Chapter 150: Korea Shock [2]

A missile fell on Yeonpyeongdo island.

In contrast to the outside that caused a fuss about a second Korean war happening, domestic media calmly talked about its possible influence on the market as well as its influence on the travel industry. It was true. Koreans didn’t worry too much about it. The only ones who did were foreign militaries.

As soon as the reports got out, Ahn Soo Ho headed over to Star Tower.

“All of the military events are canceled.”

“All of the outdoor events excluding the filmings that couldn’t be postponed were halted.”

He received reports of many ceases and cancellations. If North Korea really wanted a war, they wouldn’t have stopped with just one missile. Most importantly, after his 22 visits to Pyeongyang in the past, this was like a yearly message they were sending.

‘They’re asking for money or rice.’

Since Americans wanted their country to be stronger, the White House enforced stronger diplomatic policies, but the State Department and the Diplomatic Mission disapproved. A country’s diplomatic policies didn’t exist to gain popularity, so if it changed overnight, they were throwing all the trust they built over the years. No one knew if it would take 10 or 20 years to regain that trust back.

‘But then again, North Korea doesn’t have much credibility either.’

Koreans couldn’t visit North Korea without permission from the government. However, for Ahn Soo Ho, he visited North Korea many times in secret, so he was free from legal responsibility.

‘Something smells fishy about this…’

Why did they fire a missile now? Because Europe was in chaos? Or because America got weaker? If not that? Was it because they wanted to start a war? He excluded the first two possibilities. So the one that remained was an expected sequence following America’s downfall. Also, China and America’s confrontation put a hole in North Korean sanctions, so this could have been North Korea’s resistance during a break from drugs and illegal weapons.

“What about the schedules abroad?”

“Nine teams including pictorial shoots, variety, fan meetings, and awards shows are abroad at the moment.”

“Anything we can’t get a hold of?”

“No, Sir.”

“That’s good.”

While managing a company what Ahn Soo Ho worried about wasn’t to run a normal business with good profits. The first thing he took care of was a network of emergency contacts. People might have asked if his company was a military, but as soon as that network was completed, the employees were able to see its effects right away.

‘Huh? This is amazing.’

No more time was wasted due to scheduling.

There was actually a lot of time gone to waste due to lack of good communication between the celebrities and managers. With Alexa and Kosino’s scheduling application system, their productivity increased by 1000%. Just like how Ahn Soo Ho used Henry Michaelson to manage his schedules, he made it a requirement to have a communications expert close by at all times.

“I halted the investment program.”

Daniel, whose face was hard to see without calling him personally, came running over.

“Has it affected the market?”

“Of course.”

Hosoo Investments didn’t have a variety of options like a commercial bank, but it worked with quite a bit of fund.

“I’m sure you didn’t run over just because there was a bit of a loss… What is it?”

“I think a vulture fund of a substantial number is being managed.”

“You think?”

“I don’t have any proof just yet.”

Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t an economics expert, but he did know what a vulture fund was.

“The possibility of military action is…”

“100%.”

“Does North Korea’s provocation have anything to do with it?”

“It is a fascinating coincidence.”

Every time Korea’s stock market suffered, the one thing that always appeared was the risk of a war breaking out. The threat of North Korea always kept South Korea back from being able to develop and leap forward.

If establishments and foreigners turn their backs, the market could crash. After all, Korea highly relies on a state-led planned economy.

Not many Koreans realized that Korea only switched to a free market economy system only 20 years ago. Up until the late 90s, the country had a planned economy led by the government. So how much had changed 20 years later? The way Daniel saw it, not much had changed at all.

Centered on the rich

Centered on exports

The system could be divided into these two major categories because no matter the policy, the rich and exports were always at the center. When it came to household debt, there was a tendency to put everything into real estate. Daniel was shocked by that.

‘Do they think the economy gets better the more expensive land gets?’

Koreans had a lot of greed for obtaining land.

“How much foreign exchange did we rake in?”

“In US dollars… 90 billion dollars.”

It was originally just 50 billion US dollars, but after investing it here and there, they reached almost 100 billion dollars. The Korean bank’s foreign exchange possession had already reached its limit. If he continued to put it all in government-run banks, they wouldn’t be able to escape from the pressure of foreign debt.

“That’s a lot.”

“We paid a lot of taxes for it, too.”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked in response.

“Are you still dissatisfied about that?”

“It’s not always good to pay a lot of taxes, Soo Ho.”

People thought companies paying a lot of taxes was a good thing, but that wasn’t always the case. Maximizing a company’s profits wasn’t the only target of paying reduced taxes.

“Since North Korea fired a missile, the international credit rating agencies will start to be mobilized.”

“What are your thoughts?”

“No matter what the president insists, his participation in BRICS last year makes him look friendly with China more than America… so a negative report will probably be submitted.”

“It’s very political.”

“Didn’t you know? Despite what their name suggests, they’re no different from a political group.”

Same went for IBCA, MUDIS, and S&P, which controlled the world’s financial market. Did Ahn Soo Ho have no idea? No way. Strictly speaking, those three companies were his biggest customers. Evaluating a nation’s credibility and the worth of a market or company was the same as having their lives in the palm of one’s hands.

It would have been nice to give everyone a good score, but in the market, everything was relative. If some received good evaluations, some had to receive bad ones. Among those who couldn’t accept their results, some went to serious extremes. Since they were doomed without a better score, they put their lives on the line to change it.

Mr. Guardian was a nickname that was given by rich people whose lives were being threatened. In the current capitalist society dominated by the financial system, the status of those evaluating and those being evaluated were two extremes. The expression, open competition of the market economy made it sound like it was just and fair, but as long as America and Europe were in charge of the financial system, the results could be flipped at any point.

“Native Koreans are quite strange.”

“Why?”

“No one thinks a war’s going to break out even though a missile just landed here.”

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Daniel was tired of trying to calm down his wife and children over the phone. If Logan and his underlings were in Korea, they would have been busy shooting their guns in excitement, but Daniel was someone who had never been in the military.

‘In that case, aren’t the drug cartels scarier?’

He didn’t understand how one could be afraid of the commies while not being afraid of druggies and money launderers.

“Don’t worry. There won’t be a war.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because…”

If Pig Kim used that little brain of his, he wouldn’t be able to start a war.

“I’m still the civil defense.”

He wasn’t even 40 years old yet.

******

KOSPI plunged in just a day following the foreigners’ selling of shares!

The tourist industry was looking to get Chinese and Japanese tourists over the break!

The limit of foreign holdings has been reached! The Ministry of Economy and Finance are confident for a reason!

Hosoo Entertainment Group invested 1.8 trillion in the first quarter? That’s a crazy amount of cash!

Is the Korean shock coming? The international credit rating agencies are having a meeting! They’re revising the Asian economy report!

In contrast to the current chaos in the political world, the Korean economy last year was thriving, and the one responsible for that was Hosoo Entertainment Group. Even though they didn’t have any manufacturing businesses, Hosoo Entertainment Group’s working environment and satisfaction rate were at the top of the nation. What fell behind was HBS. They weren’t fully stabilized just yet, and it wasn’t easy getting a board of directors together either.

Ahn Soo Ho visited HBS for the first time in a while.

“There must have been a lot of retaliation from other broadcasting companies.”

“Well, it is disturbing the entire broadcasting ecosystem. Ew! Is this even food?”

Kim Soo Jung tried some chicken salad and then spat it back out. She was a full carnivore, so vegetables were a no for her. Seeing how she was able to maintain her figure by just eating meat, she must have exercised a lot.

“How is it being the director of the news report?”

“It’s hard.”

“By the way, why are you eating salad?”

“In order to sign the members’ contract, I had to undergo a physical checkup. So I did.”

“The results must have been shocking.”

Once a person went past 30, that person would look fine on the outside. However, that was not the case on the inside. Their diets were a problem and so were their lack of exercise, but the working environment was the biggest problem of all.

“You should rest once in a while. Go on some dates, too. Oh, has the date been decided yet?”

“Not yet.”

“I’m guessing you greeted each other’s families though.”

“Yeah, last year.”

Yoon Chul and Kim Soo Jung’s marriage got postponed once again. They used work as an excuse but seeing the expression on her face led him to believe that they fought.

“What is it this time? Chul isn’t the type to cheat… Is it the expenses?”

“No, just listen to me, Soo Ho. No matter how much he cherished this friend, he didn’t have to pay for his hospital expenses. He paid 70 million won!”

“How severe is his friend’s condition for the hospitalization to amount to 70 million won?”

As mentioned before, the country’s health insurance system was fairly good. He had no idea what needed to happen to get a hospital bill of 70 million won.

“Apparently, they got burned.”

“Is that not covered?”

“I don’t know.”

“If they got hurt during work, that falls under an industrial accident.”

“I’m looking into it now. I have to do an in-depth coverage on it. If something went wrong, I have to make it right.”

Ahn Soo Ho held back his laugh. He understood why she was so mad at Yoon Chul.

“This is all because of you!”

“Me?”

“Yeah. He was probably inspired by you helping all those children.”

“It’s good to help others.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. But donations should only be made if you’re in a situation to do so.”

Kim Yeon Ji took time off school.

In her case, the excessive attention she was getting actually harmed her in a way. There were many who cheered her on, but there were those who called her a beggar. So while Ahn Soo Ho was helping her, he put her in the Hosoo Guard Team while he was at it. People asked if he was giving her special treatment, but once he announced that he would hire anyone who won a medal at the Olympics or the Asian games, they shut up.

In response to Hosoo Entertainment’s celebrities going around helping hospital patients, some criticized them for putting on a show. If this was before, they would have been bothered by the criticism, but after a certain point, the employees and celebrities became just like their CEO.

‘So what?’

‘Have you ever donated before? If you haven’t then shut up!’

Once Hosoo Entertainment lashed out, they were the ones who were shocked. But where there were strengths, there were also weaknesses. Back in the day, actors who dated would have hidden it from everyone, but these days, they just let everyone know.

But when it came to idols, that was still not recommended.

“Huh?”

He saw chaos across the window in the report room. At that very moment, the door slammed open and the producer working under Kim Soo Jung yelled.

“North Korea fired a missile! This time, it fell in the East Sea!”

‘Again?’

However, that wasn’t what was important. Ahn Soo Ho heard his phone notification so he took it out.

‘Damn it!’

He didn’t know why the civil defense emergency call had to come not a month but just four days before. Was there a problem with the mail? He had to ask Mrs. Park about it once he got home.

‘Do I have to kill that Pig Kim in order to get rid of civil defense?’

Should I make my way to Silmido Island?

< Protect – Episode 150 – Korea Shock [2] > The end.