Looking back, Koreans had several opportunities to become rich.
In the 1997 IMF era, Gangnam apartments held an unprecedented bargain sale.
Eunma, which had been in the low 200 million won range, crashed to the mid-100 millions, and Cheongdam, Seocho, Banpo, and Bundang fell below even that.
With real estate being a leading economic indicator, there was no need to even mention the stock market.
Hoam, Asan, and Geumseong plunged by up to 80%. Even considering the 20% interest rate at the time, if one had possessed the heart of a beast and bought on margin, they would have reaped at least two to threefold returns within two years.
Even if one had missed this opportunity, God granted another chance four years later.
The 2001 dot-com bubble. Even the mighty NASDAQ evaporated by 80%, selling get-rich tickets to the world’s citizens. Microsoft, the bellwether, saw its market cap halved and halved again, while Amazon’s stock price evaporated by 95%. Since Microsoft took a full 17 years to recover its $600 billion market cap, if one had shut their eyes tight and swept up IT blue chips back then, they would be living without a care in the world by now.
Even if one had missed everything until then, God granted another chance seven years later.
The subprime crisis, the era of the 900-won exchange rate.
If one had gritted their teeth and bought the S&P then, they would have hit the jackpot on a stock-price-and-exchange-rate doubling event.
Then what of the COVID era? What of cryptocurrency?
Looking back, global stock markets have always sold get-rich tickets to ordinary people, and those who seized these opportunities well changed their fates. Most of the celebrity landlords we know are cash-rich individuals who swept up assets during those times.
“...Thank you, Mei Lin. I’m in the lobby now. Yes, please call me back once the message has been relayed properly.”
Hilton Hotel central lobby.
I waited for Zhang Yipeng while looking back on meaningless financial history.
In truth, it was not entirely meaningless. Looking back on financial history, crisis was always opportunity.
Just as pearls hide in tidal flats, blue chips always reveal their true worth during downturns, and those that survived thus seized industrial hegemony during booms.
Was that why?
Foreign press unanimously forecasted that the Chinese economy would collapse, but it did not appear so to my eyes. After a harsh wave of restructuring passed, there were blue chips that survived like rocks, and core businesses. Perhaps those were the “real” ones?
I turned my gaze to the news screen in the center of the lobby.
For a while, the Chinese government would be too preoccupied with internal power struggles and putting out the real estate fire; if my memory served, this was the last chance to close the technology gap.
Perhaps it was already too late...
*
“How long has it been, Uncle Zhang! Have you been well?”
In the Hilton Hotel restaurant VIP room.
Mei Lin greeted the middle-aged man with a bright smile.
With his whitening hair and unmanageable physique... Zhang Yipeng, who once controlled all Rocket Force supplies at will, looked as though he had fallen to the level of a neighborhood uncle just three years after retirement.
“I’m getting by. You’ve become a fine lady, Mei Lin. Now perhaps it’s time to speak seriously of marriage?”
“That story again? Hoho.”
“In today’s world, it’d be hard to find a man like Rui. I’m not saying this just because he’s my son—he’s truly a fine young man. He’ll be returning from America soon; if you have the time, you should meet him.”
“I’m sorry, but we’re just like siblings. We’ve known each other since elementary school—how could affection possibly bloom?”
“Even though he’s become quite handsome?”
“Then he’ll meet a prettier partner than me. Perhaps he already has.”
Seeing her smile brightly, Zhang Yipeng shook his head.
“The older you get, the more your father’s face shows. The expression you make whenever the talk gets difficult is exactly the same.”
“Haha. Then may I treat Uncle Zhang to a meal today in my father’s stead?”
“Uncle? Are you suddenly putting distance between us because I brought up marriage?”
“No. Actually, I’m comfortable calling you Uncle Zhang too.”
“Then do as you always have.”
When their small talk of recent matters ended, the appetizers arrived.
Mei Lin emptied her crab soup and cold dishes while carefully watching for an opening. She had to state her business before the main course at the latest. Right now, in the hotel lobby, Sejun was waiting desperately for nothing but her call.
But Zhang Yipeng, who had spent the entire time boasting of his son, seemed to think of her only as a little girl, not a businesswoman. Thus, her heart grew impatient.
“Alright, Mei Lin. Now tell me what your younger brother said.”
“...Pardon?”
“This isn’t a meeting your father sent you to, is it? Honestly, I was rather disappointed. I had believed I was quite close to your father—how could there be no contact the moment I retired? Well, that’s all in the past.”
Mei Lin smiled awkwardly.
Her father had recently said like a mantra: that old man is a has-been with no more money-making angles left... If he knew today’s meeting wasn’t by her father’s instruction, would he storm out of his seat?
“Uncle Zhang, actually I didn’t come here today by my father’s instruction.”
“What?”
“I came because there’s someone I’d like to introduce to you. It’s about business.”
Zhang Yipeng set down his chopsticks, which had been moving busily.
“An introduction... who is it that wants to find me?”
“I don’t know the details either, but it’s someone with quite a lot of money. The National Pension Fund... that is, someone who works at Korea’s National Wealth Fund.”
“A rich person? But not Chinese—Korean?”
“Yes.”
“No matter how I look at it, there’s no connection; why would they seek me, who retired three years ago?”
She gave the excuse Sejun had taught her.
“He said he wants to build his guanxi. With the recent Pengda bankruptcy issue, domestic and foreign affairs are tense... He says he wants to seek advice from someone who has held key military posts. He doesn’t seem to have ill intentions. His identity is solid too.”
“Even so—”
“He’s an employee of a wealthy investment firm. Is there any reason to refuse?”
Just as her father had assessed, Uncle Zhang was a man weak to greed.
After she emphasized twice that he had money, his gaze, which had been as solid as the Great Wall, gradually shifted to curiosity.
“He even prepared a gift! He’s waiting in the lobby—shall I call him?”
Zhang Yipeng emptied his glass and muttered under his breath.
“The daughter surpasses the father... tsk, tsk.”
*
“Hello, Mr. Zhang. I am I Sejun, working at Korea’s National Wealth Fund. It is an honor to meet you.”
I bowed at a 90-degree angle and held out a bundle.
“This is a modest gift from us.”
“What is this?”
“I heard your wife is fond of such things. It is truly a small gift.”
Zhang Yipeng, who had been thoroughly on guard, checked the bundle and let a faint smile cross his face.
Inside the envelope were three small but very expensive golden toads. Not intended for the wife, but exchangeable for cash immediately at a gold shop.
“Did you say your name was I Sejun?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Your impression, and your eyes—you are no ordinary young man. You have a talent for pleasing your elders. Hehe. Thank you for the gift. My wife will be most pleased.”
Mei Lin signaled with a wink, and I took my seat.
Thank heavens. Thanks to the toads, I had at least succeeded in sharing the same table.
“I hear you wish for military connections, sir?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Then you have come to the right person. Despite appearances, I was once in charge of all military supply procurement for the Rocket Force. Without my permission, they could not even freely supply hardtack.”
As he emptied his glass, he soon fell into reminiscence.
“I have heard much about you. You know many entrepreneurs as well?”
“Ahem—there must be truckloads of entrepreneurs who made their living from military supplies thanks to me. However... er... I retired a bit early due to health issues, but my subordinates still seem unable to forget me.”
“I imagine so. You seem to possess great virtue.”
“That’s right. They still desperately beg me to return to the unit. Without me, supplier discipline is apparently in shambles. But how could I don a military uniform again with this belly? Since retiring to the second line, I live for the pleasure of meeting people. Well, if you need useful connections, I shall introduce you.”
It was a lie.
The man who had fallen on anti-corruption charges was eyeing a comeback eagerly, but he would never wear the uniform again. And his fall was due less to corruption than to a political sense too dull to read the situation.
As a Rocket Force man, he had oddly thrown his lot in with the Taizidang line, which offended the leadership and led to his purge.
In fact, looking only at the process, his choice was not necessarily foolish. In China, which had regressed to absolute power, the closer one was to the Taizidang, the faster the promotion. In that sense, he had actually been a competent political soldier.
But who could have known that Zhang Youxia and Zhuxishi, who had been closer than brothers, would drift apart like this?
Just as no one reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms worries that Guan Yu will betray Liu Bei, he had never doubted the eternal alliance between the military and the Chairman. He had firmly believed that Zhuxishi, having succeeded in the third-term constitutional amendment, would reign as an eternal emperor following Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
But in the real world, Guan Yu betrayed Liu Bei, colluded with Cao Cao, and killed Zhang Fei first. Thus, he who had been moderately corrupt and fond of pleasure, by trusting only Big Brother, met a sudden demise in the dead of night.
“Mr. Zhang... therefore, might I ask you one thing?”
When roughly three bottles of bamboo liquor had been emptied, I carefully continued.
“Ask anything. If it is your words, I shall listen to all. Haha.”
“From a military expert’s perspective, how promising do you consider Korea’s defense industry?”
“The defense industry?”
“Yes. In fact, I am preparing various investments.”
“...Your words are somewhat strange. Why ask me, a Chinese soldier, about the outlook for the Korean military’s defense industry, rather than anyone else?”
“Due to unique secrecy, I cannot trust domestic announcements.”
“Hmm...”
“In fact, the forecasts announced in Korea or America are all rosy, yet Korean defense stocks have been treading water for ten years. Thus, I wished to hear a somewhat objective forecast from a Chinese expert, rather than just any other country.”
The old tiger still seemed sharp. When an unusual topic was broached, he shifted to a wary gaze.
“Mei Lin?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Sorry, but could you buy some cigarettes? The alcohol must be getting to me; I feel heavy.”
Mei Lin gave me a once-over and rose from her seat.
“Understood. I shall take my time returning.”
Soon after she left, he slowly opened his mouth.
“I am no different. Korea possesses independent self-propelled artillery technology and even supplies to Europe—it is a leading defense nation. Even as a Chinese soldier, I see excellent technologies.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right. Since they possess sufficiently excellent technological capabilities, the prospects are bright, I’d say.”
“I see... then, if I were to entrust you with an investment. Would you buy Korean defense stocks, or Chinese defense stocks?”
Slam!
The old tiger’s patience snapped.
“Hey, young friend. What is it you want to say? Why do you keep sniffing around me reeking of money?!”
Now I too had no leisure to feign innocence.
“It cost 20 million Korean won to buy those golden toads today. In fact, I bought them with the company card, so I might be fired when I return to Korea.”
“What?”
“So please make it worth the price. If China’s drone technology is 100, what score would Korea receive?”
“Oh, I knew it! You approached me because of drones!”
“And if we compensate you, sir, can you advise us on raising our technological capabilities?”
It seemed even great anger could not overcome greed.
When I presented a blank check, the man who had jumped up merely trembled his hand.