The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 335



Only Krnovel

335. Prelude to victory (4)

Governor Choi Jae-seok’s press conference has ended.

Even though it was a sudden press conference, it was a press conference hall where many reporters gathered.

This showed how much attention the National Economy Party, which led to victory in this local election, was receiving.

It was not a press conference that simply garnered attention.

Governor Choi Jae-seok called for the evacuation of Japanese residents with such sincerity that a president who was watching the press conference with me was impressed.

“Governor Choi Jae-seok is definitely a person. He has an appeal that moves people’s hearts. He has already ranked first in popular search terms on portal sites. The response on social media is also very enthusiastic.”

“Just because the response is hot doesn’t mean it’s always good. The more the topic has sharply divided opinions on the pros and cons, the hotter the response is bound to be.”

“Half of the public opinion agrees with Governor Choi Jae-seok’s opinion, and half say he is overreacting. In the case of polarized supporters of the two major parties, they are pouring out harsh words.”

It was a press conference where Governor Choi Jae-seok’s political career depended.

Because he had never been at the center of an issue like this before, the reaction was even more intense.

“Now that Governor Choi Jae-seok has started, it is Taewo Group’s turn to take over the baton.”

“Do you really intend to come to the press conference yourself, Chairman? Wouldn’t it be better for me or the Vice Chairman to come forward? Public criticism may be focused on the Chairman.”

“Wouldn’t it have a bigger impact if I come forward myself? The bigger the impact, the stronger the immunity we will receive.”

“It would be true if another earthquake occurred, but if it did not occur, confidence would drop significantly.”

There was no loss of trust.

Because we already knew that a bigger earthquake would occur three days later.

“Isn’t it time for the reporters to arrive?”

“It is said that reporters from Yeouido have begun to arrive. We can hold a press conference in about 10 minutes.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to go down now.”

After some preparation, I went down to the press conference room.

Meanwhile, reporters were filling the lobby of the headquarters, and after checking my appearance one last time, I went up to the podium.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Min-jae, Chairman of Taewo Group.”

I bowed my head and said hello briefly.

It had been a long time since I held a press conference under my name, so the reporters were constantly pressing their camera shutters, and my every word would be broadcast on the Internet in the form of breaking news.

“The purpose of this press conference is related to the earthquake in Japan. Taewo Group has built an artificial intelligence system to predict natural disasters. This is an artificial intelligence system created by experts from Taewo Engineering & Construction, Taewo IT, and IIT. ”

A story about an artificial intelligence system that was suddenly brought out.

The reporters’ reaction seemed to cool down a bit, perhaps because they thought the purpose of this press conference was to promote the artificial intelligence system.

However, the reporters’ reaction will change 180 degrees in the following words.

“According to the artificial intelligence system for predicting natural disasters, there is a very high possibility that a large-scale earthquake will occur in Japan. If an earthquake of up to magnitude 9 occurs, Japan will suffer enormous damage. Therefore, we must evacuate Japanese residents immediately.”

Chairman of Taewo Group.

The chairman of the No. 1 Korean business group spoke confidently about a major earthquake in Japan.

So what will the reporters’ reaction be? Reporters were already raising their hands and trying to ask questions, and the typing speed of reporters tapping away at their laptops was several times faster.

“Taewoo Group has secured transportation such as airplanes and large buses at the headquarters level, and will help Korean residents move from now on. So, we ask for the cooperation of the Japanese government and companies. We have declared a temporary holiday for the safety of Korean residents. Please give it to me.”

It was nonsense.

The president of a company asking the Japanese government to declare a temporary holiday was an act of words and actions that went beyond overstepping his authority.

But I didn’t stop there and went one step further.

“Even if the Japanese government or companies do not declare a holiday, all Korean residents are requested to evacuate unconditionally. If Taewu Group’s prediction is wrong, Taewu Group will take full responsibility.”

Taewo Group takes full responsibility.

In a small way, it could mean taking responsibility for vacation costs, and in a big way, it could mean that if you are fired from the company, you will be compensated accordingly.

The number of Koreans living in northeastern Japan is at least 12,000.

If all of them are responsible, at least tens of billions of won in funds will be used.

The reporters also had an intuition that Taewo Group would suffer damages worth tens of billions of won just because of the words I uttered.

“Finally, let me say this again, Taewo Group predicts that a major earthquake will occur in Japan, and we will support the evacuation of Japanese residents and citizens.”

What I wanted to say is over.

Now it’s time for questions and answers with reporters.

Almost all the reporters raised their hands at the same time to speak, so I singled out one reporter sitting in the front row.

“This is Reporter Yoo Dong-su of the Chokuk Ilbo. Not only the Japanese government, but also meteorological agencies around the world have not yet made a forecast that a large-scale earthquake will occur in Japan. Do you think Taewoo Group’s artificial intelligence system is better than the systems of all the world’s meteorological agencies? ?”

“I believe that Taewoo Group’s artificial intelligence is superior to any other system and is more reliable. And this is a conclusion that was drawn by combining the opinions of many experts belonging to Taewoo Group as well as artificial intelligence.”

As he answered, he pointed to the next reporter.

The reporter slightly raised his glasses and asked a sharp question.

“Immediately after the press conference, Governor Choi Jae-seok of the National Economy Party held a press conference at the Taewo Group. Circumstances make it impossible to suspect that he had aligned himself with the National Economy Party in advance. Please tell us about the relationship between the Taewo Group and the National Economy Party.”

“We did not make any separate contact. Governor Choi Jae-seok of the National Economy Party held a press conference first, so I was able to go to the press conference with confidence.”

How many people will believe me?

Even so, I couldn’t reveal my relationship with the National Economy Party, so I had no choice but to gloss over it.

“I am curious as to why Taewoo Group is so interested in the Japanese earthquake. The structure is such that Taewoo Group suffers losses unilaterally. A backlash from Taewoo Group shareholders is expected, and this incident may cause owner risk.”

“I didn’t want to come forward, but I came forward because the incident was too big to remain silent. I also know that this is putting a lot of burden on the Taewo Group. So, I will take full responsibility for this incident.”

“If something different from Taewoo Group’s predictions happens, would you consider resigning from your position as chairman?”

“If I can take responsibility by resigning from the position of chairman, I will do so.”

It was the last question and answer.

The reporters were still raising their hands, but I bowed my head and came down from the stage.

But no reporters objected.

These were reporters buried in their laptops to transmit scoops as quickly as possible.

* * *

After the press conference, I went up to the president’s office.

In the meantime, a president summarized various reactions.

“The response is more enthusiastic than Governor Choi Jae-seok’s press conference.”

“There will be more negative reactions.”

“I guess that’s true. Most of the responses are that Taewu Group has taken risks due to the young owner. And there are quite a few responses asking why Taewu Group cares about what the government should do.”

It was the reaction I expected.

In Korea, the atmosphere was one that did not particularly like corporate owners stepping forward.

In the case of the United States, there were cases where business owners deliberately created issues, but Korea still favored stable and conservative business owners.

“There is no need to worry about the reaction. Rather, have you sent the data we have to the Japanese and American governments?”

“I sent it, but there was no response. In particular, the Japanese government didn’t even read it.”

There was not much contact with the Japanese government.

So there was no way they would be happy about us stepping forward so suddenly, and we might have felt ignored.

It didn’t really matter how the Japanese government reacted.

Because it was just something done to gain forgiveness.

“Is there no response from the U.S. government?”

“There was some response. We received requests for additional information from White House officials. We also received inquiries about the artificial intelligence system.”

Taewo IT and Cheon Min-jeong have prepared a lot of materials for today.

We created plausible data to show that the earthquake was predicted through artificial intelligence and algorithms.

“Please send us the relevant materials. And please cooperate as much as possible with the American media.”

“An article related to Governor Choi Jae-seok and Chairman Choi Jae-seok has already been released as breaking news on a major American broadcasting station. It will probably be the main news today.”

“It’s been a while since I’ll be appearing on American TV.”

“Wouldn’t your face appear on the news not only in the United States but around the world?”

It seems noisy not only at Korean airports but also at foreign airports.

I didn’t really want to be famous, but I had no choice but to sell my face in order to carry out this project.

“President Han, just focus on the project now. I and the planning office will handle the rest.”

“I’m planning to go to Tokyo in person soon and take care of the situation.”

“I am in Korea this week, and if a situation arises, it is not too late to move to Japan.”

It was too risky to send President Han to Japan now.

Although the Tokyo area is said to be relatively safe, we had to remain in Korea because we didn’t know what could happen.

“We will do that. And we are using Taewoo and rockets to secure as much relief supplies as possible. We have also signed a contract with Amazon for supplies.”

“The planning office will take care of the relief supplies from now on, so President Han just looks at the money.”

“It’s okay because I still have some spare time.”

“It’s going to get busy soon, so prepare in advance.”

It wasn’t just something I said.

There are only 48 hours left until the earthquake occurs.

At that time, President Han would have to be busier than anyone else.

* * *

March 11th came.

Only two days had passed, but public criticism grew stronger day by day.

“An official letter has been sent from the government. It contains a message to refrain from inciting chaos, and also contains a warning that this incident will not be ignored.”

“The government will feel like we are worthless.”

“There is a tendency to move the National Tax Service as soon as today. The Blue House is also blatantly putting pressure on the government to cancel its remarks at the press conference.”

Because the government was exerting strong pressure, the Planning Director’s voice had no strength.

But instead of offering an alternative, I just kept my eyes on the clock.

Perhaps it was frustrating to see me like that, but the head of the planning department spoke to me.

“Do you have an appointment I don’t know about?”

“I just want to look at my watch.”

When I was looking at the clock like that for a long time.

My cell phone and office phone started ringing at the same time.

I could intuit it. This moment is when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred.