October 13, 1997 – Government Complex Building No. 1, Gwanghwamun
The economic situation was so dire that the media labeled the anticipated IMF bailout announcement as "the second national humiliation." Against this backdrop, Choi Jin-woo, newly appointed as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Finance and Economy, kept his inauguration brief and immediately convened a countermeasure meeting with senior officials.
The abrupt dismissal of the previous economic team at such a critical time had left many at the Ministry of Finance and Economy feeling shocked and deflated.
However, the crisis left no room for personal feelings or bureaucratic delays. All efforts were now focused squarely on preparing for negotiations with the IMF.
Fortunately, Deputy Prime Minister Choi wasn't an outsider. He had previously served as Vice Minister in the Ministry of Finance, the predecessor of the current ministry, so he was able to quickly grasp the situation without issue.
"Yesterday, the IMF delegation, led by Todd Aiken, arrived at Gimpo Airport and checked into the Walkerhill Hotel," reported Jeong Ji-hoon, Director of Financial Policy, his face drawn with exhaustion.
Choi Jin-woo gave a small nod from the head of the table and asked,
"What was the tone like?"
"They had a fairly stiff attitude overall. They've already notified us that they'll begin on-site inspections tomorrow—starting with the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Bank of Korea, and the Securities Supervisory Board."
As if he had expected this response, Choi leaned back in his chair.
"They're trying to put pressure on us from the outset to secure the upper hand in negotiations."
At that, Vice Minister Shin Seung-gi, seated to his left, responded with a grim expression.
"If we don't want to give up too much in exchange for the bailout, we mustn't let them seize the initiative."
"I completely agree."
Deputy Prime Minister Choi looked around at the senior officials seated on both sides of the sofas and continued in a firm tone.
"Our goal in these negotiations is clear: secure sufficient financial support from the IMF to resolve the foreign exchange crisis, but accept their conditions only within the limits of what aligns with our domestic circumstances and policy direction. Keep that firmly in mind."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
Everyone's expression was resolute. It was no exaggeration to say the fate of the Republic of Korea hung on these negotiations.
Seeing their resolve, Choi nodded slightly, then turned to Vice Minister Shin, who was in charge of the practical aspects of the talks.
"What conditions do you expect the IMF will demand in exchange for the bailout?"
Shin leaned forward and responded promptly.
"Most likely, they'll ask us to abandon the government's current growth-first policy and instead pursue structural reforms aimed at reducing the current account deficit, based on a low-growth, low-inflation model."
Choi Jin-woo's brow furrowed slightly.
"If we cut fiscal spending, the recovery will be slower… but I suppose we have no choice."
"We plan to strongly emphasize that, unlike the other countries that previously received IMF support, Korea still maintains strong fiscal soundness."
"That's a good point. Be sure to emphasize that investments in education and infrastructure—which form the foundation of long-term growth—are essential for the country's future."
"Understood."
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Jin-woo took a sip of coffee from the teacup in front of him and continued in a slightly subdued tone.
"There will be interference in many areas, but I'm certain their top priority will be restructuring the financial sector."
"Given that the root cause of this foreign exchange crisis was excessive short-term borrowing, and the wave of corporate bankruptcies has left financial institutions deeply insolvent, they'll undoubtedly push for large-scale restructuring."
Letting out a quiet sigh, Deputy Prime Minister Choi expressed his frustration.
"Hoo… The impact will be severe, but as things stand, some of these financial firms are essentially non-functional. Painful as it may be, a certain level of cleanup is unavoidable."
The non-performing loans burdening commercial banks due to the chain of major corporate bankruptcies had ballooned out of control, exceeding 32 trillion won—a truly dire situation.
Hearing Choi's assessment, the officials nodded solemnly, wearing heavy expressions.
"Still, to minimize the damage, aim to resolve things through mergers and business transfers rather than outright shutdowns."
"Understood."
At that point, Financial Policy Director Jeong Ji-hoon cautiously spoke up.
"In addition to financial restructuring, it's likely they'll demand a full opening of the financial and capital markets."
"Of course they will. After all, it was the U.S. that pushed for Korea to accept IMF bailout conditions in the first place—with exactly that goal in mind. There's no way they'll let that go now."
Choi Jin-woo crossed his arms as he spoke, and the others nodded in agreement.
"We'll frame the opening as a long-term goal and persuade them to accept a gradual implementation, based on the schedule we committed to when joining the OECD."
For quite some time afterward, the team continued reviewing the demands the IMF might present and discussed potential countermeasures.
Even though it was humiliating for Korea to request an IMF bailout, Choi Jin-woo and his senior staff were cautiously optimistic that the situation could still be managed without further disaster.
But whether the negotiations would go as smoothly as they hoped remained uncertain.
***
The following afternoon.
Dressed in a perfectly tailored bespoke suit, Seok-won sat in the backseat of a large Mercedes sedan, gazing out the window while listening to the news on the radio.
[...And now for our next story.
The government has officially begun its efforts to address bad loans, starting this week with the purchase of 3 trillion won worth of non-performing loans held by financial institutions.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy announced that it plans to purchase an additional 8 trillion won by the end of this year, and another 5 trillion won by January next year—making a total of 16 trillion won. This will cover approximately 50% of the 32 trillion won in bad loans currently held by banks and general financial firms as of this month.
To facilitate this, 8 trillion won will be raised for the bad loan resolution fund by the end of this month, with another 2 trillion to be added within the year...]
At the government's announcement of the bad loan resolution plan, Seok-won responded with a cynical sneer.
"They're throwing the first punch to seize the upper hand in negotiations."
At that, Han Ji-sung, seated in the passenger seat, turned around to look at him.
"I'm sorry—what did you say?"
"That news just now. It's obvious the IMF delegation that just arrived in Seoul will bring up the massive volume of bad loans held by local banks and general financial firms during negotiations. So the Ministry of Finance jumped the gun first."
Realizing what Seok-won meant, Han Ji-sung continued the conversation, still turned toward the back.
"But if they really start clearing out those bad loans, won't that unlock the frozen liquidity, improve the financial institutions' soundness, and lead to credit rating upgrades like the Ministry hopes?"
"That would be the best-case scenario. But I doubt the IMF team will just go along with it so easily."
He already knew that the Ministry and the government would soon regret underestimating the IMF delegation.
Before long, their car pulled up in front of the Westin Chosun Hotel in Sogong-dong. A doorman, impeccably dressed in uniform, approached and opened the car door.
Stepping out of the backseat, Seok-won entered the hotel with his executive assistant Han Ji-sung by his side.
Though it was the oldest hotel in Korea, opened in 1914 during the Japanese occupation, the lobby was clean and elegant—well-maintained, befitting a five-star establishment.
Walking confidently across the lobby floor lined with dark marble tiles, Seok-won took the elevator up.
When they arrived at the top floor, they exited into a hallway, where the entrance to the Japanese restaurant was immediately visible.
Executive Director Yoo Hyun-seok, who had been waiting out front, quickly approached and gave a polite bow.
"Has our guest arrived?"
"Yes, he came about five minutes ago and has been waiting."
"Tch, I should've arrived first. That's poor manners on my part. Let's head in."
"I'll show you the way."
With that, Yoo Hyun-seok took the lead.
Passing the omakase counter, where chefs in white uniforms stood at attention, they arrived at a private dining room tucked further inside. Yoo opened the sliding door.
Seated in front of a wide floor-to-ceiling window with a panoramic city view, the man inside rose from his seat as Seok-won entered.
"This is President Park Seok-won of Daeheung Venture Capital."
Executive Director Yoo Hyun-seok quickly gestured toward Seok-won with one arm as he made the introduction.
The slender man with gold-rimmed glasses gave a slight, somewhat nervous bow.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Choi Jung-yeol, CEO of Interplaza."
"Nice to finally meet you."
With a warm smile, Seok-won extended his hand first, and Choi Jung-yeol reached out to shake it lightly.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Not at all. I arrived earlier than our scheduled time, so please don't worry about it."
"Shall we sit down and continue our conversation?"
"Of course."
Seok-won and Han Ji-sung took their seats at the spacious table, with Choi Jung-yeol and Yoo Hyun-seok sitting across from them.
Picking up the rolled hand towel from its wooden holder, Seok-won wiped his hands and began speaking in a relaxed tone.
"Before coming here, I took a look at the new online bookstore you recently launched. The layout was very clean and user-friendly—made it easy for customers to browse books."
"Thank you for the kind words."
"I heard you personally worked on the website layout design."
"Well, I didn't do it all myself—just contributed a few ideas here and there."
"Still, the final result clearly bears your touch, doesn't it?"
"Haha, I suppose it does."
Choi Jung-yeol gave a slightly sheepish smile.
It felt awkward to hear such praise face-to-face—it was a first for him—but to be honest, he didn't dislike the compliment.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and two female servers entered, placing small bowls of shrimp soup on the table.
"This place is known for its clean, high-quality dishes. Please enjoy."
"Oh, thank you."
As Seok-won picked up his spoon and took the first sip, CEO Choi Jung-yeol followed suit and tasted the soup as well.
"How is it?"
"I haven't been to many Japanese restaurants, but I can tell the flavor is different—must be the five-star quality."
"I'm glad it suits your palate."
After making a light toast with sake, the four of them continued to enjoy the dishes served one after another, dining in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
The seasonal sashimi and sushi were especially impressive—the ingredients were so fresh, they seemed to melt in the mouth.
They also thoroughly enjoyed the crispy vegetable tempura and the aromatic grilled matsutake mushrooms, finishing the meal with a palate-cleansing dessert.
By now, Seok-won felt the mood was just right. He poured some sake into Choi Jung-yeol's glass and naturally steered the conversation toward the main topic.
"I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that you would be staying on with the company after the investment."
"Thank you for saying that."
Setting down the sake bottle, Seok-won looked directly into Choi Jung-yeol's eyes.
"I'm not just being polite—if you had said you were planning to leave, we would've reconsidered investing in Interplaza altogether."
Choi didn't reply immediately, but the recognition warmed his heart.
"That brings me to the real reason I asked for this meeting—I have a proposal I'd like to make."
Now fully attentive, Choi Jung-yeol straightened his posture and listened carefully.
"What kind of proposal…?"
Seok-won spoke with a calm smile.
"You're aware, of course, that through this investment, we've secured a 75% stake in Interplaza."
"Yes, of course."
Choi nodded, watching Seok-won with a slightly tense expression, wondering what this was leading to.
"We've decided to give you 15% of those shares."
"!"