I Am the Third-Generation Heir of a Conglomerate - Chapter 433



Only Noblemtl

433. Prince’s Rebellion (3)

The long-awaited presidential election day has arrived.

Huge crowds headed to the polls, and long lines to vote could be found everywhere since morning.

“Interest in this presidential election is higher than expected.”

“There were high expectations that supporters of the ruling party, who had the dishonor of an unprecedented presidential resignation, would largely abandon their votes. However, looking at the voter turnout, it does not seem to be the case.”

The planning director has been taking care of the election process since morning.

The planning director knew very well how important this presidential election was, so he worked more passionately than in other elections.

“The election results won’t be overturned.”

“According to the latest opinion poll results, Rep. Choi Jae-seok is ahead by more than 15%. With this much of a gap, it is expected that he will be elected without difficulty.

“Even if there are variables outside the margin of error of the opinion poll, there won’t be a big problem in getting elected.”

We tried to eliminate all variables during the election period.

They even waged a public opinion war in the middle, hoping that the ruling or opposition parties might unify their candidates.

To prevent a situation where one of the candidates gives up on the election because he or she cannot receive campaign funds, they even supported the weaker candidate through social media.

The election structure was advantageous to Rep. Choi Jae-seok only if the opposition party maintained its lead.

So, the remaining four candidates were appropriately checked or supported, and thanks to that, the election was able to be fought in the form of a five-way battle.

“There was a near-term Third Zone Big Tent formation before the election, but fortunately, unification did not occur.”

“Public opinion for and against the deployment of THAAD was also a fairly large variable.”

“Still, it was a difficult issue to overturn because it was already a decision.”

One of the key agenda items in this presidential election was the deployment of THAAD.

Since the previous administration had already concluded negotiations with the United States on the deployment of THAAD, it could not be overturned just because the administration changed.

However, the opposition party has come out with a proposal to return THAAD deployment to its original state.

Public opinion grew increasingly concerned about the deterioration of the Chinese market, but the ruling party raised security issues to silence the public opinion.

“If the THAAD deployment is in full swing, Rep. Choi Jae-seok will also have a hard time.”

“The issue of relations with China is likely to be the biggest topic of discussion for the next administration.”

“You can’t pick up spilled water. If we go back to square one on the THAAD deployment, we’ll be turning the United States into an enemy, so we have to maintain the agreement.”

The THAAD deployment issue could no longer be resolved.

The emergence of diplomatic problems with China was a historical trend, and we just had to prepare for that trend.

“I will continue to monitor the election process.”

“If no major variables arise, there is no need to report separately.”

As important as elections are, watching them over and over again won’t change the outcome.

That’s why I spent my time dealing with the mountain of work related to Taewoo Group.

When it was time to announce the exit poll results, Vice President Han and the Planning Director gathered around me on their own.

“Exit polls are now starting.”

“Whew, it’s been a while since I’ve felt this nervous.”

I wiped the sweat off my hands with a handkerchief.

Meanwhile, the countdown began and three broadcasters simultaneously announced exit polls.

[Choi Jae-seok: 40% Opposition candidate: 19%, Ruling party candidate: 18% New Party (Opposition Party): 14%, New Party (Ruling Party): 5%]

“Wow! That’s it! Candidate Choi Jae-seok was elected by an overwhelming margin.”

“That’s a higher number than the last poll! That’s a gap of over 20%.”

“Relax. It’s just an exit poll. The results will change depending on the vote count.”

He said this, but inside he cheered.

Unlike general elections, exit polls have never been wrong in presidential elections.

Although the gap may have narrowed slightly, Choi Jae-seok’s election was certain.

“However, the ruling party secured more votes than expected. If you only look at the opinion poll results, it seemed like the ruling party would have a difficult time securing enough votes to cover election expenses.”

“That means it has a strong concrete support layer.”

This was the result of the People’s Economy Party eating away at the ruling party’s votes.

If there had been no People’s Economic Party, the ruling party would have gained at least 10% more in votes, and the opposition party suffered an even bigger blow because of the People’s Economic Party.

If there had been no People’s Economy Party, all the centrist votes would have gone to the opposition party.

However, the People’s Economy Party absorbed all the moderate votes, and the opposition parties as well as the two new parties recorded low approval ratings.

“If a third big tent had been formed, it would have been close. The combined votes of the opposition party and the new party would have been close to 40%.”

“If you do simple arithmetic, that’s true. But in the case of elections, 1+1 doesn’t equal 2. It usually ends up being around 1.5 or even lower.”

The election wasn’t arithmetic.

Some really complex mathematics had to be applied.

Forming a big tent did not necessarily mean that each party’s support would be absorbed as is.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.

If a third party were formed and the candidates were successfully unified.

Representative Choi Jae-seok must have had a really difficult election process.

“Mr. Chairman, I have received a call from candidate Choi Jae-seok.”

“Already? I think you were just being interviewed on TV.”

Just now, I was listening to an interview with Rep. Choi Jae-seok on TV.

The fact that he called me right after the interview meant that he was very grateful to me.

[Thank you, Chairman Kim. Thanks to you, I was able to get elected.]

“No. It was possible to win because the elected official and the People’s Economy Party worked hard.”

[First, let me apologize. Even if I enter the Blue House, I will not run the government to your liking.]

It was a statement that could easily sound like a declaration of war.

But I didn’t feel bad at all because I knew exactly why Rep. Choi Jae-seok said that.

“Of course you should. If you think that any suggestion I make is not helpful to the national interest, you can reject it at any time.”

[I intend to work only for the growth and economic development of the Republic of Korea. I would like to ask for your great help from Taewoo Group.]

“The government won’t help Taewoo Group, but Taewoo Group wants the government to help them a lot. I think it’s a bit too much, but I will do it.”

Nothing was different from now.

Although Rep. Choi Jae-seok and Taewoo Group have worked together on many policies.

Until now, Rep. Choi Jae-seok and the People’s Economy Party have never acted solely for the benefit of the Taewoo Group.

National interests of the Republic of Korea.

This was the part that Rep. Choi Jae-seok considered as his top priority.

We only joined Taewoo Group because its direction was beneficial to the national interest.

And I was satisfied with this relationship. I didn’t expect any support or help from the government to make him president.

[Ahem, if I ever retire from politics, I will spend the rest of my life being grateful to the Chairman and Taewoo Group.]

“You still have a long way to go before you retire. If you are re-elected as president, you will have at least eight years. If you just run the Republic of Korea well during that time, I will be more than happy to do so.”

We ended the call in a very warm atmosphere.

I couldn’t talk on the phone much longer because I was receiving a flood of interview requests.

***

The next day.

After a long time, I had a good night’s sleep and went to work.

At that time, the presidential election vote counting was over.

The planning director reported to me with bloodshot eyes, as if he had been watching the vote counting broadcast all night.

“Rep. Choi Jae-seok was elected president without much difference from the exit polls! The final voter turnout was 40.6%.”

“I also did a quick check on my way here. The only thing that was different from the exit polls was the new party’s vote percentage.”

The new party received 14% in the exit polls.

When the votes were counted, the voter turnout was only 10%.

This meant that Rep. Choi Jae-seok absorbed much of the new party’s votes, which had strong support in the Honam region.

“The results of this presidential election are likely to result in two new parties being absorbed into existing political parties.”

“Even if that happens, it doesn’t really matter. With a 40% voter turnout, even if it becomes a three-way race, it’s still possible to be re-elected.”

“If the approval rating of the Choi Jae-seok government does not suddenly drop, re-election is possible.”

The Choi Jae-seok government had not even been launched yet.

It was impossible to be certain of re-election at this point, as many hardships awaited him in the future.

“Rep. Choi Jae-seok will take care of it. Let’s just ignore the re-election. Is there any other news?”

“The schedule with Sespan Chairman Jerry Wang has been set. He is said to be arriving in Korea on the 7th of next month.”

“They came all the way to Korea. Well, if you combine Hyunjin Shipping and Hyunjae Shipping, it is a scale that cannot be ignored.”

It was a scale that could even aim for the top 5 ranking of global shipping companies.

That is why Sespan Chairman Jerry Wang personally came to Korea to negotiate charter fees.

“In the case of Hyunjin Shipping’s charter fee negotiations, it can be conducted with Sespan at the center, but in the case of Sangsang Marine, negotiations must be conducted with over 22 overseas ship owners.”

“If Sespan announces a discount on charter fees, other ship owners will follow suit and offer discounts of similar levels.”

“Will overseas ship owners accept it? They even rejected a 25% offer.”

We have already signed a 50% discount contract with Sespan.

It was planned to obtain further discounts through further negotiations in the next negotiation.

But in the case of Sespan, it was a possible discount rate because there was an exchange with Chairman Jerry Wang.

For other foreign shipowners, it may have been difficult to find common ground.

In that case, they had to promise them some profit and get a discount on charter fees, and Taewoo Group had the weapon of enormous financial power.

“Let’s solve it step by step. First, let’s persuade Chairman Jerry Wang.”

“We will study various scenarios at the planning department level and report back to you. Also, Sentryon said that they have something they want to discuss with the chairman. They contacted us and said that they will come up to the headquarters when they have time.”

Sentryon was to become the most profitable subsidiary of Taewoo Group in the future.

So it was right for me to come down and solve the problem myself.

“Tell them I’m going to Sentry right now. I can see what the problem is and make a judgment call.”

“I will convey it that way.”

I got up straight from my seat and went to the sentry.

When I arrived at Sentryon, CEO Seo Jeong-jun and Dr. Kim Jang-woo were waiting for me in the lobby.

“Why are you out here instead of waiting inside?”

“I came out because I needed to see the chairman and discuss something as soon as possible.”

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

It was Dr. Kim Jang-woo who looked quite anxious.

CEO Seo Jeong-jun was frowning, as if he was dissatisfied.

We quickly entered the conference room, and the moment the conference room door closed, Dr. Kim Jang-woo spoke up.

“There is one technology that is absolutely necessary for both mRNA and DNA research.”

“If you need to use the patented technology, I can pay you whatever the cost is. But what kind of technology is it that makes you so excited?”

“It’s gene scissors technology. We’ve found a clue to solving many incurable diseases through gene scissors technology!”

Gene scissors technology.

I have heard of it.

Just before my return, I remembered that the gene scissors technology had won the Nobel Prize.

“Isn’t this technology largely unrelated to research into coronavirus treatments?”

“We can conduct research in a complex manner. It is a technology that can create various new drugs, from coronavirus treatments.”

“But the usage fee is quite high. And it is very complicated because a patent dispute has also broken out.”

This was the reason why CEO Seo Jeong-jun frowned.

I felt resistance because it was a technology that had sparked a patent dispute.

But we can’t just leave the technology that can create various new drugs alone.

Rather than simply paying a fee to use the technology, I wanted to purchase the technology itself.