A massive earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale struck northeastern Japan.
The earthquake triggered an enormous tsunami that caused extensive damage.
To make matters worse, the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster followed — turning it into a large-scale catastrophe.
"C–Chairman! A major earthquake just hit Japan!"
President Han burst into the chairman's office in a panic.
The planning director, who had been speaking with me, hurried out in the opposite direction to assess the situation.
"So, the main shock has finally occurred."
"The Japanese stock market and the yen are already starting to shake. In particular, the stock prices of Japan's manufacturing companies are plummeting at an alarming rate."
"It's time to haul in the net."
"There are so many fish caught that pulling it up properly will take considerable effort. I think I'll need to go to Japan myself."
"Go ahead. I'll inform Captain Kang — move with the security team. It's a situation where being stabbed wouldn't even be surprising."
Some people were already calling this disaster the greatest calamity in human history.
Naturally, since we were about to turn such a disaster into profit, ensuring safety was paramount.
"I'll head out right away. I'll take the flight carrying relief supplies."
"Taewoo Trading will handle the relief operations. President Han, you just focus on the numbers."
"I'll return with a net full of fish!"
With a determined expression, President Han departed for Japan.
After he left, the planning director reentered the chairman's office to brief me on the situation.
"The aftermath of the earthquake is proving far worse than we expected. There's even been an explosion at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima."
"It'll take Japan at least ten years to recover from the effects of this disaster. More importantly—did any Taewoo Group employees suffer damage?"
"Thanks to your prior instructions, all our staff who were stationed in Japan have either returned to Korea or relocated safely to Tokyo. Every employee and their family members are confirmed safe."
It was a relief to hear that the employees were safe.
Every employee of Taewoo Group could be considered a person I had personally chosen.
For existing staff, I had reviewed the personnel list one by one myself, and for new hires, I personally examined their résumés before approving their recruitment.
So it was fortunate that the people I had handpicked with such care were unharmed.
In truth, Taewoo Group had only a few ventures in Japan, which meant there weren't many employees stationed there.
That was precisely why all of them had been able to evacuate safely without any harm.
"It's a relief that no Taewoo employees were affected. What about the Korean residents there?"
"Thanks to the swift response of the National Economic Party, the damage among them was greatly reduced. Most Korean residents were evacuated to safety."
"It seems the National Economic Party's influence is stronger than I expected. I didn't think they could manage such an evacuation with just a single press conference."
"Several members of the National Economic Party personally traveled to the northeastern region to assist in evacuating the residents. Governor Choi Jaeseok also stayed in Japan until yesterday to help with the evacuation."
Governor Choi Jaeseok was in Japan until yesterday?
If he had been even a day late, he could've easily been caught up in the disaster. The thought made me curse under my breath.
"What was he thinking going there himself? Doesn't he realize that if something happened to him, the entire National Economic Party could collapse?"
"He took personal leave and moved discreetly with several National Economic Party lawmakers. Still, thanks to Governor Choi's direct involvement, the evacuation of Korean residents proceeded quickly and efficiently."
"Where is Governor Choi now? He wasn't injured, was he?"
"He's currently back in Gyeonggi Province, carrying out his official duties, and is said to be in excellent health."
I quickly regained my composure.
It had been an extremely risky move, but the outcome couldn't have been better.
The fact that Governor Choi Jaeseok had gone to Japan right before the earthquake and personally helped evacuate Korean residents could turn into a remarkable story — a true act of heroism.
"There must be some footage or material related to this, right?"
"Yes. Since it was done under the party's direction, they did manage to record a few promotional clips. The footage isn't very long, but there are quite a few videos taken by the residents themselves. Many of them are already spreading on social media."
The planning director showed me several videos uploaded to social media.
Not only on social media, but even on YouTube, there were videos of Governor Choi Jaeseok and the National Economic Party lawmakers helping Korean residents evacuate.
"Hire professional editors to create a proper promotional video. Then distribute it to the press and across social media—make sure it's widely publicized."
"The media is already covering it extensively. Public opinion says that thanks to Governor Choi's foresight, many residents were saved, and some even claim the governor accomplished what the government failed to do."
"Keep stoking that sentiment. Make sure the momentum lasts until the next presidential election."
"I won't just fan the flames—I'll pour oil on them!"
There was a saying that destiny decides who becomes president.
No matter how famous or well-supported someone was, they could never win without riding the wave of public sentiment.
Governor Choi Jaeseok, though I had prepared the stage for him, had now managed to create that wave himself.
And once someone began riding such a wave, it was nearly impossible to pull them down.
As long as Choi didn't make a serious mistake, he was now firmly positioned as a leading candidate for the next presidential race.
"I assume the criticism toward Taewoo Group has also disappeared by now."
"Indeed. The public is praising Taewoo Group for having predicted the earthquake. The government pressure that was weighing on us has also completely vanished."
Just yesterday, the government had been acting as if they were about to launch a full-scale tax investigation.
But once the earthquake actually occurred, they lost all justification—and now, they were the ones forced to tread carefully around us.
"There's no benefit in making enemies of the government. Issue a statement saying that Taewoo Group was able to predict the earthquake thanks to government cooperation."
"Do we really need to share the credit with a government that did nothing? Their term is almost over anyway."
"We must, if only to avoid the perception that we're showing favoritism toward the National Economic Party. And even if we give the government credit, do you really think the public will believe it?"
After all, it had been the presidential spokesperson himself who had criticized us—
He had publicly stated that Taewoo Group should stop spreading rumors and refrain from causing unnecessary disturbances.
So even if we now tried to share the credit with the government, no one would take it seriously.
"Then we'll give them just enough credit to let them breathe a little easier."
"That'll be sufficient. Now, what's the status of the relief supplies?"
"A large quantity has already arrived in Japan and is being distributed to disaster victims. Additional shipments are on the way, and the supplies sent from Amazon should arrive shortly."
Because we had prepared in advance, we were able to secure a large quantity of relief supplies—
an amount nearly equal to what the Japanese government itself had managed to gather.
"Leak it to the media that Taewoo Group was able to stockpile such supplies because we predicted the earthquake ahead of time. And send two hundred million dollars in relief donations through the Red Cross by the end of the day."
"Two hundred million dollars? Isn't that a bit excessive?"
"If we want to make a real impression, we have to top the donation list. Besides, compared to our profits, two hundred million dollars is hardly a significant expense."
Relief donations were typically tallied through the Red Cross,
so sending a contribution of that size through them would ensure that we received full recognition for it.
"Understood. I'll meet with the Korean Red Cross officials today and deliver the donation personally."
"While you're at it, call in the press and make it a major media event. In today's world, no one notices quiet generosity. Even good deeds need an audience to be appreciated."
"I'll invite both domestic and international press to cover the donation ceremony. But, Chairman, wouldn't it be better if you attended personally?"
There wasn't much benefit in me appearing again.
I had already shown my face at a previous press conference—doing more would only draw unnecessary attention.
"Let Vice Chairman Park Manduk handle it. His position is high enough for the occasion."
"I'll head to the Korean Red Cross right away with Vice Chairman Park."
It had truly been an exhausting day.
But there was still plenty of work left to do,
and I would have to spend the entire night at the office managing our response to the Great East Japan Earthquake.
***
The next day.
Early in the morning, I received a call from President Han.
"How are things in Japan? It must be absolute chaos, right?"
[It's worse than the Lehman crisis. The total damage from this earthquake is expected to exceed 20 trillion yen. Manufacturing plants in the automobile, petroleum, electronics, and steel industries have been destroyed, and due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant issue, power supply disruptions are also occurring.]
For any manufacturing-based company, sales only happen when products can actually be produced and sold.
So, once their production facilities were destroyed, it was inevitable that stock prices would plummet.
"I saw the Nikkei Index dropped quite a bit."
[Yesterday, it only fell by about 2%, but as of today, stock prices are plunging rapidly. The decline is especially steep for manufacturing companies. We're expecting drops of more than 20% in the short term.]
Even during the Lehman crisis, Japanese stocks hadn't fallen this fast.
The global financial crisis had only caused a slowdown in sales—not the total shutdown of production.
But this time, with the earthquake halting manufacturing altogether, a stock market collapse was unavoidable.
"I imagine the Japanese financial institutions must be in a frenzy."
[Not only are they calling nonstop, but some bank executives are even visiting me in person. Honestly, I'm glad I followed your instructions and came to Japan with Captain Kang.]
We had contracts worth more than $15 billion signed with Japanese financial institutions.
Once those contract terms were triggered, we could easily earn over ten times that amount—
a figure the Japanese banks could barely afford to pay.
"Take as much as you can—but stop before they reach the point of collapse. If the media reports that Japanese banks went bankrupt because of us, the public backlash will be severe."
[Understood. I'll limit it to cash, stocks, and real estate. Even that much will bring us at least triple returns.]
Japan was merely a practice match.
The main game was in Europe, and there was no point wasting too much energy on the rehearsal.
In Europe's case, no one would criticize us, no matter how much we took—so there was no need to be cautious.
"Settle the negotiations with the banks quickly. Then close out the short positions as soon as possible—and start investing in the yen's appreciation."
[From today I will meet the heads of the financial firms one by one.]
Insurance contracts and short sales.
That could draw criticism, but who's going to complain about moves involving the yen?
Especially since we're not betting on the yen falling but on it rising—there's even less reason for public condemnation.
"How is public opinion in Japan?"
[Strangely, the media aren't mentioning anything about Taewoo Group. Even though we're supplying enormous amounts of relief goods.]
"The donation will be delivered today. Once that happens, the Japanese press will start to stir."
We had the initiative.
If the Japanese media and government tried to manufacture a backlash against us—well, then we'd have no reason to hold back.
We could squeeze them dry, whether Japanese companies collapsed or not.