The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 458



Only Krnovel

458. Huge Capital (3)

The next day.

I went to work at the financial tower, pressing my temples.

A vice chairman who knew that I had spent a long time at the Blue House yesterday brought me honey water.

“Did you have a good conversation with the Blue House?”

“Whew, something happened that I don’t know whether to like or hate.”

“What’s going on?”

“They say they will entrust part of the national pension to a financial tower.”

“Is that possible? I have never seen a case where a pension fund was entrusted to a general financial institution.”

“Was it because there was a case that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund entrusted us with money?”

The National Pension Fund was subject to many restrictions.

And the National Pension Service is also a preferred workplace for Korea’s financial elite.

That is why we were able to manage funds exceeding 550 trillion won and achieve returns exceeding 4%.

“Wouldn’t there be a backlash from the National Pension Fund? The National Pension Fund is a place where there is a very high sense of belonging and a very high sense of pride in being elite.”

“That’s why we wouldn’t have entrusted our national pension to a financial tower until now. But with the emergence of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, an opportunity arose.”

Even if he was the president, he could not do whatever he wanted with the national pension.

The National Pension Service was literally at the center of South Korea’s welfare system, so if it made even the slightest mistake, it was bound to receive a barrage of criticism.

“Thanks to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, we can now entrust part of our national pension to a financial tower.”

“The best way is to reform the national pension system, but will the political circles agree on that? So, the second best option is to increase the rate of return on the national pension fund.”

“However, it seems that there will be a strong backlash from the political world.”

“You could see it as a gamble on whether the president will be re-elected.”

Re-election was possible starting with President Choi Jae-seok.

Because he had a solid approval rating, he had a high chance of being re-elected even if he just sat still.

Nevertheless, it was President Choi Jae-seok who took a gamble called the national pension, and the situation was created where his re-election depended on the financial tower.

“It could be problematic to say that it is promoting a specific company.”

“Don’t you know that it’s the Blue House? They knew it, but they made this choice to prevent the depletion of the national pension.”

“There will also be local elections next year. These elections can also be seen as a midterm evaluation of the president.”

“If the People’s Economy Party fails to achieve a rate of return that satisfies the people before the local elections, it could end up being a crushing defeat for the party.”

South Korea grants imperial powers to its president.

But that doesn’t mean you can do everything you want.

If the government adopts a policy that offends the people, the people can judge it through the votes.

“I feel very heavy-hearted when I think that even the local elections and the re-election of the president are in our hands. How much exactly is the amount of money that the national pension will hand over to us?”

“The Blue House wants half, but that’s not very likely. I think it will be around 100 trillion won.”

“It means that we are entrusted with about 20% of the national pension. It may be a bit excessive, but it means that we are now responsible for the future of the Republic of Korea.”

Victory or defeat in the election had little to do with the future of the Republic of Korea.

However, if the national pension fund is depleted due to investment mistakes, the future of the Republic of Korea will be dark.

“So, we need to move in a direction that will maximize our profits in the short term.”

“Because the scale is so large, it is difficult to make a profit in the short term.”

“Let’s start with investing in the gaming industry first.”

“It’s too risky to invest in the game industry at this point. It might be possible if it were a top game company, but the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has already acquired MC Soft’s stake.”

In order to fight a long-term war, we had to show short-term results first.

To do that, I had to use one of my precious cards for my national pension.

I’m talking about the game called Black Hole’s Battle Arena, which broke the record for the most concurrent users on a gaming platform in Korean gaming history.

“Once the National Pension Fund comes in, start by acquiring Black Hole shares.”

“If it’s Black Hole, isn’t it a game company that broke off from MC Soft? I understand it’s a company with a market cap of less than 1 trillion.”

“We are launching a new game this time. I heard that they brought in famous overseas game developers to develop the game. I am sure it will be a success.”

“Since the chairman says so, I will definitely succeed. As soon as the National Pension Service money comes in, I will acquire as much of Black Hole’s stock as possible.”

It was a stock that could increase business by at least 10 times.

And as it is a game that will enjoy explosive popularity worldwide, the topic of conversation was also very high.

It was a card enough to instill confidence in the people and the political world, and long-term investment was possible thereafter.

“Invest the remaining amount in bonds or oil that can generate stable returns and wait. If you just hold out until the end of the year, many good investment opportunities will appear.”

“It’s a little sad that we have to share the pie we eat, but it’s a national job, so we’ll do our best.”

We did not run the National Pension Fund for free.

We decided to charge a certain amount of commission, but in reality, the commission was not a large amount from our perspective.

Because we made more than enough money to cover the profit.

But in the long run, it wasn’t a bad thing at all.

Considering the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 era, the more money you can roll over, the better.

***

When I was busy with work at the financial tower.

David visited Korea.

Every time he came to Korea, I was anxious to welcome him because he brought with him a heavy case.

“Did something happen again?”

“Boss! Are you going to skip the greeting and get straight to the point? It’s not that big of a deal this time. I just came in to see your face.”

“Thank you for taking the time to come. But first, let’s hear what’s going on and have a welcome party.”

David complained about the over-the-top American reaction.

But I didn’t blink an eye, and David had no choice but to get to the point.

“We started developing oil fields in the North Sea. We had a very hard time getting permission to go through the strict European regulations.”

“Thank you for your hard work. It must have been difficult to develop the oil field because of the environmental regulations introduced in Europe, but David’s efforts led to success.”

“It was possible because the North Sea oil fields had already been developed and the area was outside the regulatory scope. If it had been an oil field that had to be developed from scratch, it would have been difficult to overcome regulations.”

Genetic development takes at least five years.

If we start with exploration, it could take 10 or even 20 years.

However, the North Sea oil fields had already been explored and were oil fields that only needed to be drilled, so it would not take long for them to produce crude oil.

“But is it okay to develop genetic resources at this point? The price of crude oil is falling little by little.”

“If there are days when it falls, there will also be days when it rises, right? Even if it means taking a loss, we cannot just leave the North Sea oil field that we invested a lot of money in.”

“At this point, we are the only company spending this much money on genetic development. That’s why the White House is showing interest.”

America has always been a country that is serious about oil.

It was a country that would go to war if it could control oil, and things have gotten better since the shale revolution.

“Why is the White House interested in North Sea oil fields?”

“Rather than being interested in the North Sea oil fields, they are interested in the money that went into the North Sea oil fields.”

“Are you asking us to invest that much money in the United States as well?”

“Yes. He was elected president on the platform of ‘America First,’ so the White House hopes that more investment will be made in the United States.”

It also meant asking for huge investments in the American oil industry.

The White House was hoping for more results as it was early in the administration and was hoping for an investment on the scale of a North Sea oil field.

“Will the regulatory issues be resolved?”

“That’s a complicated issue. Should I say that they want to do an eco-friendly oilfield project? They want to develop the oilfield so that it doesn’t harm nearby residents, especially since they care a lot about public support.”

“You want to develop genetic resources without loosening regulations? That’s really amazing.”

There was a huge amount of oil lying dormant in the United States.

However, the actual developed genetic resources were limited, and there were many places where development was not possible due to regulatory issues.

Of course, that’s true.

By developing only limited oil fields, they were producing more oil than most oil-producing countries.

“It was basically just asking for money from the US. So I just turned a deaf ear to it.”

“If you were to invest $40 billion in oil exploration, what would you get out of the White House?”

“For that amount of money, I think they’ll grant most requests.”

“Then just spread the word that Taewoo Group is interested.”

“Are you really willing to invest $40 billion?”

“Not right now. I would invest in about three years. That would be right before the end of the Trump administration.”

Actually, it would have been okay to invest now.

But all investments must start at a low point to make big profits.

Oil prices would have to fall much further than they are now to make a big profit in negotiations with the White House.

“If you spread the word, you’ll get a response from the White House right away. But if you wait three years to make an investment, I don’t think they’ll respond well.”

“Throw out the bait and say you can do $10 billion as an initial investment.”

“I think $10 billion would be a reasonable amount for the White House.”

“It’s a very high-quality bait.”

It’s best to invest at the bottom.

Conversely, if investment was so slow that oil production could not even begin when crude prices rose, it would be meaningless.

So, let’s just make a pre-investment of about 10 billion dollars.

It was best to proceed with the remaining negotiations only after production preparations were completed.

“But are there any oil fields worth investing in? Most places are already occupied, or there are none except in areas with strong regulations.”

“There’s only one place left. It’s an uninhabited place in America that has oil.”

“Was there such a place?”

“Alaska. That’s a land where no one cares.”

“We know that Alaska has a lot of oil reserves, but will it be productive? It costs a lot to transport, and it’s a difficult area to explore and develop.”

It was an Alaskan oil field that didn’t mean much now.

But things are different now with the US-China trade war and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Alaska and Asia were not that far away.

Because it allows natural gas and oil to be supplied at relatively cheap prices.

“If we develop oil fields in difficult areas, wouldn’t we be able to get a lot from the White House?”

“That may be true. From the White House’s perspective, there is absolutely no harm in doing so, and it is the best place to build a track record.”

“There’s no need to rush. Just take it slow and make the White House anxious.”

“That’s my specialty. I’ll make sure that President Trump visits Korea in person!”

It was actually a bit of a gamble.

If the Russian-Ukrainian war doesn’t break out.

Developing Alaskan oil fields could have been a losing investment.

But I believed.

There was confidence that Russia’s desire for territorial expansion would not change, either before or after the return.