Dobong-gu, Seoul.
[This is Chang-dong Station. The doors on the right will open. This stop is——]
Suddenly dropping temperatures made people bundle up in heavier clothes as they listened to the announcement and streamed out of the subway car.
It was the weekend, making the platform even more crowded, and among the throng was Jung Young-tae, a 51-year-old long-time assistant manager at Hyunwoo Construction.
Since the foreign exchange crisis hit and society fell into a somber mood, the expressions of people on the streets all seemed hardened and gloomy.
Young-tae's mind was also uneasy amid the constant flood of big and small companies going bankrupt, and rumors that layoffs might come as cost-cutting measures.
"They say retirement age is 45, and if you stay until 56, you're called a 'thief' or 'fool in his fifties.'"
The newly coined slang he'd heard somewhere popped into Young-tae's head, and he sighed without realizing it.
If that's true, it meant he had to quit his job soon—and just imagining what he could do at his age made it hard to breathe.
To make matters worse, the only property he owned was a single public apartment bought with money earned during his hot days working in the Middle East in his youth, so his future seemed even more uncertain.
He did have a severance package, but if he used that to start a small business and failed, he and his family might end up homeless on the streets, so he couldn't take that risk lightly.
"People say, 'If you quit the company, just open a store or something,' but being a boss isn't something just anyone can do."
In his head, Young-tae recalled a colleague in a similar position.
A fellow assistant manager who had been stuck in the same place for years without a promotion, who finally quit last year and opened a fried chicken joint.
That colleague, drunk and full of complaints, begged him never to quit like he did, telling him to cling desperately to the job until retirement no matter how dirty or unfair it got.
Hearing that, Young-tae couldn't even think about quitting.
Plus, his daughter, a university senior this year, had been accepted at Daehung Securities but was recently notified that her hiring was canceled, so quitting his job was out of the question.
"She and her mother even went to the department store to buy a suit and shoes for her first day at work…"
Thinking of her excited, happy face brought a bitter smile to his lips.
Descending the stairs and emerging from the subway station, he spotted a row of food stalls set up beside the public parking lot.
Even though it was still daylight, people were already sitting around the round plastic tables here and there, raising soju glasses.
Seeing that made him crave a drink, but with layoffs looming and rumors of no year-end bonus, he forced himself to resist.
After about ten minutes walking, he reached his apartment complex.
A security guard in a blue uniform was sweeping the entrance when he recognized Young-tae and greeted him.
"Getting off work now, sir?"
"Ah, yes."
Young-tae smiled slightly and nodded, but then the guard's next words made him frown in surprise.
"Your daughter seems to be a very dutiful girl."
"Pardon?"
"I saw something posted on the apartment bulletin board, so I went to check it out—it was a flyer for private tutoring. At that age, kids should be hanging out with their friends, but here she is trying to earn her own allowance. Really admirable, isn't it? Haha."
The security guard smiled and praised her, but Jung Young-tae was inwardly quite taken aback.
He had naturally assumed she'd be preparing to find a job at a company, so private tutoring out of nowhere was surprising.
"Y-Yeah, that's right. Ah, by the way, I just realized I forgot to buy something at the convenience store nearby."
Young-tae hurriedly tried to hide his surprise and left the spot.
He then went to the apartment bulletin board beside the management office to check the flyer his daughter had put up.
[Tutoring in English and Math]
Chung-Ang University, Business Administration
Available for middle and high school students
xxx-xxx-xxxx
Seeing the phone number on the flyer, he confirmed it was indeed his daughter's cell.
"That kid...!"
Putting on a serious face, Young-tae tore the tutoring flyer off the bulletin board, stuffed it into his pocket, and headed straight home.
Ding dong, ding dong.
Hearing the doorbell, Choi Ok-soon, who was washing dishes, took off her rubber gloves and came to the front door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
Hearing her husband's voice outside, Ok-soon opened the door.
Young-tae took off his shoes and entered the house, immediately looking for his daughter.
"Where's Soo-hee?"
"She's in her room."
At that moment, as if hearing the voices, Jung Soo-hee opened her door and peeked out.
"Dad, you're home?"
Young-tae pulled out the flyer from his pocket with a stern expression.
"What's this?"
"Ah…"
Seeing the flyer, Soo-hee looked a little surprised, then lowered her eyes and cautiously asked,
"…You saw it?"
"You little rascal! Who told you to earn money? Tutoring or whatever—when are you going to prepare for a real job?"
His wife, standing nearby, looked puzzled as she glanced between her husband and daughter.
"Why are you scolding her like that?"
"See for yourself."
Young-tae handed her the flyer with an angry tone.
Still not understanding, Ok-soon raised her eyebrows as she looked at the flyer offering tutoring jobs.
"Weren't you supposed to be preparing for the public recruitment exams?"
"Well…"
Soo-hee fidgeted, clearly cornered, and stammered.
"You have to find a job before you graduate. If you waste time and miss the chance, companies won't welcome you, you know!"
Young-tae scolded her harshly.
"I know that."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"Even if I want to work somewhere, no company is hiring. Because of the IMF, companies are shutting down or laying off employees. Who's going to hire a new grad? Even if I send out resumes, no one is accepting them!"
Seeing Jung Young-tae at a loss for words, Jung Soo-hee pouted and muttered softly,
"Dad, I know things have been tough for you lately, and I didn't want to keep asking for allowance, so I thought I'd try tutoring."
Young-tae stood there, unable to reply to his daughter's somewhat hurt tone.
He felt guilty for having snapped at her without understanding her feelings.
"Oh, well, you should've told me sooner,"
his wife gently patted Soo-hee's back and took her husband's hand.
"Honey, Soo-hee has her reasons. Please calm down now."
"S-Sorry, Dad,"
the timid daughter apologized, but Young-tae shook his head.
"No, it's not you. It's my fault for being so useless."
With drooping shoulders, he headed toward the master bedroom.
Just as Soo-hee was about to say something, the phone suddenly rang.
"I'll take care of Dad, so go ahead and answer it,"
Ok-soon said as she quickly followed her husband.
Soo-hee nodded weakly and picked up the phone in the living room.
"Hello?"
["Hello, this is the HR team from Daehung Securities. Is this Jung Soo-hee?"]
Surprised by the unexpected call, Soo-hee frowned in curiosity.
"Yes, this is she. May I ask what this is about?"
The caller responded excitedly:
["Ah, it's you! You had been finally accepted in our company's new employee recruitment, right?"]
The bad memories flashed through Soo-hee's mind, and she replied gloomily,
"...Yes, that's right."
["Have you found a job elsewhere?"]
Feeling a bit prickly, Soo-hee asked sharply,
"Why do you ask?"
["We decided to reopen the recruitment. If you're still interested, we'd like to invite you to come to our Yeouido headquarters by 10 a.m. tomorrow."]
Startled, Soo-hee gripped the receiver tightly and asked again,
"Is that really true?"
["Yes."]
Hearing the cheerful reply, Soo-hee's joy was so overwhelming that her mind went blank.
["Will you attend the new employee training?"]
"Yes! I definitely will."
Snapping back to reality, Soo-hee nodded enthusiastically.
["Alright, then we'll register you accordingly. Please come to the HR office on the 4th floor of the Yeouido headquarters by 10 a.m. tomorrow."]
"Thank you so much! Really, thank you!"
Even after ending the call, she couldn't shake the surreal feeling as her parents came back into the living room.
"What was that call about?"
At that, Jung Soo-hee sprang up and, her face flushed with excitement, ran to her mother and hugged her tightly.
"Mom! It's done. It's really done!"
Startled by her daughter's energetic outburst, Choi Ok-soon looked confused.
"Oh my, what's gotten into you? What do you mean 'done'?"
"Calm down and tell us what happened,"
Jung Young-tae said with a worried look from the side.
"I got the job! Daehung Securities called and said I have to go to the office tomorrow!"
Soo-hee burst into tears as she shouted.
"What did you say?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The couple couldn't hide their shock, their eyes widening in disbelief.
"The HR team at Daehung Securities just called. They said they're reopening the recruitment they had previously canceled!"
"Oh my! Is that for real?"
"Yes! It's true!"
In an instant, Ok-soon's face brightened, and she opened her arms wide to embrace her daughter.
"Oh my, my daughter. That's wonderful. You've been through so much lately."
"Sob..."
Comforted in her mother's warm embrace, Soo-hee finally let the tears she'd been holding back fall.
Though she had tried to appear strong on the outside, no one was more upset about the canceled acceptance than Soo-hee herself.
Seeing the mother and daughter hugging tightly, Young-tae fought back tears as well.
His daughter, who had been gloomy over not finding a job, was now this happy, and as her father, he felt a lump rise in his throat.
Instead of showing tears, Young-tae smiled widely and said,
"Congratulations, my daughter!"
***
At the same time,
Seok-won, still at the office after hours, was standing by the large glass window of the president's office overlooking the busy road outside. He was on the phone with John Porter, the Japan branch head of the Eldorado Fund.
[Just as you predicted, after Sanyo Securities, today Hokkaido Takushoku Bank filed for bankruptcy with the court, unable to resolve bad debts amounting to one trillion yen.]
Though the announcement came unexpectedly on a weekend afternoon after business hours, shaking the entire Japanese archipelago, Seok-won responded calmly, having anticipated this outcome.
"How is the Japanese government reacting?"
[Shortly after the bankruptcy news broke, Minister Sato Kazuya of the Ministry of Finance held an emergency press conference, assuring that the Bank of Japan would implement unsecured special financing to protect depositors from losses, trying hard to quell the growing unease.]
"They say that the precedent that comprehensive securities firms never collapse was broken with the bankruptcy of Sanyo Securities. Now, with the Takushoku Bank's failure, the long-held belief that the top 20 major banks are 'too big to fail' has been completely shattered. They must be on edge, fearing this could trigger a massive bank run."
[Exactly. The decisive blow for Takushoku Bank's bankruptcy was the bank run caused by customers rushing to withdraw deposits after the collapse of its planned merger with Hokkaido Bank, a regional bank.]
Besides Takushoku Bank, most Japanese banks were burdened with huge amounts of bad loans stemming from the burst of the economic bubble.
If the situation worsened, there was even a risk of the entire Japanese financial market and system collapsing.
"The Ministry of Finance must have decided to let Takushoku Bank fail because the bad loan problem was too severe to keep hidden beneath the surface any longer."
[I agree with that assessment.]
"Just like a festering wound needs to be cut out for new flesh to grow, the scale of bad loans means Japan's economy and stock market are inevitably heading into a prolonged slump."
From across the phone, Branch Manager Porter let out a low chuckle.
[Japan's situation is unfortunate, but thanks to our short positions, we're likely to see a significant profit again this time.]
Seok-won smiled faintly and replied,
"Speaking of which, today is the last day for the liquidation of Sanyo Securities stock, isn't it?"
[Yes. We closed out our entire position at 2.5 yen per share, resulting in an impressive 98.7% profit.]
"That's a solid return. Can we expect good results from the remaining three positions as well?"
[Absolutely.]
Porter answered confidently.
After a brief further conversation, they ended the call, and just as if waiting, Seok-won's phone rang.
Still standing by the glass window, he checked the number, and his eyes gleamed as he answered.
"I take it the decision has been made, judging by your call."
Then, Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Choi Jin-woo replied in a grave voice,
[We'll proceed with the sale of the Intelligence Service site as you requested.]
Seok-won grinned broadly as he looked out the window.