World Domination through Planet Development - Chapter 37
Only Noblemtl
Episode 37. The Beginning of a Corporate Dictatorship
[With the creation of the alliance, the two countries officially declared an end to the war and agreed to withdraw from the military demarcation line…]
[The Kaesong Industrial Complex is expected to regain its vitality. As the North Korean government has decided to guarantee the assets of South Korean companies…]
[The current approval rating of the Kang Moo-jin government continues to rise, currently exceeding 80% and expected to reach 90% soon…]
Public opinion in South Korea, which had been rife with divisions and hatreds such as generational conflict, class conflict, and gender conflict, was able to achieve unification at an unexpected time.
The atmosphere was more patriotic than ever.
Any media activity that divided public opinion was not tolerated.
The atmosphere is such that even trying to mention such things is almost treated as treason.
A strange phenomenon was occurring in which, despite the fact that such media control was being carried out at the government level, rather than being raised as an issue, approval ratings were only rising.
“This concludes the interim progress report.”
President Kang was listening to the report with a pleased expression. After the establishment of the alliance, he was scheduled to receive briefings frequently.
“And just the other day, a Korean person established a corporation in North Korea.”
“Oh, really?”
It’s certainly not bad news. It means that Koreans’ perceptions have changed rapidly.
However, the expression on the face of the chief secretary who brought up the subject was not good.
“Yes, but that company is PDC.”
“If it’s PDC, then… you mean that artificial intelligence company?”
It has become so famous now that not only President Kang but most people have heard of it at least once.
“Yes, that’s right. In addition, the representative has even changed his nationality.”
“You changed your nationality? Were you accepted by North Korea?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
If you think about it, if North Korea is determined to reform its economy, there is no reason not to do so.
“Oh, come to think of it, isn’t that the company that was said to be moving overseas?”
There were many people in the political world who had their eyes on it, so President Kang Moo-jin could naturally come to mind.
“Yes, so there’s a little bit of talk now about going to North Korea because of that.”
It is certainly a bit strange. The fact that they originally announced overseas relocation means that they had a candidate site decided on to some extent, but now they have suddenly changed their choice to North Korea. They even changed their nationality.
“Aren’t you going to continue doing business in our country? Then, you’ll have to set up a new branch here anyway?”
“No. It seems that they left the existing AI companies behind and created a new company in North Korea.”
From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like a serious enough matter for President Kang to mention in this context.
“Hmm… then would that be a problem?”
“It’s not like that specifically, but there are taxes that individuals have to pay… If the corporation was originally located in Korea… .”
The chief secretary spoke with concern, but it was more like an excuse.
As for taxes, it is natural that the portion that has been accumulated so far will be paid, and the portion that the chief of staff mentions is all about taxes that will be collected in the future, so he is talking about potential value.
“That’s… It’s something that was expected and something that we had to deal with, right? In fact, it’s called economic cooperation, but this is something we have to feed and support, so how can we be trembling already?”
At first glance, it seems like a remark that ignores North Korea, but it is true. What can South Korea gain from economic cooperation with North Korea?
At best, it is only to the extent of receiving the effect of supplying low-wage workers. For South Korea, the current stage of economic cooperation is merely a stage to boost the North Korean economy as much as possible before unification and to alleviate the impact.
And if the AI company remains, isn’t it a case of enormous loss? It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is literally all about the loss of future value.
“…All right.”
“Let’s just leave it for now.”
President Kang also spoke with a sullen expression. I thought that companies that wanted to cut taxes a little, work people at low wages, and have nothing to lose would go there… When it came to PDC, I felt a little queasy.
Officially, North Korea formed a confederation with South Korea and adopted many of South Korea’s economic policies.
One of them is corporate taxes.
A provision stating that ‘Union member states shall maintain equal corporate tax rates for multinational enterprises.’
The taxes that corporations had to pay were applied at almost the same rate. This was one of the things that the South absolutely could not give up.
This is a clause that South Korea put forward as a condition for accepting one of the provisions of the Inter-Korean Free Economic Cooperation, which states that “all citizens within each member state of the union have the right to apply for a change of nationality according to their free will.”
If North Korea is accidentally used as a tax evasion haven, it could have a huge impact on the South Korean economy.
Of course, it is right to view it as a legitimate competitive activity from the standpoint of being an equal member state, but that is a bit of an exaggeration.
In fact, if the North Korean government is determined to encourage tax evasion, there are endless ways to do so.
For example, taxes can be collected normally and returned in the form of a rebate within the budget.
However, the reason why South Korea has finalized its countermeasures to this extent is not different.
Who would put their head in the tiger’s mouth to evade taxes? If you simply move your corporation to North Korea for money or change your nationality, then there is really no turning back.
The current Union’s laws still show little political integration.
This means that if you acquire North Korean citizenship, you will be under the control of the North Korean government. From then on, you will no longer receive protection from South Korea.
Even though they say they formed a coalition, there is still no one in South Korea who completely trusts the North Korean regime.
The South Korean side was also aware of this fact and thought it would work.
In fact, that is actually true. Excluding the unusual case of CEO Cheon Jeong-woo, there has currently been no one who has applied for a change of nationality.
“Yes, then let’s end it here.”
The chief secretary returned with an embarrassed expression.
Ultimately, this choice turned out to be the right path for President Kang, because North Korea had no intention of accepting any other companies or individuals for any other purpose.
Since the founding of the Union, Jeong-woo has become the first person to officially change his nationality.
After changing his nationality, Jeong-woo established a holding company in North Korea through Attorney Byun’s office and pushed for the transfer of Jeong-woo’s current PDC shares to the company.
Since he transferred his shares to a North Korean corporation after changing his nationality, Jeong-woo had to pay a huge amount of taxes to the North Korean government.
Even if it is a corporation that you own, the process of transferring your personal ownership to corporate ownership is clearly a matter of changing the ownership of the asset.
However, Jungwoo will get his taxes refunded.
The entity that collects taxes. Because North Korea is owned by Jeong-woo.
It was like paying taxes to yourself.
Many economic experts believe that North Korea’s opening up of its economy has opened up a market of opportunity.
But unfortunately, North Korea will continue to be a dictatorship, ruled by a single corporation called the PDC.
This is the birth of the so-called corporate dictatorship.
* * *
The headquarters of the South Korean corporation, which has now become Sara AI, was moved to a North Korean corporation.
Jungwoo was informing that he was planning to visit North Korea on this occasion.
“I plan to participate in this visit to North Korea.”
Jungwoo’s sudden announcement.
“Are you participating in the North Korea visit?”
Vice President Yoon Jeong-jik asked.
A slightly surprised look at Jungwoo’s participation in this visit to North Korea.
“Yes, this time, the holding company was established in North Korea, and I am now a North Korean citizen. Is there anything I can’t go there?”
Jungwoo asked as if it was strange. In fact, there was no reason why he couldn’t go, even after changing his nationality.
Ah. Of course, I didn’t change my nationality after asking Vice President Yoon Jeong-jik’s opinion, so it was more like a notification, but isn’t that a matter of personal freedom?
I don’t think it’s necessary to get permission for something like that.
“It’s not like that… but isn’t it still a bit dangerous?”
Although the atmosphere is good on the surface, it is true that inside, there is a sense of unease that the current North Korean regime may collapse again.
“I’m not going alone, so if there’s a problem, the government will have to exert some force.”
Companies located in the Kaesong Industrial Complex will participate in this visit to North Korea.
Surprisingly, there has been almost no property damage to companies located in the Kaesong Industrial Complex since its closure.
However, this does not mean that the condition itself is perfect, as it only states the presence or absence of items listed on the document.
So to speak, at least it didn’t get stolen.
There were quite a few companies that were happy as if they had found money they had lost in the past.
And Jungwoo is going to be among those companies. The companies that voluntarily relocated are among the companies that suffered damages due to the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
It’s not that it’s strange since the topic is mainly about economic activities in North Korea, but it’s an ambiguous appearance that makes you feel like something is strange.
From the beginning, Yoon Jeong-jik was against establishing a corporation in North Korea. He said he would move overseas, but he could not have imagined that it would be in North Korea, and it seemed that CEO Jeong-woo had made the decision too suddenly.
“Vice President, don’t worry too much. I told you I had everything planned out.”
Repeating that comment over and over again also lowers trust.
However, it is also true that this is already an irreversible problem. Both nationality and PDC’s shares have been transferred to a North Korean corporation.
Why on earth did Attorney Byun help me with this problem so easily? I feel resentful towards the innocent person for no reason.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I went?”
“Oh, that’s absolutely not possible. I wanted to go to North Korea too.”
No, that’s not what I meant… .
“More than that, did the government include you in the list of companies participating in the visit to North Korea?”
At this point, the official announcement only states that Kaesong Industrial Complex companies are participating.
Whether it’s economic cooperation or something else, there are still no companies willing to do business in North Korea due to issues with trust.
“Oh, that will happen. Don’t worry.”
“Are you not sure about that either?”
“That’s for sure. If North Korea requests it, it will happen unconditionally.”
“Is that so?”
It’s surprising that North Korea would go that far.
“Yes, so it’s confirmed that I’m going, so keep that in mind.”
“… … .”
It is uncomfortable for Jeong-woo to have to explain it like this, but there is nothing he can do.
How can I say that this is like groundwork to make North Korean people recognize me, Cheon Jeong-woo, as a North Korean businessman?