Betrayal and Strategy. Part 2
Hong So-young’s hands trembled slightly as she unfolded the morning newspaper.
This was the third day in a row.
Rachel from Miracle, who had mentioned Sunyang Electronics, had returned to the U.S. without any further action, yet the Hanseong Daily had been running special articles for three consecutive days.
At first glance, the articles seemed to state the obvious—that the true owners of a corporation are its shareholders, not the family in charge. But the underlying message was clearly aimed at a specific target: her in-laws.
Her father-in-law and husband hadn’t said a word, but the looks they gave her at the breakfast table were full of unspoken accusations.
Instead of having breakfast, Hong So-young joined the morning rush of ordinary commuters.
Chairman Hong, who was always the first to arrive at the office, felt a pang of concern when he saw his daughter storm into his office. He wondered if she had faced harsh criticism from her in-laws.
“What brings you here so early in the morning?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
Unlike her dramatic entrance, Hong So-young’s voice was subdued.
“You should be the one telling me what’s going on, Father. Why are you doing this?”
Knowing his perceptive daughter, there was no need to play dumb or beat around the bush.
“It’s company policy.”
“And what exactly is that policy?”
“We’ve decided to follow the bigger advertiser, rather than your in-laws. It’s in the company’s best interest, so it’s not for you to question.”
“Are you saying you’ve chosen a fresh-faced newcomer over your own son-in-law?”
“Not a newcomer, but our largest advertiser. It’s a reasonable choice by any standard.”
Her father’s words about reasonableness unleashed the anger Hong So-young had been holding back.
“When you made that ‘reasonable’ choice, did you even consider your daughter’s feelings? How could you do this?”
“I don’t expect much, but I’ll ask anyway. Did your in-laws tell you to come and confront me?”
“Dad!”
She was so upset that she reverted to the way she spoke as a child.
“Did you really not think about me at all? Or your grandchildren?”
“Calm down. This is business. You should be more concerned about Hanseong Daily than your in-laws.”
For a while, father and daughter just glared at each other.
It was the daughter who spoke first. She had regained her composure and returned to her usual pragmatic self.
“If this continues, I can’t stay in that house. Have you thought about that?”
“I’ve considered even worse scenarios.”
“What?”
“If your in-laws lose even the remaining electronics and trading divisions, will you still want to play the role of the eldest daughter-in-law? Or should you?”
Chairman Hong didn’t miss the flicker of uncertainty in his daughter’s eyes.
“You married him after just one meeting. You’ve lived with Jin Young-jun for over a decade and had two children, but I’ve never seen you two exchange a warm glance. Am I wrong?”
What she wanted, and still wants, is to be the lady of the Sunyang Group. Even when Jin Young-jun came home every night smelling of another woman, it didn’t make her angry.
There were times when she couldn’t hold back her frustration. Like when her aunt squandered the department store, or when HW Group took over construction and heavy industries. She couldn’t help but lash out at her husband about her father-in-law’s incompetence.
“The scales have already tipped. Jin Do-jun is as remarkable as the late Chairman Jin had chosen him to be. Your father-in-law will step back from the group, just like Vice Chairman Jin Dong-ki. Your husband will be no different.”
Chairman Hong spoke softly, observing his daughter. She didn’t explode in anger, which meant she sensed the impending crisis.
“If I cling to loyalty and hold onto a sinking ship, you’ll only witness both your in-laws and your own family going down together. Is that what you want?”
Hong So-young, who had been sighing repeatedly, looked directly at Chairman Hong.
“What if you’re wrong, Father?”
“What?”
“What if they manage to hold onto the electronics and trading divisions, and even expand their subsidiaries like Daehyun Motor Group, regaining their former glory?”
“My judgment isn’t wrong.”
Hong So-young gathered her things and stood up.
“I hope you’ve made the right decision, Father. If not, you’ll have ruined your daughter’s life. But, Father…”
Chairman Hong’s heart skipped a beat at his daughter’s hardened expression.
“My father-in-law, the captain of the sinking ship, and my husband, the chief engineer, are strangely calm and at peace. Why do you think that is? You should find out.”
Chairman Hong watched his daughter leave with a heavy heart, her final words lingering in his mind.
Shouldn’t her in-laws be anything but at peace?
＊＊＊
“How on earth did you manage to win over Hanseong Daily? Weren’t they our eternal adversaries?” Chairman Lee Hak-jae tossed the newspaper aside as he spoke.
“There’s no such thing as a permanent enemy. If there’s something to gain, you pretend to be the best of friends.”
“What did you offer them?”
“What else can you offer a media company besides advertising? Oh, and by the way, we can start sharing HW Group’s ads more generously now.”
“And what did you get in return?”
“The obvious. They’ll start singing my praises. I’ll be the star of the show. Haha.”
“Looks like that household is in for a whirlwind.”
“You knew that already, didn’t you? They were only a couple in name. Oh? Come to think of it, Young-jun will probably love this. Once he’s single, he’ll be running around trying to have every woman in the world…”
“Is Young-jun still up to his old antics?” Chairman Lee frowned in disapproval.
“These days, he’s obsessed with girl groups. I hear he’s known as the ultimate ‘uncle fan’ in the industry, and the agencies treat him like royalty.”
“Don’t tell me those girls who are now appearing in ads went through Young-jun?”
“No, he’s not that blatant anymore. He just throws a few million won to agency heads for herbal medicine or a few billion for single releases or music videos.”
“To the agency heads? Not the girls?”
“Yes. The agency heads are thrilled to receive untaxed cash. So, agencies raising new talent line up to get in Young-jun’s good graces. Of course, he gives the girl group members pocket money and buys them cars.”
Chairman Lee started to give me a sidelong glance.
“Are you collecting that kind of dirt?”
“I have a couple of very incriminating pieces. If Hanseong Daily exposes them, his wife will be thrilled. What better grounds for divorce could there be?”
“Using that kind of dirt against your own brother… you’re really something.”
“Being in the industry, you naturally hear things. I didn’t go out of my way to investigate.”
That’s only half true.
Usually, you just hear rumors, but when it came to particularly damaging ones, my brother Sang-jun always made sure to verify them. Not that I asked him to, but he thought it might be useful for me.
In our family, the only ones who help each other are Sang-jun and me.
“Anyway, there’s something I need to discuss.”
“Go ahead.”
“Due to the recent savings bank crisis, about seven of them are closing down.”
Savings banks, originally known as mutual savings banks, were established in 1972.
They were created to provide financial convenience for the common people and small businesses, as opposed to the major banks focused on large corporations. But money never really moved for the common people or small businesses.
From the mid-2000s, real estate project financing (PF) loans became the ‘golden goose,’ and savings banks entered their heyday.
By the end of 2010, PF loans had reached 17.4 trillion won, with all the money concentrated in Busan.
But as the real estate market cooled, the once-thriving PF loans collapsed. Savings banks, rife with insolvency and corruption, faced the worst due to the government’s belated actions.
The most rotten part was that the day before operations were suspended, major depositors withdrew all their money and disappeared, leaving ordinary people who had deposited their hard-earned savings for a bit more interest to lose everything.
“It doesn’t concern us, does it? Did Sunyang Financial get involved?”
“No. Would I dabble in small change? What I’m suggesting is that once the savings bank cleanup is complete, Sunyang Life and Securities are considering acquiring one.”
Chairman Lee pondered for a moment.
“Savings banks are handy for quick cash, so they might be useful for our automotive, construction, or heavy industries. If you think it’s necessary, we can proceed.”
“Are you trying to avoid using your own money now? Isn’t Miracle our HW Group’s savings bank? Haha.”
“I’m just saying it’s not a bad idea to secure one more asset while we have the chance. If it’s unnecessary…”
“Let’s go ahead. We can’t rely on the major shareholders’ pockets forever.”
“Alright. Then we’ll cover half of the acquisition cost from HW Group.”
“What?”
Chairman Lee’s eyes widened.
“Why are you hesitating when you’re the one who’ll be using the bank’s money the most? You should invest a little.”
“Wow, you’ve really become a full-fledged chaebol now. Planning to grow your wealth using company money instead of your own? Haha.”
As we exchanged jokes and laughter, the phone suddenly rang.
“Director, where are you right now?”
It was a call from Miracle in Yeouido.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“An extraordinary shareholders’ meeting is being held. Yeouido is in an uproar.”
“Calm down and tell me in detail. Where is this happening?”
“At Sunyang Trading.”
“What? Sunyang Trading?”
I was so shocked that I jumped to my feet. Chairman Lee blinked in surprise at the mention of Sunyang Trading.
“Yes. The agenda is definitely a merger.”
“A merger? You mean Sunyang Trading is merging with someone?”
“Well… it’s with Sunyang Ad Media.”
“Sunyang Ad Media? Isn’t that an advertising company?”
It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck him.
Jin Young-jun owned the majority of shares in this company.
After hanging up, he turned to Chairman Lee.
“They’re merging Sunyang Trading with Sunyang Ad Media. An extraordinary shareholders’ meeting is being called soon.”
“What? Ad Media? How does that even make sense?”
There was only one way it could make sense.
They could merge at a ratio of one Sunyang Trading share to about a thousand Sunyang Ad Media shares.
Normally, they wouldn’t go through such a convoluted process. The standard approach would be for Sunyang Trading to acquire over 51% of Sunyang Ad Media’s shares. I dialed the phone again.
“Get me the breakdown of Sunyang Ad Media’s share structure, quickly.”
Chairman Lee wasn’t idle either.
“Hey, it’s me… Is something going on? There’s a rumor that Trading is merging with some small company. What? You don’t know? Come on, you can’t not know this! Are you planning to never show your face to me again?”
He shouted into the receiver a few more times before hanging up, defeated.
“It’s true. An executive from Sunyang Trading’s planning department just confirmed it. He said he received the notice for the shareholders’ meeting just now… It seems like they kept it under wraps.”
“If they’re calling a shareholders’ meeting for this…”
“They’re playing games with the merger ratio.”
“Surely not a 1:1 ratio…?”
“Would they really? That would cause the stock to plummet, and the shareholders wouldn’t stand for it. At most, it would be 1:10.”
It was just a comforting thought.
This was clearly a move to solidify Sunyang Trading’s control, so they would definitely go for a 1:1 ratio.
The phone rang again.
“78% is owned by Jin Young-jun, 10% by Vice Chairman Jin Young-ki. The rest is held by Sunyang Ad Media’s executives.”
Damn it, just as expected, it’s 100% Jin Young-jun’s company.