After sending off Kim Ah-young, Lee Hyun-woo returned to the company to meet Kim Tae-hyun.
“But hyung, why did you call me earlier?”
“It’s nothing… really…”
They say that the more urgent the matter, the more you should take your time.
Especially now, it was necessary to keep Kim Tae-hyun on edge.
Moreover, this was also the way to a win-win situation.
The other party would want to know about Thailand, while Lee Hyun-woo wanted to settle the issue with Kim Na-yoon.
“Did you call because of the alumni meeting?”
To neutralize the situation, Lee Hyun-woo mentioned the alumni meeting scheduled for next week.
“Oh… it’s a bit of that too.”
In fact, Kim Tae-hyun’s goal was to have Lee Hyun-woo frequently breathe the air on this side so that he could qualify as a son-in-law of the Guseong family.
This was because he acknowledged Lee Hyun-woo’s abilities more than anyone else.
‘I’m trying to help you get together with Ah-young, you fool.’
Unaware of this, Lee Hyun-woo continued to dig in.
“If it’s just a bit of that, it means you have something else to tell me.”
Naturally, Kim Tae-hyun’s mind became quite complicated.
Thailand, Kim Na-yoon, and the alumni meeting were all tangled up.
Because of this, without realizing it, he brought up the topic Lee Hyun-woo had led him to.
“It’s about Na-yoon.”
“Oh, you called because of that? What is it?”
“Just… Hey, let’s talk about that later. What’s the story about Thailand? I need to know that first.”
In any case, it wasn’t easy to control Kim Na-yoon.
The answer was more ambiguous and difficult, falling into the trivial category, so he brought up the Thailand story he was eager to know.
“You’re in a hurry. Guseong hasn’t invested in any businesses in Thailand, have they?”
“Huh? Well, we’ve ventured into various fields.”
“Then it’s better to observe for now. The biggest issue is the exchange rate, and then the real estate market might shake, causing the overall economy to waver.”
“So, how exactly will it shake?”
Kim Tae-hyun wanted to know more details.
Was he planning to take this information back to his father?
‘He hasn’t seen Nostradamus’s blog yet.’
If he had seen it, he would understand more easily.
Thinking this to himself, Lee Hyun-woo began to explain.
“A few years ago, Thailand implemented the ‘multiple currency basket’ system, right? It’s a system that links the Thai baht to the currencies of major developed countries, centered on the US dollar.”
“Is that so? Honestly, I don’t really know.”
There was no rule that the third-generation chaebol would be well-versed in all foreign financial policies.
However, because Lee Hyun-woo was so sharp in pouring out his currency knowledge, Kim Tae-hyun involuntarily stuttered.
“In short, it was implemented for the stability of the baht. But contrary to intentions, a massive amount of short-term speculative funds, so-called hot money, flowed in.”
“Really…?”
“The problem is that even though it was short-term, when foreign exchange centered on the dollar poured in, Thai banks and financial companies took advantage of the high-interest rate difference between overseas borrowing and domestic lending to bring in foreign loans at 6 to 8%. They started high-interest lending operations to domestic companies and individuals at 14 to 20%.”
Still, he had no idea what was going on.
‘Why is this guy so knowledgeable about finance?’
As Kim Tae-hyun continued to listen in awe,
“The problem is that due to sluggish exports and decreased productivity, the entire economy started to bubble. Naturally, the hot money that came into Thailand is showing signs of escaping. This is serious. If this happens, the financial companies that brought in foreign capital will struggle immediately. So, once again, if you have any investments in Thailand or plans to, it’s best to withdraw or delay them.”
After hearing everything, it seemed like more high-level information.
“Oh, by the way, do you know that a person named Joe Murphy was a pretty competent fund manager on Wall Street? He still holds firm information there.”
“Oh… that? I think I heard that once. Anyway, thanks for the info. I’ll treat you big later.”
“I’d appreciate that. But you mentioned earlier that you had something to say about Na-yoon.”
“Oh, that? It’s nothing. Let’s talk about it later.”
Kim Tae-hyun didn’t want to bring up that topic now.
To be precise, he wanted to quickly inform the group’s strategy office about what he had just heard.
‘As far as I know, there’s a significant investment plan related to Thailand.’
Naturally, the story of his youngest sibling, who was going through a late adolescence, wasn’t a priority.
He was completely hooked.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-woo was smiling to himself.
But then he got slightly serious.
‘I expected this, but it seems Tae-hyun hyung doesn’t understand the overall dynamics of international finance.’
At the very least, he thought the heir to Guseong would have fully acquired foundational knowledge.
But he didn’t fully understand what Lee Hyun-woo was saying and was just picking up the pieces.
And even that, who knows if he picked them up well.
Honestly, seeing him hastily get up with a look of panic, Lee Hyun-woo was worried that the records written in Nostradamus might become meaningless.
‘Will the journalists not understand either? I explained it in a way they could easily write down.’
It seemed globalization was still lacking.
In the era Lee Hyun-woo lived in, it was common knowledge that an economic crisis in one country would affect others, but in this era, even well-informed people were ignorant of international financial relations.
If people aren’t interested, their ability to gather information naturally diminishes.
Lee Hyun-woo was telling them before the fire reached their feet.
‘I wonder if he’ll pick up on it properly. Should I reveal that I am Nostradamus?’
These days, the name Lee Hyun-woo had more impact, so it might be better in terms of influence.
‘Huh, I wonder if I can prevent the foreign exchange crisis like this.’
Even at home, he continued to ponder this.
As night deepened, so did Lee Hyun-woo’s concerns.
However, contrary to Lee Hyun-woo’s serious concerns from the previous night,
The next day, articles started pouring out as if welcoming Nostradamus waking up from a long sleep.
“Thailand, is short-term speculative money leaving?”
“Increasing financial instability in Thailand, facing an economic crisis?”
Naturally, the contents inside borrowed heavily from what Lee Hyun-woo had written.
To put it simply, they copied it and just slightly changed the words.
These days, there were many such journalists.
Not only online-only newspapers but also traditional media were steadily entering the online electronic newspaper space.
Among them was Sejong Daily.
Instead, Jang Jae-won, the youngest of the owner’s family, quickly understood the situation after reading what another journalist had written.
“Thailand’s economy is unstable? Hot money might be leaving?”
He could quickly sense the crisis in his mind as he had majored in international trade during his study abroad and spent time as a correspondent on Wall Street.
Naturally, he contacted the correspondent on Wall Street,
(Yes, the financial situation in Thailand is a bit unstable right now. Rumors are rampant among investors that they might not be able to get back the loans given out after borrowing a lot of hot money.)
He was able to confirm the information properly.
The next story was the same.
Nostradamus’s predictions matched perfectly, to a level that gave him chills.
“Who on earth is this Nostradamus?”
After the call, Jang Jae-won revisited Nostradamus’s blog.
He immediately noticed content that had not yet unfolded.
“Thailand to abandon its fixed exchange rate system?”
Picking up the phone again, he contacted his Thai connections from his study abroad days.
(Your information is really fast? No, more than that, how did you know when it hasn’t even come out in the articles yet?)
“Is it true or not?”
(It’s true. The government is currently reviewing it. They didn’t say it’s to prevent financial instability, but honestly, I think… they’ll soon declare abandoning the fixed exchange rate system.)
Since his Thai connection was someone in a key position in the government’s economic department, it was almost certain.
So, Jang Jae-won involuntarily blurted out,
“It’s chaos.”
(Chaos? Why? Do you have other information? Why are you making me nervous?)
“If they abandon the fixed exchange rate system, wouldn’t the baht appreciate? What about their exports then? Even in our country, we are struggling because the won is too high these days.”
(They are prepared for appreciation. But it probably won’t rise that rapidly.)
This guy was too optimistic.
Hot money injected from Wall Street was ready to make an exodus at any time.
‘No, this guy was on the more negative side….’
Then, the optimists in Thailand must be even more complacent.
Even if they were vigilant, it would be hard to prevent the crisis, but with this approach, it was clear as day that an economic crisis would hit Thailand.
Jang Jae-won couldn’t state it definitively, so he wrapped up the conversation and ended the call.
But as soon as he hung up, the phone rang again. Was this an ominous sign?
“Hello?”
(Is this Jang?)
No.
It was one of the people he respected the most, Kim Sung-moo, the head of Guseong Group.
(Let’s meet briefly tonight. There’s something I need to confirm.)
“Yes, I will come by later.”
He somehow felt it might be related to Thailand.
Late that night,
Kim Sung-moo had his son, Kim Tae-hyun, join the meeting and asked Jang Jae-won,
“Today my son brought the situation in Thailand to the strategy office. It seems Thailand’s situation isn’t good?”
“According to journalists, foreign capital outflow has gradually started since yesterday.”
“So, it’s true that Thailand is unstable.”
“Yes… But, have you made separate investments in Thailand?”
“There are a few minor ones, but we were planning something big.”
“Something big? What kind…?”
“It’s related to automobiles.”
“Ah…”
The news that Guseong was entering the automobile industry had been reported several times.
To be precise, it was expanding its business from commercial vehicles to passenger cars, but the plan was delayed after acquiring the gas subsidiary of Bohan Group last time.
However, having succeeded in every business they touched, they had gathered funds again and were finally preparing to build a plant in Busan and seeking overseas production bases.
Thailand had long been a place where Japanese car manufacturers had entered.
Therefore, there were skilled workers, and labor costs weren’t bad, so they were planning to build a subcontractor plant for seats, etc.
“The financial instability in Thailand won’t end there.”
Jang Jae-won shook his head with a regretful expression.
He had to advise delaying the automobile entry once again.
“Indeed. I feel that investing now would only result in losses.”
“May I know how far the progress is?”
“We bought land. In Bangkok.”
“When…”
“A few years ago. Of course, it was land bought to build a factory. Besides land, we also secured enough space for lodging for dispatched employees. But we always lacked funds, so we were contemplating building structures and investing in related facilities, and now we were finally about to start…”
“I’m sorry, but I have one more question. How are the land prices?”
“They… keep going up.”
It was indeed strange.
Even while conversing, Jang Jae-won kept thinking of someone.
That someone was the enigmatic Nostradamus.
If finance becomes unstable, and after abandoning the fixed exchange rate system, exports face problems,
‘As he said, the real estate bubble is bound to burst.’
So, while giving the following advice,
“In that case, how about liquidating it around this point?”
Jang Jae-won couldn’t help but marvel at Nostradamus’s future predictions once again.
