WeTried Translations
Translator: NEET_Romulus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Dropped into the Ending of a Trash Show as an Extra ◈
Chapter 18: Real-Name Financial Transaction System (2)
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“You've all gone awfully quiet.”
Kim A-ra interlaced her fingers and leaned forward.
“It seems you still don't grasp the situation, so let me explain again. With the Real-Name Financial Transaction System now in effect, every nominee account and anonymous stake held by President Kim Yang-han has been frozen.
“And that is our opportunity.”
“Chairwoman, what do you mean by that...?”
“Exactly what I said. We ignore the Kim clan's frozen nominee-held stakes and anonymous stakes and shift JD Group to an independent management structure.”
Kim A-ra looked around at the company presidents.
“With a significant number of the Kim clan's shares now stripped of voting rights, who holds the real power in this hollow ownership structure?”
Silence.
No one answered. More precisely, no one dared to.
“Me and all of you.”
Kim A-ra did not wait for an answer.
“The core of JD Group's control lies in the corporate stakes each affiliate holds to control the others. And the voting rights attached to those shares are exercised by all of you sitting here, the representative directors of each company.”
The magic of circular shareholding, which controlled every affiliate with less than a 2 percent stake.
Ordinarily, Kim Yang-han and the Kim clan would have held ultimate control. But the abrupt enforcement of the real-name system had overturned everything.
“So, if every president here agrees.”
Kim A-ra's clear voice rang through the conference room.
“From this moment on, we can run the group free of any interference.”
“Chairwoman! What outrageous nonsense is this?”
The person who sprang to their feet was the president of JD Trading.
Kim A-ra let out a small sigh as she looked at the president of JD Trading.
But the president showed no sign of listening.
“We are all sitting in these positions thanks to the Kim clan's favor and Jang-dong's patronage! And now you're asking us to stab them in the back! I will never agree! No one here will agree!”
The president looked around, seeking support. A few presidents reluctantly nodded or avoided the president's gaze.
“President of Trading.”
“Yes, Chairwoman!”
“I forgot one thing in my rush to get here.”
Kim A-ra leisurely glanced at her watch.
“They should be here by now.”
“What...?”
That instant.
Bang!
The conference-room door flew open. Soldiers in combat uniforms and men in black suits stormed in.
They were from the Joint Investigation Headquarters.
This time, no one from JD Group tried to stop them.
“This is the Joint Investigation Headquarters.”
The investigator at the front spoke in a cold voice.
The president of JD Trading went pale.
“W-Why is the Joint Investigation Headquarters here? I have done nothing wrong! The executives arrested earlier may have been connected to Song Haksu's files, but why me?”
The investigator answered without moving a muscle.
“We have questions regarding JD Trading's gold exports. Come with us.”
“What?”
The president's eyes shook as though an earthquake had struck.
They laundered illicit gold through the nationwide gold drive, then smuggled overseas even the meager gold collected in the name of overcoming the national crisis, making a tidy profit from the difference.
For people like them, it was routine.
But...
“An arrest warrant has been issued on charges of market manipulation, illegal foreign-exchange transactions, and concealing criminal proceeds.”
“T-This is just standard corporate practice! And isn't this an economic matter? Why is the Joint Investigation Headquarters, which is investigating treason, digging through a company's import-export ledgers? Why the hell is the Joint Investigation Headquarters involved?”
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters has jurisdiction over serious crimes that threaten national security and public safety. Deliberately fomenting currency turmoil and siphoning national wealth overseas in times like these effectively amounts to subverting the system and crippling state functions.”
The president of JD Trading was bound in an instant. The Joint Investigation Headquarters had a record of firing live rounds.
Not many people could resist under such circumstances.
Kim A-ra smiled at the frozen presidents.
“Now that the obstruction is gone, shall we return to the matter at hand?”
Her voice was chillingly gentle.
“We will soon fill the vacancy left by the president of Trading. First, however, JD Group's independence through the circular shareholding structure I just explained.”
At Kim A-ra's signal, the secretaries moved.
Documents were placed before the presidents one by one, as though they had been bound in their seats.
“Does anyone object?”
Silence.
No one spoke. They had just seen the Joint Investigation Headquarters bare its fangs before their very eyes.
If they objected now, they would obviously be next.
“...I agree.”
The president of JD Electronics was the first to answer, their voice barely above a whisper after swallowing hard.
“I-I agree as well.”
“I support it, Chairwoman.”
Like falling dominoes, voices of surrender followed one after another.
“Good.”
Kim A-ra turned in her chair with a satisfied smile.
“As of today, JD Group will completely emerge from Jang-dong's shadow. Convene the shareholders' meeting and proceed with the board resolution as quickly as possible. The legal team has prepared every procedure perfectly, so all you need to do is sign.”
There was no other choice.
The presidents picked up their pens with trembling hands and began adding their names one by one.
“You've all worked hard.”
Once everything was done, Kim A-ra clapped her hands with a bright smile.
“You may leave now. You have all made the wise choice.”
Only then could the presidents flee the conference room, releasing the breaths they had held. Their foreheads were drenched in cold sweat.
Once everyone had left.
Kim A-ra leaned back alone in the soft leather chair.
“Haah...”
A long sigh escaped her lips. The meeting just now flashed through her mind.
“Pathetic people.”
Kim A-ra muttered coldly.
They were supposed to be the presidents of major companies within a conglomerate competing for first or second place in the business world, yet they were a sorry sight.
People praised them as successful business leaders, but what Kim A-ra saw in them was...
“They've all climbed to the top of a company.”
She irritably shuffled through the documents her secretaries had gathered.
“And they still think they're poor students begging for lessons in the Kim clan's guest hall.”
Even after things had come to this, they trembled at Kim Yang-han's shadow like aspens.
No matter how fancy the suits they wore or the imported cars they drove, they could not cast off the slavish mentality ingrained in their bones.
“They have so little nerve. Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue and shook her head.
Those ignorant fools who still wanted to cling to Kim Yang-han's coattails needed shock therapy to wash away their fear of Jang-dong.
They were so pathetic that a blade had to be held to their throats before they finally understood the situation and tried to cut ties with the Kim clan.
By now, they must have realized who stood behind her.
“There's no man like His Majesty.”
The moment the words left her mouth.
“...?!”
Kim A-ra furrowed her brow and raised both hands.
Smack!
She slapped herself hard across the cheek.
‘I've lost my mind.’
Now that she was finally about to achieve her long-held wish, she was spouting nonsense. Who knew what went on in that snake's head?
She forced her pounding heart to calm down and snapped the document folder shut.
Their interests had merely aligned, so they had joined hands for a while.
Just as he had used me as a pawn, I had used him to seize JD Group.
Yes. It was nothing more than respect for a capable business partner.
Once she had sorted it out so clearly, her face returned to the same expressionless look as Kim Yang-han's.
But...
“He really is impossible to deal with.”
Kim A-ra said, forcibly suppressing the smile threatening to rise.
Dangerous.
Of course, taking JD Group was an indescribably thrilling feeling.
But the work was not over yet. Wasn't it because she had already let down her guard that these pointless thoughts kept creeping in?
If she wanted to keep her mind clear, she needed work. She had no choice but to face her adversary.
“Chairwoman, where would you like to go after work today?”
Kim A-ra answered Chief Cheon coldly.
“Jang-dong.”
* * *
“The collateral ratio is far too low! At this rate, we'll be liquidated!”
“Save every account we can!”
“Real-name verification documents? Do you have any idea how many accounts we manage? You expect us to submit all of them?”
While the underlings ran about frantically, Kim Yang-han sat in the inner quarters, outwardly sipping tea in calm composure.
But anyone with sharp enough eyes would have noticed the slight tremor in the fingers holding his teacup.
Then the chief of staff and the household retainers, who had been rushing around, entered the inner quarters.
“President, this is beyond our capabilities.”
Kim Yang-han was left speechless by the candid answer.
Even though the chief of staff had prepared for rebuke, they cautiously continued.
“It seems you will have to speak to them personally. Surely they will listen if it is you, President?”
With a stiff expression, Kim Yang-han picked up the telephone himself.
He was calling the officials and bank presidents whom the Kim clan had cultivated and fed money to.
Normally, he would not step in for something like this. But he had no choice now.
This bomb was too much for the underlings to handle alone.
“This is Kim Yang-han.”
[...]
Usually, people who would have bowed and exclaimed, “President Kim!” at the mere mention of his name said nothing.
But Kim Yang-han had no time to waste either.
“I need funds moved around urgently. Can you open a back channel?”
[President... President, I'm sorry.]
[There is nothing we can do.]
[The Imperial House and the military are supervising this. It is the Emperor's order. There is no reasoning with them.]
[Beep. Beep.]
Click.
Every person he called was helpless, however flustered they sounded.
Before the Emperor's merciless blade, even the Kim clan's authority had faded.
Kim Yang-han gritted his teeth and set down the receiver.
When had he ever suffered such humiliation in his life?
Everyone had listened to him.
“What about the Financial Supervisory Service commissioner?”
“We have lost contact. There are rumors that the Joint Investigation Headquarters has begun a preliminary investigation...”
The Emperor had dried up the capital's great clans'[1] financial lifelines in a single stroke, even at the cost of the Imperial House's enormous wealth.
No ordinary man could have conceived such a move. It would be more fitting to call it the work of a madman.
Kim Yang-han's eyes wavered.
“The broadcast.”
Kim Yang-han growled low.
He could no longer stop the real-name system, so he had tried to turn the tide by maximizing ordinary people's fear, swaying public opinion, and securing another, even brief grace period.
But JD Broadcasting, which should have been airing a special report...
The aide delivering the report hesitated, sweating profusely.
“Well...”
“Why are you stalling?”
“On the contrary, they are praising the Emperor's decision.”
[The purge of corrupt capital! Thanks to His Majesty's decision, the markets are regaining stability. Along with the conclusion of a Korea-U.S. currency swap, growing optimism about market conditions has brought stock prices and the exchange rate into a dramatic reversal...]
“Hah.”
A hollow breath escaped Kim Yang-han.
JD Group had completely slipped beyond his control. The directives issued by the Kim clan had been ignored.
“That is not all. President Yoon of Trading has also been taken into custody by the Joint Investigation Headquarters. And at the meeting of company presidents...”
Kim Yang-han narrowed his eyes.
There was only one person who would dare do this.
His daughter.
“President, Young Lady Kim has come to pay her respects.”
Kim A-ra.
Footnotes:
[1] Capital's great clans: powerful, well-connected families of the capital, here referring to the entrenched elite.
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