One hundred gangsters versus fifty taxi drivers.
To anyone watching, the gangsters had the advantage—but the result was the complete opposite.
The men in blue taxi driver uniforms dodged weapons with smiles on their faces and struck vital points with precision.
They controlled distance as if playing a fighting game, toying with the gangsters.
"This is way too easy. Boss Kang, did you really call us out for this kind of trash?"
"I didn't expect them to be this weak either. I thought guys who used to be gangsters would have some guts. But they're crying after getting hit once."
Did it even take twenty minutes?
Half of the hundred gangsters were already sprawled on the ground, while the rest had dropped their weapons and run off.
"What should we do with these guys? Cleaning this up ourselves would be a hassle."
"I already called in the disposal team. Myeongdong is the perfect place for this kind of trash."
"What's Myeongdong going to do with them?"
"Whether they make them errand boys or loan collectors, they'll put them to work. Within a
month, they'll squeeze all the punk out of them and turn them into decent people."
Even before Captain Kang had finished speaking, a cleanup crew from Myeongdong arrived.
They loaded the gangsters roughly into ten old vans and vanished without a word.
"Yeah, these guys are on a whole different level from those wannabe gangsters. You can feel the danger just from the atmosphere."
"If you're weak in Myeongdong, you don't survive. These punk gangsters finally met their match."
Where there's money, power gathers.
And Myeongdong was one of the richest areas in Seoul. Those fake gangsters were about to
experience hell.
"Should we go after the ones who ran off?"
"Leave them. We've taught them a lesson they'll never forget. They'll scatter and head back to the provinces on their own. Everyone, get changed and return to the security office."
Captain Kang and his men dispersed.
Meanwhile, the fifty fleeing gangsters also scattered, and none of them returned to report to President Cha Il-yeop.
All Cha Il-yeop could do was wait.
An hour passed, then two, then five. Only then did he begin to realize something had gone
terribly wrong.
"Does anyone know what happened to President Kim Do-hwan?"
"I've been trying to call, but I can't get through."
"Why are you so slow? If President Kim Do-hwan isn't answering, then call someone else! There were a hundred of them—are you telling me not one of them will pick up?"
"I'm calling around, but every single phone is either turned off or no one's answering."
The ones with their phones off had been dragged off to Myeongdong.
The ones not answering were preparing to flee the city in fear.
"This won't do. We'll have to go ourselves. Call every taxi driver we have left—we're heading to Kangin Transport."
"I'll gather them immediately."
Yoon, the vice president and Cha Il-yeop's right-hand man, moved quickly.
But it was too quick—he returned to the president's office with a large group in less than ten minutes.
"You've already gathered everyone?"
"N-no, that's not it. The prosecutors are here."
"Mr. Cha Il-yeop. You are under arrest for embezzlement, breach of trust, bribery, collusion, labor law violations… wow, the list goes on. A warrant for your arrest has been issued. Please come with us."
Were they prosecutors or gangsters in disguise?
Chewing gum loudly and gesturing with dramatic flair, the prosecutor signaled for the police to move in. Officers took Cha Il-yeop by the arms and escorted him out to a patrol car.
As they did, the prosecutor added one last charge.
"Oh—and we're adding charges of organizing a criminal group and orchestrating a mass assault."
"W-wait! Just one phone call! One call and I can clear this all up!"
Cha Il-yeop frantically reached for his phone.
He had a wide network, built over years of running Seoul's largest taxi company.
But the prosecutor wasn't giving him the chance.
Whatever kind of connections Cha Il-yeop had, the prosecutor believed his own backing was
even stronger.
***
A few days later.
I received the final report from the strategy director.
"Over 80% of Seoul's taxi drivers have signed franchise agreements with KakaoTaxi. The
number of daily users continues to rise sharply, and it's projected that within one to two years, KakaoTaxi will surpass traditional call-taxi services in market share."
"In two years, the number of smartphone users will increase significantly, so that seems likely. But it's surprising that 80% of Seoul's taxi drivers have signed up."
"It became possible because Yeongshin Taxi, which was once the largest taxi company in Seoul, was dismantled and absorbed by other companies."
Yeongshin Taxi, once proud of its history and tradition, had vanished in just a few days.
I, too, valued history and tradition, but that didn't mean I wanted to side with companies that
perpetuated corruption and old, rotten practices.
"What happened to the Cha family?"
"The investigation isn't over yet, but from what we're hearing from the prosecutors, they'll likely face at least three years in prison."
"That's a longer sentence than I expected."
"They committed a wide range of crimes, and testimony from drivers who left Yeongshin Taxi has been pouring in. On top of that, many small and mid-sized taxi companies are also providing statements, which is strengthening the case."
This is why one should live an honest life.
The moment you lose your power, all your accumulated sins come back to you like a tidal wave.
If you don't want to end up like that, you have no choice but to cling to power until the day you die.
"So the central figure in Seoul's taxi union is gone."
"Kangin Transport is quickly filling the vacuum left by the Cha family. Because they hold
exclusive authority over KakaoTaxi franchise contracts, everyone now sees Kangin Transport as the new core."
This was exactly why I appointed Captain Kang as the CEO of a taxi company.
To collect more data, we needed to exert influence over taxi unions or federations.
"What about the call service companies?"
"They tried to threaten companies that signed with KakaoTaxi, saying they wouldn't give them any calls. But since most companies signed on anyway, they were forced to accept coexistence. Thanks to collective pressure from the taxi companies, the commission fees have dropped by more than 10%."
What a wonderful turn of events.
Thanks to the emergence of a competitor, taxi drivers were able to reduce their commission fees by 10% within just a few days.
And as KakaoTaxi's market share continued to grow year after year, the commission fees would drop even further—eventually leading to the collapse of the traditional call-taxi companies.
"Any other issues?"
"We've been getting inquiries from taxi companies in the greater Seoul area who want to sign franchise agreements with KakaoTaxi. Not just from the capital region, but also from various major cities."
"Then we'll gradually expand our reach. Start with the capital area, then move on to the
metropolitan cities."
Data from just the Seoul area wasn't enough.
The ultimate goal of collecting data was autonomous driving, and in order to enable self-driving taxis to operate nationwide, data from every city in the country would be essential.
"Oh, and there's one more piece of good news. The establishment of the IIT Korea campus is
expected to be officially announced as early as this month."
"So we can finally break ground. Has the land for the IIT Korea campus been fully secured?"
"We've acquired a large amount of land in the Pangyo area. Thanks to the Vice Chairman's
foresight in gradually buying up land there, we secured a vast site without spending too much."
"Assemblyman Choi Jaeseok really came through on this. I should meet him soon and personally express my gratitude."
Pangyo New Town.
A city that would soon become a hub for IT companies.
That was why I had been quietly acquiring land there for some time, with the plan of building the IIT Korea campus right in that location.
An IT city and IIT.
Don't they sound like a perfect match?
It was the ideal location for IIT to collaborate with the surrounding IT companies on joint
ventures.
The official approval for the IIT Korea campus was granted.
As soon as I heard the news, I arranged a dinner meeting with Assemblyman Choi Jaeseok,
treating him to a lavish feast prepared by Captain Kang and his team.
"You've worked so hard. Thanks to you, we've successfully attracted the IIT Korea campus."
"It was something I simply had to do—for the good of Korea's future."
Despite the accomplishment, Assemblyman Choi's expression wasn't bright.
He didn't touch the food or the drinks and remained somber, which gave me a good sense of what was troubling him.
"Is it because of the capital relocation issue?"
"Just as you predicted, the Constitutional Court blocked the relocation. Who would've thought they'd declare it unconstitutional based on customary law?"
"Our Taewoo Group legal team worked hard on that."
"I've heard your legal team is more capable than most law firms, but I never imagined they'd be able to anticipate a ruling from the Constitutional Court."
I gave credit to the legal team.
It was the only excuse I could use to explain how I'd known the outcome.
"Things are going to get noisy in Yeouido from now on."
"Now that the capital relocation has been blocked, both the ruling and opposition parties are coming to see me. Since the capital can't be moved, they're suggesting relocating government ministries and public enterprises to regional areas instead."
"That's expected from the ruling party, but the opposition too?"
"The opposition party is trying to use the relocation of public enterprises to sweep the capital relocation issue under the rug."
The ruling and opposition parties had opposing views.
But amidst the disagreement, there was one thing they agreed on: relocating the headquarters of public enterprises.
"So both parties have essentially agreed to relocate KEPCO's headquarters to the regions."
"The ruling party is trying to calm public anger through the relocation of public enterprises, and the opposition wants to use it to completely block further attempts to move the capital."
"You should handle the KEPCO relocation first. The capital relocation issue won't be resolved within just a year or two."
"I think so too. Still, I worry that for the sake of regional development, we should also push
harder for relocating some government ministries."
Assemblyman Choi Jaeseok had to remain firm.
If he wavered, the entire National Economic Party would waver with him—and for the sake of Taewoo Group's future, that simply couldn't be allowed to happen.
"Start step by step with the public enterprise relocations. Eventually, the relocation of ministries will follow naturally in line with the flow of the times. But if you push too quickly, it could backfire. When there is national consensus, that's when you can make your move strongly."
"Perhaps I was being too impatient. I'll begin by pushing hard for the relocation of public
enterprise headquarters first."
"Please start with the KEPCO headquarters."
Relocating KEPCO's headquarters was essential—because once it moved, Taewoo Group could take over the land.
Of course, they'd still have to win the official bidding process to outmaneuver other competitors.
"Since the political parties have already reached a consensus, I believe the relocation of KEPCO headquarters can be finalized in the next National Assembly session."
"And before the relocation, make sure the land auction goes through. Not for Taewoo Group's sake—but to prevent unnecessary confusion."
"Once the land ownership is transferred from KEPCO to another party, that would essentially
mark the final step in the headquarters' relocation. I'll proceed accordingly."
Once the landowner changed, how could KEPCO continue to sit there?
All that was left now was to ensure Taewoo Group became that new landowner.