novelraw Chapter 71
Chapter 71
The report contained the name HJ Finance along with the status of acquisitions and equity investments.
It was a very unusual move for an ordinary financial company.
Han Ji-beom's expression stiffened.
The team leader spoke in a low voice while unnecessarily checking Han Ji-beom's mood.
“And HJ Finance did not just support Sammyeong Heavy Industries. It seems they also decided to support the Yeongnam Marine Industry.”
“What does that mean?”
In the next document the team leader took out, a familiar name caught his eye.
[Yeongnam Marine Industry - Restructuring Consulting and Liquidity Improvement Plan]
“I heard the supporting entity is definitely HJ Finance.”
“Yeongnam Marine Industry is a place that posts a deficit announcement every quarter, so how….”“That is correct. That is why we decided to acquire it at a bargain price. However, it is said that HJ Finance decided to inject a restructuring consulting team simultaneously with the financial support.”
Han Ji-beom lost his words for a while and then asked the team leader.
“Are you sure?”
“It is a story that came directly from Yeongnam Marine Industry, so it is certain. They decided to sell major business divisions and invest intensively only in the remaining core technologies. Especially if the maritime power generation-related patents are re-evaluated in the market, they will surely be able to aim for overseas orders.”
“…….”
Han Ji-beom swallowed his dry saliva and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.
“Director, Yeongnam Marine Industry is not the only problem. As a result of checking, there were quite a few companies that HJ Finance is already contacting.”
“What?”
“Ssangjin Fine Chemical, Isan Technology, Hanyang Heavy Industries, and many others besides these.”
Han Ji-beom had a dumbfounded expression as if it was even absurd.
“This isn't even about buying up all the small and medium-sized enterprises to reorganize the structure.”
The team leader did not answer.
He judged that nothing good would come from touching Han Ji-beom's nerves for no reason.
Han Ji-beom slowly scanned the list handed over by the team leader.
Following Yeongnam Marine Industry, Ssangjin Fine Chemical, Isan Technology, Hanyang Heavy Industries, etc., it was an investment move that was difficult for a general financial company to pull off.
A snort even flowed out.
The team leader continued quietly.
“We also analyzed internally the reason why this is possible. No matter how large the asset management scale is, it is strange to pour cash indiscriminately like this.”
“That's right. Where did all that money suddenly pop out from?”
The team leader quietly touched the tablet he was holding a few times and showed it to him.
On the screen was material announced by the Investment Management Division of HJ Partners.
[HJ Partners Risk Hedge Investment - International Oil Price Derivative Product Profit Report]
They earned a total profit of 1.12 trillion won by investing in an international oil price drop-linked option product.
The moment he saw that, Han Ji-beom's eyes widened.
“Is this possible?”
“To be honest, I cannot believe it either. It is my first time seeing this kind of profit. Even if they predicted the drop in oil prices, pouring this much investment into derivatives is a reckless act…. It is as if they are investing while knowing the future.”
“How can someone predict an oil price crash? You know it too. Options have high volatility, so investments are generally made with a hedge concept, and such aggressive investment is impossible!”
Han Ji-beom denied reality, saying it was nonsense.
However, it was already a result that had come out.
“HJ Partners has already increased their fund scale by investing in this way even in the early stages.”
“You mean this isn't the first time?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“It's not like he's some god-sent investor….”
***
As HJ Partners grew, the thing I, Lim Hyunjun, feared most became a reality.
As the company scale grew, the workload increased exponentially.
The principles I had tried so hard to maintain began to show cracks slowly.
“All employees should rest on weekends.”
This was a conviction I had kept since the early days of founding.
However, reality flowed contrary to my will.
No matter how much I stopped them, employees voluntarily moved their steps to the office every weekend one by one.
“It's because there's a lot of work. It's easier on Monday if we handle it in advance.”
Since the employees said so, I could no longer stop them.
In the end, Choi Seo-jun and I also went to the company even on weekends.
Actually, it was not a bad situation for the employees.
Employees who worked on the weekend were compensated more generously than at other companies.
Above all, compensation according to performance was more certain than at any other company.
A place where promotion as well as financial compensation were guaranteed as long as one had the skills.
The joy of working in such an environment was a sweet workplace that could not be exchanged for anything.
Well, it was different from the sweet workplace people talk about these days, though.
At 9 AM on Saturday, I headed to HJ Partners as usual.
I put down my bag in the office and let out a sigh.
I moved my steps to the floor where the employees worked.
When I opened the meeting room door, team leaders from several departments were already waiting for me.
Thick reports were held in each of their hands.
As soon as I sat down, Park Jae-woo, the team leader of the Fund Management Team, quickly pushed a report in front of me.
He cheered inwardly, thinking he had become the first one to get approval.
Park Jae-woo was a veteran who had worked in the financial sector for nearly 20 years.
However, even while working with me, there were parts he still could not understand.
My expression brightened as I turned the first page of the report.
The results of the investment I had ordered a while ago were written exactly as they were.
This time, too, the profit rate transcended imagination.
Park Jae-woo got goosebumps every time he confirmed these results personally.
He thought it was luck the first one or two times, but now it had gone beyond that level.
Since it was like this every time, it didn't make sense to dismiss it as luck.
Park Jae-woo, unable to endure, muttered to himself as if unintentionally.
“Representative, do you perhaps see the future?”
I raised my head at the sudden and absurd question.
My heart throbbed greatly.
“Pardon? What do you mean by that….”
“If not, how do you produce such profits every time?”
Park Jae-woo's eyes were full of sincere curiosity.
He was a financial expert himself, but this performance was impossible to explain.
Only then did I feel relieved and said leisurely with a smile.
“If I knew that, I would be a god. Please just think of it as a result of working hard.”
“…….”
Park Jae-woo's expression became lukewarm at my unsatisfactory answer.
Explaining a task that an expert with 20 years of experience could not do with just the word effort.
I did not miss Park Jae-woo's subtle change in expression.
After being lost in thought for a moment, I opened my mouth more cautiously.
“Hmm, how should I put it? It is not that we produce these results because we are lucky. Someday, we might produce an unintended result. However, the work we do is something with risk, but if handled well, there are more ways than one might think to gain profit while reducing that risk. Well, should we consider it as having made good use of the flow of the times for now?”
Park Jae-woo nodded and chimed in.
“Yes, everyone knows about the oil price drop, but they don't have the guts to invest like this. Because it's a derivative. It is a task with high risk, so it is difficult to invest this way.”
“That is right. But always remember that profit and risk occur simultaneously.”
“Yes.”
After Park Jae-woo took the report back, other team leaders, including Team Leader Lee Hyeon-seok, pushed their reports toward me as if standing in line.
Even though it was Saturday morning, the meeting room of HJ Partners was as busy as a weekday.
***
Meanwhile, shocking news was being delivered in the stock market.
The stock price of Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was plummeting without knowing the bottom.
Investors, who were blankly staring at the blue chart on the monitor, could not endure and carried out stop-loss selling one by one.
The market capitalization of the large corporation that once represented the shipbuilding industry evaporated by nearly half in just one month.
“What on earth is happening.”
“It makes no sense. Who would have known it would fall this far.”
Lamentations burst out from everywhere in the Yeouido stock market.
However, this was not just a problem of stock price decline.
The bigger problem was the investigation.
No, to be precise, it was the absence of investigation.
Window dressing, political lobbying, and bid rigging.
Suspicions surrounding Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering broke out day after day, but the prosecution was hesitating even to start the investigation.
“What in the world are they doing?”
On one corner of the stock market, one investor vented his anger.
In the media, new suspicions were being raised every day, but the prosecution's movement was quite unsatisfactory.
It took several weeks just to review documents, and the targets for summons were only a few middle managers.
The key figure and high-ranking executive, especially Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol, still leisurely conducted interviews with the media and dismissed all suspicions as misunderstandings.
Choi Dong-ryeol's confident appearance rather called for even bigger suspicions.
Why could he still be so confident even though so much evidence and tips were pouring in?
The media also began to treat him with suspicious eyes gradually.
[Why is the prosecution not calling Choi Dong-ryeol?]
These kinds of suspicions poured out one by one.
Citizens' distrust also grew.
However, there was one person watching this whole situation.
It was Lim Hyunjun.
As I watched the news in the HJ Partners office, my expression froze coldly.
I had no intention of leaving this situation as it was.
“I cannot leave it like this.”
That night, at the time when most employees had left work.
I was waiting for someone while working in the office.
Finally, the office door opened and two people entered.
They were Representative Choi Seo-jun and Chief Jeong Jin-woo.
Usually, they might throw a joke or two, but today was different.
“Now it cannot be solved through politics.”
At my first words, which were weighted, the two people remained silent.
“If the National Assembly cannot solve it, we have no choice but to shake the regime by moving public opinion.”
Choi Seo-jun's expression hardened.
He could tell what my words meant.
This was a matter that went beyond simple competition between companies.
“Wouldn't that be too dangerous?”
“Even if so, it will become a bigger problem if we leave it like this.”
Jeong Jin-woo still had nothing to say.
He had no interest in anything other than carrying out the mission and producing results.
“…Understood.”
Jeong Jin-woo answered simply.
No further explanation was needed.
He immediately began to move by mobilizing the personnel of the Information Analysis Department.
A few days later, a storm blew through the Republic of Korea.
Anonymous reports began to burst out simultaneously in major daily newspapers and comprehensive programming news.
They were scoops that broke out at the same time as if they had made a promise.
[Obtained internal document of prosecution's order to stop the investigation into Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering]
[A powerful figure exists behind Choi Dong-ryeol. Prosecution remains silent under pressure]
[Prosecution's credibility plummeting. The public wants the introduction of a special prosecutor]
The media outlets fell into an emergency every day.
It was unknown where it came from, but the credibility of the tip-off materials was considerable.
Specific evidence that could confirm the authenticity of the internal documents was attached together.
Even after going through cross-verification, the result turned out to be true.
Meanwhile, national petitions exploded.
Demands to accept the special prosecutor for Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering poured in.
This contained the public's anger beyond a simple petition.
Similar contents were posted on communities every day.
The flow of public opinion was changing rapidly.
Until just a few days ago, what was considered a simple corporate corruption case was now spreading into distrust of the overall state affairs.
A smile was drawn on the corners of my mouth as I watched the news in the HJ Partners office.
The operation unfolded by Jeong Jin-woo was much more effective than expected.