I nodded at once.
“Yes, that’s right. Just because Chinese products are cheap right now, it’s meaningless to rely on them for all our energy components.”
“But as far as I know, China is ahead in both price and performance.”
“That’s like drinking seawater because you’re thirsty. If we don’t secure our own technology, we’ll pay the price for it someday.”
“Hmm...”
“Mr. Chairman. The major countries are already responding with tariffs. Our government needs to implement a quota system as well.”
The United States had been doing so from the start, and recently even Europe—who would sing about renewable energy in its sleep—had begun checking Chinese products.
Independent technology for energy components was now security by another name.
“I understand what you mean. But renewable energy is already inefficient as it is. The estimates only come out this way because the components are Chinese-made. If we implement a quota system to nurture domestic companies, we’ll need a far larger budget than this.”
“That’s why I’m asking. The pension fund will invest in future industries as well. Please have the government support it through R&D.”
After thinking for a long while, the chairman turned his head toward the opposition party secretary.
“What do you think, Assemblyman Park?”
The opposition party secretary shrugged.
“I have no reason to oppose it. If the ruling party takes responsibility and implements this project, we’ll maintain the policy direction even if the administration changes next time.”
“Then can you persuade your support base? Without doing what you did last time?”
“Well, if the justification is responding to Chinese-made components.”
“Then the two parties are agreed on this? When the government announces the related budget, there will be no nitpicking?”
The opposition party secretary replied as if annoyed.
“Mr. Chairman. Stop feeling people out and just make a decision. We’re all players here, so why do you keep acting like this?”
“...What?”
“Looking at the estimate, taxes and electricity bills are obviously going to go way up, aren’t they? But when electricity rates were raised by 50% under the previous administration, didn’t your party paint us as destroyers of people’s livelihoods? You should return the votes you gained from that.”
“...Instead, we helped with the medical school quota increase.”
“You helped in such an obnoxious way. Every time things got difficult, you’d add one or two disappointing remarks. You have no idea how irritating that was.”
“Are you seriously doing this? If you bring that up, we have plenty to say too. Forget the future or whatever—shall we just engage in political warfare?”
Sparks flew every time the two exchanged words.
Of course they did. The two parties’ positions were always different depending on whether they were the ruling party or the opposition.
The Daehan Party had glared fiercely at increasing medical school quotas when it was in opposition, but once it came to power, it broke that iron rice bowl. The Minguk Party had acted as though it would sever diplomatic ties with Japan when it was in opposition, but once it took power, it worked to restore relations.
This issue was not much different.
Expanding renewable energy and supporting R&D required enormous taxes and public utility fees.
Any ruling party would inevitably be cursed for it.
Then who, exactly, would hang the bell around this cat’s neck?
“Okay! Then let’s do this!”
Like the ruling party man he was, the Science and ICT Committee chairman slammed down his fist in decision.
“We’ll secure the R&D funding related to renewable energy on our own.”
“Really? Not through a supplementary budget or issuing government bonds, but actually on your own?”
“If we do it, we can do it. Tax law revisions are being discussed at the recent cabinet meetings, and as far as I know, there’s been quite a bit of progress.”
“Ha, a tax hike... The backlash won’t be easy.”
“Isn’t us getting cursed what the opposition wants most? In return, let’s make a promise. We’ll secure the related budget on our own, so let’s stop talking about nuclear power, who was at fault, and so on. As the Science and ICT Committee, let’s truly think only about the nation’s future.”
At the chairman’s generous proposal, the opposition party secretary thought for a moment.
It was not a bad proposal. In truth, the previous administration’s tax-cut drive had been as reckless as its nuclear power policy, and because of that, the national debt-to-GDP ratio had risen sharply. Someone needed to clean up each other’s mess.
After thinking briefly, the opposition party secretary answered.
“Well, if you do that, we’ll make reasonable use of it too. But this is going to cost more than a penny or two. How do you plan to secure the budget?”
*
[Breaking News — President Kim Sangcheol Places Special Emphasis on Future Energy in National Assembly Address!]
[The National Assembly Address in Numbers... President Kim Mentions Renewable Energy 9 Times, Solar Power 7 Times, Wind Turbines 5 Times!]
In truth, renewable energy was inefficient in every way.
Just as electric vehicles had almost no competitiveness compared to internal combustion vehicles, this too was an unavoidable inefficiency humanity had chosen for the sake of reducing carbon emissions.
[Kim: “We Will Spare No Budget for Domestic Energy Security; Bipartisan Cooperation More Important Than Ever”]
[Ruling Party Lawmakers Give Standing Ovation... Opposition Lawmakers Did Not Walk Out. Was It Already Coordinated Behind the Scenes?]
And once again, Korea set foot into that unknown future.
President Kim Sangcheol emphasized renewable energy several times in his National Assembly address, and by also stressing independence in domestic energy components, he caused a stir in the KOSPI market.
“That’s a relief. I thought it would be cut in half, but it held up pretty well.”
Department Head Oh let out a sigh of relief as he looked at KD Group’s stock price, whose downward trend had stopped.
The president’s National Assembly address was interpreted as steering work toward domestic renewable energy companies. After all, he had emphasized not merely carbon reduction, but “carbon reduction through our own technology.”
True enough, he even mentioned a concrete R&D budget and promised full support, thanks to which the stock price of KD Solution, the country’s largest renewable energy company, was soaring.
“But can they really handle this budget? Supporting R&D and subsidies isn’t going to cost just a penny or two.”
“The president personally gave a National Assembly address. Do you still not trust it, Chief?”
“I have a feeling they’ll start and then quit halfway. Solar power costs more in repair fees in Korea. Won’t they try this and that, then end up just building more nuclear plants?”
I smiled bitterly.
There was actually a country that had tried this.
France, a nuclear power powerhouse, had once produced 80% of its energy through nuclear power. Thanks to that, it did not rely heavily on Russian natural gas like Germany did, and it was able to keep electricity rates much cheaper.
But how could nuclear energy possibly be sustainable?
Although no major accident had occurred like in the U.S., Russia, or Japan, they could no longer ignore the environmental concerns that continued to be raised. If even one accident occurred with contaminated water from a nuclear plant, it would be incomparably more dangerous than carbon. That was why, despite raising their nuclear self-sufficiency rate to 80%, they replaced it with solar power.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think that will happen. Even France, where nuclear power once accounted for 80% of generation, is now in the 60% range. There probably isn’t a country in the world that can avoid using solar and wind power.”
“Then KD Solution still has prospects?”
“Given that the Blue House emphasized energy independence, I think they’ll nurture domestic companies. On top of that, Chairman Nam Sanggi has a firm grip on the affiliates, so I don’t think they’ll have cash concerns for a while.”
Department Head Oh put the documents down.
“Okay. Then let’s increase our purchase ratio as you suggested. And not just this—how many renewable energy-related stocks are there right now?”
“About five theme stocks, including KEPCO.”
“Let’s increase our stake in those too. Judging by how things look, the two parties seem to have reached an agreement behind the scenes, so even if the administration changes, the policy direction won’t change.”
Department Head Oh rose from his seat with a broad smile.
In truth, Department Head Oh was in an extremely good mood today.
“By the way, what are we going to do about this, Team Leader Lee? Heh heh. Looks like we’ll have to get rid of the risk management department at the pension fund now. Haha.”
In front of his desk lay the investment performance records of each office, side by side with newspaper articles that had splashed the pension fund’s investment performance across their front pages.
[The God of Investment, the Pension Fund! 30% Return!]
[Thanks to KOSPI Rise, This Year’s Profit Alone Reaches 300 Trillion!]
[Overwhelming Results Even Among Sovereign Wealth Investments... No More Worries About Depletion!]
It was done. It was over. We just had to keep going exactly like this.
Thanks to the KOSPI boom, the pension fund’s return had already hit 30% in the first half alone. If this trend continued, the National Pension would never run dry. On the contrary, like the Nobel Foundation, its assets looked set to grow larger with time.
“Um... Chief. There’s something I need to tell you separately.”
“What do you need to tell me separately? If there’s a field you especially want to invest more in, just handle it yourself. These days, there isn’t anyone among our staff who’s bad at investing, and among them, your portfolio is overwhelmingly good. I’ll back you as much as you want, so give it a shot.”
“...That’s not it. It looks like the financial investment income tax will be implemented soon.”
“What? What did you say?”
Department Head Oh, who had been leaning back leisurely on the sofa, sprang to his feet.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“...During this business trip to Seoul, I happened to have the chance to meet people from both parties, and I heard a hint about it.”
“What kind of company business trip involves meeting politicians? You little—what the hell did you do over there?”
“...It’s a long story if I explain in detail. What’s certain is that the financial investment income tax is a foregone conclusion.”
“What?”
“AI investment, renewable energy, all of it. The government needs more than a little money right now. It’ll probably be proposed soon with the tax law revision bill.”
Department Head Oh’s face was already filled with panic.
The financial investment income tax was a tax hike President Kim Sangcheol had advocated since his time in opposition, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it his long-cherished project.
But he had once backed down from it.
At the time, the KOSPI had been struggling in the low 2,000s, and thirty million investors nationwide had been glaring with bloodshot eyes.
But recently, as the KOSPI had turned into a money-printing machine, public opinion had also grown duller than before.
“Are you sure about that? The Blue House is going to throw cold water on this good atmosphere?”
“...To put it the other way around, there’s no better atmosphere than this. The tax law revision bill will be proposed soon.”
I smiled bitterly.
In truth, this was different from the future I knew.
If my memory was correct, President Kim Sangcheol would eventually implement the financial investment income tax using the KOSPI’s explosive rise as momentum. But that was supposed to happen near the end of his term, after all the elections were over—not at the beginning of his administration like now.
“...”
What was the reason?
Had the massive R&D budget for AI and renewable energy that I had urged on accelerated that history?
“Why on earth... when KOSPI 5,000 is right in front of us.”
I did not know the exact reason, but it was probably largely because of me. In truth, the financial investment income tax was a tax that every major country imposed, so it had only been a matter of time for Korea as well.
The reason we had been able to keep electricity rates cheap and delay the financial investment income tax was that our fiscal deficit had been relatively sound among major countries. But now, we too were no longer in a position to ignore the fiscal deficit.
“...Still, it won’t be bad. Buying taxi licenses, opening up agricultural markets, building additional nuclear plants, investing in AI and renewable energy... Looking at the government’s moves, they’ve invested a lot in R&D. This tax increase is probably unavoidable to secure the budget for all that.”
Department Head Oh sighed.
“That’s the government’s problem. If this goes into effect, the KOSPI is going to nosedive. How are we supposed to respond to the market?”