novelraw Chapter 69 : It Was Taking an Enormous Risk
Chapter 69 : It Was Taking an Enormous Risk
Chapter 69: It Was Taking an Enormous Risk
Since the money could not be found anyway, making a gesture of cooperation with the government's policy was the best I could do at that time.
“At times like this, the wisest course was to lie flat and keep your head down. The government probably did not grasp the full extent of Mr. Yang’s total assets. If you presented the pretext of contributing to the nation’s modernization on behalf of the Chinese community, and in return negotiated for leniency toward the overseas Chinese, it might actually paint a favorable picture.”
I’ll pass that directly on to Dae-in.
“Yes. Oh, and when you negotiate with the government, be sure to do it through Deputy Manager Noh Ki-tae. You never know what tricks others might pull in the middle.”
When I had been taken to the KCIA, Yang Sobo had put Noh Ki-tae in motion.
Yang Sobo had mentioned having ties with him, but it was also because Noh Ki-tae was not the sort of person to pull a stunt.
He will discuss that with Dae-in as well. Anything else? By the way, when are you coming up to Seoul?
“I’ll come up as soon as things wrapped up in Busan. But the mood here in Busan Chinatown wasn’t good at all.”
Zhang Wei, unusually, let out a long, deep sigh.
…Right now Seoul and Incheon are such a handful that there was no room to worry about anything else.
“Hmm……. Then I’ll handle advising on this side.”
Would you? Dae-in would be grateful.
“Yes. Since I received help from President Wang, I must repay him. Well then, I’ll hang up now.”
I also hung up and let out a deep sigh. I regretted that if I had warned Yang Sobo in advance he might have minimized the damage.
But I quickly shook my head.
No. If Yang Sobo had shown abnormal movements just before the currency reform, the government would have only become more suspicious of him. And that backlash would have bounced right back to me.
So this was force majeure. I wiped away the sting of regret and guilt, opened the office door, and stepped outside.
The first-floor restaurant was still teeming with people trembling with anxiety. A deep shadow lay over President Wang’s face.
“President Wang.”
All the eyes around him turned to me at once.
Their looks even seemed desperate. They had also known I had just finished the call with Zhang Wei.
“Let’s speak quietly for a moment.”
President Wang nodded and followed me back into the office. No sooner had the door closed than he asked urgently.
“Mr. Baek. What on earth did Dae-in say he would do?”
“His circumstances weren’t any better. From what I’d been told…….”
I briefly relayed the countermeasures Yang Sobo had been considering, which I had heard from Zhang Wei.
After I finished explaining everything, despair deepened on President Wang’s face.
“I see. So you don’t have the capacity to worry about us as well. If Dae-in is that strained…….”
“President Wang, and the other overseas Chinese here in Chinatown, why not deposit as many bankbooks as possible and split the funds across them for safekeeping for now?”
“…….”
President Wang shook his head weakly.
“Most people here couldn’t hold out like Mr. Yang. Half of them lived hand to mouth, and that money was the life’s savings they’d painfully accumulated. Their situations weren’t comfortable enough to wait idly for account freezes to be lifted.”
Just as I expected. I already knew they couldn’t use the same method as Yang Sobo. Time to move to the next step.
“Shall I help you a little?”
At my abrupt offer, President Wang looked at me with startled eyes.
“You’d help? What do you mean?”
“First, deposit all the money you have into banks. Bring me the bankbooks and the registered seals, and I’ll convert the deposited amounts into dollars from what I have.”
“Right now the black-market money changers have all shut their doors. No matter what you offered, they’re refusing dollar exchanges. But…… you say you would exchange those precious dollars for us, Mr. Baek?”
Those in the black market had the keenest noses for this kind of thing.
Their closing their doors was an unmistakable sign that this crisis would not end easily. President Wang’s surprise was because he knew this well.
“I ‘happened’ to bring some dollars down to Busan. Since this unfortunate thing occurred, I wanted to help in any way I could. I had been helped before, too.”
I emphasized the coincidence and pretended to be magnanimous.
“However…… there’s a condition. The exchange rate is 3,000 hwan per dollar. So thinking in terms of the new currency, that would be 300 won.”
Three hundred to one. A murderous rate far above the current black-market rate. But they would have no choice.
President Wang made a small sound and sneaked a glance at me, then spoke cautiously.
“That’s…… quite high.”
“The rate is high, but I was taking on an enormous risk as well.”
I said coldly. I wanted them to understand who held the advantage in this deal.
“If the government didn’t lift the account freezes, or if an investigation into the sources of funds came and froze that money, I would lose everything too.”
President Wang stared at me for a long time without saying a word.
He must have been running fierce calculations in his head. Should he secure a safe asset like dollars even if it cost him a large portion of his fortune, or should he risk everything that might be frozen?
Soon he seemed to make up his mind and nodded with a resolute expression.
“……I will at least pass this on to the others.”
“I’ll exchange up to 1,000,000 hwan per bankbook. I won’t force anyone. Just consider it a small kindness offered to help get through these hard times.”
President Wang’s pupils trembled as if his thoughts were in turmoil.
“We know how precious dollars and yen are in this situation…… more than anyone.”
“And one more thing. Crackdowns on black-market dollar transactions would become unimaginably severe from now on. Please be especially careful about keeping things secure.”
“Yes. Don’t worry about that. If anything went wrong, it would be our necks on the line.”
Together with President Wang, I returned to my quarters on the third floor of Deokhwaru.
There was probably a heated debate going on downstairs. Some would bring their bankbooks to exchange for dollars through me, while others would choose to wait.
But I didn’t care which choice they made. It wasn’t as though I was helping them out of pure goodwill.
A month later, my investment would return to me doubled.
On Monday morning, the streets of Busan were utter chaos.
The shocking announcement broadcast over the radio on Saturday night—people who had stayed up sleepless all weekend rushed to the banks as soon as dawn broke.
In particular, in Jungang-dong, the financial center of Busan, thousands of people had gathered in front of the Citizens Bank Busan Branch even before it opened, forming a massive barricade of human bodies.
“Open the door! Give me back my money!”
“What kind of bolt from the blue is this! The government’s stealing our money!”
When the heavy iron doors of the bank finally opened, the pent-up anger and fear exploded all at once.
“My money! Give me back my money!”
“You thieves! Swindlers! Hand over the money!”
The mob trying to pour into the bank had to stop at the entrance. Soldiers armed with rifles were standing guard, eyes sharp with vigilance.
“Please follow the instructions.”
“Line up! You’ll go in one at a time, in order!”
The soldiers began forcing order by allowing only a few people inside at a time.
Those who had been shouting complaints fell silent under the black muzzles of the guns pointed at them. Under the pretext of protecting vital state facilities, it was essentially martial law.
After waiting about an hour on the street, I finally managed to enter the bank. Inside the tellers’ hall was just as chaotic.
“What did you say? 500 won? I’m depositing my entire life savings—100,000 hwan—and you’re giving me only 500 won? What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
A middle-aged woman screamed as if ready to grab the teller by the collar.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s an order from above—there’s nothing we can do….”
“No, listen here, miss! What kind of nonsense is this! You’re telling me I can’t spend my own money?”
“I’m sorry….”
“Give me back my money, you thieves!”
As the commotion grew louder, one of the soldiers on guard approached. His face was devoid of any emotion.
“Is there a problem here?”
“Look here! I’m depositing 100,000 hwan, and you’re telling me I can withdraw only 500 won? Does that make any sense at all…?”
“It’s a decision handed down by the government.”
“What? How can the government arbitrarily touch my private property….”
“Are you, by any chance, a spy following orders from the North?”
At the soldier’s cold words, the noisy lobby instantly fell so silent you could have heard a pin drop.
“W–What are you talking about! That’s absurd!”
“If not, then please quietly follow the government’s directive.”
Similar disturbances broke out a few more times, but faced with guns and threats, people’s anger could only be forcibly suppressed.
After a long wait, it was finally my turn at the counter.
I handed over the flight registration certificate and the seal stamp that Yang Sobo had prepared for me a few days earlier. Then I took a bundle containing 1.54 million hwan from my bag and placed it on the counter.
“I’d like to open a new account and deposit all this money.”
At my calm tone, the young bank clerk, frantically handling paperwork, lifted his head.
He looked briefly startled by the clean identity documents and the large bundle of cash before proceeding mechanically with the process.
Before long, a new bankbook was issued, and the permitted withdrawal of 500 won was placed on the counter. As I picked it up, I asked,
“And one more thing I’d like to check.”
I pulled out the bankbook and checkbook from the Citizens Bank headquarters in Seoul.
“There’s some money deposited in this account. Could you check whether this account has also been frozen?”
The clerk took the unfamiliar bankbook, glanced at the recorded balance, and looked momentarily flustered before shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, sir. Our branch can’t directly access account information from the Seoul headquarters. We’d have to call and inquire with them directly.”
“Please check for me. I’d really appreciate it.”
“Please wait just a moment.”
The clerk took the bankbook to his superior, a section chief who had been watching the situation from behind.
After checking the huge amount recorded in the book, the section chief looked back and forth between my face and the bankbook several times before hurrying into the branch manager’s office.
Moments later, the door to the office opened, and both the manager and the section chief came out. The manager crossed the chaotic lobby straight toward me, wearing a polite, businesslike smile.
“Are you Mr. Baek Min-woo?”
“Yes, I’m Baek Min-woo.”
“To confirm the status of your account with headquarters, it’ll probably take about an hour. If you don’t mind, would you care to wait in my office and have some tea?”
“I wouldn’t want to trouble you.”
“Oh, nonsense. For someone who’s about to become one of our bank’s major clients? Not at all. Please, allow me.”
The courteous branch manager smiled repeatedly and gestured toward his office. From his accent, he didn’t seem to be from Busan—his Seoul dialect was natural.
I didn’t refuse further and followed him into the manager’s office. Before closing the door, he told a young female clerk who had been working behind the counters to bring us some tea.
When the door shut, the manager offered me the seat of honor on the reception sofa.
“Please, have a seat here, Mr. Baek.”
I accepted his courtesy and sank deeply into the soft leather sofa.
The manager carefully sat across from me.
“Well… if you don’t mind me asking, may I know what line of work you’re in?”
“I’m preparing to start a small business in Seoul.”
“Ah, I see. Then what brings you to Busan…?”
“I came briefly on business, and suddenly I heard the news about the currency reform. I was so surprised I rushed over here right away.”
“We were shocked too. All our staff only found out after hearing the radio announcement.”
“Really?”
I looked at the manager with a skeptical expression.
“No matter if it’s a military government, how could they distribute new currency to every bank nationwide in just one day? It seems impossible without prior preparation.”
At my sharp question, a flicker of embarrassment crossed the manager’s face, but he quickly composed himself and laughed awkwardly.
“Haha, it’s true. They mobilized soldiers and carried it out in no time. Overnight, they collected all the hwan in the vaults and replaced them with won by dawn. They worked so fast that even we were astonished.”
Just then, there was a knock, and the young female clerk came in carrying fragrant black tea.
Her hands trembled slightly as she set down the cups before quietly leaving.
“This is the tea we serve only to special guests. Please, have a taste.”
I took a sip of the black tea and continued chatting with the manager.
How much time had passed?
There was another knock, and the same section chief from earlier entered, holding a document envelope.
He whispered a few words into the manager’s ear before leaving again. The manager then looked at me with an awkward expression.