1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 143



Only Krnovel

“I would like the Korean government to sell off its stake in American companies.”

‘So this was your true intention.’

From our perspective, this is actually more bearable than a tariff bomb.

Selling shares held in American companies would not be a big problem as long as the price is right, but no matter how competitive Korean products are in terms of price, if the tariff bomb is implemented as announced, they will inevitably lose a significant portion of their price competitiveness.

“I am a little taken aback by such an unreasonable demand. Weren’t Korea and the United States blood allies and friends? Why are you restraining us like this? We also helped you with the development of Block 7. And I have always worked closely with your father.”

Even Clinton, who originally had a bad relationship with Korea throughout history, later developed a good relationship, and most of the presidents before him also had good relationships.

I’ve never had particularly bad relations with the United States.

Basically, it was because they shared the perception that the United States was an ally and blood ally before becoming a competitor.

But now Bush is trying to mess up that relationship.

Bush begins the story in a voice that suggests he cannot understand.

“Well, are we really friends now? The entire American industry is shaking because of Korea. Most American industries are losing their domestic markets to Korea right now.”

‘Still, you seem to have a good grasp of the situation.’

He may be the worst president in American history, but he was able to accurately assess the current situation and what the problems in the American economy are, and whether he won the presidency through a gamble.

The current trade problem the United States is facing with Korea is similar to the problem it had with China in history.

Since Korean products are relatively cheaper than American products, American consumers have no choice but to choose Korean products over domestic products when making purchases.

However, when compared to the trade issues with China in the original history, there were three major differences.

First, no matter how large the population of Korea is today, it was not as large as China’s in its original history.

Therefore, the amount of imports from the United States is bound to be less than that from China in history.

As a result, the current trade deficit with Korea is much larger for the United States than the trade deficit with China throughout history.

The second was the quality of the goods.

Originally, Chinese products throughout history were products that Americans used because they were cheap, but of slightly lower quality.

People who have a little more money to spare and want to use the product for a long time tend to look for American products rather than Made in China products, even if it costs a little more.

However, the quality of current Korean products is far better than that of American products.

A representative example was Viagury, which was one of the top five selling single products among Korean products.

*

“Oh, this is annoying. I feel like I bought this for nothing. It doesn’t work at all!”

Mike gets annoyed when he sees his friend Matthew and shows him the American-made fake Viagra pills he bought last time.

“That’s right. I told you. You can’t trust domestically produced medicine. Buy Korean ones, buy Korean ones.”

Mike continues his story, sounding slightly annoyed at Matthew.

“Hey, who doesn’t know that Korean-made biaruguri is good? But you have to be able to get it to buy it. How can you buy it when it’s sold out at every pharmacy you go to at dawn on the day it comes in?”

Matthew answers as if he finds it ridiculous.

“Did I sell it out? Why are you saying that to me?”

When Matthew says something, Mike scratches his head as if he feels slightly apologetic.

“No, I didn’t say anything to you… I’m sorry. Sigh······.”

Mike sighs deeply.

Matthew looks at his friend Mike with a look of pity, then takes something out of his pocket and throws it at him.

“Hey, take it.”

Mike catches the object Matthew throws with a puzzled expression.

Then, soon, his eyes widen.

“T, this can’t be······.”

“Yes, Inma. I barely managed to get this. Use it sparingly.”

What Matthew gave Mike were four viagra pills.

Mike jumps around like a child.

He looked much brighter than when he got into college and got into a good company.

*

The third and final point is that there is a big difference between what South Korea exports to the United States and what China historically exported to the United States.

Those were underground resources called oil and natural gas.

It’s not that China hasn’t exported mineral resources to the United States throughout history, but it wasn’t oil or natural gas.

To begin with, China was not a country with much oil and natural gas.

Rather, it was less than expected compared to the land mass.

So, the amount was insufficient even for use in one’s own country.

But things were different in Korea.

The amount of crude oil and natural gas produced from Block 7 was beyond imagination, and the remaining portion was exported overseas after domestic use.

There are some countries with which we have agreements, like the United States, where we export at really cheap prices.

Crude oil and natural gas exports from Korea to the United States were proceeding at a loss.

I asked President Bush.

“I have also been briefed on the full details of the tariffs. But this time, they have left out all the details about crude oil and natural gas.”

“That, that······.”

Bush can’t bring himself to answer, his voice sounding embarrassed.

From the US perspective, it is understandable how sweet the crude oil and natural gas imported from Korea are.

I spoke to him first in a gentlemanly manner.

“President Bush, I am not unaware of how serious the U.S. trade deficit with Korea is. However, it makes no sense to raise tariffs without consulting us in this way.”

“So, if you don’t like it, then sell off the shares of American companies owned by the Korean government.”

“By the way, do you know how much of the shares Korea owns in American companies?”

Bush is a little embarrassed.

But soon he answers with confidence.

“According to our government’s research, it is around 17%. This is too high for one country to have.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his answer.

‘17%? I still don’t know properly.’

I asked him back without telling him what percentage we really had.

“17%. Okay. So what percentage does the US want to reduce that?”

“The US wants to reduce its share to 5%.”

His voice was firm.

It seems that they did some calculations and decided that reducing it to 5% would reduce the influence the Korean government had on the U.S. economy.

But America’s calculations were completely wrong.

Our government wasn’t calculating 100 percent correctly either, but the approximate figure they were predicting was around 30 percent.

It seemed that about half of the shares were not properly understood because the stake relationships were so complex.

In particular, there were many cases where some companies had already made profits of tens of thousands or even thousands of times through contracts before going public.

‘Even if it’s 12%, it’s giving up too much of a future guaranteed profit to sell it now.’

It’s not like it won’t work, but if I sell it now, there will definitely be problems when I buy it back later.

I said it firmly.

“We can’t do that. Our Korean government has no intention of reducing its shareholding due to external forces.”

“Then we have no choice but to take the measure of increasing tariffs.”

I asked him with a smile.

“Do you really think that if tariffs are raised and Korean products lose their price competitiveness, domestic products will sell more?”

“You won’t know until you wait and see.”

I decided that there was nothing more to discuss and ended the call.

“I don’t think there is any room for further negotiation. I will hang up now.”

Bush has one last word.

“I really hope Korea makes a good decision.”

I also said one last word to Bush and hung up the phone.

“That’s what we have to say. I hope the United States makes a good decision.

*

America’s actions were swift.

Tariffs on Korean products have increased by at least two times and up to ten times.

In addition, the prices of Korean products had to become more expensive.

Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone, which used to sell for $400, is now priced at $600, and Viaguri, which used to cost $50 for a pack of eight, is now priced at $200.

[Starting today, the US will impose tariffs on Korean products, up to 10 times higher. Is a trade war with the US beginning? – KBC]

[South Korean government says US tariff retaliation is due to large number of stocks held by the South Korean government in US companies. – Tongil Ilbo]

Newspapers also carried this article on their front pages.

The approval rating, which had reached an unprecedented record of 95% after the World Cup final, has fallen to the mid-70% range due to the trade dispute with the United States.

As soon as the tariffs were raised to this level, complaints began to pour in from companies.

And the most pressing of these was Samsung, whose Galaxy phone sales in the US have recently been hit hard.

“Mr. President, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.”

Samjeong’s Chairman Yoo Geon-ho bows his head and greets.

“It’s okay. No matter how busy you are, can you be as busy as the chairman of Samjeong?”

“Mr. President… Actually, the reason I came today….”

Chairman Yoo seems to be trying to say something, but he can’t bring himself to say it.

I first brought up the topic I needed to tell him.

“Chairman Yoo, aren’t you here because of the recent US tariff measures?”

Chairman Yoo Geon-ho nods and speaks.

“That’s right… I don’t know what we’re going to do if the Americans suddenly raise tariffs like this.”

“How much have sales declined?”

“Sales of Galaxy phones last month fell by half compared to the previous month.”

‘It’s half-cut······.’

It was time to slowly counterattack.

We have already given our allies enough opportunities.

If they kept attacking from that side, there was no more obligation to tolerate it.

I patted Chairman Yoo on the shoulder and said.

“Don’t worry. Our government will also start to counterattack. It will be resolved within a few months, so don’t worry too much and invest a little more in technology development since it has come to this. I will also tell the National Technology Agency to provide as much technology support as possible to Samsung Electronics rather than QPL for the time being.”

“Is that true? Thank you, Mr. President!”

Chairman Yoo Geon-ho keeps bowing his head to me.

“If this guy says he can do it in a few months, I won’t have to worry anymore!”

It was a promise made by none other than President Kim Jong-guk.

There was no need to worry anymore.

President Kim Jong-guk, whom I have watched since his predecessors, is never a person who tells lies.

This man was the kind of person who kept every promise he made.

Chairman Yoo Geon-ho, who neither trusts nor likes politicians, respects only President Kim Jung-guk.

*

“Starting today, we will not sell crude oil or natural gas to the United States.”

Normally, at least one person would have opposed it, but not a single member of the State Council opposed it.

“Haa… So this is how it ends up.”

“Are the Americans finally going to start a trade war?”

“But we can’t just stay like fools and get beaten up forever.”

The reason given was plausible.

The amount of crude oil and natural gas being drilled decreased due to some breakdowns in drilling equipment, and there was no choice but to temporarily stop exports to the United States, where the products are sold at the lowest prices.

And in the US, too, there was a palpable sense of tension as if what was supposed to happen had come.

“From tomorrow, crude oil and natural gas will not be coming into Korea. Are the preparations for shale gas progressing smoothly?”

The Secretary of State confidently tells us not to worry.

“Don’t worry. Starting next week, the amount of drilling will increase significantly as we upgrade to new equipment. It won’t be the same amount as what we import from Korea right now, but it will cover a significant portion.”

Bush glares at the Secretary of State and says:

“It has to be done, or America will end up in the Middle East conflict again.”