The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 286



Only Noblemtl

286. Babpsae with torn crotch (5)

A quiet villa near Gyeonggi-do.

I came here to meet with Gyeonggi Province Governor Choi Jae-seok.

“I’m sorry. Chairman Kim, I should have gone up to Seoul, but I’m sorry for having to move a busy person to Gyeonggi-do.”

“What are you talking about between us? And since there are so many eyes on Seoul, it would be much better to meet in Gyeonggi-do. And how far are you talking about the distance between Seoul and Gyeonggi-do? If we were to walk across the street, wouldn’t we be just touching each other?”

Meetings with Governor Choi Jae-seok were always cautious.

It wasn’t a good relationship to be known for no reason, and there was no need to create gossip, so we had no choice but to meet in places like this.

“As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, I would like to express my gratitude. I heard that Chairman Kim put a lot of effort into this currency swap.”

“Did such a rumor go around? It’s all nonsense. How can a single businessman get involved in negotiations between countries?”

“This is a rumor that came from the mouth of the Chief of Staff to the President. Everyone already knows.”

“Even if everyone knows, I am in a position where I have to pretend not to know. The moment the Taewoo Group steps forward and makes an announcement, the image that we are a group that is friendly to the current government is created.”

A regime that changes every 5 or 10 years.

Except for the United States, no country in the world has seen regime changes so frequently.

Therefore, if the image of lining up in one place is created, it becomes a weakness the moment another large opposition party takes power.

“It is a very difficult country to do business in. But thank you again. The government expected a currency swap of $30 billion, but a whopping $50 billion currency swap was concluded.”

“When the currency swap agreement was announced, the exchange rate fell by more than 10% in one day.”

“And the KOSPI index also recovered significantly. We almost got caught up in the storm of the Lehman crisis and experienced another IMF crisis. Whoa.”

It was Governor Choi Jae-seok who breathed a sigh of relief.

I understand that he cared about his country, but he was worried for no reason.

“The IMF will not come back. If such a situation had occurred, Taewoo Group would have prevented it. Even if more dollars were brought to Korea than the country’s foreign exchange reserves.”

“You can say this because you are Taewoo Group. There is no one who cares more about the country than Chairman Kim.”

“It’s not because I’m worried about the country, but because it’s for the sake of the Taewo Group. If the situation in Korea worsens, the Taewu Group will also suffer a big blow.”

In the past, the IMF was a good opportunity.

At that time, Taewoo Group was only expanding quantitatively and lacked technology, so it was a golden opportunity to fill in what was lacking.

But things were different now.

Since they had already secured a large base, if the country was in disarray, the growth of Taewo Group would be put on hold.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if we just have the same cause for the Republic of Korea?”

“Thank you for thinking so.”

“And the Blue House and the ruling party are about to enact a special law on future industries. It is a bill that will ease or abolish various regulations related to future industries and provide benefits to promote future industries.”

At least this government did not break its promise.

Well, they signed a 50 billion dollar currency swap, so it’s only natural that they show this level of sincerity.

“Governor Choi Jae-seok, does the Future Industry Special Act look good in your opinion?”

“There is nothing bad about this bill. Artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, robots, etc. are still unfamiliar industries, but even if just one of them succeeds, Korea can develop greatly.”

It was Governor Choi Jae-seok who thought that only one of several future industries could succeed.

But I intended to succeed in all of them, not just one, and I had already laid the foundation.

“Because the National Economy Party also agrees with this bill, did you adopt it as a party platform?”

“Yes, there were opinions that we should focus more on industries that are generating large sales right now, but since the Special Act on Future Industries is not a policy that provides separate funding, it was easy for the parties to come together as one.”

“I hope the opposition party also agrees. If it passes unanimously, wouldn’t it give momentum to the development of future industries?”

In fact, the opposition party’s votes were not needed.

The ruling party and the National Economy Party could have passed the bill simply by having the number of seats, but if the opposition party held back, it would take a long time to pass the bill.

“So, the National Economy Party is planning to push forward with the Future Industry Bill. If the ruling party pushes ahead with the legislation, there is a possibility that the opposition party will oppose it for the sake of opposition, but if the National Economy Party pushes ahead with it, there is no reason to oppose it, right?”

“It is said that the National Economy Party is pushing for legislation, but if the ruling party supports it, the opposition party may oppose it.”

“So I’m going to give one to the opposition party, but I haven’t decided yet what to give it to.”

The current ruling party was focusing on development and development.

In the case of the opposition party, its platform was based on social responsibilities such as welfare and the environment.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if we passed an environmental bill?”

“Do you still mind? If environmental legislation is passed, large corporations will suffer the most.”

“That said, environmental legislation is necessary for large corporations to take on social responsibility. I think the legislation on reducing carbon emissions that is currently in progress in Europe would be sufficient.”

“Are you talking about the carbon tax bill?”

It was already the time when the concept of carbon tax appeared in Europe.

Of course, it was not as completely established as before the return, but efforts were being made to reduce carbon emissions.

“Wouldn’t both the ruling and opposition parties agree to a bill that provides benefits to companies that make efforts to reduce carbon, even if it’s not a carbon tax?”

“It is a bill that can make a difference even from the opposition party’s perspective, and the ruling party does not seem to have much to lose.”

Carbon and electric vehicles were deeply related.

The more legislation such as the carbon tax was enacted, the faster the electric vehicle market was able to grow.

Unlike internal combustion engine vehicles, it was an electric vehicle with zero carbon emissions, so it was able to benefit from subsidies and carbon taxes.

Of course, a carbon tax could not be introduced right now.

The moment they say they will introduce a carbon tax, large corporations will rise up.

However, the carbon reduction bill was not difficult to accept because it did not impose sanctions on large corporations but rather gave very small benefits to excellent companies.

“We can’t be too aggressive from the start. We have to change the structure slowly. This does not mean that we should change the structure to one that is advantageous to Taewo Group, but rather that we should follow the trends of the global market.”

“I never misunderstand Chairman Kim’s intentions. I am well aware that Europe and the United States are strongly enforcing environmental pollution-related regulations.”

“Regulations may slow down the development of the industry, but in order to target overseas markets, we must follow the trends of the times.”

To be honest, it is too late to follow the trend of the times.

I had to lead the trend of the times first to reap great benefits, and Taewoo Group was already ready for that.

“We will also provide a lot of help at the National Economic Party level.”

“But isn’t it time to decide your next move?”

“There is still a lot of time left in my term as governor of Gyeonggi Province. It is already too early to decide my next move.”

“It might be possible in other positions, but if you want to prepare for the presidency, you have to start preparing now.”

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s time to be greedy for the presidency yet. I have to fulfill all the promises I made when I became the governor of Gyeonggi Province, but won’t the people trust me and support me?”

What you are saying is that you will not aim for the next presidential election.

There was nothing bad about me at all.

Since the National Economy Party did not yet have a candidate for the presidency other than Governor Choi Jae-seok, it was better to raise a successor and then run for the presidency.

“Then, instead of giving up on being the next president, please put more effort into nurturing talented people. If Congressman Choi Jae-seok is elected president, won’t we need a lot of talented people?”

“Hmm, please refrain from saying that I will become president.”

“More talented people are needed for the future of the National Economy Party. Five years from now, there will need to be at least two to three more people with the same level of recognition as Governor Choi Jae-seok for the National Economy Party to become the ruling party.”

There was no way the negotiating group political party could properly function as the ruling party.

Becoming president is important, but he could properly run the country after becoming president only if the National Economy Party grew to a size comparable to that of large political parties.

“We are still making efforts to nurture talent. And we are providing various benefits to nurture young politicians.”

“That’s not enough. At least in the next National Assembly election, we need to win seats similar to the two major parties. To that end, we have prepared a variety of measures. First, why not raise awareness based on social media and video platforms?”

“If you give us that kind of support, there is nothing more we could ask for.”

In order to no longer be swayed by the political world, the National Economy Party had to grow further.

In the beginning, I thought it was enough for the National Economy Party to act as a breakwater, but now I was more greedy, and the National Economy Party was fully capable of doing so.

* * *

A few days later.

Team leader Cheon Min-jeong came to the chairman’s office.

Perhaps it was my first time seeing the president’s office in detail, but I skipped greetings and looked around the inside of the president’s office with my mouth open.

“I really didn’t know you had this kind of taste. I thought you liked simple things, but surprisingly, you like flashy things.”

“Hmm, the interior design was entirely decided by the Honorary Chairman. My tastes were not taken into consideration at all. In fact, I think the interior design was deliberately the exact opposite of my tastes.”

“Ah! I see. I came here to report on the completion of a project.”

The number of projects managed by Cheon Min-jeong was enormous.

Artificial intelligence, SNS algorithms, autonomous driving, etc.

Since I had no idea which project had been completed, I asked for a detailed explanation.

“Which project is finished?”

“The chairman invited us to Korea, and the game developers who created the team completed the AOS game. The name ‘League of Champions’ was even chosen.”

The AOS game has finally been completed.

It was also a game that would dominate the gaming industry for at least 20 years.

But did Cheon Min-jeong also manage game-related projects? She really likes games so there’s no reason she shouldn’t be in charge.

“When can the beta testing begin?”

“We are planning to conduct beta testing starting in North America by the end of this year at the latest.”

“I hope to conduct beta testing in Korea as well as in North America.”

“It is still only produced in English, so Korean translation work is needed to conduct beta testing in Korea.”

“So you’re saying it can’t be done?”

“That doesn’t mean that the cost of translation work is higher. I really hope to conduct a beta test in Korea, so I can do it too.”

I misunderstood her words for a moment.

Minjeong Cheon came to see me because she wanted to conduct beta testing in Korea as well.

“Don’t worry about development costs and make sure we can conduct beta testing in Korea as well.”

“Thank you! We completed the first translation using the artificial intelligence translation system, but there were many shortcomings, so we needed professional translators. Then, we will start the translation work right now!”

The emergence of AOS games.

This also meant that another cash cow was added to Taewo IT.