A securities firm trading floor in Yeouido.
Individual investors of all ages had gathered there. Some stood together staring at the large market board displaying stock movements, while others moved back and forth between the terminals installed along one side, watching the fluctuations of the stock market.
With the spread of high-speed internet networks and the increasing availability of personal computers in households, the use of Home Trading Systems—commonly called HTS—has rapidly expanded over the past year or two.
As a result, particularly among younger investors, many now bought and sold stocks from home or the office by installing securities firms' HTS programs instead of coming directly to the trading floor as they had in the past.
However, despite these changes, there were still quite a few people who continued to show up at the trading floor every day, like clocking in to work. Among them were Oh Won-woo and Won Ho-seop, both of whom had been full-time investors for more than a decade.
Won Ho-seop, a thin man in his late thirties, approached Oh Won-woo—who was standing in front of the market board—and spoke to him.
"Hyung, the market is quiet, and I'm starting to get hungry. Let's go grab a meal at that gukbap place right in front."
At that, Oh Won-woo, who was wearing a polo shirt, checked the watch on his wrist.
"Is it already this late?"
"What are you doing that you didn't even notice the time passing?"
With his arms crossed, Oh Won-woo jerked his chin toward the market board in front of them.
"There's something that keeps bothering me."
"What is it?"
"SA Oil. Its stock price has been creeping up little by little over the past few days."
Turning his head to look at the market board, Won Ho-seop widened his eyes slightly as if he had not noticed it before.
"Oh, you're right."
[SA-OIL : 11,140 ▲210]
"After the chairman and several executives were arrested on charges of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, and the company's credit rating was even downgraded, the price kept sliding down. It was just about to fall below ten thousand won. So when did it climb back up like this?"
Just as Won Ho-seop had said, SA Oil's stock price continued to plunge and showed little sign of rebounding as a series of bad news hit all at once, including a special tax investigation by the National Tax Service.
As a result, not only individual investors but also foreign and institutional investors hurried to pull out, dumping their shares.
When the stock price suddenly collapsed to nearly one-third of its previous value, most people pessimistically believed it would be difficult for it to rebound again.
Yet now the decline had somehow stopped, and the price had begun rising again, which was enough to surprise anyone watching.
Oh Won-woo stroked his chin with one hand and lowered his voice as if whispering.
"Suddenly, buying orders started coming in three days ago. No matter how I think about it, something feels off."
Unlike Oh Won-woo, who could not take his eyes off the market board, Won Ho-seop simply shrugged his shoulders and brushed it off as nothing serious.
"It's probably just bargain hunting because the price is low. A stock that was trading around 30,000 won per share until recently has fallen into the 10,000 won range. It's cheap enough for people to take a chance on."
"I thought the same at first, but my gut tells me something is going on."
"There you go again with your gut feelings. Stocks are about betting based on charts and economic trends."
At that, Oh Won-woo snorted and shot back.
"And the stock you picked based on that ended up getting delisted, didn't it? Didn't you say you lost ten million won on it?"
"Come on. I already lost all the profits I made that entire month because of that, and even went into the red. Do you have to keep rubbing it in?"
Seeing him flare up, Oh Won-woo let out a quiet chuckle, then quickly glanced around to see if anyone might be listening.
Then he lowered his voice and whispered with a serious expression.
"I think someone is accumulating SA Oil shares somewhere."
"The chart is completely wrecked, and Saudi Arabia is the major shareholder, so a hostile takeover would be difficult. Who would even try something like that?"
Won Ho-seop widened his eyes and asked.
"That's the part I don't understand either, but maybe someone bought at the bottom hoping to make a profit when the price rebounds later."
Seeing that Won Ho-seop still looked unconvinced, Oh Won-woo calmly continued explaining.
"They manipulated the stock price and tampered with the books to hide their losses, sure. But it's not like Daegwang or the Hanse Group, which went bankrupt with mountains of debt."
"..."
"And besides, even though it's the smallest among the five major oil refining companies, the structure of the business is such that once they bring in crude oil and refine it, cash comes in immediately. The industry hasn't been doing well recently, but the company's financial condition is still stable, with no real risk of it collapsing."
"Hmm."
Perhaps because it sounded fairly convincing, Won Ho-seop found himself listening closely before he even realized it.
"It has already plunged so much that all the bubbles that had built up are gone. And even if the stock price falls further from here, it's still a high-dividend stock. You can just hold on and collect the dividends, so wouldn't it be worth getting into at this point?"
After thinking it over carefully, Won Ho-seop soon gave a small nod.
"Now that I hear you explain it, that makes sense."
Just as Oh Won-woo had said, even though the stock had collapsed dramatically, it still clearly held value.
In fact, because the stock price had fallen so sharply, the dividend yield had risen, making it even more attractive.
At that moment, Oh Won-woo—who had been wearing a troubled expression—spoke as if he had finally made up his mind.
"I don't think I can pass this up."
"You're not thinking of buying SA Oil shares, are you?"
"I am."
Oh Won-woo nodded.
"Come on. The National Tax Service is still conducting a tax investigation. What if some huge hidden problem comes out during that?"
Won Ho-seop tried to stop him from the side, but Oh Won-woo had no intention of changing his mind.
"I'm telling you, my gut is telling me something. If the stock recovers even halfway from here, that's a 50 percent gain. I can't pass that up."
"Good grief. There you go again with that gut feeling of yours."
As Oh Won-woo headed toward the trading counter on the floor, Won Ho-seop turned his head and looked at the SA Oil stock price displayed on the market board.
[SA-OIL : 11,190 ▲260]
While they had been talking, the price had risen another 50 won, and seeing that made him furrow his brow.
"Is there really something going on…?"
After hesitating for a moment, Won Ho-seop suddenly ran toward Oh Won-woo, who had already moved far ahead.
"Hyung! Wait for me—I'm coming too!"
In the end, the two of them went to the trading counter together and bought SA Oil shares.
***
The next day, Gimpo International Airport.
On the wide apron, a Gulfstream IV private jet with a two-tone painted fuselage stood with its rear-mounted engines warming up.
Inside the private jet, where the outside noise was completely blocked out, Seok-won sat slightly reclined in a wide, plush seat. Through the window, he watched a Boeing 747 passenger plane landing on the runway while listening to Director Ho-geun Choi's report.
[Not only institutions, but some individual investors also noticed that SA Oil shares were being accumulated and began buying as well. Today alone, buy orders totalling 653,170 shares poured in, pushing the stock price past 19,000 won.]
"Did they figure out that we're the ones behind the buying?"
[We tried to move as carefully as possible, but considering that several large orders exceeding one hundred thousand shares appeared, some institutions may have realized that it was us making the move.]
"Then it won't be long before the rumor spreads throughout the market."
[I apologize.]
Seok-won showed a faint expression of regret, but it quickly disappeared.
"It's impossible not to draw attention when buying more than ten million shares in such large quantities. How many shares have we acquired so far?"
[We secured 12.1 million shares at an average price of 17,300 won.]
"That exceeds our target."
[Yes. Strong follow-up buying pushed the average price up significantly toward the end, but fortunately, we were able to complete the 10 percent stake as you instructed.]
When combined with the shares received from Aramco and the ones purchased this time, they had secured 45 percent of SA Oil's shares, making them the largest shareholder.
"If we delay a few more days, we'll be caught by the 5 percent rule anyway. Stop buying shares now and make the disclosure tomorrow."
[Understood.]
The 5% rule required that if an individual or institution acquired more than 5 percent of the shares of a listed company, or if a major shareholder holding more than 5 percent disposed of their shares, the transaction had to be reported to the Financial Supervisory Service within five days. The rule existed to prevent hostile takeovers.
"I'll make the call myself later, but tell President Yoon that after filing the shareholding disclosure, he should immediately request an extraordinary shareholders' meeting at SA Oil."
[Yes. I will pass along your instructions.]
Just as the saying goes that new wine should be put into new wineskins, Seok-won intended to completely replace the management now that the major shareholder had changed, restoring order to the shaken atmosphere.
As it happened, Chairman Young-seok Lim—who had managed SA Oil for many years—along with several of his close associates, had been arrested and were under investigation on charges of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud. That made the timing all the more convenient.
'If this incident hadn't happened, Chairman Young-seok Lim's faction, which holds the vested interests, would have strongly resisted. But since they've committed wrongdoing, even if they're dissatisfied, they won't be able to voice it openly.'
Even though he was not part of the owner family, Chairman Young-seok Lim had been a founding member and had managed SA Oil for no less than eleven years, from 1991 until now. It was as obvious as daylight that his faction must be deeply entrenched throughout the company.
Removing them would normally require significant turmoil and effort, but thanks to this incident, Chairman Young-seok Lim and a large number of key executives could be cleared out without Seok-won having to lift a finger. It was the very definition of reaping the benefits without doing the work.
'This will make it much easier to take control of SA Oil's management.'
Seok-won smiled inwardly with satisfaction and adjusted the phone in his hand.
"By the way, what happened to the instruction to increase our investment in euros?"
Director Ho-geun Choi immediately replied.
[As you instructed, we doubled our long position in the euro and purchased an additional 8,000 contracts.]
"Good work. The euro will continue strengthening, so maintain the position as it is until I give further instructions."
[Understood.]
After ending the call, Seok-won put down his phone. Han Ji-sung, who had been waiting a short distance away, approached and spoke.
"Your schedule has been arranged for a luncheon with Vice Chairman Hu Jintao tomorrow at noon at the state guesthouse in Beidaihe."
Seok-won gave a small nod.
Beidaihe was a seaside resort located along the Bohai Sea, about 300 kilometers east of the capital, Beijing.
Because the climate there was cool and pleasant, many villas belonging to China's high-ranking officials were located there. Every summer, it was also famous as the place where the top leadership of the Communist Party and senior party elders gathered during their vacation to privately discuss important national affairs.
Being invited to the state guesthouse in such a place also meant that they were treating Seok-won with considerable respect.
'In other words, it probably means they expect something significant from me.'
While Seok-won was thinking to himself, Andrea approached with a smile and spoke.
"We will be taking off shortly, so please take your seat and fasten your seatbelt."
Seok-won nodded and glanced at Han Ji-sung, who was standing beside him.
"All right. Make sure the gift we prepared is properly taken care of."
"Yes, sir."
After giving the brief reply, Han Ji-sung immediately returned to his seat.
Seok-won also fastened his seatbelt, and before long, the private jet that had been standing still slowly began to move.
The aircraft taxied along the asphalt-paved taxiway and headed to the runway threshold, where the engines were pushed to maximum thrust.
Then, once the control tower granted takeoff clearance, the jet sped down the long runway before lifting its nose and soaring into the sky.