Win-Win 2
“Ah, that stubborn old mule. Some things never change, even with age.”
Chairman Jin clicked his tongue and offered a bowl of makgeolli. Song Hyun-chang poured the drink with both hands.
“Were you hoping I’d lend you some money?”
“Where would I get money from? I spent it all on buying steel. I’m broke.”
“Looks like I’ll be paying for drinks today, then.”
“Isn’t it better to be broke but debt-free than to be drowning in debt? I’ll cover it today.”
After exchanging a few lighthearted jokes, Chairman Jin got to the point.
“Avoiding bankruptcy might be impossible. From what I’ve gathered, most think it’ll be settled before the presidential election.”
“The Daehyun Group is something else. Their network is so tight… I couldn’t find a single gap.”
Song had been hitting dead ends, realizing just how weak the connections A-Jin Group had were.
“All your efforts were in vain. Everyone you met bought houses and sent their kids to school with Daehyun’s money. But my network is a bit more intricate. Stronger.”
There was a hint of something in his words. Song Hyun-chang’s eyes sharpened.
“Go on, say what you want to say.”
“Why not face the inevitable bankruptcy quickly and start anew?”
This wasn’t about the usual slow repayment of debts. It was about wiping the slate clean in one go.
Song’s mind raced.
“Chairman Joo of Daehyun must have a plan. Get some debt relief, sell off a few A-Jin subsidiaries… Burn most of the shares, then use Daehyun’s funds to take over A-Jin completely.”
“Speaking from experience? You seem to know a lot.”
“I drew up that plan myself six years ago. Chairman Joo is just executing it now.”
“Didn’t that plan fail? I guess I can relax.”
“Lightning doesn’t strike twice. This time, there won’t be any scandals to shake the government, just a series of corporate bankruptcies. The odds of success are higher.”
“Then you should pay for the makgeolli. It’s unfair for me to pay when I’m about to be buried in debt.”
Song had already resigned himself to some extent, but hearing Jin speak as if it were a done deal made it all the more disheartening. Yet, Jin’s next words made his eyes widen.
“You pay. I’ll make sure you keep your chairman position.”
Jin wasn’t one to offer empty comfort. Every word he spoke carried weight in the business world.
“You said you were broke.”
“Is my money the only money? Money doesn’t have a name tag.”
Song Hyun-chang looked at Jin for a moment, then called out to the kitchen.
“Madam Okcheon! More pancakes and makgeolli, please.”
When the lady brought the food and left, Song poured out the makgeolli from Jin’s bowl.
“Let’s have a fresh start.”
Jin chuckled and held out his bowl.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Just let it go bankrupt.”
Song bit his lip but wanted to know what would happen next.
“And then?”
“Chairman Joo Young-il has already made his move. The creditors will whisper that they’ll save you if you come up with a self-rescue plan. Cooperate fully. Keep eight subsidiaries and sell off the rest. I’ll help find buyers.”
“And then?”
“An acquisition battle will begin.”
“Daehyun will be the only one submitting a letter of intent.”
“They’ll attach conditions to that letter. Debt relief. Share cancellation or reduction.”
“Of course.”
“What’s bad about that? Song, the debt you recklessly took on will be covered by taxpayers, and the reduced shares mean fewer stocks for the small investors and unions.”
So far, so good.
Cut out the rot and inject some nutrients to change the constitution. All with taxpayer money!
“And you’re suggesting I hand it over to Daehyun?”
Song’s lips trembled as he asked.
“Daehyun might take it, or an unexpected third party might.”
“Is that third party Sunyang?”
“I told you, I’m broke. There’s a new player coming in. You know them, Miracle Investment, foreign capital.”
“Miracle? You mean the one that showed up during the Hando Steel bid?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Jin took a long drink from his makgeolli bowl.
“Don’t get any strange ideas. I have no connection to them. They’re a completely American investment firm, and their president was a classmate of my youngest son. They just asked me to pass on a message.”
Song shook his head slightly.
“Are you saying you’re just a messenger? Who would believe that?”
“Believe it. I’m desperate to save the car business too.”
“What?”
“If Daehyun Motors acquires A-Jin Motors, Sunyang Motors will have to pull out. They’ll be crushed.”
Song still looked skeptical.
“Check it out. Miracle Investment has been around for almost ten years. It doesn’t make sense that I foresaw this situation and prepared back then. And why would I need to use someone else? If I had the money, I’d jump into the acquisition myself.”
“Alright. So what does this Miracle want?”
“What do money players want? To acquire A-Jin for cheap, grow it, and sell it for a high price.”
“Are they guaranteeing my position as chairman?”
“They don’t have anyone else to manage it anyway.”
Song downed a bowl of makgeolli.
“It won’t be for long, then.”
“A salaried chairman has to retire eventually. Even presidents only get five years.”
“Are you saying I’ll be guaranteed five years too?”
“Probably.”
“When the company stabilizes in five years and Miracle sells their shares, you could acquire it.”
“Ah, how long do I have left to live? Five years? I’m not interested.”
Jin put a piece of pancake in his mouth and set down his chopsticks.
“Miracle already holds some shares. They’ll call for an extraordinary general meeting. If you accept their proposal, the meeting will go smoothly, right?”
Having said all he needed to, Jin stood up.
“Song, can I say one more thing?”
“Go ahead.”
Song Hyun-chang also stood up awkwardly.
“This place’s makgeolli isn’t great. The pancakes are so-so. They only tasted good because we were hungry after hiking.”
Song’s eyes sparkled for a moment.
“That’s right. Everything tastes good when you’re hungry.”
“You know it. Haha.”
He had already answered. Song Hyun-chang knew better than anyone that now wasn’t the time to be picky.
“Daehyun’s massive offensive will begin. They’ll paint you as an incompetent, greedy old man and summon you. They’ll pressure the prosecution to put you in the spotlight in front of the prosecutor’s office.”
“Is that part of the plan you made?”
“When public anger is high and bankruptcy hits, there’s no room for sympathy. That’s when Daehyun, disguised as experts, will appear as saviors, and there’ll be no opposition.”
Jin nodded with a smile.
“I’ll handle the prosecution, so don’t worry… But there will be some articles.”
It’s not out of concern for Song but to prevent his grandson’s plan to keep Song as chairman from being hindered by a tarnished image.
Song nodded lightly and spoke.
“Stop demanding an extraordinary general meeting. It’ll only make Daehyun wary. You’re not planning to demand an audit at the meeting, are you? I’ll open up the company enough that there’s no need. Tell them to bid confidently.”
“I will. Haha.”
Jin left the bar with a satisfied smile.
Without paying for the drinks…
Under the guise of an emergency audit, dozens of experts took over the main conference room at A-Jin Group’s headquarters.
They discovered that billions in loans had been funneled into ghost companies and were lying dormant in the stock market. They also found evidence of purchasing more than three times the number of work gloves needed for the car factory.
A-Jin Construction, unrelated to automobiles, was essentially a slush fund channel.
Accountants from Miracle Investment were astounded by the accountants from Sunyang Group’s audit team.
They found billions in slush funds from a single number and uncovered factory corruption from a single car part.
They even discovered a shocking case of corruption.
A company supplying 7mm hex bolts regularly bribed assembly line workers, not managers, to ensure only their bolts were used instead of the 6mm ones from other suppliers.
This was the cause of a massive recall three years ago.
“But… how do you know all this? Are you from the prosecutor’s financial investigation department?”
“You all have foreign experience, right?”
“Yes, but…”
When a curious Miracle accountant asked, the Sunyang Group audit team members burst into laughter. It was a clear scoff.
“A-Jin’s guys are amateurs. Their methods are crude. Not sophisticated.”
“In Korea, this is child’s play. Surprising, isn’t it? That a country with such rampant corruption developed so rapidly?”
“Bribery and embezzlement, that’s the real driving force behind economic growth. Hahaha.”
As every last penny of A-Jin Motors’ hidden funds came to light, Daehyun Group was in a state of continuous emergency meetings.
“What about the prosecution? Why are those bastards so quiet?”
“They say it’s difficult to summon someone based on circumstantial evidence alone.”
“It’s just a witness summons! How hard can it be?”
“Well… if it were an ordinary person, maybe, but since it’s someone quite significant, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has ordered caution…”
“What do you mean, ‘not significant enough’? And the media? Why are they going so easy on this? Didn’t I tell you to hit them as hard as you would with a celebrity drug scandal?”
As Chairman Joo Young-il’s voice grew louder, the voices of the meeting attendees grew quieter.
“Ch-chairman, it seems someone is protecting Ajin. The newspapers are publishing articles, but they seem a bit hesitant…”
“That’s right. You know how influential Hansung Daily is…”
“So what? Didn’t we flood Hansung Daily with ads? Didn’t I tell you to plaster them with corporate ads?”
“We did. But not a single line has been published.”
“What the hell? Is it true they’re planning to ally with Sunyang?”
“It seems so. If we absorb Ajin Motors, Sunyang would be the most affected.”
“Damn it! Of all times! And Chairman Jin, too. Is he really using his grandson as a pawn?”
No one dared to speak. After all, wasn’t Chairman Joo himself related to a media mogul by marriage?
Considering that it’s common for grandsons far down the succession line to be sent off to media companies, Sunyang’s move was particularly bold.
And wasn’t he the eldest grandson?
As Chairman Joo’s heavy breathing finally calmed, the president of Daehyun Motors cautiously gauged the mood.
“Chairman, the tide has already turned. Our main bank will make a decision next week.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Even the moneylenders in Myeongdong have turned their backs, so there’s no chance of securing emergency funds.”
Just as the president of Daehyun Motors assured, Ajin Motors became a target of the ‘Standstill Agreement,’ a financial institution agreement established by the government on April 21, 1997, to prevent a chain of bankruptcies among insolvent companies.
To qualify for the agreement, Ajin Motors submitted a management rights waiver, a union agreement on wage and personnel reductions, and a consent form for the dispatch of a financial management team.
During the two-month grace period, Ajin Motors began the covert operation of siphoning off hidden slush funds.
The masterminds behind this operation were none other than Ajin’s Chairman Song Hyun-chang, Miracle’s Oh Se-hyun, and Sunyang’s Chairman Jin Yang-cheol.