novelraw Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Emergency meetings were held every day even at the Cheongwadae office.
However, no sharp solution came out.
The aides advised that it would quiet down as time passed without any countermeasures, but reality was the exact opposite.
Public opinion was intensifying even more.
The approval rating reported in the briefing every morning entered a downward trend.
The ruling party and civil society were tightening the reins of pressure every day.
The Chief Secretary realized that he could no longer remain silent and said in a desperate voice.
“Mr. President, I do not think you should remain silent any longer.”
After a week, the President stood before the people.
His face, standing in the emergency press conference room, was much heavier than usual.“Starting today, the government will begin discussions on the introduction of the special prosecutor system.”
The press conference room was in a stir.
Flashes went off and questions from reporters poured out.
However, the President's expression was already telling everything.
I, Lim Hyunjun, quietly put down the tablet I was holding.
It was immediately after the live broadcast of the Cheongwadae press conference had just ended.
On the screen, the press conference scene flowed out consecutively.
It was as expected.
No, it was correct to say that I induced it to happen this way.
I held the coffee cup and closed my eyes for a moment.
The thing that no one had imagined was already completed in my head from a few days ago.
‘Let’s use the anger of the masses to pressure the government so that they have no choice but to draw the sword first.’
All my plans seemed to flow perfectly.
The same was true for the person selected as the special prosecutor.
“Ryu Seong-jin….”
I slowly repeated the name.
Commonly, those who knew him evaluated him as a person who was clean but lacked flexibility.
After being demoted while investigating regime corruption, he was living quietly as the director of a legal research institute.
And now, Ryu Seong-jin has returned like an icon of justice.
Choi Seo-jun looked at the person on the screen and asked.
“Representative, how did you predict that Ryu Seong-jin would be picked?”
I nodded and let out a low smile.
“There is no card with a stronger justification for the public than putting forward a victim of a past regime again. Besides, there is no reason for both the ruling and opposition parties to oppose it.”
Choi Seo-jun was in a state of being half-doubting even after hearing this plan from me a while ago.
However, as everything happened as I said, he felt a mood that was even absurd.
He looked at me and repeatedly let out silent exclamations of admiration.
“Representative, please tell me honestly. You can see the future clearly, right? What are the lotto winning numbers for this week?”
“Pardon?! Ahahaha.”
I laughed out loud and was lost in thought while looking out the window.
In the future I knew, there was no such thing as a special prosecutor.
Of course, Kim Jongseok fought against Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, but his strength was insufficient.
Daehan Group was still robust and did not collapse.
While Taeseong Group was plummeting, Daehan rather quietly expanded its territory, and at the center of it, there was always the name Nam Jae-heon.
The special prosecutor increased the speed of the investigation.
Before long, breaking news appeared.
[
[
I smiled quietly.
It was a very satisfying expression.
The special prosecutor I remembered aimed directly at Taeseong Group, and Daehan always hid behind the shadow and enjoyed reflective benefits.
However, now it was different.
I held a conviction that the past and the present had already changed.
I muttered while holding the tablet.
“It is progressing well as planned.”
Choi Seo-jun looked at me, but I still moved the tablet screen continuously.
As the appearance of concentrating became evident, Choi Seo-jun left me alone.
On the television screen, the search and seizure scenes flowed out continuously.
Soon, the media also reported the news that high-ranking executives of Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering would be summoned.
Among them was Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol.
I, who was looking at the tablet screen diligently, raised my head.
Choi Seo-jun threw a story indirectly.
“Soon, President Nam Jae-heon will also become a target for summons.”
I nodded and answered quietly.
“It will be so.”
Moving my gaze back to the screen, I saw the scene where the names of the executives were mentioned along with the search and seizure site of Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering headquarters.
[Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol, expected to be summoned for investigation by the special prosecutor soon]
[Suspicions of accounting manipulation, internal information leakage, and connection with the regime at Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering]
I leisurely took a sip of coffee.
The sweet yet bitter taste of the coffee mix spread in my mouth.
My mood now was like the taste of the coffee.
Choi Seo-jun looked at the subtitles and said quietly.
“At this rate, Daehan might collapse sooner than expected.”
I exhaled a deep breath.
My eyes gazed at the screen without a trace of shaking.
“If Daehan Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is shaken, I wonder what choice Chairman Nam Kun-ho will make. Perhaps he might make an unexpected choice.”
“If so….”
“Soon, an opportunity will come to us.”
I smiled without saying anything and moved my gaze out of the window.
The sky without a single cloud made my chest feel refreshed.
***
Daehan Group Chairman's office.
Nam Kun-ho was reading the newspaper and threw it away.
His face, deeply wrinkled, was full of anger that had turned bright red.
“That guy eventually….”
President Park Se-dong of Daehan Construction, who was waiting, carefully spoke.
“Chairman, in the current state, it would be good to settle it at the level of Vice President Choi Dong-ryeol. If the scope of the investigation widens to President Nam….”
“Not up to Jae-heon!”
Nam Kun-ho's voice settled coldly.
However, his head was somewhat complicated.
Judging by the situation flowing now, it was difficult to protect his son.
If handled incorrectly, the empire built over decades could collapse in a single day.
“Is that bastard Choi Dong-ryeol tight-lipped?”
“Since there are weaknesses we are holding over him, he won't be able to spill it easily.”
Park Se-dong judged that the only option for now was for Choi Dong-ryeol to take all the responsibility.
Nam Kun-ho chewed his lips.
He clenched his fists tightly until his fingertips turned white, then slowly released the strength.
‘If that bastard cannot hold out….’
Chairman Nam knew very well what choice he had to make.
He just wanted to deny reality.
Perhaps the moment might come when he would have to heartlessly abandon even his son.
Even so, Nam Kun-ho had already decided in his heart.
Before his own survival, things like the affection between father and son were a luxury.
***
In the midst of the special prosecutor's investigation, on Friday evening, I, Lim Hyunjun, was at Incheon International Airport, not Seoul.
My luggage was very simple.
A single backpack was everything.
Rather, seeing the luggage Choi Seo-jun brought, I was even puzzled.
Representative Choi Seo-jun asked while organizing his passport and airline ticket after completing the check-in.
“Since you are going to Japan personally at this time, President Kim Byeong-kwon was also very curious about what was going on.”
I nodded with a smile.
“Because the shipbuilding industry is entering a recession harsher than war.”
I paused for a moment and looked at the sky visible beyond the window.
The lights twinkling in the darkness caught my eye.
“Just as there are flowers that bloom even in difficulties, if there is a place we are needed, we must go anywhere.”
Choi Seo-jun tilted his head.
My words were sometimes like a riddle.
It was the same now.
“By the way, will we be able to solve everything and come back by Sunday?”
I put on my bag and said while walking toward the gate.
“We'll have to see.”
“Representative, let's go together.”
Choi Seo-jun hurriedly picked up his luggage, stood up from his seat, and ran with difficulty.
The time the plane arrived at Haneda Airport was just past 10 PM.
I moved hurriedly with Choi Seo-jun at the crowded arrival hall.
“Representative, President Kim Byeong-kwon said he arrived at the accommodation near Tokyo Station first. And he is scheduled to meet the representative of the acquisition target company at 9 AM tomorrow.”
I nodded and stepped out of the airport.
The night air was chilly but pleasantly clear.
I, who stood for a while in front of the airport until the vehicle arrived, looked at the plane taking off in the distance and said quietly.
“In a way, it is quite ironic.”
“What is?”
I continued.
“That we are in this place.”
Only then did Choi Seo-jun realize what I meant.
In fact, who would have known just a year ago that we would be running a company called HJ Partners.
They moved by taking a taxi.
When they arrived at the accommodation, it was past 11 o'clock.
Someone was waiting for them in the hotel lobby.
“Representative!”
President Kim Byeong-kwon stood up from his seat in comfortable clothes and welcomed my group warmly.
Fatigue was plastered around his eyes, but perhaps because we met after a long time, he looked particularly in a good mood.
I greeted him by shaking hands.
We entrusted our luggage to the staff and moved to the lounge before going up to our rooms.
There, we talked about what would happen tomorrow.
President Kim Byeong-kwon actually had his own reason for coming first.
He had studied and lived in Japan in the past, and he was also on friendly terms with the company we would meet tomorrow.
Therefore, he had come first and done the groundwork.
“So the substantial problem of the company originates from the succession structure?”
At my question, President Kim Byeong-kwon nodded.
“That is correct. President Amami, I mean, Kenjiro-san is a person who still tries to lead the company with a craftsman's spirit, but he is behind the flow of the times. And the problem is the son.”
Choi Seo-jun asked while turning the tablet screen.
“By the son, do you mean Ryusei Amami?”
“Yes, he is currently serving as the Director of Finance.”
I put down the tablet for a moment and asked while interlacing my fingers.
“He is the culprit who substantially made the company suffer.”
“Yes, by word of mouth, they say he is a talent who has even been on a study abroad program, but looking at his work, he is not good at all. Perhaps because he inherited his father's philosophy of excluding external capital as it is, he only insists on his stubbornness even though the company's finances are already at their limit.”
“Then how is the technology side? Is the internal capability still at a decent level?”
Kim Byeong-kwon answered with a confident voice.
“That part is certain. It is Amami Yuika, the head of the technology development department, and she is almost a genius in that field. She takes after her father, so her design ability is excellent and her practical sense is also superb. Honestly, it is safe to say that my friend is supporting this company.”
Choi Seo-jun asked.
“You said she is the youngest daughter?”
“Yes, she is Kenjiro-san's youngest daughter. She also speaks Korean fluently. She is also a former classmate of mine from our days at a Japanese engineering college.”
I slightly raised my eyebrows as if interested.
“It is hard to understand that such a talent was excluded from the succession structure even though she exists.”
Kim Byeong-kwon shook his head while letting out a sigh.
“That is how conservative family succession culture is. Kenjiro-san still cannot escape from the fixed notion that ‘a man must lead the company’. No matter how outstanding General Manager Yuika is, he does not seem to have any intention of handing it over to his daughter.”
A moment of silence flowed.
Quiet classical music was flowing inside the lounge.
I asked while taking a sip of juice.
“Then who is the opponent we will meet tomorrow?”
“It is Kenjiro-san. Of course, there is a high possibility that General Manager Yuika will also be present.”
I nodded shortly and said.
“Good. Whether we can move their hearts will be the key tomorrow.”