coming here without listening to my story.”
Hoyeong bowed her head politely.
When Kim Il-sam saw it again, he exclaimed in admiration.
Hoyoung’s attitude was confident in front of him, neither shy nor servile.
‘I thought I wasn’t a normal young man, but I can never see this now that I am in my late 20s. Like···. It reminds me of my old enemies.’
Kim Il-sam was a professional politician who had been in the political arena for decades.
As a politician, he met many people.
Among them, there were people who cried for democracy with him, and there were also dictators.
He thought of Ho-young as a person who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats.
“I’m not in the mood to have a leisurely cup of coffee and chat.”
“yes. I am well aware of the recent international situation and the situation in Korea.”
“So, I apologize for bringing it up right away.”
“it’s okay. I am more comfortable that way.”
Hoyoung replied with a smile.
President Kim Il-sam, perhaps feeling thirsty, cooled down a little and gulped down a cup of lukewarm coffee before opening his mouth.
“Then can I talk a little more comfortably?”
“haha. It’s the same as before, but I’m more comfortable that way.”
“after···. Thank you.”
The president seemed to be quite frustrated, and he roughly loosened the necktie he was wearing around his neck.
“How much can you lend me?”
“On the other hand, may I ask you a question? How soon will you be able to get out of this situation?”
The president hesitated for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected that Hoyoung would ask him a question in reverse.
Then, slowly, he opened his mouth.
“Ten billion dollars. Would that be possible?”
Hoyoung grinned without answering.
The president stared blankly at Hoyeong’s face before bursting into a dejected laugh.
“I was too small. Then $20 billion. Could you lend it to me?”
“You can say everything that is in what you are saying. Can only $20 billion get us through this financial crisis? As far as I know, the short-term foreign debt alone exceeds $150, so can domestic banks be saved with the remaining $5 billion?”
Hoyoung spoke sharply, and the president became dumb for a moment.
Soon, President Kim Il-sam had a flash of thought that there was nothing to be proud of in front of Ho-yeong, and that he should never be optimistic about the current situation.
Although he has lived a lifelong life in politics, he also thought that he should treat Ho-young as a citizen and representative of the Republic of Korea, not just as a politician.
“To be honest···.”
Kim Il-sam struggled to open his mouth.
“I think we need $100 billion to flip this situation like the palm of our hand.”
“Well···. It really might be.”
“However···. If not, could you lend me even $40 billion? Of course, it will be lacking, but the lacking part is… I think we can overcome it with the potential of our Korean businesses and people.”
Finally, Hoyoung nodded.
What I said just a moment ago was at least partly in line with Hoyeong’s thoughts.
“To be honest, in the words of companies and people, I want to focus more on the people.”
“nation?”
“The people of South Korea have tremendous power and potential. Even if I don’t lend money and receive an emergency blood transfusion from the IMF, I think I have the potential to overcome it by uniting within a few years. You never know. Maybe the people will voluntarily start a gold-collecting campaign.”
As President Kim Il-sam listened to Ho-yeong’s words, he felt his heart grow hot without realizing it.
Although it cannot be said that he is not responsible for the foreign exchange crisis, he was also a citizen of the Republic of Korea and was active in the midst of the democratization movement during the dictatorship.
He was also one of those who knew better than anyone how strong the power of the people was.
“Why do you think I want to lend you money?”
President Kim Il-sam looked at Ho-young with a questioning face, but Ho-yeong continued as if he had no intention of hearing an answer.
“It’s because I don’t want to see our people living with suffering even though it’s not their fault. If you borrow money from the IMF, the IMF will definitely try to have a huge impact on the Korean economy. And the impact will be shared and borne by the people.”
The president unconsciously nodded.
It was because he was afraid that he would be like that too, so he ran to Hoyoung in a huff like this.
“And obviously we are going to implement intensive restructuring. Restructuring can be seen as bringing about an economic recovery. However, no one will be interested in being someone’s father and someone’s husband who becomes unemployed due to restructuring.”
The president had nothing to say.
Because everything Hoyoung said was true.
“good. $40 billion. I’ll lend you. But can you promise me two things?”
“What promise? I will try my best to keep it.”
Hoyoung shook his head.
“Not to the fullest. Please keep it unconditionally.”
“ah···. I see.”
“First of all. This money should be put into reviving the bank first, right?”
“right.”
This meant that if a bank that failed to return corporate loans collapsed, all of the people’s blood and sweat deposits would be destroyed.
No matter what anyone says, the bank was the first priority to be saved.
“Then, please use it to revive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the backbone of the Korean economy, not large corporations, which need to be saved after banks.”
“I will definitely do that.”
Hoyeong also took a sip of coffee and spoke again.
“And the second. Although the President’s term of office is short, please institutionally arrange so that this will not happen again in the future. Please make sure that companies that have received support from the government cannot make reckless loans, and slowly change the economic structure, which is completely biased towards large corporations, and show us that we are moving forward, even little by little, toward a country where all citizens live well.”
The president nodded vigorously.
And he was on the verge of tears.
‘A young man who loves his country to this extent.’
The requests Hoyoung made now were all promises for the future of this Republic of Korea.
How long has it been since you had such a bloody heart?
He felt as if he had gone back to being a fighter for democracy in his youth.
He and Hoyoung looked at each other for a long time without speaking.
Although it was a young man in his 20s and an old man in his 70s, I thought it was clear that they were thinking the same thing now.
“good. Why don’t we let practitioners decide the details, whether it’s in the form of government bonds or loans? I don’t have time, so please give me instructions right now.”
It was Hoyeong who broke the silence.
“Good. don’t let that happen Thank you. Thank you so much.”
President Kim Il-sam thought the story was over and jumped up from his seat.
He wanted to go back to the Blue House and give instructions.
However, Hoyeong did not get up after him and stayed seated.
“…?”
Unsure of the reason, the president looked at Ho-young, who handed him a cell phone.
“First of all, give me instructions over this phone. There is a story that we want to start separately from now on, leaving the work of the practitioners as it is.”
“story? What else can I say?”
“sure. Wouldn’t you like to hear a few requests from me now?”
“Request?”
Hoyoung had a deep smile on his face.
President Kim Il-sam rubbed his eyes and looked at Yun Ho-young, seeing him as a completely different person from the young man who had almost brought him to tears a few minutes ago.
“Let’s talk about Kia cars first, shall we? Actually, I want to take over Kia Motors… Oops, should we talk on the phone first?”
President Kim Il-sam felt that his tears, which seemed to overflow just a moment ago, were welling up.
“Let’s make a quick phone call, come back, and then we’ll talk in earnest. The coffee is all cold, so I’ll ask you to get a new one in the meantime. If you don’t like coffee, would you like something else?”
Hoyoung had a bright smile that anyone could say was dazzling.
Of course, Hoyoung had no intention of lending him 40 billion dollars for free.