[Chairman Park Seok-won Delivers 50 Million Won Each in Consolation Payments to Sailors Injured in the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong
Today, Bluehole Group announced that it has delivered 50 million won each in consolation payments to the twenty navy personnel injured in the recent clash with North Korea off the coast of Yeonpyeong in the West Sea.
In addition, the company revealed plans to establish a new Honor Foundation with an endowment of 100 billion won. Through this foundation, it will provide a monthly honorary stipend of 500,000 won to all navy personnel who participated in the First and Second Battles of Yeonpyeong.
Chairman Park Seok-won stated, "I decided to establish the foundation to repay, even in a small way, the courage of the young soldiers who devoted themselves to the nation."]
↳Wow! This is what you call true noblesse oblige.
↳I'm grateful just for the consolation payments to the injured sailors, but the real deal is the monthly stipend.
↳If 500,000 won drops into your account every month for free, that's sweet as hell. I'm jealous, damn.
↳Are you out of your mind? Try going through a battle where bullets are flying, and people are dying beside you. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't spout nonsense like that.
↳Exactly. PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder that combat veterans suffer from—it's incredibly hard on them.
↳I have a relative who served in the Vietnam War, and he's struggled his entire life to live a normal day-to-day life. It's not something you can take lightly.
↳They say you're only truly rich if you know how to use money properly. Chairman Park Seok-won honestly deserves respect.
↳He really stands out compared to the other conglomerate owners.
↳Hey, did you know? The new high-speed patrol boat that wrecked the North Korean vessel in the recent clash was apparently donated to the navy by Chairman Park.
↳What…? Aren't those patrol boats worth at least tens of billions of won each?
↳I saw on the news that the North fired first with a tank cannon mounted on their boat, and if we'd still been using the old Chamsuri-class, the damage would've been much worse. But the new one was donated by Chairman Park?
↳He donated the new patrol boats, and now he's covering consolation payments and veterans' stipends too. Chairman Park really did it all.
↳Seriously, why don't we just send this man to the Blue House? Feels like he's doing a better job than the current government.
Seok-won's decision to assist the injured navy personnel and support the veterans of the First and Second Battles of Yeonpyeong drew widespread praise from the public, elevating not only his own reputation but also the image of the Eldorado Fund and Bluehole Group.
Even as compliments continued to pour in across online communities, Seok-won sat alone at his desk in the office, staring at the multiple monitors set up before him, deep in thought.
On the screen, his gaze was fixed upon the stock chart of SA Oil—now in serious trouble after being exposed for stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
[SA-OIL : 16,750 → 12,900 (-14.76%)]
Just a few days earlier, SA Oil's stock had been trading around 30,000 won per share. But following the prosecution's search and seizure, it had plunged for three consecutive days, and today it was once again hitting the lower price limit.
There had been brief waves of bargain buying along the way, but once additional charges of evidence destruction surfaced and Chairman Lim Young-seok, along with several senior executives, were arrested, even that buying interest completely vanished.
On top of that, both domestic and foreign securities firms successively lowered their target prices, further stoking investors' anxiety.
"To think that a third of its market capitalization has evaporated in just three days—you can tell how severe the panic selling is just from that."
The real problem was that this might not be the bottom. There was a strong possibility the stock could plunge even further from here.
"A major scandal has erupted, and the company will be battered by turmoil for a while. But the key point is that its core fundamentals haven't been significantly damaged."
In fact, with the stock price collapsing so sharply, the inflated bubble had been completely wiped away, leaving it at a far more reasonable valuation.
"Among the five major refiners, its export ratio stands at 29.5 percent—the highest of them all. That's an especially attractive factor."
SA Oil produced 179.89 million barrels annually, exporting 85.41 million barrels to markets such as Japan, China, and the United States.
"As China—now part of the OECD—undergoes rapid economic expansion, it will become a black hole that absorbs massive volumes of crude oil and other raw materials. When that happens, having a high export ratio will prove to be a tremendous advantage."
If international oil prices were to surge, refining margins would inevitably expand as well.
"With the refining industry struggling under low oil prices—and now compounded by stock manipulation and accounting fraud—this is the perfect opportunity for bargain buying."
Tapping his fingertips lightly against the desk, Seok-won calmly organized his thoughts. Having reached a decision, he picked up the phone resting to one side.
He pressed a speed-dial number with his thumb.
After a brief connection tone, the call went through, and Landon's familiar voice came on the line.
[Boss. Go ahead.]
"Are you still in Tokyo?"
[Yes. I plan to finish up here and return to New York this afternoon on the company jet.]
"That works out well. There's something I need you to do before you head back to New York."
[Go ahead.]
Sinking back into his chair, Seok-won explained the matter.
"I need you to go to Dhahran in Saudi Arabia."
[Did you say Dhahran?]
"That's right."
Dhahran is a coastal city of about 150,000 people located along the Persian Gulf in eastern Saudi Arabia.
[What would you like me to do there?]
Though the instruction was sudden, Landon did not sound flustered. Instead, he calmly asked what needed to be done.
A faint smile touched Seok-won's lips at that composure.
"Make contact with Aramco and find out whether they would be willing to sell their 35 percent stake in SA Oil through a block deal."
[By SA Oil, you mean the refinery company in Korea?]
"That's right."
Resting one arm on the chair's armrest, Seok-won continued,
"Contrary to initial expectations, the company's growth has been sluggish. Now that the stock manipulation and accounting fraud scandals have broken, SA Oil's share price has fallen sharply. If we approach this properly, they may want to dispose of their stake before the price drops even further."
[So you're saying I should make sure the block deal goes through, no matter what.]
Landon replied with a light laugh.
"It won't be easy, but I trust that if it's you, Landon, you'll get it done."
[When you put it that way, that just adds more pressure.]
At Landon's playful tone, Seok-won let out a faint chuckle as well.
"If they show any willingness to sell, I'd like the deal wrapped up before the end of this year."
[I'll need to look into the details, but if Aramco holds a stake in the refinery, its market capitalization must be at least several billion dollars. And you're asking me to close the deal within half a year—that's quite a mission.]
"The stock manipulation and accounting fraud issues have knocked its valuation down by over 30 percent. It's now shrunk to below 1.5 billion dollars."
[Then, based on the current share price, Aramco's 35 percent stake would be worth around 525 million dollars.]
"I'm willing to offer up to a 100 percent premium, so use that as leverage and negotiate carefully."
Landon asked again, his voice tinged with surprise.
[You're saying we should offer that large of a premium?]
"That's right."
[I don't quite understand. Didn't you just say the company is carrying significant legal risk due to stock manipulation and accounting fraud?]
"Yes."
[Even so, is it worth acquiring the stake at a 100 percent premium?]
Imagining the deep frown that must be forming on the other end of the line, Seok-won smiled confidently with the phone to his ear.
"If my forecast is correct, we'll be able to recover the entire investment through dividends alone within three years."
[What? You mean without reselling the stake—just through dividends?]
"That's exactly how it will be."
In fact, considering that international oil prices would begin rising sharply starting next year—and that refining margins would surge amid an economic boom and explosive demand from China—it was entirely feasible.
'If I remember correctly, along with the rise in oil prices, SA Oil's share price soared to 80,000 won per share within three years.'
Even factoring in a 100 percent premium, that meant he could realize a 2.5-fold gain on the equity value alone within three years, excluding dividends.
'And if you add the dividends on top of that, this is a deal that absolutely has to go through.'
While holding the stake, they could recover the entire principal through dividends. Then, when oil prices peaked and valuations were at their highest, they could sell the stake—an almost ideal exit for a fund investment.
[Is this the same objective behind your accumulation of shares in major oil companies like ExxonMobil—are you acquiring SA Oil for a similar purpose?]
"You got it exactly."
At that, Landon harbored no further doubts and accepted the directive.
[Understood. I'll head to Saudi Arabia, make contact with Aramco, and report back afterward.]
"Do that."
After ending the call, Seok-won stroked his chin with one hand and stared at SA Oil's stock price, which was still stuck at the lower limit.
His eyes gleamed sharply—like a predator sizing up a particularly tempting prey.
As the red glow of sunset spread across the Han River, the Maybach carrying Seok-won made its way along Olympic-daero toward his home in Gangnam.
Perhaps because it was rush hour, traffic was heavily congested. Cars could barely pick up speed, inching forward and stopping again in a frustrating crawl.
Leaning back against the plush leather seat, Seok-won gazed at the lanes packed with vehicles in both directions and muttered,
"This would be much more convenient if I could just take a helicopter. Too bad I can't."
At that, Manager Han Ji-seong, seated in the front passenger seat, turned around and asked,
"Did you say something, sir?"
"It's nothing."
There was a private helicopter stationed at the 63 Building, which served as the company's headquarters. However, the luxury villa where he lived had no separate landing pad, so he couldn't use it for commuting.
Even if there had been one, commuting by helicopter in the middle of Gangnam would hardly be simple.
It might be commonplace in New York, but in Korea, doing something like that would inevitably spark a flood of noise complaints, along with accusations of corporate excess and remarks like, "Did he rent out the entire Seoul sky?"
Still, as he sat there wasting precious time in traffic day after day, Seok-won couldn't help but think to himself,
'Now that I think about it, I should build a house on a large enough plot of land to have my own helipad and move there.'
His current home was more than adequate for a man living alone, but as his business expanded, it had become inconvenient in several ways.
The commute alone was a problem—traveling between Seocho-dong and the headquarters in Yeouido meant wasting a considerable amount of time stuck on the road.
Having made up his mind, Seok-won decided to move forward without hesitation.
'I should start thinking about where the best place would be to build a new house.'
If it were somewhere on the outskirts rather than in the heart of Gangnam, noise wouldn't be an issue, and he wouldn't have to worry about drawing attention. It would certainly be more convenient.
Just then, he felt a vibration in his pocket. Seok-won pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket.
Glancing at the screen out of habit, he noticed the name Liu Shangfu displayed—and a spark lit up in his eyes.
He immediately pressed the call button and answered in fluent English.
"It's been a while since we last spoke."
Liu Shangfu responded in an equally warm tone.
[Indeed. Have you been well in the meantime?]
"Yes, thanks to you."
[That's good to hear. I would like nothing more than to have a long conversation with you, but I have an important engagement shortly. I'll get straight to the point.]
"Please, go ahead."
[Would you be able to come to Beijing next month?]
Taken aback by the sudden request, Seok-won asked with a puzzled expression.
"Is something the matter?"
[In truth, there is someone who wishes to meet you.]
"May I ask who that is?"
[It is Vice Chairman Hu Zhongming of the Central Military Commission.]
"…!"
At the unexpected name, Seok-won's brows drew together in slight surprise.
TL/n -
Hu Zhongming => Hu Jintao