The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 341



Only Krnovel

341. Be silent (5)

The by-election has begun.

If it were a normal by-election, it would pass without much attention.

This by-election became an election that received national attention as not only the two major parties but also the National Economy Party campaigned in large-scale support.

“The voter turnout for this by-election is much higher than expected. As of 11 a.m., the voter turnout exceeded 20%, and the final voter turnout is expected to be close to 50%.”

“In the last local election, the voter turnout in Seoul was around 54%, right? It’s definitely quite high for a by-election.”

Local elections and National Assembly elections are held on statutory holidays.

However, since the by-election was not a public holiday and this by-election was held on a Wednesday, voter turnout was expected to be low.

However, contrary to expectations, voter turnout was high.

Which political party would benefit from high voter turnout was an area of ​​interpretation.

“According to expert analysis, it is expected that there will be a close race between the pan-opposition candidate and the National Economy Party candidate. In particular, the pan-opposition candidate has greatly raised his profile at once thanks to his unification of issues.”

“The ruling party is responsible for this by-election, so it is an election at a disadvantage for the ruling party.”

“Some people even said that the Seoul mayoral candidate should not be nominated, but the ruling party did not back down and submitted a candidate.”

If you were planning to back down, you wouldn’t have planned a DDoS attack.

It was the ruling party that chose a DDoS attack as a way to overturn this election, in which they were at a disadvantage.

“Are there any other issues?”

“They say the National Election Commission website has been paralyzed. They say traffic has suddenly increased and access to the site itself is impossible.”

“The ruling party has finally moved.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying that the ruling party paralyzed the National Election Commission website? No matter how urgent it is, would they do something like that?”

The planning director was excluded from the DDoS attack-related operation.

Therefore, the planning director knew nothing, and I presented the evidence I had collected to the planning director.

“Once the votes are counted, distribute them to each media outlet. There is even video evidence, so the media will report it extensively.”

“······How could you do something like this? But did you, Chairman, anticipate that the ruling party would do something like this?”

“As I was researching to shake off the dust, I found that there was more dust than I expected. Until the next presidential election, please continue to fan the flames so that the frame that the ruling party is a dastardly place that carried out a DDoS attack continues.”

“If there is this much solid evidence, I think the media will spread it on their own without us having to fan the flames. Still, we will use social media and portals to raise the issue as much as possible.”

DDoS attacks continued.

The DDoS attack could have been prevented by using Taewo Group’s computer team, but there was no need to do so.

The reason for the ruling party’s DDoS attack was to attack the opposition party.

There was no reason for us to step forward when a DDoS attack could erode the opposition party’s votes even a little.

“This voting will be held until 8 o’clock, right? There is still a long time left before the counting begins. In the meantime, let’s receive reports from affiliates.”

“Currently, due to the great earthquake in Japan and the financial crisis in Southern Europe, the sales of our affiliates have decreased slightly.”

I turned off the TV and focused on work.

They were making a lot of money due to the European financial crisis, but it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Ultimately, the global economic crisis led to a decline in sales of export-focused companies.

“Which affiliates have seen the greatest decline?”

“The sales of Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo-Kai Motors in the European market are decreasing. However, overall sales have not decreased significantly due to increased sales in the Chinese and American markets.”

This trend was set to continue for the time being.

It was a cycle in which sales were high in the fast-growing Chinese market, although the European market was slowing down.

“It is fortunate that sales in the Chinese market are increasing, but that will not happen forever. China will eventually push its own companies’ products. Sales in the Chinese market will decrease significantly within the next 10 years.”

“At the level of the Chinese government, we are gradually detecting an atmosphere of trying to promote domestic company products ranging from home appliances and mobile phones to automobiles and semiconductors.”

Nowadays, China is an attractive market.

And for the next three years, it will still be a market with high sales.

However, since the days when Korea and China will become distant are not far away, we had to prepare now.

“We must continue to develop new markets. We must advance into the Southeast Asian and Indian markets, including Vietnam, in advance, but we can replace the Chinese market.”

“I will do so. However, Taewo Semiconductor is generating very high sales. In particular, semiconductor consumption has increased significantly due to the increase in electric vehicle sales.”

In the case of semiconductors, there was no concern for the time being.

As the electric vehicle market share increases, automotive semiconductor sales will increase.

In addition, as the number of smartphone users continued to increase, semiconductor sales were destined to show an upward curve.

“The problem is Taewoo Construction. This year, the number of orders has decreased even further. We hear news of small and medium-sized construction companies going bankrupt every month.”

“It’s time to take out the post-sale card.”

“Are you really planning to start post-sale of apartments? Currently, real estate prices are continuing to fall, and this trend is expected to continue for at least five years.”

These days, the phrase “real estate invincibility” has become commonplace.

This was because construction companies were having trouble getting rid of unsold apartments.

“It looks like the real estate market is difficult.”

“There are rumors that apartment pre-sale rights may soon be sold through home shopping.”

“How many years does it take to build an apartment?”

“If it’s as short as 3 years, it could take 4 to 5 years if it’s longer.”

“Then what’s the problem? You said the recession will last about 5 years. So if you start construction now, won’t it be completed after the recession ends?”

It didn’t matter if it was completed during the recession.

First, all we had to do was buy the pre-sale rights and then resell them after the recession ended.

Plus, if there was a boom, you could even make a profit, so there was nothing bad about it.

“No one can guarantee whether the real estate recession will last 5 or 10 years.”

“It doesn’t matter if it lasts 10 years. With the money coming from Japan and Europe, we can survive not just 10 years, but even 100 years. I hear news from the CEO once in a while, right?”

“I manage all of Taewoo Group’s assets, so I am in frequent contact with him. I heard that he is making quite high profits, but I have not heard exactly how much he has made.”

He was the head of the planning department, a position where he had to know everything about Taewo Group.

However, since there were many projects that were carried out without him, he lacked information.

I felt sorry and gave him a detailed explanation.

“You can make a profit of at least $100 billion by investing in Japan and Europe. Even after repaying the principal and interest, you can still make a profit.”

“If you say 100 billion dollars, that’s over 130 trillion won. Is one boss really making that much profit?”

It was the planning director who couldn’t keep his mouth shut in shock.

That’s right, Taewoo Group’s annual sales were $200 billion.

Looking at operating profit alone, Taewo Group earned about $30 billion a year.

However, it was strange that I was not surprised when I heard that Taewoo Securities was earning three times the annual operating profit of Taewoo Group in just a few months.

“Thanks to our good preparation, we were able to make such a profit. How can we proceed with post-sale with $100 billion?”

“It is enough and there is more. Originally, we were going to build apartments only in the metropolitan area. We can expand the scale of construction not only in the metropolitan area but also in metropolitan cities!”

The planning director’s voice became even louder.

The head of the planning department was very excited because he had a solid source of funds and could do whatever he wanted.

“Increase the scale as much as possible and start construction of post-sale apartments. If sales are not completed even after completion, you can use them as employee dormitories, or the company can provide interest-free loans to encourage employees to purchase apartments. Of course, the only thing to worry about right now is “No, it’s not.”

“We will plan the post-sale plan from the beginning. We will also plan a way to release the DDoS evidence provided by the Chairman to the media.”

He was the head of the planning department who quickly moved his feet and disappeared.

Even though there was more work to do, I realized that the head of the planning department was also one of those people who was addicted to work.

* * *

It was 9 PM.

It’s only been an hour since the by-election counting began, but the outlines are already starting to emerge.

“Only in the 3 districts of Gangnam and Yongsan-gu are the ruling party candidates ranked first, and in the remaining regions, the National Economy Party and pan-opposition candidates are fiercely fighting for first place.”

“Gangnam’s 3 districts are the ruling party’s stronghold, so it will be difficult to win there.”

“The National Economy Party is ahead in about 20 constituencies, and pan-opposition candidates are also ranked first in about 20 constituencies.”

The gap between 1st and 2nd place was about 1%.

There was no need to worry too much as there was a gap of more than 5% with the ruling party candidate who was in third place.

“What was the final voter turnout?”

“51% was higher than expected, perhaps because many office workers voted after work. This is a voter turnout that is not much different compared to local elections.”

There was a big difference from the by-election that took place before the return.

I don’t remember exactly, but it was a by-election with a voter turnout of less than 50%.

This meant that voter turnout increased by at least 2-3%, and if the votes went to the National Economy Party, it was a very likely election.

“Because it is a by-election, the vote counting will be over quickly. Let’s wait and see.”

“Please rest for a moment. I will contact you when I have a complete outline.”

“Let’s lie down on the chair and rest for a while.”

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes.

The planning director put a warm wet towel on my eyes, and I was able to take a nap for a while.

How many hours have passed?

When the planning director came back, the eye fatigue had disappeared.

“What time is it?”

“It’s 4 a.m. The by-election has finally been outlined. The National Economy Party has been confirmed to be elected mayor of Seoul by a 2% margin!”

I quickly turned on the TV.

I paid close attention to the vote counting broadcasts being conducted by each broadcasting station.

The graph fluctuated over time, and now the gap has gradually widened, securing victory for the National Economy Party.

“1st place 36%, 2nd place 34%, 3rd place 29%. It’s a really competitive result.”

“The National Economy Party candidate received a large number of votes in constituencies excluding constituencies that the large ruling party uses as its stronghold.”

“We risked our lives to evacuate Korean citizens from Japan, but we won by only 2%.”

“Honestly, I cannot guarantee whether the National Economy Party will win again in the next election. Its roots are not as deep as the two major parties, so it is not surprising if it falters at any time.”

“Once the center is established, roots will take root quickly.”

The roots of the political party were ultimately presidential candidates.

This was a problem that could be solved if Governor Choi Jae-seok became president.

Choi Jae-seok, who has been silent for a very long time.

Now is the time to break the long silence.