The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 334



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334. Prelude to victory (3)

March 2011.

Three months have already passed into the new year.

Looking down from the window, people’s clothes had become lighter, and the number of people moving around had increased significantly.

When I was looking out the window for a while.

My cell phone and office phone rang at the same time.

President Han and the head of the planning department rushed into the chairman’s office at the same time.

“Chairman! A large-scale earthquake has occurred in Japan. The magnitude was 7.3, and a tsunami warning has been activated.”

“What is the extent of the damage?”

“According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there will be no significant damage because the earthquake occurred in the sea.”

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 was quite strong.

That’s why President Han and the head of the planning department made a fuss, but this earthquake was only an advance.

This earthquake was a forerunner phenomenon that occurred before the main earthquake, a strong earthquake, occurred, and a major earthquake exceeding magnitude 9 will occur in a few days.

“Please bring back all employees of Taewo Group who are on a business trip to Japan. Make sure they return today.”

“It is very difficult to make flight reservations due to the aftermath of the earthquake.”

“Then, rent a private plane and bring them back. And bring all of the employees’ families and relatives to Korea.”

I had no ability to stop the earthquake.

However, I planned to do my best to reduce the damage to the best of my ability.

“Isn’t the earthquake already over? Is there any reason to bring employees back to Korea?”

“Aftershocks may occur. So, it is enough to watch in Korea for at least a month and then send it back to Japan.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? It costs quite a bit.”

The planning director spoke in a voice filled with concern.

He thought I was overreacting, and it was a natural reaction to not knowing the future.

“Safety must be the top priority. No matter how much it costs, we are no more important than Taewoo Group’s employees.”

“Okay. Then, through consultation with the airline, we will request additional aircraft. And, if necessary, we will contract for a large number of private jets so that all employees and their families can return to Korea by today.”

It could cost as little as hundreds of millions of won or as much as tens of billions of won.

However, there was no need to refuse because it was something that could be solved with money.

Money was something that needed to be earned again, and it was a very small amount compared to the money Taewoo Group would make from the recent earthquake in Japan.

“How is the Korean government doing?”

“Because it ended only with a tsunami warning, there is no sign of any other movement. The level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is at the level of investigating the affected Korean residents.”

“I need to meet Governor Choi Jae-seok. Please make an appointment right now.”

“Let’s make an appointment right now.”

“It’s urgent, so you need to make an appointment as soon as possible. Be sure to tell Governor Choi Jae-seok that it’s urgent as well.”

“All right!”

The planning director runs out.

Only when he completely disappeared from sight did the CEO carefully speak out.

“Do you think Japan’s economic crisis began with this earthquake?”

“How could I have predicted that there would be an earthquake? I thought it was a bomb that would explode when a small fire ignites, but I had no idea that an earthquake would play that role.”

Even if I knew, I couldn’t say I knew.

Because earthquakes were an area that could not be predicted by human power.

“I have to say this, but I don’t think the Japanese economy will be hit hard by the aftermath of this earthquake. Since the damage was so minimal, I think it will only result in a very small decline in the yen.”

“If aftershocks occur, there will be a major crisis in the Japanese economy. So start short selling now.”

Everyone was relieved that the earthquake was over.

Now was the right time, it was time to start short selling and targeting the yen.

“We will start a short selling project targeting manufacturing companies right now.”

“Buy all the yen with the remaining money.”

“Do you think the yen will rise? If a big event occurs, won’t the value of the currency fall?”

“The yen used to rise every time there was a crisis. Remember that when the Kansai earthquake occurred in 1995, the yen exchange rate rose by more than 15% in six months.”

President Han nodded.

Then, his expression suddenly hardened and he sighed.

“Whew, but are you okay? If there really is a big aftershock and the Japanese economy stumbles, we’ll make a lot of money…”

“You might get criticized for making money from something tragic.”

“Even if we put Quantum Fund at the forefront, it seems likely that there will be a lot of criticism. And in the case of Japanese projects, Quantum Fund barely participates.”

In the end, it was an equivalent exchange.

Because it was an exchange of criticism and money.

However, it was possible to minimize criticism if one had money.

“At the Taewoo Group level, prepare to send a huge amount of relief supplies and manpower to Japan. If you provide more support than the Japanese government, you can minimize criticism.”

“What do you think about the size of the relief supplies?”

“If we spend at least 100 billion won, won’t the media recognize our sincerity?”

Spending 100 billion won was not a waste at all.

This is because we were able to make tens of trillions of dollars in profit.

“It’s not difficult to prepare, but if an aftershock doesn’t occur, the supplies you prepare will end up in waste.”

“If that happens, you can just donate to UNICEF. You can spend more than 100 billion won, so gather a huge amount of relief supplies. Move right now.”

“I understand. By using Taewang and Rocket’s distribution network, we can collect relief supplies worth tens of billions of won even today.”

Various items were stored in Rocket’s logistics center.

By using the thousands of companies that signed contracts with Taewo Trading Company, we were able to secure a huge amount of volume in a short period of time.

And with Amazon’s help, securing the necessary supplies was no problem.

* * *

An hour later.

I was able to meet with Governor Choi Jae-seok at the annex of Captain Kang’s Korean restaurant.

For security reasons, we always only met in Gyeonggi Province, but this time we were in such a hurry that we had to use Captain Kang’s restaurant as the meeting place.

“I’m sorry for suddenly requesting a meeting.”

“No. If it’s Chairman Kim’s request, you should get up and come out even if you’re sleeping. But what’s going on? I was quite surprised when he asked me to meet him in Seoul, not even in Gyeonggi Province.”

It was Governor Choi Jae-seok who sensed that the atmosphere was unusual.

I also skipped the conversation asking how I was doing and got straight to the point.

“An earthquake occurred in Japan.”

“I heard that news too. It was a magnitude 7 earthquake, but it occurred in the sea so there was no major damage. Isn’t that really fortunate?”

“There was no damage in this earthquake, but earthquakes often don’t just happen once.”

“They say aftershocks do occur, but they are weaker than the main shock, so they don’t cause any major problems.”

Governor Choi Jae-seok was not simply a governor.

Since he was the de facto leader of the National Economy Party, he had a think tank organization that he personally led, and he was able to hear real-time advice on events occurring not only in Korea but also around the world.

The same was true in the case of the Japanese earthquake.

I knew in detail about the scale and damage of this Japanese earthquake.

“It is fortunate that this earthquake is a main quake, but it could also be a foreshock. Taewo Group’s experts and artificial intelligence system predict that a stronger main quake may come.”

“Are you saying that stronger earthquakes are predicted to occur?”

“Yes, of course it is not very likely, but it is more than 20%.”

Artificial intelligence was used as an excuse.

It was a possible excuse because Taewo Group was known to have the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence system.

“Hmm, 20% is a figure that cannot be ignored.”

“We ask that the National Economic Party take an active role. Please evacuate Japanese residents to Korea.”

“The National Economy Party is not the ruling party and cannot move the Korean government. The only thing the National Economy Party can do is to make a comment or hold a press conference to make its voice heard.”

“Just do that. Taewoo Group will handle the rest. We will move Japanese residents to Korea or to the relatively safe western part of Japan.”

Governor Choi Jae-seok’s forehead was wrinkled.

In the case of the evacuation order for Korean residents, it was not something that the opposition party would do, and it could have been a major political blow if the main attack was not made.

But on the other hand, it was also an opportunity.

It was like succeeding in something that not only the government but the two major parties could not do.

It was a golden opportunity to increase Governor Choi Jae-seok’s awareness and popularity several times higher than it is now.

“This is difficult. Can you give us more time?”

“We don’t know when another outbreak will occur. We must make a decision now. If the National Economy Party does not step forward, Taewoo Group will have to act arbitrarily. If that happens, it will be difficult to get the cooperation of Korean residents in Japan.”

In the end, corporations were nothing more than interest groups.

In order to move the hearts of Korean residents, help from the political world was needed, and in the case of the National Economy Party in particular, it was able to have a greater effect because it was a highly favorable party.

“It could be a decision I have to make for my political career.”

“Even if another earthquake doesn’t occur, it will end with a few curse words.”

“I think I can maintain my position as governor of Gyeonggi Province.”

Although he can maintain his position as governor.

It may have meant giving up his dream of becoming president.

Because there were no voters who would choose a leader who made absurd judgments as president.

“This could be a watershed moment. As things stand now, there is no justification or popularity to run for president, right?”

“Hehe, you’re forcing me to take a gamble. That’s good. There’s never been a case where I didn’t follow Chairman Kim’s words, so I’ll trust Chairman Kim and proceed this time too.”

Governor Choi Jae-seok made up his mind.

The reason he was moved was because he wanted to run for president.

This was because if another earthquake occurred, Japanese residents could suffer great damage.

“Please hold a press conference right now. Taewoo Group will prepare flights and large buses to transport Japanese residents within today.”

“At the party level, we will put our lives at stake in this matter.”

Governor Choi Jae-seok stood up first.

unstoppable steps

It was a step full of meaning that a political decision had been made.

I also returned to work without hesitation.

While meeting with Governor Choi Jae-seok, the planning director had done a lot of work.

“With the help of Hyunjin Group, we were able to prepare a large number of flights. Of course, all airfares were covered by Taewoo Group. We also signed a contract with a large transportation company in Japan to use over 100 buses for 5 days. A contract was signed.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Now all that remains is to issue a statement at the Taewoo Group level.”

“Are you planning on holding a press conference?”

“As soon as Governor Choi Jae-seok finishes his press conference, please prepare for us to hold a press conference as well. I will personally attend the press conference.”

A kind of preliminary work.

It was a press conference to gain immunity, and it was a process that had to be done in order to make money from this incident.