Securing the support of the National Economic Party was essential for bringing IIT to Korea.
I continued speaking to convince Representative Choi Jae-seok.
"If that's the concern, we can resolve it by increasing Taewoo Group's public recruitment by more than 20% compared to last year. Also, if IIT graduates are hired through a special
recruitment process, they won't be seen as direct competitors. And 20% of the students admitted to the IIT Korea campus will be guaranteed to be Korean."
"Do you really think it will be that easy? To quell public opinion among job seekers, drastic
measures will be necessary."
"If every IIT graduate ends up working at tech giants like Apple, Google, Amazon, or Facebook, it will be difficult for people to complain."
People tend to feel competitive toward those in similar situations.
But when it comes to someone who has already climbed a tree they themselves cannot, they feel awe rather than rivalry. IIT graduates were precisely such people worthy of respect.
"Hmm, still, calming the public won't be easy."
"There's another justification. If an IIT campus is established in Korea, we can bring in worldrenowned faculty. We have already secured professors whose credentials rival those at prestigious universities abroad."
"Talent attraction and development, plus renowned faculty—it's a good justification, but it's not quite convincing yet."
I presented the final reason to persuade Representative Choi.
There was one more justification that could convince not just him but everyone.
"If the IIT Korea campus is successfully established, we can attract research centers of major companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple to Korea. These labs will collaborate with IIT and significantly advance Korea's IT industry."
"...I'm convinced. For that reason alone, we must bring IIT to Korea."
"Tech giants are establishing bases by continent, mostly choosing Hong Kong or Japan. But by starting with IIT Korea, we can relocate these hubs to Korea. It will greatly benefit Korea's economic development."
Every city was striving to attract companies.
Attracting businesses created many jobs and significantly boosted tax revenues. It was no
different for a country.
Nations needed to attract many companies to develop.
Governments offered various benefits such as tax breaks to attract businesses.
"Hmm, for Korea to become Asia's hub, various laws will be needed. Not just for IIT Korea but
also for passing legislation granting benefits to foreign companies entering Korea."
"If you do that, it will greatly help Korea's development. But you'll have to deal with the major parties—are you ready for that?"
Politics was ultimately about compromise.
To gain one thing, you had to give another.
To prevent others from gaining something, you had to sacrifice your own.
To pass the IIT Korea legislation, the National Economic Party would have to concede to the demands of the major parties.
"There's one law that the ruling and opposition parties are fighting over intensely right now. If we can mediate well on that, IIT Korea's approval will go smoothly."
"If it's not about impeachment, could it be the capital relocation issue?"
"That's right. The president campaigned on relocating the capital to the Chungcheong region and was elected on that promise. The matter is currently being reviewed by the Constitutional Court."
Capital relocation.
It was an ambitious plan to move the capital from Seoul to Chungcheong.
The goal was to ease the overconcentration in Seoul by decentralizing to another region —
similar to how Washington D.C. functions in the U.S.
"The Constitutional Court is likely to rule it unconstitutional."
"Is that what you think? As far as I know, there isn't much constitutional issue with it."
"You can tell just by looking at public opinion. A poll conducted in the metropolitan area showed about 3% more people opposed the move."
"Well, that's because it was a poll conducted in the metropolitan area. If a nationwide poll or a public referendum were held, the results might be reversed. Especially since support in the
Chungcheong region is very high."
There was another reason why the capital relocation was deemed impossible.
It was also the Constitutional Court's reasoning for ruling against the move.
"Have you heard of 'customary constitution'?"
"Yes. I understand it means customs widely accepted by the people that are recognized legally. Do you really think the Constitutional Court will rule the move unconstitutional by citing the custom that Seoul is the capital?"
"That's very likely."
As I remembered, most politicians were unaware of this customary constitutional law.
The Constitutional Court ruled the capital relocation unconstitutional based on customary law.
"Hmm, then it will be difficult for the National Economic Party to mediate. I planned to act as a broker between the ruling and opposition parties, but if the Constitutional Court rules it
unconstitutional, there won't be any room to intervene."
"What if the capital isn't completely relocated, but only administrative agencies move to
Chungcheong? If the Blue House and National Assembly remain in Seoul, the Constitutional
Court would find it difficult to rule it unconstitutional."
That was how Sejong Special Autonomous City came to be.
Not as the capital, but under the name of an administrative city, the move of administrative
agencies was made possible.
However, it took several more years of political battles before Sejong City was finally established.
But what if we intervene now?
If Representative Choi Jae-seok could broker a compromise between the ruling and opposition parties on creating an administrative city rather than relocating the capital outright, the move of administrative agencies could proceed more quickly.
"We need to enter negotiations before the Constitutional Court issues its ruling. If the court
declares it unconstitutional, the opposition will likely refuse to negotiate altogether."
"The faster we act, the easier the negotiation will be."
"I'll organize a meeting of party leaders under the National Economic Party's name. If we invite plenty of media and hold it with the aim of promoting a healthy political culture without fighting, wouldn't that lead to more constructive dialogue rather than pointless power struggles?"
It seemed that Representative Choi had no intention of passing the bill through secret collusion.
Instead, he wanted to openly negotiate so that everyone could share the gains they wanted.
This was only possible because even the two major parties needed the National Economic Party's help to pass the bill.
"The leaders of the major parties are seasoned political veterans. You might end up giving more than you get."
"Well, as long as I play my cards right between them, that shouldn't be a problem. Besides,
would they even notice me if they're busy fighting each other? Haha."
Choi was an experienced politician.
From the detailed intelligence I had, I knew he had the political skills to stand his ground against anyone.
***
Two days later.
A meeting of party leaders from the major parties and the National Economic Party was held with many journalists invited.
Perhaps because of the cameras, they kept smiling throughout, but they would surely reveal their true colors once the cameras were off.
"What do you think the outcome will be, Director?"
"Doesn't look easy. If both sides accept a compromise on the administrative capital issue, then the IIT Korea campus could move forward, but their opinions differ too much to expect an easy agreement."
"The ruling party might be satisfied with just the administrative capital issue, but the opposition will want something in return. They might push for one of the promises from the last presidential election."
"We'll have to wait until the talks conclude to know for sure."
Political matters like this were Choi's responsibility.
That was why we brought him in — to reduce such burdens.
"Let's put the IIT issue on hold until we have a result. How is the progress on securing raw
material mines?"
"Most preliminary contracts have been signed. A few are delayed, but we should be able to
finalize everything before the end of the year."
"Then it's time to move to the next stage. We need to step up our electric vehicle research."
We had poured a great deal of money into electric vehicle development over a long period.
The three essential components of an electric car were the battery, the drive motor, and the body.
For batteries, we had acquired Japan's largest battery manufacturer, and also brought in CL
Group's battery division.
Next was the body.
There was no question about this—Taewoo Motors and Kia Motors were already spending
massive research budgets every year on body development.
The last remaining issue was the drive motor.
If the internal combustion engine was the heart of a traditional car, then the drive motor was the heart of an electric vehicle.
"How far along is the development of the drive motor for electric cars?"
"We've been continuing research, but the output hasn't yet reached a level that can replace
internal combustion engines."
Electric vehicle research was a field even my grandfather had taken an interest in.
Taewoo Motors had made electric cars even before the foreign exchange crisis, so it had
considerable related technology.
But it still wasn't enough.
To produce commercially viable electric vehicles, technology had to be several times better than what we currently had.
"I'll increase the research budget. If that still doesn't work, we can consider acquiring a company known for drive motors."
"We'll do that. But experts say it will take at least 15 more years before electric vehicles hit the market."
"You think that's too fast a timeline?"
"We do need to keep researching electric vehicles, but even now we spend much more on
research than other automakers. Increasing the budget further might be a bit unrealistic. And even if we succeed in making electric cars, their market viability is still uncertain."
The automobile market was still dominated by internal combustion engines.
So electric vehicles hadn't attracted much attention yet.
Well, time would solve this problem.
As time passed, global concern about environmental pollution would grow.
When that day came, electric vehicles, which caused relatively less pollution, would inevitably receive more attention.
"If we were the only ones entering the electric car market, we might get less attention, but others are planning to launch electric vehicles around the same time as us."
"To my knowledge, among major automakers in Korea, Japan, Germany, and the U.S., no one has yet started serious electric vehicle research. They're mostly just making experimental models."
"Leading the market doesn't have to be the job of a big automaker. Small companies can succeed in the electric vehicle market too."
The company I was talking about was Tesla.
I had already long ago marked Tesla as a running mate for the electric vehicle business.
In my previous life, Tesla had been the market leader in electric cars, but in this life, it would
have to compete at the forefront alongside Taewoo Motors.