Friday, September 12, 1997.
It was the day before the Chuseok holiday. Normally, it would be a time when people looked forward to going back to their hometowns to reunite with family and relatives. But this year was different.
Due to a wave of bankruptcies that had been unfolding since the beginning of the year, the country was flooded with unemployed people who had suddenly lost their jobs. The stock market had collapsed, wiping out investments and leaving countless investors penniless. Under such conditions, it was hard to feel festive.
Jung Hwan-yeop sat in his chair, checking the KOSPI index on the monitor mounted on his desk. Shaking his head, he spoke to Choi Ho-geun, who was giving instructions to Yoo Seok-hyun.
"The KOSPI is wrecked again today."
Handing over some documents to Yoo Seok-hyun, Choi Ho-geun replied, "With the exchange rate like this, it'd be weirder if things were okay."
Hearing that, Hong Jae-hee, who was sitting at the shared table organizing printouts with Noh Hee-won, looked up and chimed in.
"If the dollar gets expensive, it's hard for domestic companies, but isn't it good for export companies?"
"To a certain extent, sure. But when it rises this much, the cost of imported raw materials goes up too, which causes problems. And the bigger issue is, with the economy being so bad that companies are going bankrupt overnight, who would dare to invest in stocks?"
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense."
Yoo Seok-hyun, with his large frame, leaned in to join the conversation.
"From what I've heard from friends still working in Yeouido, the mood is so bad they don't even want to go to work."
"With the KOSPI index in shambles, their yields must have tanked long ago. And the trading floors are probably filled with investors screaming for their money back. If I were them, every day would feel like hell."
Choi Ho-geun, who had years of experience in Yeouido's securities scene, wore a bitter expression as he imagined the funeral-like atmosphere at the brokerages.
"Ugh. With the way things are going, Chuseok bonuses aren't even a dream anymore."
"At this rate, we might lose our jobs after the holidays. Who cares about bonuses then?"
"Yeah, I guess that's true," Jung Hwan-yeop said, smacking his lips.
On the surface, it might seem like a glamorous job where you make lots of money, but he knew better than anyone that being a stockbroker meant living and dying by daily results—one misstep, and your job could be gone just like that.
"When I think about it, I'm really glad I decided to follow the president here."
"Just realizing that now?" Choi Ho-geun chuckled and gave him a teasing glare.
The thought of having stayed behind at Daeheung Securities and being crushed by this nightmare of a market crash was horrifying.
"Oh, right. Did you guys see the Chuseok bonus hit your accounts yesterday?"
When Yoo Seok-hyun asked, Jung Hwan-yeop smirked as he answered, "Of course I did. Heh heh. Our CEO/President really is a big spender, isn't he? Don't you think so, sir?"
"He's certainly got guts."
Choi Ho-geun also smiled warmly as he recalled the numbers printed on his bank statement.
"I was expecting something decent since we had good results, but I didn't think he'd give us more than Hyunwoo Construction did."
Noh Hee-won, who was sitting with Hong Jae-hee, also couldn't hide her joy.
"I didn't even do that much, so I was totally surprised to get an additional bonus."
Following Seok-won's orders, Daeheung Venture Capital had given all employees a Chuseok bonus equal to 150% of their base salary—more than what Hyunwoo Construction or Saseong Electronics offered. On top of that, the top-performing Investment Operations team received another 150% performance bonus, making this holiday feel extra rewarding.
Looking at Noh Hee-won, who wore a neat two-piece skirt suit, Choi said, "You're part of our team too, Miss Noh. It's only right."
Jung Hwan-yeop grinned and chimed in, "The boss is right. Thanks to your solid work behind the scenes in the back office, we were able to focus on trading without worry."
"For once, you're making sense."
Hong Jae-hee and Yoo Seok-hyun added warmly:
"Do you know how much help you've been, Hee-won? You should have more confidence!"
"Absolutely."
With all her teammates acknowledging her efforts, Noh Hee-won was deeply moved, her expression on the verge of tears.
"Thank you so much."
As Jung Hwan-yeop flashed a toothy smile, he seemed a little flustered by the heartwarming atmosphere and suddenly changed the subject, turning to Hong Jae-hee.
"Didn't you say your hometown's the same as the boss's? Daegu, right?"
"Yes," Hong Jae-hee replied.
"Did you manage to get a train ticket?" Jung Hwan-yeop asked.
"I was really worried because tickets were hard to come by, but luckily I got a seat on the Saemaeul-ho train going down tomorrow evening."
"Getting train tickets around the holidays is harder than catching a star in the sky. You're lucky," Jung said, then turned to Yoo Seok-hyun and Noh Hee-won.
"You two live in Seoul, right?"
"Yes."
"Right."
Seeing them reply in unison, Jung gave a long, exaggerated sigh of envy.
"Must be nice not to go through all the hassle of holiday travel."
"When are you heading down to your hometown in Daejeon?" Choi Ho-geun asked.
Scratching the back of his head, Jung replied, "Since tomorrow's a holiday, I figured I'd head down tonight after work before the highways get jammed."
Originally, Saturday was supposed to be a workday, but thanks to Seok-won declaring an extra day off, the employees at Daeheung Venture Capital were able to enjoy a five-day Chuseok holiday.
"A little fatigue is better than being stuck on the highway for hours," Choi said.
Leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head, Jung asked a little wistfully, "By the way, are we not getting company holiday gifts this year?"
"Oh! I totally forgot," said Hong Jae-hee, as if she just remembered. "I heard from someone in the General Affairs team—they're handing them out today."
"Knew it! It wouldn't feel like a real holiday without a gift set." Jung's face brightened, and he muttered with eager anticipation, "I wonder what we'll get this time."
"You've worked in an office long enough to know—it's probably just Spam or canned tuna again," Choi Ho-geun said with a deadpan look, raining on the parade.
Jung immediately held out his palm. "If you don't want yours, I'll gladly take it."
"Hey! Who said I didn't want it?"
As they were bantering, two employees from General Affairs came in, wheeling in a folding cart.
"Afternoon, everyone," Jung said, standing from his chair.
"Speak of the devil—look who just showed up."
"Huh?" the General Affairs staff looked puzzled.
Choi placed a hand on his forehead and sighed, "Don't mind us. Just a figure of speech."
"O… okay…" The female employee tilted her head, not quite understanding, then raised her clipboard to confirm the headcount.
"We're delivering holiday gifts. Is it correct that there are five people in the Investment Operations team?"
"Yes," Choi Ho-geun replied to the staff.
While he was dealing with the employee, Jung Hwan-yeop tiptoed over with a gleeful expression and started peeking at the contents stacked on the cart.
Then his eyes went wide when he saw shopping bags prominently featuring the Gucci logo.
"Huh? This doesn't look like a canned food set."
The other team members, curious about the holiday gifts too, had gathered around without even realizing it, and all looked surprised.
"He's right!"
"Is that… Gucci? No way."
Among them, Hong Jae-hee, wide-eyed with excitement, grabbed the General Affairs staff member and asked breathlessly, "This can't be real, right? It's just a Gucci shopping bag, isn't it?"
"Of course not," the female staffer responded with a baffled look, as if saying, Would the company do something like that?
"It's real Gucci."
Gasp! Hong Jae-hee let out the loudest breath, while the others all gasped with wide eyes.
The General Affairs staffer gave a small chuckle, clearly expecting this reaction, and glanced down at her clipboard.
"Each shopping bag contains one tie and one scarf. Let's see… five people in this department, so I'll leave five here."
She placed the five Gucci shopping bags on the shared office table and handed her clipboard to Choi Ho-geun.
"Could you sign here, please?"
"Oh. Sure," Choi said, still looking dazed, as he took the clipboard and signed the receipt.
Jung Hwan-yeop, still staring at the cart filled with bags, muttered in awe, "Wow… Are they seriously giving Gucci gifts to every employee?"
"Yes, that's right," the staffer replied with a polite bow.
"Well then, we'll get going—lots of deliveries to make. Have a wonderful holiday!"
With a cheerful farewell, she and her colleague briskly wheeled the cart out of the office.
"Wow…" Choi let out a breathless laugh as he looked at the line of Gucci shopping bags on the table.
The luxury brand certainly stood out—just the bags alone looked classy and elegant.
Then, Jung Hwan-yeop came over, eyes still sparkling.
"There must be nearly a hundred employees… Even so, this just proves that a third-generation chaebol heir is in a different league."
"No kidding," Choi replied.
The rest of the team was buzzing with excitement, unable to hide their joy.
Hong Jae-hee, in particular, looked like she might cry with joy. Fashion-conscious as she was, this gift hit differently.
"I'm going to devote my life to this company!"
"…That's a little sudden."
"Our boss's employee benefits are the best. I'm going to follow him to the ends of the earth," she declared, clenching her small fists in a determined vow.
While employees were erupting with cheers over the unexpected luxury brand gifts for the holiday, Seok-won sat at the large desk in his spacious CEO office, his expression hard as he read an article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal.
"The Korean government has spent $20 billion to defend the exchange rate, but the won has yet to stabilize. Concerns are growing in the foreign exchange market that Korea's foreign reserves are reaching a dangerous level."
Setting down the Wall Street Journal, Seok-won looked up and stared at the won forward contract chart displayed on his monitor, lost in thought.
"The one-year forward rate is down more than 30%, and now this kind of article is coming out. It's practically an open invitation to short the won."
Despite aggressive intervention by the government and the Bank of Korea that briefly brought the exchange rate back under 1,000 won per dollar, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out, Korea had burned through too many dollars in the process.
"The government and the central bank haven't disclosed the exact amount of foreign reserves left, but based on how much won they've been buying in the FX market, it's not hard to estimate."
Speculators, including the Quantum Fund, knew this too—so instead of easing off, they were ramping up their attacks on the won.
"Originally, the government wasn't supposed to declare surrender and request a bailout from the IMF until mid-November, but at this rate, they might throw in the towel even earlier."
As he sat there frowning at the monitor, his phone suddenly buzzed.
Bzzzz…
He picked up the mobile phone from his desk and answered the call.
[This is Lee Cheol-gyun.]
Leaning back in his chair, Seok-won responded calmly.
"What's the matter?"
[You remember I mentioned that Donghae Group might soon file for court receivership?]
"Yes."
[There's been some suspicious movement that I thought you should know about.]
"What is it?"
[Woo Ho-geun seems to be preparing to leave for the U.S.]
Frowning slightly, Seok-won pressed the phone tighter to his ear.
"Isn't he on parole? Isn't overseas travel banned in that case?"
[That's true, but with a valid reason and Ministry of Justice approval, he can travel abroad.]
Lee Cheol-gyun continued in a low, serious tone.
[Donghae Group is on the verge of default, and the owner's son—while still on parole—is suddenly planning to leave for the U.S.? That reeks of something shady, don't you think?]
"It certainly does."
A sharp thought flashed through Seok-won's mind, and his eyes gleamed.
Adjusting his grip on the phone, he asked,
"When is Woo Ho-geun flying out?"
[This Sunday.]
"I see. I'll take care of it, so just keep watching."
[Understood.]
Seok-won set his phone down, his face hardening with a cold expression.
"The company is on the brink of collapse, and all the employees are about to lose their jobs and end up unemployed overnight… and yet he's scheming on his own just to save himself. I can't let that slide."