Hannam-dong, Seoul.
Warm sunlight poured in through the window where the curtains had been left open.
Chairman Park Tae-hong, dressed in comfortable loungewear, was sitting on the sofa in the middle of his study, looking over a report that his eldest son, Vice Chairman Park Jin-hyung, had brought.
By the time the green tea that the housekeeper had left had gone cold, Chairman Park Tae-hong set the report down.
Then he leaned back and turned his gaze to his eldest son sitting on his right.
"I hear the outlook for the convenience store business isn't bad these days. We may not be at the very top of the industry, but we still have a decent number of franchise stores and the profits are fairly good. Wouldn't it be a bit of a shame to sell Star Metro under these circumstances?"
Star Metro was one of Daehung Group's subsidiaries. Over the past few years, it has aggressively expanded its business and grown into the fifth-largest convenience store brand in the industry, with more than 220 franchise locations nationwide.
"Of course it's a shame, but competition is getting fiercer and fiercer, and compared to the leading companies, our brand recognition is still lacking. I judged that selling it would be better than holding on to it."
Vice Chairman Park Jin-hyung continued speaking as he looked at Chairman Park Tae-hong, who was listening quietly with his body sunk into the soft sofa.
"Above all, to grow Daehung Logistics, which will become one of the group's core businesses along with department stores, there's a need to trim the fat by disposing of non-core assets."
Chairman Park Tae-hong nodded.
"Come to think of it, didn't we try to sell Star Metro during the last restructuring, only for it to fall through?"
"That's right. Just as you said earlier, the convenience store industry is doing well these days, so if we sell it now, we should be able to get much better terms than back then."
Chairman Park Tae-hong rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then soon made his decision.
"Since from now on it's a group you'll be in charge of and lead, do as you see fit."
Park Jin-hyung, who had been secretly worried about what would happen if his father opposed it, brightened when permission was granted and quickly replied.
"I won't disappoint you."
Contrary to his initial worries, the eldest son had been running the group well so far.
Chairman Park Tae-hong looked at his son's reliable face with gentle eyes and encouraged him with a few supportive words.
"You'll do well. Just remember, if you rush too much trying to produce results, things are bound to go wrong. Don't forget to keep doing things one step at a time, calmly, like you are now."
"Yes. I'll keep that firmly in mind."
Chairman Park Tae-hong nodded with a satisfied expression, but then his face turned a bit sour, as if something had just occurred to him.
"That aside, that kid Seok-won didn't even come home for Chuseok. It's been a long time since he went to the States, so what on earth has he been doing there all this time?"
At the sudden change of topic, Park Jin-hyung was momentarily flustered, then spoke as if making excuses on his younger brother's behalf.
"Because of 9/11, the global financial markets were shaken badly, and then there was the Enron bankruptcy not long ago. In the meantime, the New York stock market has been swinging up and down with huge volatility, so he must have had a lot to deal with."
"Hmph. Even so, does it make sense for someone who has several companies in Korea to be away for months at a time?"
Chairman Park Tae-hong snorted and vented his irritation.
"When the passenger planes hit the Twin Towers, and they collapsed, he didn't even think about how worried his family would be. He just made one phone call and then went completely silent, didn't he? And on top of that, I heard there was even some kind of anthrax terror attack in the U.S. not too long ago."
The more he thought about it, the angrier he seemed to get, and Chairman Park Tae-hong grumbled with an annoyed expression.
"Tsk! Honestly, that kid is so careless."
Even though he sounded angry, he knew very well that it all came from concern for Seok-won.
On top of that, while Seok-won diligently called to check in on their mother, Madam Jo Deok-rye, he rarely contacted him, and that must have left him feeling a bit hurt.
Having noticed that, Park Jin-hyung barely managed to hold back a smile that was about to slip out.
"He's probably just so busy that he doesn't have the time to keep in touch."
"Hmph."
Chairman Park Tae-hong still wore a sulky expression, so Park Jin-hyung changed the subject as if something had just come to mind.
"By the way, I talked to Seok-won yesterday, and I almost forgot there was something I was supposed to tell you."
"…You talked to him yesterday too? Then why hasn't he contacted me at all? Does that brat not even have my number saved in his phone?"
Chairman Park Tae-hong asked back with a sullen face.
Still, he was clearly curious about news of his younger son, so he urged him to go on with a look.
"Didn't we entrust some of the spare funds that you and I have to Seok-won?"
"That's right."
Chairman Park Tae-hong subtly adjusted his posture and looked at him with expectant eyes.
"So, did he make some money?"
"He says the return is over 250%."
"What?!"
Chairman Park Tae-hong's mouth fell open, and he quickly composed himself and asked again as if to make sure.
"Th-That's really true?"
"Yes. I was shocked when I heard it too."
Park Jin-hyung nodded with a broad smile.
"Huh. I did hear that he made a huge profit during this crash and even ended up on the cover of Time, but how on earth do you make a 250% return in just a few months?"
"You know that he shorted Enron, which went bankrupt not long ago."
"Of course I do. It caused such a stir for a while that there's no way I wouldn't know."
"Not just Enron. He also placed short bets on the New York, Japanese, and Hong Kong markets. When the 9/11 attacks caused stock markets all over the world to plunge, he made enormous profits."
Chairman Park Tae-hong let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
"So while everyone else was wailing because the stock market was getting smashed, that kid Seok-won was the only one who had short bets in place?"
"That's right. Didn't it make quite a splash in Korea too, when Bluehole Venture Investment made well over 500 billion won through put option investments?"
Park Jin-hyung spoke with a flushed face, as if he himself had timed it perfectly and made a fortune.
Recalling how he had already drawn envy from other chairmen over that very story at the last Federation of Korean Industries gathering, Chairman Park Tae-hong chuckled and shook his head.
"He nailed the timing during the dot-com bubble, and this time again, he bet, almost like a ghost, on the side that would make money. Honestly, he really is something else."
"Doesn't that mean he has exceptional insight, better than most, and can read the flow of the market accurately?"
As the eldest son praised his younger brother's abilities with evident pride, Chairman Park Tae-hong couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Well, I suppose so. That's why he was able to build that much wealth on his own without any help from the family, and now he's running circles around Wall Street, where all the so-called financial geniuses from around the world gather."
"That's right."
The father and son both wore faces full of pride.
Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, Chairman Park Tae-hong leaned forward in his seat.
"Then the group funds we entrusted to him must have grown a lot too, right?"
"Yes. With a similar rate of return, he said it had grown to over 300 billion won as of yesterday."
"Hahaha! What, 300 billion?"
Chairman Park Tae-hong laughed loudly, tapping the armrest of the sofa he was sitting on.
"We took out as much as 60 billion last year, and yet the money has multiplied several times over! Director Seo must be overjoyed."
"Actually, unlike his initial worries, these days Director Seo is so eager that he's almost desperate because he can't entrust even more of the company's money to Seok-won."
"If you just put it in, the money gets copied automatically. Of course he'd be like that! Hahaha!"
"I'd be the same."
With a faint smile on his lips, Park Jin-hyung bowed his head and said,
"Anyway, the next time he calls, I'll tell him to come back to Korea and spend the New Year here, even if he's busy."
"Ahem… Is that really necessary?"
Chairman Park Tae-hong cleared his throat awkwardly.
"He says he's busy, so don't make him go back and forth unnecessarily. Just tell him to stay there."
"But just a moment ago, you said he's been away for too long."
Chairman Park Tae-hong shot a slightly displeased look at his overly sharp eldest son.
"That doesn't mean he should come back without finishing things over there. Then nothing would get done properly. A person needs to be flexible."
Park Jin-hyung bowed his head, holding back his laughter inside.
"Understood. Then I'll tell him that."
"Good."
Feeling a bit embarrassed for no reason, Chairman Park Tae-hong quietly averted his gaze and hid his face behind the teacup he had picked up.
***
November 7, 2001, Manhattan, New York.
A penthouse living room sofa overlooking the autumn-tinted scenery of Central Park.
Seok-won sat there alone with his arms crossed, watching on television the live broadcast of the Federal Reserve's FOMC announcement.
[Considering that the unemployment rate has surged to 5.4% and third-quarter growth has fallen into negative territory, indicating that the U.S. economy is in very poor shape, the Federal Reserve has decided to cut the benchmark interest rate from the current 2.5% by 0.5% to 2.0%. If signs of a delayed economic recovery continue to be observed, additional cuts may be made. In addition,...]
When Seok-won lightly shook his wrist, the ice in the glass clinked against itself.
After taking a sip of whiskey, he looked at David Stanway, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, on the television screen and muttered in a low voice.
"So in the end, they cut the benchmark interest rate again."
It was already the tenth cut this year, and as a result, the benchmark rate, which had been 6.5%, was lowered by a total of 4.5 percentage points in just ten months, bringing it down to 2.0%.
"That means both the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve are desperately trying to prevent this rapidly freezing economy from sliding into a full-blown recession."
Now that the Fed had once again played a powerful card, it was time for the U.S. government to step in with strong stimulus measures.
"If they fail to come up with a stimulus package that will make the market cheer, then all those consecutive big steps the Fed took to push rates down will have been for nothing. They'll have no choice but to present a really big gift."
Just as he was thinking about how the market would move going forward, the vibration alert of the phone he had left on the table went off.
Seok-won set his rocks glass down, picked up the phone, and answered the call.
[Boss. Have you checked the FOMC announcement?]
"I'm watching it right now."
[As expected, with the benchmark rate being cut, all three major indices are up more than 1%.]
Leaning back, Seok-won replied calmly, since this was already what he had anticipated.
"When interest rates go down, it's bound to be a big help for companies. And the Fed even hinted at the possibility of further cuts, which must have given investors a positive signal."
[I think so too.]
On the screen, Chairman Stanway, having finished his announcement, was stepping down from the podium.
"For a while, the upward trend will probably continue, but it won't be able to keep going forever. When the White House announces its stimulus measures, start unwinding our long positions then."
[So you mean the WorldCom scandal is going to hit the market?]
"Exactly right."
Seok-won shifted his posture and leaned back against the sofa as he continued.
"When you close out the positions, sell everything except the stocks of the companies on the list I gave you last time."
[Understood.]
Landon replied, then added, as if remembering something,
[And we'll start shorting WorldCom from today.]
Since it was something he had already been briefed on, Seok-won simply nodded without any particular change in expression.
"We don't want to look like we're throwing a wrench into things when the U.S. government announces its stimulus measures. Don't forget to control the pace appropriately as well."
[Don't worry.]
Listening to Landon's confident voice, he ended the call.
"When the WorldCom scandal breaks, the Fed will have no choice but to cut rates again to prop up the market."
If that happened, it would mean that for the first time in forty years, since July 1961 during the Kennedy administration, the U.S. benchmark interest rate would fall below 2%.
"When this much money gets pumped into the dollar, the next step is inevitably a surge in asset prices."
Thinking that this might be the starting point of a new bubble, Seok-won wore a bitter expression.