novelraw Chapter 44 : It Was About Time to Start Wrapping Things Up
Chapter 44 : It Was About Time to Start Wrapping Things Up
Chapter 44: It Was About Time to Start Wrapping Things Up
Park Jeong-ho’s Hangang Securities trading floor was a miniature hell.
Telephone bells rang like screams, and the staff stared at the ticker board with vacant expressions.
The Daegung stock, which had looked like a goose laying golden eggs just days before, had become a noose tightening around their necks.
“Stop it! Do whatever it takes to stop it. If it collapses now, we’re all dead!”
Park Jeong-ho shouted until his throat felt torn. His hollow eyes, bloodshot glare, and sweat-damp, rumpled suit made him look even more pathetic.
The image of him reigning like the market’s king only a few days earlier was nowhere to be seen.
“Boss. We’ve received reports. Buhung Securities and Baekje Securities, which were tied to Park Jeong-ho, said they can’t hold any longer. They’re on the verge of being unable to settle.”
“Tell those bastards that if it collapses here I’ll gut them first! Got it?”
After an unidentified force had launched its all-out offensive, the situation had deteriorated beyond control.
At first they had thought it was just a small market backlash. But 30 billion hwan worth of sell orders had poured in over three days.
The firms he trusted—Hangang Securities, Taebaek Securities, Geumgang Securities—and even the colluding Baekje Securities and Buhung Securities.
The five brokerages once called the Park Jeong-ho faction had already exhausted their capital absorbing the flood of selling.
“Sons of bitches….”
Park Jeong-ho lit a cigarette with trembling hands.
Their last hope had been success in a general public offering subscription. But even that had ended with poor results.
Only ruin remained now.
At the same time, in a study at an old house in Bukchon.
Jeong Tae-soo sat silently drinking tea while gazing at the quiet garden. Only he and a few key aides were present in the room.
One aide set down the phone and reported.
“Deputy Director, we’ve received a report. Buhung Securities and Baekje Securities, which had colluded with Park Jeong-ho, have collapsed first. One pillar of Park Jeong-ho’s defensive line has fallen.”
“I see.”
Jeong Tae-soo answered briefly; his expression did not change. He appeared as calm as if he had known this would happen all along.
He had not only taken hold of the initial brokerage but had forged ties with a total of twenty-three brokerages. Those twenty-three firms, acting on his orders, had delivered a tremendous shock to the market over the past few days.
At the center of it was a disturbingly meticulous operation devised by a young man named Baek Min-woo. He had calculated Park Jeong-ho’s financial strength precisely and had cunningly exploited his psychology to make him collapse on his own. Even Jeong Tae-soo himself admired how perfect the plan was.
“It looks like the end is finally in sight.”
Jeong Tae-soo set down his teacup and spoke.
“How about that old man Yang Sobo’s side? What is that Baek Min-woo fellow doing?”
“From what we’ve ascertained, they began short selling around the same time as us. They used Mando Securities….”
Jeong Tae-soo’s subordinate reported at length on Baek Min-woo’s movements. After hearing the full report, Jeong Tae-soo smiled softly.
“He’s a fox. He never runs a losing business.”
With the success of this operation, he had forced Director Kang Byung-woo from power, secured vast political funds, and had come into the favor of Chairman Han.
“As expected. I’ve been wanting that.”
The smile at the corner of Jeong Tae-soo’s mouth deepened.
“Boss! Baekje Securities and Buhung Securities have collapsed. They’ve stopped placing buy orders.”
Kang Cheol-min shouted in an excited voice. The office was filled with hot energy. Team members clung to their phones and moved busily.
“Finally, what was coming has come. That Park Jeong-ho must be shitting blood by now.”
Cheon Sang-do laughed as if delighted. I also gave a small smile at his words.
The plan I had devised was succeeding perfectly.
After splitting with Jeong Tae-soo, I had poured out sell orders without looking over my shoulder. Park Jeong-ho had held on, screaming, but he was exhausted and was finally collapsing.
“Yoon Ji-seong. How are Hangang Securities, Geumgang Securities, and Taebaek Securities doing?”
“They are still desperately placing buy orders, but they are expected to reach their limits. It appears impossible to raise funds from commercial banks or the private loan market. They are completely isolated.”
“It looks about time to start wrapping things up.”
At my words, Cheon Sang-do asked in puzzlement.
“You’re finishing already? Seems like there’s more to squeeze out, don’t you think?”
“How many total shares must be settled in the capital by May 31?”
Cheon Sang-do flipped through the ledgers for a long time before answering.
“Exactly one hundred million shares.”
“What was our average short-sell price?”
“About forty-five hwan on average, I’d say.”
“That’s 4.5 billion hwan. What is the Daegung stock currently trading at in physical certificates?”
This time Kang Cheol-min replied.
“It’s barely holding around thirty-five hwan.”
“To procure 100 million shares within two days….”
Park Jeong-ho held over 500 million shares of Daegung.
That meant fewer than 300 million physical certificates were circulating in the market. Procuring 100 million shares in two days was nearly impossible.
“I must meet Park Jeong-ho directly. He’s the only one in this market who could hand over 100 million shares in one go.”
“What are you saying now? You mean we’ll buy Park Jeong-ho’s shares for him? You mean we’ll help that bastard?”
“We’re not helping him. On May 31, we must deliver the physical shares we shorted. That’s the rule.”
“Can’t we just postpone it to next month? What’s so big about this?”
Cheon Sang-do scowled and shouted. I shook my head.
“May 31 will be the final settlement date. After that, the government will step in and forcibly clear—i.e., process as haeok (解玉)—all trades.”
“What? The government will unilaterally cancel legitimate trades? Does that make any sense?”
Cheon Sang-do tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand. I began to explain slowly.
“On May 31 the exchange will fall into insolvency. Even with the buyers’ margins, the amount the exchange must settle will be short by hundreds of millions of hwan. In the end, the government will likely provide emergency support for the May 31 settlement payments through the Bank of Korea and commercial banks under the pretext of preventing market collapse. But transactions after that… will probably be forcibly voided.”
Only then did Cheon Sang-do gape as if he finally understood.
“A normal government would never do that, but this is a military government now. If they set their minds to it, there’s nothing they can’t do….”
“That’s right.”
It was a development Cheon Sang-do found hard to comprehend.
In the original course of history, events would have unfolded this way, but with Jeong Tae-soo involved, it might not proceed exactly as expected.
So it was wise to take a conservative stance: take profits and get out. If they got greedy, they could lose everything.
“Still, I don’t feel good about making a deal with that Park Jeong-ho. Wouldn’t it be better to trade with those two brokerage guys instead?”
“Huh? Do those two brokerages hold one hundred million shares?”
“No, of course not. But receiving payment can be done in more ways than just that.”
Ah—I understood what he meant. I caught his intent immediately and continued the conversation.
“You were referring to the pure offset method, then.”
It was a transaction in which buy orders and sell orders were offset against each other, and only the difference was settled.
“Heh heh, as expected, the young boss speaks quickly — I like that. That’s right. Those two bosses must be dying over this; if we tell them we’ll place the buy orders for them, they’ll leap at it in gratitude.”
“Are you certain they’ll place sell orders at prices far below the current market price?”
“What price did you think of buying from that bastard Park Jeong-ho?”
“25 hwan.”
“What? 25 hwan? The market’s at 35 hwan now — would Park Jeong-ho sell at that price?”
At my answer, Cheon Sang-do laughed as if it were absurd. But that was already within our calculations.
“Park Jeong-ho was a man who knew the market better than anyone. He was capable of devising operations of this scale. So he would also know that, if this kept going, the Daegung stock would end up as nothing but scrap. An offer to buy 100 million shares at 25 hwan would be nothing less than a last straw for him. He wouldn’t be able to refuse.”
“Twenty-five hwan is awfully tight… I don’t have the confidence to persuade those two at that price.”
Cheon Sang-do trailed off, lacking confidence.
“There’s no reason for us to save those people at the expense of our profits.”
His voice was icy; Cheon Sang-do flinched. Meeting his eyes, I continued.
“This deal would generate roughly 2 billion hwan in profit. Chairman Cheon, you would have the opportunity to take 10% of that, 200 million hwan. If you wished to forgo this chance, I could see to your circumstances.”
“What the hell are you saying!”
Cheon Sang-do jumped to his feet in anger. Having come to me for money and shaken my hand, my remark had been intolerable.
“Then can you transact at 25 hwan? The deal must be completed by tomorrow for it to be offset on May 31. There was no time.”
A heavy silence settled in the room for a moment.
Cheon Sang-do pressed his lips together and rubbed his brow. He must have been frantically running numbers in his head.
Finally, as if he had decided, he nodded.
“All right. I will meet them in person and try to persuade them tonight somehow. Just give me one day.”
“Understood. But you must bring the result by tomorrow morning.”
At my words, Cheon Sang-do hurriedly grabbed his coat and bolted from the office. After he left, I instructed the remaining team members.
“From now on, stop placing all sell orders.”
At my command, the team halted their busy movements and set down their phones.
“Let’s call it for today and meet again tomorrow morning.”
Although the exchange had not yet closed, I gave everyone a rest. The long, long operation was slowly heading toward its end.
The next morning I arrived at the office early. The team members had already come and were waiting at their desks.
But Cheon Sang-do was nowhere to be seen.
“Chairman Cheon hasn’t arrived yet?”
They say talk of the tiger will bring it — just then the office door opened and Cheon Sang-do walked in.
He looked exhausted as if he had stayed up all night, and a strong smell of alcohol came from his breath.
“Heh heh, you all came early.”
“How did it go?”
When I asked directly, Cheon Sang-do’s mouth stretched into an ear-to-ear grin as if it could split the sky.
“It was a success. They agreed to place a sell order for 100 million shares at 25 hwan per share! We’re executing it this afternoon.”
“You negotiated well. That couldn’t have been easy.”
“Ah, don’t even mention it. I drank and talked until dawn to persuade them. They resisted until the end, saying they couldn’t do it. I told them who would buy this volume once their firm shut down, yelled at them, and finally got the stamp.”
Cheon Sang-do recounted the fierce negotiation of the previous night at length as if boasting of an adventure.
“You did well. Get some sleep for now. I’ll wake you at lunchtime.”
“Heh heh, will that be all right?”
“Yes. Today we’ll proceed only with the transactions with those two brokerages; we won’t place any additional sell or buy orders. If we finalize it today, the capital settlement on the 31st will be possible.”
“Then I ought to lie down for a bit.”
Cheon Sang-do went to the sofa in the corner, and as soon as he lay down he began to snore loudly.
I smirked at the sight. He had clearly had a rough night.
“The exchange is open.”
When the market opened, Kang Cheol-min and Yoon Ji-seong busied themselves checking prices in real time by phone.
Around lunchtime, when the exchange briefly closed, Yoon Ji-seong reported.
“The Daegung stock physical certificates have fallen to 30 hwan. Ordinary trades are fiercely contested around the 28 hwan level.”
“Most of the buy orders were coming from the three brokerages effectively controlled by Park Jeong-ho, right?”
“Yes. Over ninety percent were being absorbed by Hangang, Geumgang, and Taebaek.”
I clicked my tongue softly. They still intended to go to the end, it seemed… still unable to give up. Foolish.
“Kang Cheol-min. Orders placed from tomorrow will have settlement dates pushed into June, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Normal trades contracted on the 30th and 31st have the capital settlement date set for the 15th of the next month.”
“From tomorrow, place unlimited sell orders. Prepare in advance.”
“What? Didn’t you say we were done, Boss? You want to keep going?”
“No.”
I answered with an involuntary curl of my mouth.
“This is no longer about making money. I intended to push Park Jeong-ho completely over the cliff. The stocks we trade over the next two days probably won’t return as money.”
“Yes. We’ll prepare.”
At lunchtime, Cheon Sang-do, who had been sleeping on the sofa, sat up rumpled.
He yawned loudly, glanced at the clock on the wall, stretched, and said,
“Now it’s about time to go trade. Young boss, will you come along? At least watch.”
“No. I won’t. I don’t particularly want to meet them.”
“Then I’ll get the deal through nicely. Don’t worry—just wait.”
“Be careful out there, Chairman.”
About two hours later, Cheon Sang-do returned to the office.
He was carrying a document envelope in his hand.