There were several reasons why I chose Tesla as a running mate.
First, it was a company that had already proven the potential of electric vehicles before my return.
Second, I already owned 50% of Tesla's shares.
Tesla and Taewoo Motors.
No matter who won, I would gain an overwhelming advantage.
The electric vehicle market was so vast that no single company could monopolize it, making
mutual growth possible.
How far along was Tesla?
To get detailed information, I called one of the team leaders.
[What's going on? It's unusual to get a call at this hour.]
"I wanted to check on how Tesla's progress is going."
[The electric vehicle experts we hired earlier met with CEO Musk and formed an electric vehicle company. As per the agreement, SAVE Investment acquired 50% of the shares, and I personally confirmed they have begun full-scale R&D.]
I forced events to proceed as history dictated.
Tesla was not originally founded by Musk, but by two developers.
I had already recruited them earlier and invested in their R&D to accelerate electric vehicle
research.
But that alone wasn't enough.
Musk was needed to stabilize and lead Tesla to success.
I orchestrated their meeting as if by chance so history could unfold properly.
"Don't hold back on investment. This company can return tens of times the capital."
[To be honest, it feels like we're getting too easy a ride. If we just use the batteries we've
developed over years with astronomical funding, we can make electric cars, right?]
"Batteries are important, but other technologies are equally critical."
[Understood. We'll invest far more than they want.]
"Keep your voice down. We'll never be at a loss."
Tesla was created as history intended.
But the outcome would arrive even sooner than history.
Because we had already developed batteries far superior to those available before my return, at an astronomical cost.
Still, releasing an electric car immediately wasn't possible.
It would take at least 3 to 5 years to produce a proper electric vehicle, and the groundwork was being laid now.
[Ah! And the U.S. presidential election is coming soon. David has been meeting politicians busily these days.]
"Three major elections to care about in one year, that's something."
The U.S. elections were actually more important to me than Korea's.
The revenue coming from the American market was already surpassing that of the domestic
market, and once the Korea-U.S. FTA was finalized, that amount was certain to increase even more.
[Among the companies that donated to President Bush this time, SAVE Investment was the single largest contributor. The chairman of the support committee even came personally to express thanks. It feels a bit wasteful since there's nothing to gain through lobbying.]
"Even if we don't profit directly, at least we avoid being targeted. That's enough. If you want to become the head of Taewoo Securities, you need to understand that principle."
[...I'll wait for that day and practice patience like a monk in meditation. If I can only become the president of Taewoo Securities, there's nothing I wouldn't do!]
Han, the team leader, had lived abroad for a long time.
Though he had grown accustomed to life in the U.S., he still dreamed of a triumphant return
home.
What could compare to rising from a small team deputy to the president of Taewoo Securities?
"And increase your cash reserves little by little."
[I'm depositing money for the fintech bank.]
"In three to four years, there will be a day when you'll need to spend huge amounts of cash all at once. So increase your cash reserves enough to be able to spend several billions of dollars at once."
[Are you talking about the U.S. real estate bubble you mentioned before? I've already talked with Dimon, and the U.S. real estate market is definitely acting very strangely.]
"The coming Great Depression will be on a different scale than the IT bubble. Prepare a new
portfolio for it."
[To make a big score, you need to have plenty of bullets. Don't worry. I'll prepare so we can
spray bullets indiscriminately without worrying about ammo.]
Han's words gave me confidence.
He had never disappointed me.
His outstanding skills were why he had managed several billions of dollars in assets while maintaining an annual return of over 20%.
***
A few days later.
I finally received the long-awaited contact from Representative Choi Jae-seok.
For security, I answered the call using an anti-surveillance phone, and Representative Choi also called me using the same kind of secure phone I provided.
[Vice Chairman, the negotiations are finally over.]
"Your voice sounds cheerful, so I guess the outcome was good."
[It couldn't be better. We secured cooperation for hosting the IIT Korea campus without giving anything away.]
I couldn't immediately understand.
Politics is basically about exchange.
But to gain something without giving anything in return?
Did that mean we had won a one-sided advantage?
"Please explain in detail. What happened?"
[I proposed a compromise plan regarding the relocation of the administrative capital and showed it to the heads of the major parties. But they barely looked at the plan and just kept trying to tear each other's throats out.]
"Then how did you get their cooperation for the IIT campus?"
[On the condition that we remain neutral in the administrative capital issue. Both parties are
confident they will win as long as the People's Economic Party stays out of the way.]
Politicians were among the top 1% elites of South Korea.
Of course, some exceptions existed, but most were lawyers or people who had risen to the highest positions in their respective fields.
Still, it was strange.
The moment they set foot in Yeouido, their sharp minds seemed to harden.
The web of vested interests was so complex that everything ironically became simplified.
Well, from my perspective, it was a good thing.
We could gain a one-sided advantage without giving anything away.
"Will the major parties keep their promises? Aren't politicians people who say one thing in front and another behind? Ah, except for Representative Choi Jae-seok, of course."
[For politicians, winning the next election is more important than keeping promises, so it's
inevitable. But this promise can't be broken. The moment one party breaks it, the People's
Economic Party will form an alliance with the opposition.]
In this general election, the two major parties ended up in a deadlock.
The balance of power was extremely tight, and the People's Economic Party held the power to tip the scales.
"Then please pass the bill for hosting the IIT Korea campus as soon as possible. Once the
Constitutional Court's ruling comes out, they might just shut us out completely."
[We're already planning to propose deregulation and a special act in the next extraordinary
National Assembly session. If all goes well, we could break ground as early as next year!]
Representative Choi Jae-seok and the People's Economic Party.
We had supported them a lot, and with this achievement, we could at least say we broke even.
The IIT Korea campus project was progressing smoothly.
I focused more on the electric vehicle business — one of the key growth engines for the Taewoo Group.
Since electric vehicle development had been underway for some time, there wasn't much to
worry about, but simply producing electric vehicles wouldn't be enough to attract public interest.
Ultimately, the future of electric vehicles lay in autonomous driving.
A system where the car drives and makes decisions on its own, without human control.
Electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems had to be developed as a package, and this was where Chun Min-jung's help was essential.
"Do you think you can build an autonomous driving system using deep learning?"
"Autonomous driving system? All of a sudden?"
During a long-awaited brainstorming meeting.
As soon as I arrived, I brought up the topic of autonomous driving, and she puffed her cheeks, lost in thought.
"If we invest enough development cost and manpower, wouldn't it be possible someday?"
"If we provide Chun Min-jung with nearly unlimited resources and manpower, how soon could development be completed?"
"Hmm… fully autonomous driving would probably still take over ten years. But driver-assist autonomous driving or partial automation could be possible within three to four years if everything goes well."
That was very encouraging.
Even before my return, fully autonomous systems hadn't been realized, and a human driver still had to assist.
Developing a partial autonomous driving system within 3–4 years would be sufficient.
If we could launch electric vehicles simultaneously with partial autonomous driving, it would generate great public response.
"How advanced could it get?"
"I'd need to know exactly which functions you want before I can answer precisely."
"If it can handle lane changes, obstacle avoidance, sudden situation responses, speed control, steering, acceleration, deceleration, and emergency braking — that would be enough for an initial autonomous system, I think."
Was I asking for too much?
I spoke off the cuff about the autonomous driving systems I had experienced or seen.
"To develop the functions you want, various foundational technologies are needed. Driving and handling sudden situations can be trained with deep learning, but first, you need technology that can properly integrate environmental information around the vehicle. For that, extensive and detailed real-time map data is essential."
"When you say map data, do you mean navigation?"
"It requires technology several levels above standard navigation, but even developing excellent navigation tech alone would be a huge help."
Had I been thinking of Chun Min-jung as some kind of magic wand?
Technology never just appears with a snap of the fingers.
No matter how talented someone is, new technology can only be created if the foundational tech is already in place.
"So securing navigation technology should be our first priority."
"I'll start researching the tech that can be created through deep learning and algorithms."
"I'll form a dedicated autonomous driving team. Please be the head of that team."
"Me, the head? But I'm also working on the AI project, so I'm hesitant to take on the team leader role."
Chun Min-jung was too valuable to just keep in one place.
But I couldn't keep her as a mere staff member forever, so I offered her the team leader position.
"It's just a title. Chun Min-jung, you only need to develop and hand over the technology. The
dedicated team will handle the detailed parts."
"Is it okay to do that as a team leader?"
"If you become team leader, your salary increases by 20%, plus you'll get various welfare
benefits."
"…Alright, then I'll take it. I've painfully realized how important welfare benefits are."
Thanks to those benefits, Chun Min-jung was able to save his younger sibling from school
bullying.
So she accepted the position without even asking what benefits came with it.
"From today, you're the team leader. Just select IT department staff you want for the dedicated team and let me know. I'll select the rest from Taewoo Motors employees."
"How many people should I select?"
"About 50 should be enough. More wouldn't hurt."
"Fifty? Won't Taewoo IT have problems if so many leave?"
"We're planning a large-scale recruitment of IT developers this year, so it won't cause major
problems. We also plan to bring in experts from around the world who can be immediate assets."
"This is suddenly getting huge in scale."
By my standards, it wasn't that big.
This was only the start. The autonomous driving team, starting with 50-60 people, would grow to hundreds within a few years.