[Breaking News - National Assembly Passes National Growth Fund Tax Support Bill!]
[Ruling Party: "It Contains the Earnest Wishes of the People, It Will Be the Best Fund"... Redemption Period Approx. 5 Years, What Are the Pros and Cons?]
[Losing Out If You Don't Buy? Ruling-Opposition Agreement, Income Deduction Amount Doubled from Initial Proposal!]
[Biggest Money Move in History! 1 Trillion Won Reached Before Subscriptions Even Open!]
[Industry Expert: "Expected to Sell Out Quickly Thanks to Massive Tax Benefits and Semiconductor Boom... But the Portfolio Is Somewhat Disappointing"]
[NK Securities: "Semiconductor Weight Not as High as Expected; Significant Portion Also in Opaque Industries Like Steel and Bio"]
[Nara Securities: "Suitable as a Tax-Saving Product for High-Net-Worth Individuals, But Direct Investment May Be More Advantageous for Retail Investors When Looking at the Portfolio..."]
The tumultuous portfolio issue was settled.
Though it had unintentionally devolved into a battle of connections, the Blue House decision came down in favor of my livelihood bill. So the Prime Minister still holds more sway than the Party Leader, it seems?
[Breaking News - 3 Trillion Won in Funds Reached Ahead of Tomorrow's Subscription!]
With an income tax deduction of about ten million won and bright prospects for semiconductors, it couldn't not sell out.
The National Growth Fund had achieved 3 trillion won in subscriptions just one day before its launch, but the explosive response, greater than expected, led the opposition party to point out "debt-fueled investing."
"..."
I felt a faint pang of guilt.
It was a bit of a shame. If my memory served me right, the Growth Fund was originally concentrated in semiconductors, recording the best returns, surpassing even the materials, parts, and equipment sector. But since a considerable portion of the portfolio had been allocated to our vulnerable industries, the figures I knew wouldn't appear, would they?
The opportunity cost was a problem, too, but steel, manufacturing, and bio companies were clearly going to lose money going forward.
Still, I wasn't all that sorry.
I simply hadn't been able to earn money I could have earned more of; the Growth Fund itself would still record the best returns. If my memory was correct, the semiconductor supply shortage wouldn't end in just a year or two, and thanks to that, our companies had reaped substantial benefits.
Please, let the money earned from semiconductors now become an opportunity to save our vulnerable industries, as I hoped... but I couldn't predict that far.
Because I had never seen it either.
"Team Leader, you've become quite the big shot behind my back, haven't you?"
When the gathering celebrating the initial sell-out had ended, Director Bak Seong-cheol approached me.
I bowed deeply at the waist.
"Thank you, Director! It's all thanks to you."
"What do you mean, thanks to me?"
"That you persuaded the Prime Minister, sir. All the other committee members chose the profitability plan, but because you kept everyone centered as chair, my livelihood bill ultimately passed."
I meant it.
No matter how close I was to I Chan-ho, among these members he was just one of the yes-men. If he, the TF leader, hadn't taken my side—if they had chosen the profitability plan unanimously, excluding me—the result was as obvious as fire.
"Don't put on an act. I was the one who benefited from you."
He looked at me with a bitter smile.
"I had a feeling. The moment I saw you sniffing around political circles... I knew you were up to something, but to this extent? Team Leader, are you on such terms with the Prime Minister that you hold private audiences?"
"Private audiences? That's preposterous."
"Like hell it isn't. You were summoned before the Prime Minister, and your report was sitting right there, plain as day."
"I sent the report to a few lawmakers I know out of frustration. It just happened to reach the upper echelons by luck."
"Tsk! I may not have been in politics, but do you think I'm clueless? The Prime Minister said so himself. That the person closest to him gave him the report."
"D-Director."
I stopped making foolish excuses.
This wasn't a situation that could be covered up with sophistry.
"...I'm sorry. Yes, I gave it to the Prime Minister myself."
"Why on earth?"
"I know they have no prospects. But are we to give up on steel? Give up on renewable energy? Even the mighty United States can't keep China in check because of rare earth elements alone. We must protect our basic industries, too."
"That's not what I want to ask. Why, why on earth did you build connections so fearlessly?!"
It was a sight I'd never seen before. Director Bak Seong-cheol raising his voice at me.
"At first, I had my doubts. When I heard you'd bought Russian bonds to evade Western financial sanctions and landed a missile contract, I didn't fully believe what Department Head O said. Does that even make sense? What kind of madman thinks of laundering money through a proxy company? It's something even a director can't pull off."
"..."
"But now I'm starting to believe it. And seeing how things are playing out, Department Head O doesn't know everything about you either. You've done even more things you didn't tell him about, haven't you?"
Strength drained from my hands.
A director is truly a director. Though he didn't mention it directly, he seemed to have caught on that I'd asked a proxy company to launder funds and used that money to build political connections.
"I'm sorry, Director... but there was no other way."
"What?"
"I had to change something, and the sooner the better, but there was no way to break through by orthodox means."
"Change what?"
"I've done everything I can. Only one final assignment remains."
"You're saying you'll cause more trouble from here?"
"The one assignment you couldn't fulfill while you were in active service, Director. National Pension reform."
The Director looked at me.
We remained silent for a long while.
*
"I'm sorry, Senior. I believe this matter will turn out this way."
The Minguk Party headquarters in Yeouido.
Representative Jeong bowed his head deeply to a man.
"It's fine. If that's the will of the Blue House, so be it."
"I tried to persuade him to some extent, but he wouldn't budge... I'm ashamed."
"It's all right. Is there anyone in Yeouido who doesn't know Gim Sang-cheol's bullheadedness? We had anticipated this on our side."
He spoke as if he understood, but the man's face was brimming with displeasure and irritation.
And no wonder. With only a year left in his term, the President kept indulging his greed for power. By now, nomination issues should be settled and a new figure should be put forward, but he refused to let go of his lust for power until the very end.
"It's frustrating. Huh? Take this matter, for instance. The National Growth Fund is a project driven by the party—why is he deciding it as he pleases? I heard from industry experts that since the semiconductor weighting isn't as high as expected, they recommend direct investment for individual investors."
"Yes, I find it stifling as well. It's a problem with an obvious answer."
"When you think about it, this is selfishness, too. Considering the presidential election next year, the higher the Growth Fund's returns, the better. Wouldn't voters who profit from it naturally translate into votes?"
"You make a valid point."
"But he doesn't think of the party, and only emphasizes that damn public role, which is why this disaster happens. But from where I stand, it doesn't even look like a public role. Could it be that our Gim Sang-cheol secretly hopes the next presidency passes to the opposition?"
The man before whom even the party leader bowed his head was former Minister Bak Hyeon-seop, once a giant of the Minguk Party.
A powerful presidential contender, he had been subjected to targeted prosecution and even served an unjust prison term.
His only daughter, renowned as a prodigy, gained admission to medical school without an entrance exam, but lawmakers who had failed to raise their own children resented her for it.
The thorny path that unfolded afterward was something he didn't even want to recall.
The prosecution slapped him with document forgery charges for slightly touching up some papers, and the thesis written under his daughter's name was deemed fraudulent admission. Consequently, his wife was stripped of her professorship and imprisoned, and his only child had her college admission canceled and was preparing for the college entrance exam again.
"Y-you don't really think so. If the next administration passes to the opposition, President Gim won't be safe either. I'm sure that's not it."
"That's exactly my point. Whether he likes me or hates me, it's in his best interest for me to take the next administration. Why is he so useless?"
"...If I may be so bold, shall I bring up the nomination again?"
"He's not someone it will work on. From what I hear, he's grown far too arrogant. He's too emboldened by the KOSPI hitting 6,000."
The party leader gauged his reaction.
"What do you plan to do..."
"I have no choice. I must employ an intra-party opposition strategy."
"You're saying you'll confront the Blue House? But then our support base might splinter..."
"It's fine. According to the news, the opposition is still in a three-year mourning period for a former president. The next presidential election will essentially be decided by our party primary. So party control is what matters most."
The party leader looked at him with troubled eyes.
Intra-party strife is the very pinnacle of mudslinging. The opposition's pro-I and pro-Bak factional conflict, the ruling party's Sojang-dong Gate... virtually all suspicions that became social issues had exploded during the primary process.
Moreover, weren't Minister Bak Hyeon-seop and President Gim Sang-cheol people with many weaknesses against each other?
No matter how shattered the opposition was, if the ruling party began an internal fight, the nightmare of the 13th presidential election—where No Tae-woo was elected due to the YS-DJ split—could be repeated.
"Senior. No matter what, it can't be too big a fight. If the internal strife grows too large, an I In-je could appear out of nowhere."
"Don't worry. I'm not a man lacking that much political sense."
"What are you planning to do..."
"Rather than targeting Gim Sang-cheol himself, let's cut off his limbs first."
Bak Hyeon-seop said so and pulled out a document envelope.
"Th-this is..."
It was a dossier.
"These are the ones most annoying among those eyeing party control right now, aren't they? Let's take care of exactly these two."
"But they're our Supreme Council members..."
"It's because those Supreme Council members keep opposing me that we're making no progress. Once we drag these two down, even the Blue House will get my message."
"But if they counterattack..."
"Representative Jeong, I am a man whose innocent wife and daughter were sacrificed to the prosecution. I was subjected to targeted raids by the opposition. What more can they possibly do to me?"
Representative Jeong stopped trying to persuade him.
The look in his eyes showed he had already made up his mind.
"Three months. Only three months remain. We must secure the nomination rights within those three months to plant our people and build our foundation."
"Yes..."
"Don't think me cruel. I clearly helped Gim Sang-cheol when he was at his hardest. Now in his twilight years, that bastard has been blinded by greed and betrayed me first. Isn't that right?"
Bak Hyeon-seop rose from his seat.
"So my attitude must change accordingly. I cannot agree to this Growth Fund that doesn't focus on returns. So Representative Jeong, take a clear stance from now on."
He spoke with a fearsome expression.
"Will you distance yourself from me? Or will you stand with me and distance yourself from the Blue House?"