Free Web Novel“So you’re saying the CEO of Future Investment and Kim Muhyuk know each other?”
In the Blue House office, President Kim Hakgwon frowned as he listened to a report from NIS Director Lee Chanjong.
“Yes. Officially, the Future Building is owned by a small construction company called Geukseong Construction, but its real owner is Kim Muhyuk.”
Under the president’s orders, the NIS had launched a full-scale investigation into everything Kim Muhyuk had done in Korea, mobilizing a vast number of personnel and uncovering significant information.
“There’s also evidence he met with a woman named Eva Zhu in Hong Kong, and they’ve met several times domestically as well.”
President Kim Hakgwon remained silent at the NIS director’s words.
“And there’s confirmed evidence he had a private meeting at a hotel with the IMF managing director, Camdessus, the day before the government negotiations.”
“He met with Camdessus himself?”
“Yes. We don’t know what they talked about, but the meeting lasted a long time.”
“What on earth is their connection?”
“We haven’t been able to find that out yet.”
Kim Hakgwon rubbed his temples in frustration.
The more they investigated, the more Kim Muhyuk’s identity seemed shrouded in fog.
“Anything else?”
“He’s at odds with Cheongpunghoe. We couldn’t determine the exact reason, but they’ve clashed frequently. A few years ago, he was involved in a large-scale gang conflict in Gangnam, and he even destroyed one of Cheongpunghoe’s key weapons.”
Kim Hakgwon’s eyes widened.
“He’s not on good terms with Cheongpunghoe?”
“No. And Han Kyungyeong’s support for you, Mr. President, was likely influenced heavily by Kim Muhyuk. It’s probable he wanted to weaken Cheongpunghoe’s power and stop the conservative party’s rise to power.”
“That makes sense. Now I understand. That’s why he didn’t make any demands. Just my election alone was already a gain for him.”
President Kim Hakgwon nodded, finally piecing things together.
He sat silently in thought for a few minutes before speaking again.
“If both Future Investment and Dreamhigh are connected to Kim Muhyuk, then aren’t we basically dancing in the palm of his hand? Does it not matter to him who acquires Joongwoo Group?”
“We can’t be sure of that.”
“Nothing on him? No weak point we can use to put a leash around his neck?”
The NIS director lowered his head.
“We found no evidence of Kim Muhyuk engaging in illegal activities. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
After a moment of contemplation, President Kim Hakgwon picked up the phone. The Chief of Staff entered the office.
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Take a seat.”
The president glanced at both the Chief of Staff and the NIS director before sharing his decision.
“For now, we’ll let Joongwoo Group go to Dreamhigh as planned. The negotiations are already complete, right?”
“Yes.”
“Send people to the creditor banks and to Chairman Park Daeho to explain the government’s stance and get them to understand.”
“Understood.”
“Keep monitoring Kim Muhyuk.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“That Han Kyungyeong press conference... let’s watch what he says.”
The Chief of Staff turned on the TV.
As the president watched the press conference in silence, his brows furrowed.
“Didn’t he issue a warning to the chaebols?”
“He did. But when have they ever given up greed so easily? They might not move directly, but it’s obvious they’re manipulating the media.”
“They still haven’t learned their lesson. They’re all too greedy. Begging for government support while scheming behind our backs?”
Kim Hakgwon clicked his tongue repeatedly in displeasure. The NIS director and Chief of Staff exchanged uneasy glances.
“What should we do?”
“Polite words won’t work. Gather the chairmen of the top 20 conglomerates. I want to meet them tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
The next day, Han Kyungyeong and the main creditor banks signed an MOU.
The banks agreed to write off 30% of Joongwoo Group’s debt, reschedule the remaining payments over five years, and transfer all shares of Joongwoo Group’s subsidiaries.
It was the moment Joongwoo Group officially fell into Dreamhigh’s hands.
Meanwhile, President Kim Hakgwon dropped a bombshell in front of the gathered chaebol chairmen.
“It seems you gentlemen still don’t grasp the severity of the crisis.”
“No, Mr. President.”
“Enough. The government will lead the integration of overlapping industries among your subsidiaries. Consider this an official notice.”
“Mr. President!”
“Sir!”
The unexpected statement caused a stir. Some even shot up from their seats, but Kim Hakgwon’s expression remained firm.
“You don’t have to participate. But any company opposing government policy will receive no support.”
None of the chairmen could respond.
“This entire crisis happened because of your reckless expansion. For years, even the previous administration warned that overinvestment and redundant industries were inefficient. But did anything change? As far as I can tell, nothing.”
Kim Hakgwon swept his gaze across the room with a grim face.
“This foreign exchange storm is the direct result of all of you.”
In his mind, the IMF crisis was the chaebols’ fault. And he wasn’t wrong.
“Relevant agencies will collect opinions and make final decisions. This is your last warning. If any company is caught bribing officials or trying to influence their decisions, I’ll make an example of them.”
Even during his transition committee days, President Kim Hakgwon had floated the idea of asset swaps among conglomerates. Opposition from bureaucrats and public criticism had delayed it, but now, enraged by the chaebols’ behavior, he decided to push forward at full force.
His ultimate goal was reforming the conglomerates.
* * *
The day after Han Kyungyeong and the creditor banks signed the MOU, the government began announcing a series of policies.
The “Big Deal” was revealed earlier than in the original timeline.
“We can’t escape this either, right?”
At my question, Han Kyungyeong closed the document he was reading and nodded.
“The government demanded we actively participate in the Big Deal.” freewёbnoνel.com
The government silenced complaints by claiming corporate reform was necessary for the economy’s recovery, pushing forward rapidly.
“What do we need to give up?”
“Personally, I’d like to hand over electronics and automobiles. Both are complete liabilities. Other subsidiaries are bad too, but those two are the worst.”
Around 30% of Joongwoo Group’s cooked books and debt were concentrated in Joongwoo Motors.
Thanks to its aggressive expansion into Eastern Europe, Joongwoo had high brand recognition—but its debt and liabilities were massive.
“Hand the automotive division to Ilseong. As for electronics... we’ll wait and see.”
“The unions will push back hard.”
“That’s the government’s problem. We just follow their policy.”
Korea’s militant unions were infamous.
“We’ll decide as things progress.”
“Okay.”
The government signaled its intentions with an unexpected briefing, hinting strongly at the Big Deal.
The announcement that automobile and electronics mergers would proceed first sent shivers through the relevant companies.
A few days later, after returning from the Blue House, Han Kyungyeong shook his head as he described the mood among chaebols.
“The tension was insane. The government even threatened to suspend loans. I was nervous just listening.”
“Haha. It’s karma. But what did they tell you? You can’t be pressured with loans.”
“They told me to pick between electronics or automobiles.”
“Then we’ll give up automobiles and keep electronics.”
With Daehyeon Motors dominating, Korea’s auto industry held little meaning for us.
“Daehyeon will acquire Ashin Motors. Ilseong and Joongwoo will merge their automotive divisions, but Ilseong offered to take our automobiles if we hand over electronics instead.”
“That’s ridiculous. Ilseong isn’t even a proper auto company.”
Han Kyungyeong agreed, nodding slightly.
“So we’ll give them automobiles. But do you think Ilseong will hand over electronics? Not a chance.”
Since Daehyeon was already taking Ashin Motors, handing Joongwoo Motors to them as well would only strengthen Daehyeon’s dominance. Even under a government-led Big Deal, balancing power was crucial.
“Tell Ilseong we’ll give them the automotive division. Otherwise, we’ll do things our way.”
“But we promised to cooperate with the government.”
“You’ve seen Joongwoo’s state yourself. Even I didn’t expect it to be this bad, right?”
After signing the MOU, American accounting firms and domestic experts combed through Joongwoo’s books line by line.
The accounting tricks were outrageous. Beyond what the government had found, we discovered even more fabricated accounts.
Joongwoo’s overseas expansion had created layers of fake revenue. Its properties were triple-counted, and to hide Joongwoo Motors’ liabilities, they dumped excess inventory onto overseas subsidiaries, manipulating the books.
The government estimated ₩27 trillion in liabilities, but we uncovered an additional ₩17 trillion. Park Daeho’s audacity was almost admirable.
“What does the government say?”
“They claim it’s out of their hands now, implying they hold no responsibility.”
“An MOU can be broken anytime. Give them a little scare. I may have taken this group because I needed it, but I won’t play the sucker.”
Even with plenty of acquisition funds, we couldn’t absorb everything like pushovers.
“Don’t push too hard. How much debt does Joongwoo Motors carry?”
“Wait.”
Han Kyungyeong flipped through the documents.
“₩4.56 trillion.” freewebnøvel.com
“And what was Park Daeho’s total assets and stock value combined?”
“Maybe ₩500 billion if he liquidates everything.”
Thanks to the IMF, Korea’s corporate market capitalization had plummeted. Even Ilseong Electronics, Korea’s top firm, could be targeted for just $2.7 billion—small U.S. private equity firms had around $2 billion each.
“Not much, huh.”
“But I bet he’s got hidden assets.”
“Can you find them?”
“It’ll take time, but yes.”
“Finish the acquisition first. We’ll hand Joongwoo Motors to Ilseong, but in return, we’re taking Geumseong Semiconductors.”
“Geumseong Semiconductors? Daehyeon Electronics planned to acquire its shares for integration.”
“They won’t have the resources. Taking Ashin Motors alone will strain them. They’ll be grateful if we step in.”
Under the government-led Big Deal, chaebols had no choice.
Without public funds, they’d have to sell major subsidiaries.
Joongwoo Motors would merge with Ilseong Motors. Ashin Motors would go to Daehyeon Motors.
In electronics, Daehyeon Electronics and Geumseong Electronics’ semiconductor divisions would integrate with Joongwoo Electronics, while Joongwoo’s home appliance division would merge into Geumseong Electronics.
Daehyeon Refining would absorb Hyunseong Energy.
Excessively fragmented businesses such as petrochemicals, rail cars, aviation, power, and ship engines were consolidated into six new companies.
Among Korea’s top ten conglomerates, only KS Group escaped the Big Deal’s impact.
Geumseong gave up semiconductors in exchange for lifting restrictions on its telecom stakes, but its chairman vanished from public view, furious at losing semiconductors.
“We got semiconductors as you wanted, but are they worth giving up home appliances?”
“Joongwoo’s appliances can’t compete with Ilseong or Geumseong. They’re marketed as durable only because the tech is outdated. But in the future, semiconductors will swallow ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ everything.”
Through the Big Deal, we shed a significant amount of Joongwoo’s liabilities.
We dumped much of Joongwoo Motors’ debt onto Ilseong.
Not all of the government’s Big Deals were successful. Many criticized it for giving Daehyeon a huge advantage, which was true.
Han Kyungyeong kept most of the executives in place but declared there would be no more reckless management, reshaping the company in an American style.
Thanks to the government’s help in delisting all subsidiaries, Han Kyungyeong could now run everything exactly as he wanted, with no one to answer to.
Meanwhile, Eva had begun her shopping spree for financial companies, just as she wanted.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly—until one phone call shattered my peace.
< Government-Led Big Deal > End
