1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 89



Only Krnovel

Episode 89

“Toyo Tosu Securities has now gone bankrupt… … .”

The finance official who received the call reports to the finance minister with a look of despair.

Toyotomi Securities, Japan’s fourth largest securities firm, has gone bankrupt.

The finance minister speaks in a loud voice.

“What on earth are these Americans and Koreans trying to do!”

They attack Southeast Asian countries for their foreign exchange reserves as if the US and Korea were on the same team.

When Thailand collapsed, I thought it had nothing to do with Japan.

Even though companies and securities firms that invested in Thailand suffered huge losses, they did not pay much attention because they were confident that Japan as a country would not collapse over something as simple as that.

But less than a month after Thailand collapsed, Malaysia collapsed, and shortly thereafter the Philippines and Indonesia.

And now Hong Kong too was on the verge of collapse.

The Japanese financial industry, which had been making large investments in Southeast Asia, has also been put on red alert, and in the past two months, three of Japan’s top ten securities firms, including Toyotomi Securities, which went bankrupt today, have gone out of business.

The finance minister takes a deep breath and asks.

“Still, are other companies okay?”

“Yes. There have been no problems so far, but since three securities firms have collapsed, the impact could spread to general companies as well.”

The finance minister sighs deeply.

“Sigh, I’m going crazy.”

After successfully completing this term as Minister of Finance, I was thinking of aiming for the next party leader.

But if things continue this way, Japan will surely collapse economically once again.

If that happens, it will be impossible for him to aim for the party leadership.

Instead, he might have to consider political retirement, and everything he had built might come crashing down.

“Where do you think your next goal will be?”

The Treasury official pushes up his glasses and answers.

“As of now, the most likely candidates are Taiwan and Singapore.”

If those two countries collapsed, it would certainly be a direct hit to Japan as well.

The weight that Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore had was incomparable to that of other Southeast Asian countries.

‘It will be a fatal blow to Japan… … .’

Although he was the Minister of Finance, he was not an economic expert.

He was just a substitute for the position that was created as a part of the faction, and he had no expertise at all.

I knew it was a crisis, but I didn’t know how to deal with it.

“But, Your Majesty… … .”

The civil servant trails off as if he has something to say.

“What is it, tell me.”

“This is what happened. The US started it, but somehow it feels like Korea is taking the lead.”

“Korea is taking the lead? So it’s not the US but Korea that is leading this?”

The official nods.

“Yes. From our analysis, it started with American hedge funds, but it seems like Korean hedge funds are currently leading the situation. And… … .”

He trails off again.

The finance minister becomes irritated at him for continuing to trail off and urges him on.

“Stop trailing off and speak properly!”

“Oh, sorry. It’s not something else, but the governance structure of the Korean hedge funds that are leading these things right now is complicated, but it seems that the Korean government will eventually come out in the end. So when we analyzed it… … .”

Even if the Minister of Finance was not a layman, by this point he could tell what the official was trying to say.

“The Korean government is leading all of this at the government level? Is that what you mean?”

The official nods again and continues speaking.

“Yes, that’s right. But it seems like the South Korean government’s final target is not the Southeast Asian country it attacked last time.”

“So, this time, the targets are Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore?”

This time he shakes his head from side to side and says.

“No. Based on our analysis, Korea’s ultimate target appears to be Japan and China.”

“You’ve set us as your final target?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The finance minister slams his fist on the desk.

“What on earth did we do wrong that you keep saying this! Recently, even government officials have not visited Yasukuni Shrine at the request of the Korean government!”

“Perhaps, this time, the economic purpose is bigger than that. If Japan and China suffer a big blow, wouldn’t Korea demand something using the loan as an excuse?”

If this is simply because Korean and American hedge funds are a good match, then it would be right to resolve the issue on one’s own.

But if this situation is one in which the Korean government is taking the initiative and the ultimate goal is Japan itself, then the story is different.

This was an economic issue, a diplomatic issue, and a matter of national interest.

I had to meet and talk to the Prime Minister.

“No, that won’t work. I need to meet the Prime Minister first.”

The Minister of Finance hurries to the Prime Minister’s residence.

“Is the Prime Minister in there?”

“Yes. He is here, but he is on the phone right now… … .”

The secretary stopped him for a moment, but the finance minister had no time to worry about such things right now.

This was because if he made a mistake, his political career could be in jeopardy.

The finance minister steps into his office, pushing his secretary aside.

“Prime Minister!”

When the Finance Minister entered the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Hosokawa was on the phone.

He found the finance minister and waved his hand at him, telling him to wait a moment.

The Minister of Finance is forced to wait for a moment.

“Huh, I see… … . Let’s do that.”

And a little later, the Prime Minister’s phone call ends and the Prime Minister speaks to the Finance Minister first.

“Your Excellency, I have something to say. Please sit over here for a moment.”

* * *

It’s been a month since the attack on Hong Kong’s foreign exchange reserves.

Hong Kong is also starting to collapse.

“Do something about it!”

The hastily organized foreign currency special headquarters tried to somehow block the attacks from South Korea and the United States, but was helpless.

As if they knew all about this side’s patterns, the other side continued to attack in a way that was advantageous to them.

But what was scariest of all was their seemingly endless balance.

In particular, the onslaught of supplies coming from Korea was at a level that was simply unmanageable.

“This is too much… …! It seems like they know all our numbers.”

Some people just give up.

Because I thought that any further response would be meaningless.

If other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, had not collapsed, Hong Kong’s economy would not have collapsed due to such a foreign currency attack.

But with Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, collapsing, the aftereffects of the crisis had already reached Hong Kong.

But in the midst of all this, when it was attacked, even Hong Kong couldn’t withstand it.

Hong Kong, the once splendid financial center, was also slowly collapsing.

* * *

Prime Minister Hosokawa.

As this man, who ended Japan’s 50-year long rule, held power for quite some time, Japan was slowly collapsing from its one-party Liberal Democratic Party system.

The reason for Prime Minister Hosokawa’s long term in office was the advice of President Kim Jong-guk.

Thanks to his advice, he was able to foresee the slush fund scandal and deal with it, and thanks to that, he is now in power for quite a long time.

Of course, his long-term rule was not the only reason why a slush fund scandal did not break out.

Improved exports were the biggest reason for his long term in power.

And the biggest reason why exports have had more breathing room compared to the previous government is because the Korean government is providing at least a minimal amount of consideration.

Even during the previous Liberal Democratic Party administration, Korea literally killed off Japanese products by producing competitive products that were of much better quality at lower prices than Japan’s popular export products.

However, since Prime Minister Hosokawa, the Korean government has at least provided some breathing room by leaving about two out of ten.

The reason was clear.

Prime Minister Hosokawa has shown a more forward-looking attitude than previous Japanese prime ministers.

A sincere apology for the Japanese colonial period, no mention of the Dokdo issue, and a ban on government officials visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.

Of course, these events gave the Japanese far right a pretext to attack, but they also gave the Korean government, Korean people, and neighboring countries the belief that Japan had changed.

But Korea, where relations had been improving, suddenly changed.

Korea did not start the foreign exchange crisis that began in Southeast Asia, but it was currently leading the way.

And the tip of the sword was pointed at Japan.

And Prime Minister Hosokawa was not unaware of this crisis either.

So, we tried to somehow prevent the damage from coming to Japan, but as expected, it wasn’t enough.

It is said that Hong Kong is on the verge of national bankruptcy.

If things continued this way, it was clear that this crisis would spread to Japan.

We had to find a way to escape before the crisis hit.

‘Somehow, a way… … .’

I rack my brain, but no solution comes to mind.

The biggest problem is the lack of weapons.

War isn’t just fought with guns and swords.

Rather, real modern warfare is a numbers game.

And to win this war of numbers, we need a weapon: the dollar.

However, Japan had less foreign currency than Korea.

Just 10 years ago, we had more than 10 times as much foreign currency as Korea, but now that exports have been in shambles, things are very different.

Then suddenly a phone call comes directly to the Prime Minister’s office.

‘what?’

Usually, calls to the Prime Minister’s Office come through the Secretariat.

If a direct call like this is received, there is a high probability that it is a foreign leader.

‘no way……?’

Prime Minister Hosokawa hurriedly picks up the phone, just in case.

“Ah, you’re receiving it right away. Prime Minister Hosokawa, it’s been a while. This is Kim Jung-guk.”

Prime Minister Hosokawa greets naturally without being flustered.

“President Kim, how have you been? What brings you here all of a sudden?”

President Kim responds with a smile to Hosokawa’s appearance of pretending not to know.

“Haha. Why are you doing this? Don’t you all know this among yourselves?”

“… … .”

As Prime Minister Hosokawa remained silent for a moment, President Kim continued speaking.

“I heard that Hong Kong will declare national bankruptcy tomorrow. This will have a big impact on Japan as well.”

“…Korea will also be greatly affected.”

“Well, there will definitely be some impact, but I don’t think it will be as severe as Japan.”

Prime Minister Hosokawa can no longer hold back and throws a fastball.

“What do you want? What do you want from Japan?”

“Haha. That’s great. Prime Minister Hosokawa always throws fastballs like this, so I really like it.”

President Kim laughs for a moment, then stops laughing and speaks in a serious voice.

“If this situation spreads to Japan, the aftermath will probably be uncontrollable. This will be even more so now that exports are in shambles. But Korea has no intention of stopping this.”

“Then why on earth did you call me!”

Prime Minister Hosokawa shouts, unable to stand President Kim’s mocking tone.

“If something happens, not only will the Korean government not attack Japan, but if an American hedge fund attacks, we will help defend the Japanese yen. If you want, we can even give you a loan.”

Prime Minister Hosokawa is embarrassed.

It was natural that the person who had pointed a gun at him just a moment ago suddenly put down the gun and handed him a chocolate bar.

“Tell me, what do you want in return?”

President Kim is silent for a moment and then opens his mouth.

“… Korea is trying to create an economic community in Asia this time. Japan, please join us.”