A showdown between artificial intelligence and a professional gamer.
It became a huge hit not only in Korea but also in the United States and Europe.
The next day, the head of the planning department reported the level of public interest using
performance metrics.
"The match was streamed on YouTube, and at one point, the number of viewers surpassed two million. The replay views increased by a million in just one day."
"It seems to have garnered quite a bit of attention."
"A major American news outlet gave the match significant coverage, and nearly every Korean media company reported on it prominently."
It certainly drew attention—but still, it wasn't enough.
The eSports scene had a relatively small following and a short history, so it didn't quite capture global attention.
However, this match was only the warm-up. The main event was the Go match involving
artificial intelligence.
"Well, this isn't bad at all."
"It's more than just not bad. Thanks to the gaming AI, Taewoo IT's stock price rose by over 13% in a single day. Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo Semiconductors also benefited, with increases of around 5%."
"The shareholders must be thrilled."
"The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Interest in the smart set-top box launching next month has surged. We're already receiving a flood of inquiries from people wanting to purchase the Pixi2."
Our company was the sole producer of smart set-top boxes.
No other company had invested as heavily in artificial intelligence as we had. Of course,
companies like Google and Amazon, who were also developing AI, would eventually release
their own products—but they wouldn't outperform ours.
"Taewoo Communications' stock and market share are likely to rise as well."
"The younger generation is showing a lot of enthusiasm. Was your decision to hold this event
match with a pro gamer aimed at capturing the youth demographic? I must say, Vice President, your foresight is impressive!"
It wasn't entirely without that intention.
Still, the results exceeded my expectations. I hadn't foreseen that Taewoo Electronics,
Communications, and Semiconductors would all benefit from the ripple effect.
"We should consider hosting more events like this in the future."
"We're currently working on recruiting a top-tier professional Go player for the next event. I'll personally take charge of the outreach!"
"If you're overseeing it yourself, I feel reassured."
"I'll assemble a dedicated task force and ensure everything is meticulously planned and
executed!"
The head of the planning department walked out, beaming with a wide smile.
With the stock price soaring thanks to rare good news, it was no surprise he was in high spirits.
But while the Taewoo Group was riding a wave of positive momentum, elsewhere, misfortune was beginning to erupt.
[Sir! There's chaos erupting all across the United States. Loan defaults are breaking out
everywhere.]
"It was inevitable the moment they raised interest rates."
The call came from Team Leader Han.
His voice was noticeably higher in pitch than usual, betraying his agitation.
[And one of the top fifteen subprime mortgage companies in the U.S. is on the brink of
bankruptcy. That company alone has over $8 billion in outstanding loans.]
"The dominoes are starting to fall. First come the households, then the mortgage companies. Next in line will be the investment firms."
Mortgage companies specialized in real estate lending.
Unlike banks, they didn't have the cushion of stable deposits. So when the real estate market
wavered, they were the first to take the hit.
[They haven't filed for bankruptcy yet, but it's expected to happen before the end of the year at the latest. And the situation at other mortgage firms isn't much better. Their stock prices are plummeting across the board.]
"A drop in stock prices means the American public is finally realizing the real estate market is in danger."
Few indicators reflected public sentiment as clearly as the stock market.
A falling stock price was a direct sign that investors were losing confidence in a company—or in the industry as a whole.
[But Chairman Bernanke of the Fed is still saying the real estate market isn't something to worry about. I can't tell if he's in denial or simply doesn't want to face the truth.]
"He's probably being optimistic on purpose, trying to avoid sudden panic."
[Also, several insurance companies have contacted us saying they will no longer sell insurance on subprime mortgage-backed derivatives.]
Insurance companies refusing to issue insurance?
That meant they were finally beginning to grasp the risks of real estate derivatives.
Though clearly, they hadn't fully realized just how dangerous things were.
"Has there been any request to cancel existing insurance contracts?"
[They've only said they'll limit new policies. No mention of existing contracts yet.]
"They don't know the fire's already at their feet. If they truly understood the risk, they would've demanded to cancel the old contracts too."
[Some insurance companies are still selling AAA-rated real estate loan insurance.]
Were there still insurers offering coverage?
It wasn't entirely fair to blame the insurance companies for their ignorance.
When the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve publicly declared, "The market is safe," how
could they possibly know the American real estate system was operating abnormally?
"Buy up as much insurance as you can."
[The fintech banks already beat us to it.]
"Sounds like the fintech banks are doing pretty well."
[With the real estate market shaking, money is shifting into stocks and deposits. There are even rumors that Silicon Valley's money is being sucked up by fintech banks.]
Team Leader Han clicked his tongue.
That's how fiercely Dimon was moving.
The sheer intensity of his actions made it clear just how deep his desire for revenge ran—revenge against the mentor who had betrayed him.
"There's no need to compete with the fintech banks. No reason to start a family feud."
[So we're just picking up the leftover insurance they didn't take. But even that's turning out to be quite profitable.]
"Then keep monitoring the situation."
[You might end up coming to the U.S. earlier than expected. Things are really starting to look
serious.]
"We'll talk again soon."
He'd been hearing warnings about the brewing danger since last year.
In his past life, he'd only known about it through news articles. He hadn't truly grasped what was happening until after everything had already fallen apart. By then, it was too late to understand the real picture.
The world still spun on as if nothing was wrong.
Even though a massive economic crisis was looming, neither the United States nor Korea was
taking any action.
Maybe that was actually a good thing?
After all, it meant he could have it all to himself.
***
It was near the end of 2006.
President Park of Taewoo Securities visited the Vice Chairman's office.
As someone who constantly monitored the U.S. market—given how deeply the Korean stock
market was influenced by it—President Park came bearing urgent news.
"Vice Chairman! Mortgage companies are starting to go bankrupt one after another. They're
defaulting on their debts, which has frozen their cash flow, and they can't handle their liabilities."
"How large are the bankruptcies?"
"At the very least, over 10 billion dollars. And that's just from companies outside the top-tier
mortgage firms. The bigger ones haven't even collapsed yet."
Park looked visibly shaken by the severity of the crisis.
Standing in the face of an economic disaster far more catastrophic than the dot-com bubble,
President Park could barely breathe.
"Take a deep breath. If you panic now, before the bubble has even truly burst, you won't be able to respond properly when it actually does."
"Hoo... hoo... Apologies. Taewoo Securities has recently implemented a forecasting system using our AI center's support. But the predictions regarding the subprime mortgage crisis are far beyond anything we imagined."
The artificial intelligence developed by Chun Min-jung had been deployed throughout Taewoo Group.
In the case of Taewoo Securities, the AI not only corrected stock chart anomalies and supported price prediction algorithms, but also provided systems capable of simulating and forecasting various complex scenarios.
"What exactly did the AI predict to make a seasoned veteran like you—who's been through every kind of financial war—this nervous?"
"The minimum estimated damage is 400 billion dollars, with the maximum exceeding 4 trillion dollars. That's over 4,000 trillion Korean won. This is a sum equivalent to the U.S. annual budget. Honestly, it's hard to believe the AI's projections."
I feigned a look of surprise at President Park's words.
I had already known that the subprime mortgage crisis would result in damages reaching 4 trillion dollars—but what shocked me was the fact that the AI had managed to predict it so accurately.
"Any other forecasts?"
"There's one that's truly unbelievable. We ran a bankruptcy probability analysis based on the
default rates of investment firms that heavily participated in subprime mortgage lending. The firm with the highest probability was... Lehman Brothers. I mean, how could one of America's top four investment banks possibly go bankrupt?"
What in the world did Chun Min-jung create?
He knew that artificial intelligence could handle far more complex calculations than humans ever could—but to think it would accurately predict the fall of Lehman Brothers?
"How did the AI arrive at that conclusion?"
"To be honest, there's a high chance the prediction is inaccurate. The input data we used came from a source that isn't very credible."
"And where exactly did that come from?"
"An organization called Moral Hazard . It hasn't even been around for a year. The prediction was based on materials published by them, so its reliability is very questionable."
I gave a sheepish smile.
No wonder—even with how sophisticated the AI was, the prediction felt too accurate.
Since the data from the Moral Hazard organization had been created under my influence, it now made perfect sense why the AI had arrived at such a result.
"I'll vouch for the Moral Hazard organization. The data they've released is more reliable than
anything coming out of Wall Street."
"Excuse me? Are you serious? Then… are you saying the projected losses of 4 trillion dollars and the collapse of Lehman Brothers are actually likely?"
"Yes, it's highly probable. Which is why Taewoo Securities must prepare thoroughly."
President Park still looked like he couldn't quite believe it.
He knew the subprime mortgage crisis was serious—but he couldn't bring himself to believe it would escalate to this scale.
"Both the U.S. and Korean stock markets are doing well. Especially here in Korea, over 46
trillion won has poured into funds—and about 15 trillion of that has gone into Taewoo Securities' funds alone."
"Most of those funds are going to post negative returns. Don't invest in any shady ventures.
Focus on IT companies—just invest in Apple, Google, and Amazon."
For the next few years, simply avoiding losses would be considered a success.
While other firms posted negative returns, simply breaking even would be a win for us.
"Understood. I'll begin liquidating our investments elsewhere and reinvest in the IT sector as
quickly as possible."
"Proceed with that plan."
President Park all but crawled out of the Vice Chairman's office, weighed down by the gravity of the situation.
As if he'd been waiting for Park to leave, the Planning Director rushed into the office, visibly
flustered.
Such urgency was rare from him—something serious must have happened.
"What's going on?"
"The U.S. Embassy just contacted us. The American ambassador has requested a meeting."
The American ambassador was asking to meet?
They wouldn't summon me lightly—not under these circumstances. It must mean the White
House was finally making its move.
Looks like it's time to prepare for a trip to the U.S.