The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 180



Only Krnovel

Episode 180 Best Defense (4)

The campaign for the 16th presidential election was in full swing.

However, the gap in approval ratings was so large that it was widely said that the election was already over.

From May to October, the opposition candidate was ahead by more than 15%.

“Vice Chairman! “The approval rating of the ruling party candidate is rising significantly.”

“Is there even talk of unification negotiations?”

“That’s right. “There are rumors that negotiations are underway to unify the ruling party candidate with candidate Jang, the third-place candidate.”

Candidate Myungjun Jang.

He was a member of the Hyunjae Group and the fifth son of Chairman Jang Young-joo.

He was currently the CEO of Heavy Industries and the president of the Korea Football Association.

“Due to the World Cup, it reached the top of the approval rating, and eventually led to unification negotiations.”

“If unification is successful, no one will be able to predict the outcome of the election. Although the opposition party candidate is said to have a negative public opinion due to the issue of military service for children, he still has a high approval rating.”

“It doesn’t really matter to us who gets elected.”

It would only be relevant if election funding was provided.

Since we did not provide a single penny of campaign funds, there were no candidates in particular to support.

“But wouldn’t it be better for a pro-business opposition party member to be elected?”

“Don’t worry too much. “It is time to separate the political and business worlds.”

“It would be nice if things could go as the Vice Chairman said, but the situation in Korea is still far from that.”

Am I picturing a future that is too rosy?

However, I could not continue to be dragged around by the political world.

So, I wanted to take this opportunity to break the vicious cycle.

Even if the process is difficult and arduous.

***

When Korea was in turmoil due to the presidential election.

The United States was making a stir in the world.

A huge event was about to begin so that David, who was close to the American political world, visited Korea with the latest news.

“The bill justifying the use of force against Iraq has passed the House of Representatives and then the Senate.”

“It’s now been a year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “I think America’s anger still hasn’t subsided.”

“Actually, the justification is a bit lacking, but Iraqi exiles are leaking information that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction, so there is at least a justification.”

The Iraq War is just around the corner.

We had already crossed the river of no return, and there was no way to avoid the Iraq War.

“War will break out sometime next year.”

“There is also talk that there are forces inciting war in Iraq. There is a theory that oil companies are attacking Iraq to secure oil distribution networks, and there is also a story that military companies are supporting the war to sell weapons.”

“I can’t believe such conspiracy theories. The important thing is that wars happen and they have a negative impact on the global economy. Oil prices will react particularly sensitively.”

Iraq is the world’s fifth largest oil producer.

So, if war breaks out, it will have a big impact on oil prices.

“Oil prices are already rising significantly this year.”

“There will be a bigger rise right before war breaks out.”

“SAVE Investment Company has made a large investment in oil prices, so I think we can make quite a big profit.”

Although war is said to have a negative impact on the economy.

It was an undeniable fact that war was profitable.

And since we had already made a lot of money through the Gulf War, we were saving money in a systematic way.

“If war breaks out, it will be good news for Russia.”

“When the price of oil rises, the demand for natural gas tends to increase, and crude oil produced in Russia can be sold at a high price, which is a very good situation for Russia.”

Gazprom, Russia’s largest energy company.

Since I also owned a significant stake, if Gazprom benefited, I also benefited.

Moreover, in the case of crude oil and gas imported into Korea, it was a very good situation for Taewoo Refinery as it could be brought at a stable price.

“The war in Iraq is up to the U.S. government to take care of, and we just have to mind our own business. “When I have time, I also help Dimon.”

“I was already introducing my friends to fintech banks. “These people are quite well-known, so it will have a positive impact on increasing trust and promotional effects of fintech banks.”

“good job. “Even if it is the main bank of Apple and SAVE Investment Company, it will have a lot of difficulties because it is a new bank.”

The growth of fintech banks has been very important.

If it turns out that I am the actual owner of SAVE Investment Company.

After that, I had to take over the work I had been doing at SAVE Investment Company at a fintech bank.

“And then acquired a 35% stake in a fintech bank in a secretive and complex manner. “We used a method that would make it impossible to find a connection between SAVE Investment Company and the boss.”

“It is said that the U.S. government is currently blocking SAVE Investment Company information, but this will not be possible forever.”

We were receiving a lot of help from the Bush administration.

It was help that could be received because it provided the largest amount of election funds and also provided great help in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

However, the president’s term of office was not unlimited.

The moment his term ended, the help he received from the U.S. government could have disappeared.

Of course, the next president may continue to receive help if the person I support is elected.

***

Today again, I visited the hotel conference room to discuss ideas with Cheon Min-jeong.

However, unlike usual, the TV was turned on, and I had to keep turning my eyes towards the TV.

This was because today was the day of the 16th presidential election.

“Vice President, shall we proceed with the meeting after reviewing the election vote count?”

“We don’t need to check the entire vote count situation, let’s just look at the exit poll results and resume the meeting.”

In the case of the presidential election, the exit poll hit rate was close to 100%.

That’s why the exit poll results were so important, so I stopped the idea meeting and stood in front of the TV.

The countdown began, and the three broadcasting companies simultaneously released the exit poll results.

“In all three broadcasting companies, the ruling party candidate had a 2-3% advantage.”

“As expected, the president comes from the ruling party.”

It was a presidential election result that was completely unchanged from history.

This was partly because I did not actively intervene, and partly because the trend of the times produced the same result.

“Let’s start the meeting again.”

“The gap is only 2%. “The vote counting results may not change, do you mind?”

“There may be twists and turns depending on the time of vote counting, but the results will not change.”

I turned off the TV and sat down in a chair.

Cheon Min-jeong, who is not very interested in politics, immediately sat down on a chair.

“I have some good news.”

“Is there really any progress in the development of artificial intelligence?”

“We succeeded in developing early-type artificial intelligence. However, this does not mean that it is an artificial intelligence with tremendous capabilities, and at best it can only input through voice recognition and use simple functions.”

How can this be all?

Just being able to input commands by voice was a huge achievement.

“What is the voice recognition error rate?”

“In the case of English, it is over 90%, and in Korean, it is over 80%. “On average, it’s over 75%.”

“What functions can I use through voice recognition?”

“Basic functions such as setting an alarm are possible, and you can make a call or send a simple message to the name registered in the phone book.”

Clap clap!

I stood up and clapped.

Very enthusiastically, as if applauding the presidential candidate who won according to the exit poll results.

“It’s definitely not a skill that deserves that much praise. It’s just a baby step now. “It’s not enough to even call it weak artificial intelligence.”

“It’s great enough. “It’s perfect for applying to smartphones.”

“It was not equipped with deep learning technology, nor did it have access to generative artificial intelligence technology.”

Of course, deep learning technology and generative artificial intelligence were also important.

But right now, we need a version of artificial intelligence that can be used on smartphones.

Professor Hinton’s team and Cheon Min-jeong created the technology together.

“Is it possible to apply it to smartphones right now?”

“The project experiment itself was conducted using an iPhone. “The voice recognition device was the iPhone’s microphone, and the function was also tested using functions built into the iPhone.”

“That means it can be mounted right now.”

“There may be some problems with the current iPhone, but the next version of the iPhone will run without problems.”

It is now possible to introduce innovative technology to the iPhone again.

Of course, Apple would have introduced artificial intelligence technology even if I had not intervened, but because of me, the introduction period was brought forward by several years.

Of course, it wasn’t free.

In return, I acquired a huge stake.

Apple had to hand over a large amount of money as royalties to Taewo Group.

“But do you still have any plans to go to America? “I thought video conferencing would have its limits if I wanted to participate in more advanced technological development.”

“Vice Chairman, are you going to America too?”

“You can go on a short-term business trip to the U.S., but you have to stay in Korea as long as the Taewoo Group is in Korea.”

“Then I also want to stay in Korea. “How about bringing Professor Hinton’s project team to Korea?”

It wasn’t a bad idea.

If we could prevent technology leakage and take care of it more closely, we could have accelerated the results.

However, the problem was that many researchers avoided Korea.

If Korea were only in North America, we wouldn’t have to worry about this, but Korea and the United States were too far away.

“It’s hard right now. However, it may only be possible if researchers make themselves want to come to Korea.”

“Is there a way to do that?”

“I still have a plan in mind. “It is also necessary for nurturing engineering talent.”

“Training talent? Do you really want to start a university? “Isn’t there already a university sponsored by Taewoo Group?”

My grandfather was quite interested in education.

Therefore, he almost took over a university located in Suwon.

But it wasn’t enough to meet my expectations.

In Korea, people with good brains apply to medical schools, not engineering schools.

Even if they entered Seoul National University, there were many cases where they reapplied and went to medical school.

“We are planning to attract a very famous engineering school to Korea. If we do that, we can train talented people and provide professorships to the project team, so isn’t it killing two birds with one stone?”

“I don’t know. But if we can bring Professor Hinton to Korea, I’m all for it!”

“We need to attract an engineering school that is so famous that Professor Hinton is impressed.”

There was one university I already had in mind.

It is a world-renowned engineering university, and it would not be wrong to say that all major positions in IT companies are held by graduates from that university.

“We will host the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus in Korea.”

“IIT in Korea? Professor Hinton’s project team also has many engineers from IIT.”

ITT hosted in Korea.

It was also a great opportunity for Taewoo Group to absorb engineers from ITT who were leaving for Silicon Valley.