The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 510



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## 510. Obtaining Evidence (5)

Secretary Li Gang visited Korea.

Even though it only takes two hours to get from Beijing to Korea, it is rare for a high-ranking official like Secretary Li Gang to visit Korea so frequently.

That meant the situation was urgent.

Just looking at his face as he entered the annex of Captain Kang’s restaurant, you could tell how anxious he was.

“It is an honor to meet you again. Thank you for visiting Korea so often.”

“Can’t I go anywhere to see Chairman Kim? Aren’t we friends who have been friends for a long time?”

Isn’t the age gap too big to be friends?

My doctor was Secretary Lee Gang, who grabbed my hand without asking.

“Is something wrong? You don’t look well.”

“Well, Chairman Kim, you know very well what kind of crazy things those Americans are doing. I wouldn’t have expected that even the EU would take action, let alone Japan.”

“You’re talking about technology protection and industrial espionage. I didn’t expect that Japan, the US, the UK, France, and Germany would all make statements at the same time.”

I wasn’t expecting it, I was just being confident.

To create this situation, David traveled around Europe.

Director Cheon Min-jeong even went so far as to process and hand over the evidence and list she had secured to politicians.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“If Chairman Kim steps forward, wouldn’t it be like gaining a thousand troops? First, please help Korea step down.”

Secretary Li Gang made the request very confidently.

Although the tone was very polite, it was not the basis of conversation.

Because there was no promise of any benefit to Korea if it backed down.

“It seems unlikely that the Korean government will back down easily.”

“Are you really saying that you are going to turn your back on China? After all, isn’t it because of the partnership with China, not the United States, that Korea was able to grow to where it is today? But where else would you stab someone in the back like this?”

That wasn’t entirely wrong.

Because we’ve benefited a lot from China over the past 10 years.

But it wasn’t Korea that stabbed him from behind.

“The pressure is on in the US.”

“China will not stay still either! If it continues to take the US side, China may impose stronger sanctions than the previous THAAD measures.”

“The US is not just pressuring us. The US has also handed over to the Blue House details on how Chinese companies are stealing Korean companies’ technology and who is engaging in industrial espionage. Here, I have brought some of that information.”

Evidence that cannot be put out with flippers.

Of course, the source of the evidence was not the United States, but Director Cheon Min-jeong.

But we didn’t need to let them know that we were collecting information on Chinese companies, so we used the US as an excuse.

“Haha, the Americans even did this.”

“How can we back down when we have this kind of evidence? If Korea were to withdraw its statement and back down, it might not be able to use American technology anymore.”

“Isn’t it possible that the evidence was fabricated?”

“We double and triple fact-checked everything, and it was all true. We even secured key evidence that information had leaked to Chinese companies, and we even confirmed the flow of funds.”

Isn’t it funny?

The evidence that Chinese companies were stealing Korean companies’ technology was right in front of us.

Yet Secretary Li Gang was criticizing the United States, not Chinese companies.

If you didn’t make an issue of it, I don’t think it would be a problem, so it was a possible reaction.

“If Korea received this kind of data, Japan and the EU must also have similar data.”

“That is very likely. Even if it is a country that maintains deep ties with China, if it does not respond properly despite this evidence, it will face the judgment of the public. Even if it is somehow passed over now, it will be impossible to avoid going to jail the moment the government changes, right?”

Secretary Li Gang nodded reluctantly.

It seemed to him that if he tolerated this evidence, he would be in great trouble.

“So do you think we should continue this relationship?”

“Right now, the United States has the pretext. So, China must show its intention to solve the problem, even if it is just for show, so that Korea can follow suit.”

“It sounds like you’re saying that we should punish Chinese companies that illegally acquired Korean companies’ technology.”

“Even if we don’t know how to punish them, shouldn’t we at least establish a court? And I think we can untangle this tangled mess by expelling the Korean engineers who transferred their technology to Chinese companies.”

Secretary Lee Gang was unable to answer easily.

That’s understandable, because the information I showed you was only a portion.

It seemed like it wouldn’t be an easy decision, given how many companies might be involved in this situation.

“That’s a difficult problem.”

“I want you to think about the G7 summit next year. Korea will attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima as an invited country.”

“What kind of summit is the G7 summit? What kind of summit is it if China isn’t there?”

“Of course, the G7 summit itself may not be very important, but wouldn’t the agenda lead to the G20 summit that follows?”

The G7 summit was centered around the United States.

Powerful countries such as China and Russia, which do not have good relations with the United States, were completely left out.

However, the G20 summit was a meeting attended by 19 major countries, the European Union, and the African Union.

Here, China had to create allies.

To do that, we had to somehow resolve the current industrial espionage problem, or at least show the will to do so.

“Even so, we cannot punish that many Chinese companies.”

“Shouldn’t we first buy time? If we can’t expel Korean engineers, I think we can change the atmosphere by just making them resign. Of course, the number has to be at least several hundred.”

“… That’s not that difficult.”

The number of Korean engineers hired by Chinese companies was so large that it was difficult to even accurately count them.

In particular, they promised high salaries to those with experience in the display and semiconductor industries without asking any questions.

So it was easy to throw it away.

Not everyone is a competent person, so it was also a good opportunity to reduce useless personnel.

“First of all, if we just get a large number of Korean engineers to resign, the international community’s attention will change a little. Why not find a new solution while buying time like that?”

“Will that solve the problem?”

“This situation is likely to be a long-term one. It is very likely to continue unless the relationship between the US and China improves. So we have to find a way little by little.”

“Okay. Let’s work on it that way for now. I’ll contact you again soon.”

It was Secretary Lee Gang who returned without achieving what he wanted.

In fact, the solution to this situation was very simple.

This was a problem that China could solve simply by giving up its greed.

But how could we give up on numerous national growth projects, including the semiconductor boom?

And I had no intention of solving it in the way China wanted.

They only wanted to use this situation to their advantage, Taewoo Group and Korea.

* * *

Secretary Li Gang’s movements were very fast.

Dozens of Chinese companies have implemented large-scale layoffs of Korean engineers.

It was a number that exceeded our expectations, to the point that a vice president came running in surprise when he heard the news.

“They say they laid off over 700 Korean engineers. And this is only the first round. There are rumors that a second and third round of large-scale layoffs are planned.”

“Most of them will return to Korea. Shouldn’t we pick out the ones who leaked the technology?”

“The Chinese government is trying to turn things around with this layoff, so they are not hiding the information. It is not difficult to obtain the list.”

Industrial espionage was a valuable resource.

Because it was a resource that could yield profits thousands of times greater than a small amount of money.

But disclosing the information meant that everything that needed to be left out had already been left out.

“Can’t we just leave the technicians who transferred their technology to China alone?”

“Anyone on the list we have secured should of course be punished, but it is difficult to determine exactly whether a technician not on the list leaked technology.”

“You can find out if you investigate. We should punish only those who have solid evidence so that innocent people are not disadvantaged.”

It wasn’t really that difficult to figure out the crime.

I use the abilities I have to find out first.

Because we were able to secure evidence by mobilizing Center Director Cheon Min-jeong, Myeong-dong, Captain Kang, the National Tax Service, the police, and even the prosecution.

“But how do you plan to punish them?”

“Of course, we should prevent them from working in the relevant field any longer. And anyone who is confirmed to have leaked technology will be punished according to the revised Technology Protection Act.”

“If I can’t get a job in a related industry, I’ll have to open a restaurant or go farming. But since I’ve already earned several times more in salary, I’ll have plenty of capital to start a business.”

“Is that really true?”

I raised one corner of my mouth.

One vice president tilted his head, not knowing what my smile meant.

I showed David the message I had received to try to make him understand.

“It is said that most of the engineers who were laid off in China were kicked out without receiving severance pay.”

“Is that possible? Doesn’t the contract specify the annual salary and retirement benefits?”

“Because it’s China. And because they’re people returning to Korea, it’s even more possible.”

Let’s make a lot of money and retire.

Most engineers who move to China probably think this way.

From 3 to 10 times higher salaries to huge retirement benefits.

I would have gone to China because I could earn in 5 years what it would have taken me 20 years to earn in Korea.

“Technologists in the display field will be treated even worse. As the technology gap narrows, wouldn’t there be less reason to keep them and pay them a huge salary?”

“You end up like a piece of gum that you swallow only the sweet liquid in and spit it out. No matter how much sweet liquid it contains, you never chew it in your entire life.”

“But it’s really amazing that they don’t even give me a severance pay.”

“But where can I complain? What are the chances of winning if I file a lawsuit in a Chinese court?”

What better opportunity could there be for Chinese companies?

Since the government was encouraging the layoff of Korean engineers, they could fire them without any hesitation.

It was an even better opportunity because I could save a large salary and retirement benefits.

“If the second and third phases are carried out, the number of Koreans returning to farming will increase significantly.”

“We have to seize this opportunity. Let’s use this as an opportunity to let everyone know what happens when we go over to China.”

“Wouldn’t there be quite a few engineers who would be swayed by a large salary offer, even if it meant not receiving a severance pay?”

“So there should be a bigger penalty. We will make it impossible for them to get jobs in companies not only in Korea but also in the US, Japan, and EU countries.”

International missing person.

The moment when our country’s technology is transferred to other countries, including China.

The plan was to impress upon the world that it was being abandoned by most countries.

Even if we are abandoned by China, which has received our technology, wouldn’t it be possible to prevent industrial espionage or job-hopping?

“This time, I will show you a really good example.”

“Please make sure to take care of it while I am in the US.”

I had a trip to the US scheduled soon.

The purpose was to conduct negotiations with grain major company ABC at the same time as acquiring grain company Viterra.