“Rice... Rice... rice?”
The convivial drinking party went cold in an instant, as if doused with ice water.
Kim Dohyeong folded his arms and looked me up and down with displeasure in his eyes.
“Mr. Sejun. How did the conversation end up there?”
The man who had been acting friendly until just moments ago, calling me “Director Lee” this and “Director Lee” that, put distance between us in the blink of an eye.
“I came here today, very clearly, through an introduction from KD Group. I came to hear about the outlook for Korea’s defense industry and the role of politics.”
“Assemblyman...”
“Fine, let’s say, for argument’s sake, that automobiles are necessary to protect our manufacturing industry. But rice? Are weapons the only thing that count as national security? Food is an even greater matter of security! Why would you say something so absurd and ruin the mood?”
I fully understood their prickly reaction.
Rice is not only food security; it is also the opposition party’s electoral security. Korea has 1.5 million workers in agriculture and livestock, and based on that, the opposition party has always won overwhelming victories in the grain belts.
Even the mighty Minguk Party cannot carelessly touch this rice bowl.
Unless they wanted to lose power to the Daehan Party by the largest margin in history, like during the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations, it was better for them to keep their mouths shut.
“I’m not saying we should open the floodgates right now. I’m suggesting we try to change things gradually.”
“What?”
I handed the documents to the men whose faces were growing flushed.
“This is a company called HBF. It recently received a major investment from KJ, and it is currently devoting itself day after day to experiments aimed at commercializing cultivated meat.”
“That artificial meat?”
“Yes. They’re close to perfecting the texture, and only cost innovation remains, but they haven’t found a proper sales channel. If the government permits the distribution of cultivated meat, it will undoubtedly be a great help to Korea’s food security.”
“If we approve that, livestock farmers will lie down in protest.”
“...That’s why I came to you with a difficult decision. Every economy is organic. If we can’t resolve rice tariffs, we can’t resolve automobile tariffs either.”
“Look here...”
“No matter how much R&D and fiscal support we pour in, it’s like pouring water into a bottomless jar. The current electric vehicle market is the calm before the storm. Global car companies are all piling up reserves in preparation for the bloody competition that’s coming soon. We have to remove the shackles called tariffs. Only then can domestic companies use the money they earn from internal combustion cars for the electric vehicle market and for developing technological capabilities.”
I had seen it.
When the United States returned to protectionism, we were once again caught by the topknot over agricultural tariffs.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know this was a request that would earn curses. The fact that the United States is also a country capable of throwing its weight around would soon become clear. Were we still not going to prepare?
“And if food security really is the issue, then we should now permit corporate farming as well. The weaker it is, the more we need to force it to compete and raise its technology. Of course, I’m not asking for that much. Just the first step. Please approve cultivated meat, at least.”
Perhaps sincerity truly moves heaven.
Whether they had been moved by my long speech or not, unlike before, the two did not lift their backsides from their seats.
“Damn it. This is why you shouldn’t take money from businessmen carelessly.”
“...”
“These bastards always make some ridiculous request right when things are going well.”
All sorts of insults burst out, but to my ears, they sounded like my grandmother’s cheerful nagging.
They cursed, but they did not storm out. Seeing them mentally tallying up the money they had taken so far, it seemed they were considering it.
“Is that artificial meat really safe?”
“Yes, Assemblyman. In the United States, they’ve already approved market distribution for chicken. They even secured approval from the notoriously strict FDA, so there truly is no issue with safety.”
“What about the unit cost? And what about consumer resistance?”
“That’s a problem for the companies to solve. If you gentlemen simply create the stage, they’ll handle it themselves. Let me pour you a drink—”
“Don’t act friendly with me. You were babbling about tariffs earlier, but I’m not saying I’ll lift rice tariffs. We’re only talking about whether or not to sell artificial meat. Right?”
“...Yes. If you simply give us the stage, Korea may become a country that exports agricultural and livestock products.”
“Then go ahead and show us what you can do. I wonder if I’ll live to see the day Korea exports beef.”
“Well, if that day comes, it’d be nice. We’d be able to hold our heads high in trade negotiations with the U.S., and auto tariffs would disappear too. How wonderful would that be? Heh heh heh.”
The two men chuckled.
Then they looked at me with stern expressions.
“In return, tell Vice Chairman Nam clearly. We’ve paid for our meal. Everything we owed him until now ends with this deal.”
“Yes, I promise.”
“How does that answer come out so immediately? I can’t go into detail, but Vice Chairman Nam has been extremely devoted to us all this time. And you can end that relationship over this issue that doesn’t even help the defense industry?”
“I’ll take responsibility. Please leave it to me.”
As soon as I finished answering, they abruptly rose from their seats.
“Then do as you see fit.”
*
In other news.
Record-high internal reserves, and yet another paid-in capital increase... Amid soaring complaints from individual investors surrounding Asan Motors, Chairman Choi announced a “New Management” initiative today.
After the board meeting, Chairman Choi declared the “era of electric vehicles.”
The message included his intention to “complete cost innovation for electric vehicles and aggressively target the European market.” However, with no clear cost innovation yet visible, many experts interpreted the message as meaning that “they will ultimately supply electric vehicles at lower prices even while taking losses.”
The main reason Asan Motors made this decision is being cited as the rapidly shifting market share in the electric vehicle market.
Recently, based on its enormous domestic market, BYD’s market share has been surging at a terrifying pace. Many experts have stated that “it is only a matter of time before BYD surpasses Teslan’s market share,” and assessed that “Chairman Choi has thrown down the gauntlet before Chinese companies’ dominance of the market becomes even more entrenched.”
Europe is currently suffering from an energy crisis due to the shutdown of natural gas supplies, but it has stated that there will be no revisions to the “2035 Internal Combustion Vehicle Production Ban Act.” While many experts have pointed out the practical limitations of the legislation, they also forecast that Europe’s broad direction toward carbon reduction will not change.
Accordingly, forecasts are emerging that all of Europe will become a battleground for the global electric vehicle market. Will Chairman Choi’s managerial judgment in jumping in preemptively bear fruit?
Regarding today’s New Management declaration, many global ratings agencies showed more concern than expectation.
The WSJ offered a cool assessment today, saying, “Resource procurement is understandable, but technological capability remains questionable.”
The point was that while Asan Motors, ranked third in global market share, could endure losses with revenue from internal combustion vehicle sales, the question was whether it could ultimately improve its technological capabilities.
As the WSJ analyzed, Asan Motors faces many obstacles.
Looking at electric vehicle technology indicators, Asan Motors lags far behind Teslan, and there is a large price gap between it and BYD.
Currently, BYD and Asan Motors each have clear strengths and weaknesses in batteries and autonomous driving, respectively.
However, concerns have recently emerged that Asan Motors may be rapidly caught by BYD in autonomous driving as the Chinese authorities show all-out support, including allowing vehicles to roam through downtown Beijing.
Experts also diagnosed that “if Asan Motors begins a loss-making offensive, BYD will not sit idle,” and that “Asan, which must make up for losses through internal combustion vehicle sales, will be at a severe disadvantage in a long-term battle against BYD, which receives massive subsidy support from the authorities.”
Fierce, bloody competition among companies for supremacy in the electric vehicle market is expected to continue.
Meanwhile, on this day, the leadership of the Minguk Party visited the headquarters of HBF, the nation’s only cultivated meat company. The leadership emphasized “small but strong enterprises” and “food security”...
*
On the day Asan Motors proclaimed its New Management.
With a restless heart, I watched his long speech.
It’s the same... and yet different. Originally, Chairman Choi’s New Management declaration was announced in 2035, when the age of subsidies ended and the age of penalties began.
The content is similar, but the timing has been moved forward by about ten years.
What kind of effect would this have on the macro-complex system? Could we change the failure from back then this time?
“Chairman, please say a few words!”
“You hinted at a bloody competition, and recently Asan Motors announced its acquisition of a company called Micro Energy.”
“Isn’t it a startup that isn’t even listed yet? How are you spending as much as five trillion won to acquire such a company?”
“Internal reserves exceeding one hundred trillion won! If you think about the trust of individual investors, shouldn’t dividends come first?”
Chairman Choi was surrounded by reporters as though he were appearing at a prosecutors’ photo line.
While declaring a bloody competition, he had announced plans to acquire a company no one had ever heard of, and as a result, shareholder complaints were pouring in in real time.
As if he had expected this scene, he answered with a composed expression.
“Micro Energy... is by no means a club gathering of eccentric scientists. I cannot reveal the details due to management policy, but it possesses enormous technological capabilities in the solid-state field. We expect this to play a major role in Asan Motors’ leap forward in batteries.”
I nodded.
Micro Energy... This company, which began as a club gathering of eccentric engineers, was supposed to be acquired by Teslan five years later. That was because it had improved the low ionic conductivity that was one of the three major challenges of solid-state batteries, greatly enhancing output and charging issues.
Of course, this technology is not quite a game changer that will alter the landscape of the electric vehicle market. It would be more like a sip of water in a marathon competition that must continue for decades to come.
“Even so, five trillion for an unknown startup?”
“Sam Altman, too, did not have much public recognition before AlphaGo. Until then, people had only a faint perception of AI itself. I judged that Micro Energy is a company in that kind of transitional period.”
While Asan Motors was announcing its New Management, a tractor protest was taking place in Gwanghwamun.
[Opposition Leadership Visits Cultivated Meat Company! Livestock Farms Boiling with Anger!]
[Livestock Association Chairman: “Extremely Displeased! The Agricultural and Livestock Industries Are United as One! If a bill that harms livestock farms is created, we will never stand by and watch!”]
[Agricultural Association Chairman: “Stop the nonsense and pay more agricultural subsidies!”]
To be honest, I also wished this world could remain the way it is forever.
Top ten in GDP, surpassing Japan in GDP per capita, semiconductor supremacy, domination of automobile market share... I wished all of this would last for a thousand, ten thousand years.
But the U.S., China, and Europe continue to create AI, develop autonomous driving, build humanoids, conquer space, and make semiconductors with an overwhelming technological gap.
Just as Motorola fell behind in the smartphone era, we are now the ones whose position is under threat.
I had no time to concern myself with domestic commotion.
[CNN Breaking News — “Former President Donald Criticizes White House Again Today!”]
[Donald: “Baidon is terribly incompetent. If it had been me, this war would never have happened!”]
[Donald: “If I return to power, I can end this war in a single day!”]
[Donald: “Make America powerful again! Why does America live bowing and scraping to cash machines like Korea and Japan?”]
[MAGA Supporters Protest: “Fuck Baidon! Son of a bitch Baidon! Let’s take back the administration stolen by a fraudulent election!”]
[MAGA: “Donald, only he can repel Russia’s war of aggression!”]
Winter is coming.
Taking advantage of the chaotic international situation, they began to move again.