55 kilometers west of Anheung Port in Taean, South Chungcheong Province.
On the deep emerald sea, three small islands were scattered a short distance apart, forming a triangular shape.
Above them, a Bell-412 helicopter painted in a two-tone color hovered low in the sky, slowly circling in a wide arc.
Although the sound of the rotors roaring outside was deafening, the soundproofed interior muted most of the vibration and noise.
Seok-won sat in a plush leather seat, wearing sunglasses as he looked down at the islands where waves rolled in and crashed against the rocks, churning up white foam.
At that moment, Jung Gyu-cheol, the president of Bluehole Construction, who was seated beside him in a gray suit, brought the microphone attached to his headset close to his mouth and spoke.
[As you can see, the name Gyeokryeolbi was given because the islands resemble three large birds flying together.]
At the sound of President Jung Gyu-cheol's voice coming through the headset, Seok-won gave a small nod and spoke.
"Is the island with the white lighthouse at the very front called Bukgyeokryeolbido?"
[That's correct. The entire island is owned by the Korea Forest Service, and the lighthouse there was built in 1909. It is said to be a very old lighthouse that has been in operation ever since.]
It was not particularly large, but the pure white paint reflected the sunlight, making the lighthouse stand out clearly against the surroundings.
"Considering its geographical importance, it wouldn't be strange if a lighthouse had existed there since long ago."
[That's right. When we came for the preliminary site inspection, the weather happened to be perfectly clear without a single cloud. From the lighthouse positioned at the highest point, if you look west, you can faintly see China's Shandong Peninsula beyond the horizon.]
Seok-won turned his head to the side, looking somewhat surprised.
"From what I know, China is quite far from here. Are you saying it's really that close?"
[It's roughly about 270 kilometers away. It's quite far, but since there's nothing in between blocking the view and it's just open sea all the way, they say it can be seen. Of course, it's not visible all the time—apparently it only happens occasionally when the weather is exceptionally clear.]
"Sounds like you were lucky."
[That's why I bought a lottery ticket just in case, but it turned out to be a dud. I guess I used up all my luck that day.]
"Is that so."
Seok-won let out a faint chuckle before asking.
"Then are there still personnel stationed there to operate the lighthouse?"
[No. Until 1998, people used to take turns staying on the island to operate it, but now it has been fully automated, so no one lives there anymore.]
"Not even civilians?"
[Because the surrounding waters are rich in fishery resources and a lot of fish can be caught there, quite a number of residents used to live on the island in the past. However, since it is such a remote island that there isn't even a regular passenger ferry, people gradually left for the mainland one by one, and it has now become an uninhabited island.]
"With such poor conditions that even visiting a hospital would require taking a boat for quite a long time, the residents must have had little choice but to leave."
[That's right. And even for fishing, there's no real need to live on the island when boats can simply depart from nearby Anheung Port and come here. Because of that, besides the Gyeokryeolbi Islands, more and more islands along the west coast are becoming uninhabited as residents move away.]
It was a natural phenomenon for young people seeking better jobs and living conditions to leave the islands for the mainland, and it was not something the government could prevent.
'Even so, it's also a problem if only the elderly residents remain.'
Setting aside the harsh environment, as people grew older they developed more aches and illnesses and found it harder to stay active, making it even more necessary to live closer to hospitals.
Considering all this, it was unfortunate but inevitable that islands without regular ferry service, with inconvenient transportation and little to attract tourists, would end up becoming uninhabited.
They were small, isolated islands located at the western edge of South Korea's territorial waters, now mostly visited only by anglers because the fishing was good—but in Seok-won's eyes, they looked different.
'At first glance, they may look like insignificant, remote islands, but in truth they are steadfast sentinels guarding the seas of the Republic of Korea.'
In fact, this very place—the Gyeokryeolbi Islands—was one of the twenty-three base-point islands that determine the extent of South Korea's territorial waters.
Not only was it important for sovereignty, but it also held tremendous value for fisheries and military strategy. More than half of the Chinese fishing vessels that intruded into the West Sea to conduct illegal fishing were known to catch fish in these waters.
'Because of these very factors, China even attempted to secretly purchase land in the Gyeokryeolbi Islands a few years later.'
Back then, the government had failed to notice anything suspicious. It only sprang into action after residents who owned land on Seogyeokryeolbido visited the county office and reported that Chinese buyers were trying to purchase the island, a revelation that soon appeared in the news.
When China's sinister plan—to secretly seize control of the West Sea for a mere two billion won—came to light, the government belatedly designated Seogyeokryeolbido as a restricted land transaction zone for foreigners. Remembering how the situation was resolved only after such a delayed response still made him sigh even now.
'But this time, that won't happen.'
The sound of President Jung Gyu-cheol's voice coming through the headset pulled him out of his thoughts.
[As you can see, the Gyeokryeolbi Islands consist of three islands: Bukgyeokryeolbido in the center, with Donggyeokryeolbido and Seogyeokryeolbido on either side. In addition, there are nine smaller rocky reefs nearby.]
President Jung Gyu-cheol continued speaking while pointing down at the islands below with his hand.
[Donggyeokryeolbido has an area of 277,686 square meters, and Seogyeokryeolbido is 128,903 square meters—slightly less than half that size.]
"You said there were five landowners, right?"
[That's correct. One of them was a foreigner, which made things a bit troublesome, but we managed to purchase both islands for 2.6 billion won.]
"A foreigner owned land on the island?"
Seok-won frowned slightly and asked again.
[Yes. To be more precise, it was a Korean expatriate living in the United States. They had inherited the land on Donggyeokryeolbido.]
"I see."
For a moment, Seok-won had been on guard, wondering if China had already reached out, but he soon relaxed his expression.
[Fortunately, no one had shown any real interest in buying it, so the owner had simply left the land as it was. Because of that, we were able to sign the contract without any major issues.]
"That's good to hear it was resolved smoothly."
President Jung Gyu-cheol glanced at him cautiously before asking in a careful tone.
[The natural environment isn't bad, but it's not exactly a place with good conditions for development either. So why did you buy both islands? What are you planning to do with them?]
It was understandable that he would be puzzled, considering he had suddenly been instructed to purchase remote islands located at the far end of the West Sea.
"Why? Does it seem like I spent money on something useless?"
[Ah, no. Not at all.]
President Jung Gyu-cheol hurriedly waved his hands.
Seeing his flustered reaction, Seok-won let out a small chuckle before turning his gaze back toward the sea.
"Right now it may look like an insignificant island, but in a few years it will become the most important place in the West Sea."
[...?]
President Jung Gyu-cheol tilted his head with a puzzled expression, clearly unable to understand.
Unlike Laukala Island in Fiji, which Seok-won had personally purchased not long ago and which possessed beautiful scenery suitable for resort development, this place was nothing more than a small rocky island. The idea that such a place would become important was difficult for him to grasp.
Although China was rapidly developing its economy, it was still far behind South Korea, which had already joined the ranks of developed nations even after experiencing the IMF financial crisis.
More importantly, China was still following the policy of "hide your strength and bide your time," concealing its sharp teeth and claws from the outside world. Because of that, it was even harder to predict what kinds of events would unfold in the West Sea in the future.
But since he couldn't explain everything one by one, Seok-won simply let the questioning look pass without responding.
"Out of the three islands, let's build a pier on Donggyeokryeolbido—the largest one—where ships can dock."
[About how large should it be?]
Having assumed that the islands would naturally be put to some use after being purchased, President Jung Gyu-cheol asked the question without much thought. But at the words that followed, his eyes widened.
"It should be large enough for a vessel of at least 8,000 tons to dock without difficulty."
[What?]
Unable to hide his bewilderment, President Jung Gyu-cheol hurriedly asked again.
[Did you say 8,000 tons?]
"That's right."
[But if you build a pier that large, what exactly are you planning to use it for? If we do as you say, the construction cost of the pier will be dozens of times higher than the money spent buying the islands.]
To build the pier as Seok-won described would require a massive construction project, including a breakwater of considerable scale. It was only natural for him to react that way.
"I figured it should be at least that size if I'm going to buy a personal yacht and keep it docked there later."
[A yacht?]
President Jung Gyu-cheol asked back in disbelief, but then he remembered that Seok-won was the richest man in the world and promptly closed his mouth.
"Regardless of the budget, make sure the pier is built so that ships can dock safely even during a typhoon."
President Jung Gyu-cheol could not hide his bewilderment inwardly.
Spending hundreds of billions of won just to dock a personal yacht felt like throwing money straight into the sea. The spending habits of the ultra-rich were truly beyond his understanding.
'It's surprising, but compared to the chairman's wealth, this amount probably wouldn't even be noticeable.'
Smacking his lips lightly, President Jung Gyu-cheol answered.
[Yes. We'll proceed that way.]
Turning his head, Seok-won calmly took in the sight of the Gyeokryeolbi Islands spread out beyond the windscreen.
'That should be enough for Coast Guard vessels to dock without difficulty—and even the Korean Aegis destroyers the Navy will introduce in a few years.'
To others, it might look like nothing more than an ordinary uninhabited island, but in his eyes it was a solid fortress standing in the middle of the vast sea, guarding the West Sea.
"Let's make one more circle and then head back."
[Yes.]
At Seok-won's instruction, the helicopter made one final wide circle over the Gyeokryeolbi Islands, where waves crashed against the rocky cliffs and burst into white foam.
Still wearing his sunglasses, Seok-won was looking down through the windscreen when he felt a vibration from inside his coat and pulled out his phone.
[Boss. It's me.]
Hearing Landon's voice from New York, he adjusted his grip on the phone and asked,
"What's going on?"
[The Nikkei just broke through the 10,000-point level, which had been a strong support line.]
A glint flashed in Seok-won's eyes.
"I remember it being at 10,200 just this morning. Are you saying it dropped more than two percent in just half a day?"
[Haha, that's right.]
Landon burst into cheerful laughter from the other end of the phone.
[Once it became known that you had taken a short position, hedge funds and major Wall Street investment banks all started selling in succession, and the Nikkei is collapsing without much resistance.]
"I see."
[Not only the Nikkei, but the Hong Kong and Taiwan stock markets are also seeing growing declines, and the yen exchange rate is soaring as well.]
"Good thing it turned out this way. It would have been a bit troublesome if I had bet on the opposite side."
[At this rate, it looks like we'll be able to make a sufficient profit even if the Japanese government doesn't announce a resolution for the non-performing loans.]
Seok-won nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Keep a close watch on the market and wrap up the betting quickly."
[Understood.]
After ending the call, Seok-won looked out at the Gyeokryeolbi Islands as they gradually grew farther away while the helicopter flew back toward the mainland.
The thought that the wave he had set in motion had already turned into a massive tsunami sweeping across stock markets around the world brought a relaxed smile to his lips.