RR 32
[032] An Era of Rapid Change 2.
“Last time you mentioned having a soju, so I thought it’d be a street food stall or a samgyeopsal place. Haha.”
“Is there anything better than sashimi as a soju snack?”
Oh Se-hyun, meeting Lee Hak-jae again at a high-end Japanese restaurant, felt so good that he sped up emptying his glass as Lee Hak-jae gave clear, straightforward answers without any back-and-forth.
“I guess I’ll have to pay for the drinks today. I successfully brokered a deal worth a whopping 24 billion won, so the commission is quite substantial.”
As soon as the contract to transfer twenty thousand pyeong of Bundang commercial land to Sunyang Construction was stamped, the money was deposited into Do-jun’s account.
“Sunyang handled all the tax issues, so will this one time be enough?”
“If Chief Lee calls, I’ll rush over anytime. Haha.”
Lee Hak-jae extended his glass to Oh Se-hyun, who let out a hearty laugh.
“How about I offer you an even bigger deal? Are you interested?”
Oh Se-hyun’s hand trembled slightly as he took the extended glass. A bigger deal would mean Sunyang Group itself.
He remembered Lee Hak-jae’s warning.
The intention to use Do-jun to get a foothold in Sunyang Group.
The idea of raising his own worth.
How could someone who harbored such suspicions suddenly offer a new proposal?
Could it be a bait?
“I should first check if I can handle it, shouldn’t I?”
“It’s just under 200 billion won.”
Clang!
He finally dropped his glass.
But Oh Se-hyun didn’t even notice dropping the glass, and no words came out of his agape mouth.
200 billion won.
Last year’s national budget was 22.6 trillion won. It was an unrealistic, astronomical figure, almost 1% of the government’s budget.
A strange smile, subtly condescending and triumphant, spread across Lee Hak-jae’s face as he watched Oh Se-hyun’s blank expression.
“S-Sorry. I was just too surprised…”
Oh Se-hyun hastily cleaned up around him with a wet towel, trying to compose himself.
“It seems it’s difficult to handle.”
“It is difficult. Oh, don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean I won’t take it. I mean there are no investment opportunities in Korea that can absorb such a massive amount of money. It would have to be fragmented and diversified countless times…”
“What about abroad? For example, where Do-jun invested. It seems like you could get on board there?”
At Lee Hak-jae’s words, Oh Se-hyun almost slapped his knee. He knew what he wanted.
“That too is difficult.”
“Why is that?”
“I can’t explain in detail, but Do-jun’s funds went through PowerShares’ U.S. headquarters to a third-party investment firm. And the companies Do-jun invested in aren’t large enough to receive such a huge investment of 200 billion won.”
Lee Hak-jae’s eyes flashed at the mention of a third-party investment firm, but he didn’t probe further. He knew that a detailed explanation wouldn’t be given anyway.
“It would be safe, right?”
This was the maximum he could ask.
But one thing he understood clearly: Do-jun’s money wasn’t buried in the huge company PowerShares; it was moving independently.
“There’s no such thing as a safe investment. You take risks. Do-jun’s risks are within a controllable range, so don’t worry.”
Oh Se-hyun reassured him, then subtly asked in return.
“That 200 billion won… Is it money that doesn’t necessarily need to make a profit? Is the preservation of the principal most important, that it shouldn’t be tied up in long-term investments, and that it can be withdrawn whenever needed… Is that right?”
Lee Hak-jae couldn’t help but chuckle as Oh Se-hyun stated the most important principle of slush funds.
He was incredibly quick-witted.
When Lee Hak-jae nodded lightly, Oh Se-hyun tilted his head.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to keep it in Korea? We have banks in our country with much better interest rates than in the U.S., don’t we?”
Lee Hak-jae only smiled in response.
He was not so foolish as to not calculate the hundreds of millions of won he would earn just by managing 200 billion won in commissions.
However, forgetting his own profit, he unhesitatingly suggested the best option for the client.
He was a much better man than expected.
“As I said, it’s not money to earn interest. In fact, we often have uses for money in the U.S., so we were planning to move some there.”
It also meant that their U.S. business was growing. And as it grew, so did the need for more black money.
“Understood. I will review it first, then inform you of the final proposal.”
It was a polite and exemplary answer, but Oh Se-hyun’s true intention was already a refusal. There was no need to take on Sunyang Group’s black money and suffer anxiety.
Because he himself was a successful individual in the top 1%, someone not to be envied.
.
.
.
The Movie Investment
“I don’t know why you want to see this, but it was sent from New York. Take a look.”
I quickly snatched the few documents Oh Se-hyun handed me.
“To show Dad? Because movie imports are possible too?”
I nodded carelessly and began checking the contractual relationships.
But the moment I saw the title I was most interested in, I almost swore.
Damn it, a UIP direct distribution!
The movie ‘GHOST,’ set to dominate the global box office in ’90, was already confirmed for domestic distribution by UIP, a direct distribution company that had started operations in Korea last year.
If my father’s film company had handled the domestic distribution of this movie, he could have boasted to theater owners and slotted in movies he produced… What a shame.
Then another movie caught my eye.
HOME ALONE.
“Uncle. Is this movie in production?”
“What?”
Oh Se-hyun held the movie list, looked at it briefly, then rummaged through the documents.
“This one? It says production is on hold? Look at the last page. No, wait a minute.”
Perhaps thinking the dense English would be a burden to me, he slowly began to read and explain.
“Hmm, it’s a small-scale family movie… the director is also new, the lead actor is new… wait, the lead actor is a kid, like you.”
Oh Se-hyun stopped speaking and began to read the rest of the document.
“We can skip this one.”
Oh Se-hyun tossed the document onto the desk, shaking his head slightly.
“Why?”
“Warner Bros. was supposed to produce it for 14 million dollars, but the production budget sharply increased. So they passed it to 20th Century Fox, and they’re currently re-evaluating it, apparently?”
“But they’ll still make it, won’t they?”
“Well, I don’t know much about this area. But if it’s struggling from the early production stages, it’s unlikely to do well, is it?”
Not at all. It will do well. Very well, in fact.
Thinking there was still a chance, other movies didn’t even register. Even blockbusters like Total Recall or Die Hard 2 no longer satisfied me with just the Korean distribution rights.
“Uncle. Did the money from selling the Bundang land go into Miracle?”
“Soon. Why?”
Perhaps he already guessed, his gaze at me was strange.
“I’m thinking of investing in this movie.”
Sure enough, he sighed first.
“Do-jun. Stock and movie investments are completely different games. With stocks, you lose money if the price drops, but with movies, if you don’t break even, you just lose it all. There’s no timing to get out.”
This time, there was no logical argument to make, no way to explain.
An anxious director and lead actor, an enormous production budget despite being a family film. Pouring money into a movie that even major American film companies hesitated about was, to anyone, an act of suicide.
It was a natural reaction for Oh Se-hyun to express concern with a hardened face.
But I had to seize this opportunity. Miracle Investment could not miss this golden chance to engrave its name in Hollywood as a film investment company.
Of course, dozens of times the profit would be a bonus.
“Uncle.”
“No matter what you say, I’m against it this time. This isn’t an investment. It’s a gamble. And you’ve already lost on paper.”
Oh Se-hyun had preemptively blocked any further discussion, so I played my last card.
“This is the last time. I won’t say another word about investments in the future. Still no?”
“Do-jun!”
Finally, he even raised his voice. I understood, but I was also starting to get annoyed.
“It’s unearned income from selling land. It’s okay if it’s gone, it’s my money even if it fails. I promised my parents I’d live doing what I want. And there’s no problem even if all the money managed by Miracle disappears. My grandfather is the richest man in Korea, after all. Right?”
Oh Se-hyun’s expression changed moment by moment at my subdued voice.
He seemed to realize the gap between himself, a self-made man, and me, who was fortunate enough to have a good grandfather.
A world where losing a large sum, like one or two billion won, ends with just one scolding.
A world where even ruining a company worth hundreds of billions of won is forgiven with a few years of probation.
An alien-like existence who views money with completely different eyes than ordinary people who lose their jobs over a few hundred million, or even tens of millions of won, due to misjudgment.
That’s the chaebol family.
Oh Se-hyun gathered the scattered documents on the table and stood up.
“What you want is to invest as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, in this movie, right?”
His tone was cold, devoid of any familiarity. I, too, responded professionally.
“That’s right.”
“Alright. I’ll do as you wish.”
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“We need to secure the Korean distribution rights.”
“We might be the only investors, so that’s not a problem. Anything else?”
“No.”
“I’ll handle it as quickly as possible and report back.”
Given how he particularly emphasized the word “report,” he seemed to be thoroughly angry.
But his displeasure would melt away like snow when he saw the year-end box office results.
.
.
.
The Economic Shift and Home Alone’s Success
As Microsoft launched Windows 3.0, it rapidly began to encroach upon the PC market. Along with it, the company’s stock price also rose quickly.
Dell Computer, which listed at 30 cents, also broke records daily, and its stock price soared through the roof.
Thanks to this, Oh Se-hyun, who had been furious with me, now wore a broad smile as if nothing had happened, and even comforted me, saying that the 8 million dollars (about 5.6 billion won) loss from investing in ‘HOME ALONE’ could be fully recovered in just a few years.
Conversely, Korean stock prices plummeted.
In Japan, this was due to the total loan volume regulation implemented in April to burst the bubble economy. This was only the beginning.
As it was implemented at the peak of Japan’s bubble economy, the Japanese economy began to sink into an endless abyss.
Northern Diplomacy, the greatest achievement of the Roh Tae-woo administration, peaked with the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, and on October 3rd, Germany, which had been divided into East and West since World War II, was finally reunified after 45 years.
With this as a turning point, Eastern European countries, which had been Soviet satellite states, largely converted to capitalism, effectively ending the long and tedious Cold War in this year.
Now, the entire global village had entered the capitalist era.
From November 16th, when HOME ALONE was released, Oh Se-hyun was likely the only person in Korea who anxiously watched the movie’s score.
Calling New York daily to check the box office, Oh Se-hyun visited me on New Year’s Day, 1991.
“You might be the richest elementary school student in the world. Excluding Arab royalty.”
The paper he handed me was filled with numbers, and at the end of the numbers, the figure 200 million dollars was circled in red.
.
.
Post Comment