A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 44

The anecdote of the day Kim Jongseok threw his resignation letter shook the entire Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering at once.

The scene that took place in the lobby that day spread to the internal messenger and anonymous bulletin boards in an instant through the mouths of witnesses.

Before even a day had passed, it was talked about like a legend.

“I’m telling you, he really held the resignation letter and said, ‘You are screwed.’”

“No way… did he lose his mind? It’s not even a movie.”

“No, you mean he did that in front of Nam Jae-heon?”

At first, everyone was to the point of not believing it.

However, as time passed and the testimonies of the witnesses of that day became more specific, people soon began to accept it as fact.

The story that Kim Jongseok openly poured out whistleblowing-style remarks toward President Nam Jae-heon and Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol spread in a flash within an atmosphere where everyone guessed who it was, with only the names erased.

“Center Head was a cooler person than he looked.”“So the fact that Vice President Choi got utterly wrecked was true.”

“There was a saying that he was grilled like a rat. I heard the conference room windows almost broke that day.”

In fact, a rumor circulated that day that high-pitched shouting leaked out from the executive conference room of Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering that afternoon.

For a while, Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol did not even show his face in internal meetings, let alone in public activities.

Someone said,“How refreshing!”

The day Kim Jongseok left remained a day that marked a milestone in the history of Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering.

Although no one said it out loud, the modifier legend was attached in front of the name Kim Jongseok.

***

After throwing the resignation letter, Kim Jongseok was actually calm.

His body was heavy and tired, but his mind was lighter than ever.

He felt as if his tightening windpipe was opening up.

Like a person who had barely come up to the surface after floundering in the deep sea, he was regaining the sense that he was alive.

“It starts now.”

A few days later, at a media office in Seoul.

The moment he handed the USB to the reporter'

s hand, Kim Jongseok’s fingertips were trembling minutely.

The emotions mixed with anger, self-reproach, and fear accumulated over a long time melted away.

He had hesitated hundreds of times before deciding on this matter.

In the giant system called a company, the truth was always the first to be sacrificed, and the person who spoke the truth always disappeared first.

However, what he could not ignore was neither a sense of justice nor heroism.

It was just a thought he had while looking at the numbers erased among the piles of documents from a certain day.

He endured and endured while waiting.

Just as he was reaching the point where he couldn'

t tell if the reason he didn'

t resign was cowardice or his livelihood, a savior appeared.

I, Lim Hyunjun, a high school student I met in a truly unexpected place, had entered his life quietly.

At first glance, I looked like a playful person and just a third-generation chaebol, but the words I threw when I first visited Kim Jongseok were still unforgettable to him.

“Someone must act when it is time to step forward. Only then does it change. However, since you are a person, you feel a fearful heart. I hope you know that you are not fighting alone.”

Those words were not just simple encouragement.

they were words filled with sincerity.

At that time, Kim Jongseok felt something heavy melting away slowly from the bottom of his heart.

Kim Jongseok had lived believing that for a long time.

That this fight was ultimately a burden he had to handle alone.

That no one could help him, and no one would stand by his side.

That was why he kept his mouth shut and confined himself within the fence of silence while enduring and enduring again.

However, after that day, his thoughts changed for the first time.

He was not alone.

The words that I, Lim Hyunjun, whom he thought was just a much younger student, would be with him became the driving force to overcome his old fears.

“You are not alone.”

That one sentence made Kim Jongseok realize that it was a choice more courageous than enduring.

With the belief that he could be the first person to open a path for someone by bringing out the truth, he tried to step out quietly toward the world.

A few days after throwing the resignation letter, inside a quiet alley in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

An office of a media outlet in a building without even a single sign.

Hearing that they were thorough with anonymous reporting and protection of informants, Kim Jongseok chose this place without hesitation.

The interior of the office was more humble than expected.

It was a place where traces of time were visible as they were.

The reporter he had talked to over the phone handed him a business card.

Lee Do-hyeon, Social Exploration Team Leader.

Kim Jongseok looked at the business card once and put it in his wallet.

He gave the reporter the documents and a USB he had brought separately.

“Everything is in here.”

Lee Do-hyeon opened the laptop and connected the USB.

The look in his eyes changed.

Perhaps because he was surprised, he even opened his mouth and faltered for a moment.

Kim Jongseok took a deep breath and began a calm explanation.

“These are the circumstances of the rebates. In connection with the oil tanker orders from the Middle East in the second half of last year, 3.8 billion won was remitted to a local broker under the instructions of the headquarters.”

The reporter’s expression gradually hardened at the massive content.

Kim Jongseok continued his words without showing any signs.

“The pretext was technical consultation fees, but in reality, it was a rebate. The funds were converted into unofficial execution items within the internal budget, and a voucher distribution processing method was used to avoid leaving traces in the accounting system.”

“A voucher distribution processing method?”

“Usually, one can tell immediately where the company'

s money was spent just by looking at a single voucher. For example, if 500 million won was given to a certain company, it is recorded as a 500 million won consultation fee on the voucher. This makes it so that the money isn'

t sent all at once, but is intentionally made to go through several places. First, a little is sent to a subsidiary, and then it'

s sent to an outsourcing company under a different pretext. Like that, the money is rotated by being divided. On the surface, it looks like a completely unrelated transaction, but that money eventually gathers at the same destination.”

The reporter nodded as if he understood.

Kim Jongseok continued to speak.

“In other words, the vouchers are divided like puzzle pieces, but if you gather them all, it eventually becomes one big picture. If it'

s handled this way, no clues remain even if the audit team looks at it.”

After finishing the explanation, Kim Jongseok caught his breath for a moment and then began to speak while pointing out the documents he had prepared one by one.

“This is data related to Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol. It'

s about fictitious contracts with outsourcing companies and budget execution through the mobilization of internal manpower.”

The reporter adjusted his posture.

“This company looks like a normal technical consultation firm based on its name alone, but… it has no substance.”

He took out other documents and held them out to the reporter.

There were copies of business registration certificates, site photos of the address, and even reports of failure to supply.

“If you actually go to the registered address, it'

s an empty warehouse. The titleholder is the Vice President’s nephew. The total contract amount is 5.4 billion won, and more than 4 billion won of that was paid in a lump sum as technical support fees without a preliminary blueprint.”

Whenever he heard Kim Jongseok’s explanation, the wrinkles on the reporter’s forehead deepened.

“How did the payment go out?”

“First, after making a consultation contract and remitting directly from the headquarters, second, it moves to another paper company associated with a subsidiary under the pretext of outsourcing funds. Just like before, the vouchers are distributed. The pretexts also become different respectively. One was treated as a system construction fee, and another as an external service fee. However, in reality, nothing was supplied.”

The reporter continued typing quietly with his head bowed.

Finally, Kim Jongseok pointed to something.

“And this is a draft written by the internal audit team. It is a document that has now been deleted, but I have secured a copy.”

The reporter’s eyes grew large.

“A draft from the audit team? What was written there?”

Kim Jongseok clicked something on the laptop.

A document written by an Audit Office employee appeared on the screen.

[Report of Objection to Request for Suspension of Internal Audit in Progress]

[Author: Choi XX of the Audit Office.]

[Date of Creation: 20XX.11.03.]

The reporter stopped while scrolling down.

It was because he found a noticeable sentence.

“…Regarding the matter related to the outsourcing contract under audit, Advisor Park Tae-yoon of the Strategic Planning Office requested a suspension verbally, saying ‘Do not look into it any further.’ Advisor Park explained that the matter in question was the President’s business, so do not touch it further, and no specific reasons or supporting documents were delivered.”

The reporter’s hand stopped.

He raised his head for a moment, looked at Kim Jongseok, and asked.

“This… although President Nam Jae-heon did not give the instructions directly, it is clear that he is involved.”

Kim Jongseok nodded.

“He did not leave it as a direct document. However, Advisor Park Tae-yoon is President Nam Jae-heon’s closest aide in the Strategic Planning Office.”

The reporter looked down at the screen again and uttered words as if muttering.

“The expression ‘President’ is specified in the report, and it states that the instruction content came down verbally through the Strategic Planning Office advisor.”

“That’s right. After that, the person in charge of the audit was replaced. The relevant report was also deleted. Assistant Manager Choi, who thought that was strange, backed it up secretly. That is this document now.”

The reporter stared silently at the screen while biting his lip.

He was overwhelmed by the fact that it was a bigger matter than what he had first heard from the person called Kim Jongseok.

“…It is evidence that the organization tried to protect President Nam Jae-heon. Although it is not an official document, it is something already known internally.”

Kim Jongseok nodded quietly at the reporter’s words.

“Some people move only with words, but that one word makes everything stop.”

The next morning.

The hands of those who were looking down at their phone screens inside the subway on their way to work stopped.

It was because of the name that monopolized the 1st place in the real-time search terms of the portal site.

[<

Exclusive>

Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering. Circumstances of billions in rebates. Nam Jae-heon, the one who instructed the suspension of the internal audit]

[<

Breaking News>

Suspension of audit was an instruction from the Strategic Planning Office. ‘President’s line’ mentioned in internal documents]

[XX Newspaper. Hidden accounting manipulation puzzle. Former Center Head’s full disclosure revealed]

It was thanks to the article reported exclusively by one newspaper company.

Less than an hour after the first release, article links spread quickly centering on social media.

That whole day was filled with stories about Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering.

There, along with Kim Jongseok’s real name, the documents he gave to the reporter were also reported in detail.

The citizens especially cursed while looking at this part.

“…Advisor Park Tae-yoon of the Strategic Planning Office gave instructions to stop the audit, saying it was the President’s business.”

As public opinion was formed, it led to a nationwide ripple.

As the political circles, labor circles, and civic groups joined in, the situation began to spread uncontrollably.

A certain member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee even mentioned it through social media.

“If the reported content is true, this is not just at the level of simple rebates, but evidence that the internal accounting system and the entire organization moved for one person, the President.”

One civic group held a press conference in front of the Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering headquarters and shouted slogans.

“President Nam Jae-heon, wake up! Is this a country! Is this a company!”

Daehan Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering hurriedly predicted a legal response, saying ‘the reported content is not true,’ but public sentiment had already left.

The executives each set out to grasp the situation, and the Strategic Planning Office immediately set out to cut ties by converting all records related to Advisor Park Tae-yoon to private.

Nevertheless, reporters guarded the front of the office building until quitting time and attempted interviews with every executive and employee.

One media outlet even organized and serialized the article as a series.

Meanwhile, Kim Jongseok moved his residence elsewhere.

He communicated with a lawyer for personal protection and avoided external exposure as much as possible.

All of that was possible because of the help of Lim Hyunjun.