A few days later.
Standing in front of the mirror in his dressing room, Seok-won was wearing a dress shirt and tying his necktie.
As always, the tie in his hand was a silk one adorned with the Gucci logo—its smooth texture and sophisticated design matched Seok-won perfectly.
Just as he was adjusting the knot, admiring his reflection, the phone on the table buzzed.
He picked it up, glanced at the screen, and answered the call.
"Landon. What brings you to call at this hour?"
[I wanted to inform you of some news.]
Securing his tie with an elegant tie pin, Seok-won responded calmly.
"Has the rollover negotiation for the foreign debt been finalized?"
[Yes, it was concluded late this afternoon.]
At the welcome news, Seok-won gripped the phone a little tighter and asked,
"Tell me the details of the agreement."
[First, the short-term debt of approximately 25 billion dollars maturing this year will all be converted into three types of medium- to long-term bonds—1-year, 2-year, and 3-year maturities —on the condition of a Korean government guarantee. The agreed-upon interest rates are LIBOR plus 2.25% for the 1-year, 2.50% for the 2-year, and 2.75% for the 3-year bonds.]
"Given that the current 6-month LIBOR is at 5.6%, the interest for the extended 3-year bond would come out to 8.35%."
[Correct. Also, the 1-year maturity bond, which has the shortest repayment period, is capped at 5 billion dollars—20% of the total amount eligible for conversion.]
Holding the phone to his ear, Seok-won gave a small nod.
"If all the bonds were converted to one-year short-term notes, it would defeat the whole purpose
of the hard-fought agreement with the creditors."
[That's probably why the Korean government imposed a cap.]
"The negotiations dragged on and the outlook didn't look good, so I'm glad they reached a deal."
[Many within the creditor group were doubtful that Korea could actually repay the extended debt. But when they saw Korean citizens voluntarily launching a gold-collecting campaign to help repay the country's foreign debt, it changed their minds.]
While much of the credit belonged to the Korean delegation tirelessly negotiating day and night in New York, the fact that it was ultimately the people who swayed the creditors left Seok-won with a bittersweet expression.
"This should ease international financial concerns about Korea's short-term foreign liquidity shortage. That means it might be possible to secure new foreign loans now."
[In fact, there's talk that the Korea Development Bank is planning to retry its previously failed dollar bond issuance. Of course, they'll have to offer a very high interest rate.]
"It stings to pay that much interest, but just being able to issue new foreign bonds is a relief in itself."
[Exactly. The difference between being unable to borrow at all and just paying more interest is like night and day.]
"Let me know immediately if any new information comes in."
[Will do.]
After ending the call, Seok-won placed his phone back into the inner pocket of his jacket on the table.
"Once the news of the agreement spreads, the exchange rate— which had been creeping back up—will probably fall again."
Not only the exchange rate, but also the stock market—which had barely rebounded before slumping again—would likely surge upward in response to the good news from New York.
Putting on his jacket and adjusting his outfit one last time, Seok-won turned and exited the dressing room.
***
"The market's open!"
At Noh Heewon's shout, Choi Ho-geun stared intently at the monitor in front of him, his face tense.
[KOSPI: 327.23 (+24.32)]
"Yes, this is it!"
As the index rebounded strongly just as expected, Choi clenched one fist and shouted, prompting cheers from the rest of the team in the office.
"This time, it's a real rebound, right?!"
"Didn't you read the paper? Some great news came out of New York—there's no reason for the market to keep dragging now."
"Exactly."
"I really hope it's for real this time."
While the team buzzed with excitement, Choi stood up.
"How's the exchange rate?"
Yoo Seok-hyeon quickly checked the price board on his monitor and replied,
"1,588 won to the dollar."
"That's a drop of 100 won from the previous day."
"Yes, sir."
Seeing both the stock index jump and the exchange rate fall sharply, Choi became convinced that this wasn't just a short-term bounce but the real bottom being set.
"Every time, I can't help but be amazed."
"At what?"
Choi turned his head and saw Jung Hwan-yeop leaning back in his chair.
"The President. He sold all the stocks he bought during the last rebound and made a big profit, and then just a few days ago, he bought up a huge volume again—timing the bottom perfectly."
"That's true."
Recalling how their boss had earned 69 billion won in one go by timing his trades precisely, Choi shook his head in disbelief.
Even with years of experience in the Yeouido markets, he couldn't claim to have such flawless instincts when it came to picking sell and buy points.
'Who could've guessed the market sentiment would flip overnight?'
Just yesterday, people were panicking—worried the market would crash again if the debt rollover talks in New York collapsed. But while everyone else froze in fear, the boss swooped in and scooped up stocks at rock-bottom prices—only for the good news to break and send the index soaring.
"With Nasan Group and now Geukyang Construction going bankrupt, I was worried he'd jumped in too hastily despite the new year—but it turns out there was no need for concern."
Wearing a bright red tie as if praying for a market rally, Yoo Seok-hyeon chuckled.
Beside him, Hong Jae-hee—dressed up with a brooch bought in New York—nodded enthusiastically.
"How does he time it so perfectly? He must have predicted all this and traded accordingly, right?"
"Otherwise, who would throw in over a trillion won without hesitation?"
Jung said this as he placed both hands behind his head and casually swung his feet.
"A trillion won under management… We may be in charge of these funds, but that amount still makes my jaw drop."
Yoo Seok-hyeon made an impressed face, as if realizing it anew.
Managing one trillion won —that was several times larger than the total capital managed by the entire PI (Proprietary Investment) department at Daheung Securities.
Even though Choi Ho-geun and his team had followed Seok-won when he moved companies, none of them had ever imagined they would one day be handling such massive sums of money.
As the team continued chatting, Choi clapped his hands lightly to gather attention.
"Our president is a big shot even those snobby Wall Street guys acknowledge—no need to be surprised."
The team members, who had personally seen Seok-won's performance and that of the Eldorado Fund in New York, all nodded in agreement.
"True. For the president, this level of return probably doesn't even register."
Jung Hwan-yeop shrugged and spoke in a casual tone.
"Exactly."
"After experiencing what it's like to play in the big leagues, I think our whole mindset has changed."
Before, they might have been overwhelmed by the pressure. But now, none of them looked particularly tense.
Instead, their faces showed just the right blend of excitement and anticipation—they were fired up, but not overawed.
Choi Ho-geun put his hands on his hips and looked around at the team.
"If the president's prediction is right, then the real bull market is about to begin. So with the money each of you've been allocated, aim to maximize returns. Reaching the target return rate is the baseline, but I'd say expecting at least 50% over target isn't too much."
"Come on, the target itself is already pretty high. Now you want 50% on top of that? Aren't you being a bit too ambitious?"
Jung Hwan-yeop complained in his usual exaggerated way.
But everyone knew—despite the whining—he was always the first to hit his targets and usually posted the best performance. Choi let out a small snort of laughter.
"If the rebound continues and the KOSPI recovers even half of what it lost, the stocks we bet on under the president's orders will easily double in return. Even if we can't match that exactly, you better hit at least half of it, or you won't even be able to show your face."
"Hey, you can't compare us to the president."
Everyone turned to agree, nodding with expressions that clearly said, "That's impossible."
"Tch! You want a fat year-end bonus like last year, don't you?"
"Year-end bonus, you say?"
Jung Hwan-yeop suddenly straightened his posture.
"Exactly. We've got to end this year just as warmly as the last one."
As the memory of the year-end bonus envelope—stuffed thick with checks—floated into his mind, the eyes of Jung Hwan-yeop and the rest of the team lit up with blazing determination.
"The target return rate is just the default. Of course we have to exceed it!"
"Absolutely. Let's go for it!"
Jung Hwan-yeop clenched his fist and shouted, the first to fire up. Beside him, Yoo Seok-hyeon nodded vigorously in agreement.
"They say if you're going to dream, dream big."
Even Hong Jae-hee, with a prim expression, tucked her hair behind one ear and showed a surge of enthusiasm.
"You asked me earlier to compile the January customs import-export trade statistics, right? I'll get them to you right away—just give me a moment!"
Noh Hee-won, who handled the back office work, rolled up her blouse sleeves and, eyes sparkling, carried a thick stack of files back to her desk.
Seeing his team suddenly fired up and full of passion, Choi Ho-geun chuckled and shook his head.
"Can't do a thing with this bunch of rascals."
Then, smiling to himself, he too returned to his seat and got to work on trading.
***
Seok-won sat behind his luxurious hardwood desk, a fountain pen in one hand, meticulously reviewing a stack of approval documents.
After pausing briefly to rub his freshly shaven chin with his free hand, he gave a small nod and signed his name in the approval box.
He closed the approval file and had just pushed it aside when the intercom beeped and his secretary, Na Seong-mi's voice came through the speaker.
[Director Yoo Hyun-seok is here to see you.]
Seok-won reached out and pressed the button.
"Send him in."
[Yes, sir.]
Shortly after, there was a knock at the door, and Director Yoo Hyun-seok, dressed in a gray suit, carefully opened it and stepped inside.
He walked up to the desk and bowed deeply.
"What's the matter?"
Yoo Hyun-seok placed an approval file on the desk and began to report.
"I've finalized the investment contract for GoldBank, as per your instructions."
"Oh, really?"
A spark of interest lit up in Seok-won's eyes as he immediately opened the file. Yoo added further explanation.
"As written in the contract, we agreed to receive 200,000 shares of GoldBank at a par value of 5,000 won per share. That's a total of 1 billion won."
"That gives us a 55% stake."
"Yes, it does."
Seok-won raised an eyebrow slightly as he asked,
"With that much equity, we basically gain management control. Were they willing to accept that so easily?"
"They're under serious financial pressure. I don't think they were in any position to negotiate."
Seok-won tilted his head slightly in surprise.
"I thought they were growing rapidly—didn't they just surpass 100,000 registered members?"
"That's true. The IMF crisis sparked a surge of interest, and their user base exploded in a short time. But that rapid growth also caused their expenses to balloon far beyond initial projections, to the point where they're nearly out of cash."
GoldBank was a new type of internet advertising company that paid users to click on advertisements from certain businesses after visiting their site.
"The increase in users happened because people's wallets were tight due to the financial crisis. Even small earnings were appealing, so many started using the site to make a bit of pocket money."
"I see."
Seok-won nodded in understanding.
"If we hadn't made an investment offer this time, they were planning to raise funds by offering a public stock subscription to their site members."
"Since they're not listed on the stock exchange yet, they were planning to collect money from their users to fill their empty coffers. It's actually a pretty clever idea."
Closing the approval folder, Seok-won handed it back to Director Yoo Hyun-seok, who was still standing in front of his desk.
"Good work."
"Not at all."
"If there's nothing else, you can go now."
"Yes, sir."
Director Yoo Hyun-seok turned and exited the office.
Once the door closed, Seok-won leaned back against his chair and murmured to himself.
"Right now, it's just another venture company offering a strange new service… but no one can even imagine that it will soon become the trigger for the entire KOSDAQ craze."
A deep smile spread across Seok-won's face as he recalled GoldBank's stock chart in his mind— its price skyrocketing an astonishing 55 times and igniting a nationwide frenzy in the KOSDAQ market.