1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 358



Only Noblemtl

358 – Unsettling Movement

January 16, 1962. Kijo went to Myeongdong and met ‘Grandma Baek’ Baek Hee-yeop.

The purpose of meeting Baek Hee-yeop was to find out whether the rumor that Chairman Park had spread to test the Chinese people’s voice funds was working properly.

Baek Hee-yeop, whom I met at the office, was still the same.

He was confident and hearty like a great man.

When Kijo told him why he had come, Baek Hee-yeop smiled and asked.

“Are you curious about the flow of real estate, dollars, and gold?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Lee, I thought you weren’t interested in that kind of thing. That’s surprising. Aren’t you interested in stocks?”

Baek Hee-yeop mentioned Daejungju and Korea Electric Power Corporation stocks, whose prices have been rising steadily recently.

*Daejeungju – Stocks listed on the Korea Stock Exchange.

On January 5, the revolutionary government took measures to privatize the stock exchange and allow free pursuit of profit in order to activate the capital market.

Due to this unprecedented measure, Daejoong stocks, which had been trading at around 38 jeon, broke through the par value of 50 jeon and were being traded at over 100 jeon.

*100 Jeon = 1 Hwan

The current price was about 17 jeon per 1 hwan.

As a result, investors who saw price differences of 2 to 3 times were appearing one after another.

“I think this CEO would be interested in KEPCO stocks. I heard they’re building a nuclear power plant or something in Korea?”

After Chairman Park’s visit to the U.S., KEPCO stocks were also skyrocketing.

But the keynote speaker was not interested in investing in securities.

I knew that the price of Daejungju had soared to 9 hwan in March and 42 hwan in April, 84 times the face value, but I had no intention of joining the speculative frenzy because I knew who was causing the surge and where the money was going.

“I’m not interested in investing in securities.”

Baek Hee-yeop smiled brightly at the keynote speech.

“You don’t like going to banquet halls. Well… if you get distracted by other people’s banquets, you won’t realize that your own house is being uprooted.”

It was a meaningful smile.

“This boss who is not greedy is curious about the prices of real estate, dollars, and gold. I understand that you are a businessman, so I will ask about the dollar, but why real estate and gold? Is it because of the rumor? The rumor that the government is seizing the real estate of overseas Chinese?”

“Yes.”

“It won’t have any effect. Even if one or two Jjajangmyeon restaurants in Myeongdong come up for sale, it’s like throwing a stone into the Han River.”

“Is that true for gold too?”

“It’s the same. What’s sucking up money in the market right now is securities. Some crazy guy is driving up stock prices endlessly, and it seems like it’s going too far.”

The ‘crazy bastard’ that Baek Hee-yeop mentioned was Kim Jong-pil, who attempted to raise funds for the establishment of the Democratic Republican Party by manipulating stock prices.

Although Hee-yeop had no way of knowing that fact, Ki-jo thought that she had a keen intuition for the signs of something strange.

“Did you achieve a lot since you went to the US?”

Baek Hee-yeop asked with an interested expression.

“I have no achievements.”

“Is that so? The rumors are different…. There’s talk that Chairman Park is pushing it very hard. Shouldn’t Cheongsando be listed on the stock market…, there’s even talk like that? The future is very bright….”

“That will never happen.”

The keynote was given with sincerity.

“Looking at your expression, you really don’t seem interested. I would trust and invest in your company. Haha.”

Baek Hee-yeop, who only buys stocks of companies with solid performance rather than investing in stocks with rising prices, laughed.

“It’s not that I’m investing in Cheongsan because Seonyeop helped me. It’s because I’m interested in Cheongsan as a company.”

“I wonder if General Baek is doing well in Free China.”

The keynote speech changed the subject.

“Seon-yeop is doing well. The problem is In-yeop. I told him not to be so greedy for money. He didn’t listen to his cousin’s words at all. That foolish guy…”

Baek In-yeop was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court just yesterday on charges of illicit wealth accumulation and military corruption.

However, Baek Hee-yeop didn’t seem too worried about his cousin.

“Chairman Park, that guy, he said that he would thoroughly trample on the person who tried to kill him, but he would definitely repay the kindness of the person who saved his life. Do you think he has any sense of humanity? I think his older brother (Baek Seon-yeop) would probably let his younger brother (Baek In-yeop) go.”

Baek Hee-yeop was making an accurate prediction.

Kwak Young-joo, who publicly humiliated Chairman Park and blocked his promotion, is dead.

Although he was found not guilty of ordering the firing in front of the Blue House in a trial after April 19, he was brought back to the Revolutionary Court after May 16, found guilty, and sentenced to death.

When Baek In-yeop was a corps commander, he severely insulted his deputy, Park Chung-hee, in front of his subordinates and tried to block his future.

In 1949, if Baek In-yeop’s older brother, Baek Seon-yeop, had not rescued Park Chung-hee, who was sentenced to death on charges of being a spy for the South Korean Workers’ Party, Baek In-yeop would have suffered the same fate as Kwak Yeong-ju.

Baek In-yeop is eventually pardoned by Park Chung-hee and survives.

He continued to commit corruption at the private foundation he ran, and was indicted in 1981 and 1994, but he narrowly avoided the sword of the law by receiving a suspended sentence.

Baek In-yeop was a man with a strong fate who survived despite committing embezzlement and breach of trust throughout his life.

“There is a rumor going around Myeongdong these days that Chairman Park will definitely run for the presidential election after the general election. People say that he has a 50-50 chance of winning, but I don’t think that’s true. It would be better to hold the presidential election later than to hold the general election after the presidential election.”

Baek Hee-yeop presented his own analysis.

Kijo asked Baek Hee-yeop, who has good intuition.

“Why do you look like that?”

“In my opinion, if Chairman Park had dragged out the military government, his votes would have dropped. He made the right decision to quickly hold a general election. He is manly, so more people will look at him favorably.”

It was Kennedy’s pressure to schedule an early election, which was seen as a manly decision.

“And people still don’t know what kind of person Chairman Park is. I don’t know if they can trust him as president, but there are definitely many people who are fed up with the Democratic Party causing trouble in the National Assembly. They will vote for Chairman Park because they don’t like the Democratic Party.”

The keynote speaker nodded.

“Once Chairman Park’s side becomes the majority party in the general election, things will get better again. If we’re going to do that, let’s elect him as president and support him so he does a good job. I think that’s what’s going to happen.”

The keynote speech was seen as a possible scenario.

“What do you think of this boss?”

In response to Baek Hee-yeop’s question, Kijo smiled brightly and said:

“I don’t know.”

“You seem to have a firm idea, but you seem to be holding back on speaking. Is it a false rumor that Chairman Park is supporting President Lee? President Lee doesn’t really take Chairman Park’s side? Hahaha.”

Baek Hee-yeop laughed.

After finishing his conversation with Baek Hee-yeop, Kijo drove his jeep toward Gwangjang-dong, where the Walkerhill Hotel was being built.

Walkerhill Hotel held its groundbreaking ceremony on January 5th and was preparing to begin full-scale construction.

Heavy military equipment was deployed in abundance and the area around the construction site was being cleared.

This was also a place where Kim Jong-pil’s shadow loomed.

A significant amount of money from the Walkerhill Hotel construction budget was going to be used as funds for the establishment of the Democratic Republican Party.

After touring the Walkerhill construction site, Kijo returned to Jongno.

Kijo met with Cheongsanheungup’s Won Tae-sik and heard about DBC’s exclusive talent recruitment plan.

DBC’s exclusive talent recruitment was a response to KBS’s first batch of KBS talent recruitment in line with the launch of its TV station.

KBS recruited talent three times in 1962 alone, absorbing many talented people.

Kim Nan-young, Park Joo-ah, Park Byung-ho, Choi Jeong-hoon, Jeong Hye-seon, and Tae Hyun-sil were selected for the first group, while Kang Bu-ja, Kim Min-ja, and Lee Il-woong were selected for the second and third groups.

Taesik said that Cheongsanheungup will also hold a to open the way for those who want to advance into all fields, including film, TV, and singing.

“People who are talented want to do movies, appear in dramas, and sing. Sometimes, there are talented people who are good at all three.”

The keynote speaker nodded.

“Yes. Emphasize that if you come to Cheongsanheungup, you can advance into a wider range of fields than KBS. Add voice acting to the fields you can advance into. Tell them that even if you are chosen as a voice actor, you can also become a singer, actor, or talent.”

The keynote speech was to believe in the potential of voice actors.

These people had good vocalizations, so if they worked on it a little, they would be good at acting and singing.

There are many actors in Korea who started out as voice actors.

“Understood, sir.”

“And please support those who perform in plays.”

“Is it a play?”

Taesik showed a dislike for people who do theater.

“Sir, people who do theater have strong pride. They don’t want to appear in movies or dramas. They don’t care about business because they are artists who starve themselves but still do art. They consider joining the national theater company to be the honor of their lives.”

“It’s okay. Just visit often and buy me food. If there’s an actor who needs money, just lend me money without interest. Don’t even ask me to pay it back. And don’t ever tell me to join Cheongsanheungup.”

“Yes, sir.”

The keynote speaker was that there were quite a few talented people who had previously performed on stage and then moved on to movies and dramas.

There were many talented people who were hungry.

I thought it was important to catch those actors without missing them.

It was a time when loyalty was still important, so if you couldn’t pay back the money, there were people who would voluntarily work as actors in liquidation businesses.

Among the talents who started out as stage actors, there were representative actors such as Park Geun-hyung and Lee Soon-jae.

After the story, Kijo asked Taesik.

“Director Won, I see a lot of rotary billiards machines in Myeongdong and Jongno. Do you know anything about them?”

*Rotary billiards machine – pachinko machine

“Ah… you mean that…?”

Perhaps because he came from a gang background, Taesik seemed to know a lot about gambling machines.

“They say it came to Busan at the end of last year. It became popular in Busan, and it was brought back by Koreans living in Japan… It smells a little fishy.”

“What does it smell like?”

“During the Liberal Party era, gangsters like us could do such things by joining hands with the police and politicians, but now, haven’t the military taken power?”

The keynote speaker nodded.

“Nowadays, all the gangsters have been arrested and there are no gangsters running a billiards machine business. That means that in the end… … .”

“Are the soldiers doing it?”

“Yes, if not, how could such gambling machines be installed in Seoul and Busan during martial law? It’s ridiculous.”

“Is that what the rumor said?”

“The general public may not know this, but those who are from a gangster background will all know. It is something that cannot be done without someone from above the military giving them permission.”

“okay.”

The billiards machine business was also connected to Kim Jong-pil.

They took money in exchange for allowing the Central Intelligence Agency to bring in banned gambling machines and granting them business licenses.

When pachinko machines were introduced, they pretended that Korean residents in Japan were bringing Japanese assets back to Korea and gave them duty-free benefits.

There was even a rumor that the total number of pachinko machines imported into the country was over 2,500.

The keynote speech was that since the general election schedule was brought forward, Kim Jong-pil would work even harder to secure funds to found the Democratic Republican Party.

Accordingly, there was concern that more unreasonable acts might be committed than in the original history.

Kijo thought about this as he left Cheongsanheungup and returned to the headquarters.

First, evidence emerged that the amount of underground Chinese funds was small, providing grounds to block Chairman Park’s currency reform.

This was certainly a hopeful thing.

However, Kim Jong-pil’s tyranny only got more intense, and it did not seem to be worse than the original history.

There was no way to know how the butterfly effect caused by Kennedy’s pressure would unfold.

On his way back to headquarters, Kijo saw a thriving billiards machine shop on the side of the road.

Instead of hiding in an alley, they were doing business openly on the main street.

The keynote reminded me of an adult arcade called ‘Sea Story’ that I had seen in my past life.

Those illegal gambling dens were set up in every neighborhood and were even openly operating along Jongno Street.

The police did not crack down on these stores even though they clearly knew what kind of stores they were, and gambling arcades prospered nationwide.

The saying that history repeats itself came to mind.