Chapter 9: Changing Times (1)

No matter how great a plan I set up, it was a plan that would eventually shine as time passed.

I busily laid my traps and leisurely waited for time.

As time passed since Yu Jincheol’s death, I turned eight years old.

January 3, 1985. The third day of the new year.

“Haa….”

I slowly walked on the snow-covered field while wearing mittens. In the streets of Sinchon, the decorations of the untaken Christmas trees were still scattered, and the New Year’s atmosphere, which had not yet faded, was evident.

I had grown a little taller in a year, but my cheeks were still soft, and the bright smiling mask that was placed on my cute but gloomy-looking face had become more natural.

I became more fluent in conversation and it became easier to act naturally and shamelessly. Now that the performance of my brain was much better, it was a bonus that I had acquired all sorts of trivial knowledge that I didn’t know in my past life.

“Ah, sir. It’s been a while.”

I showed off that mask to the fullest and bowed my head to the person in front of me.

“Yes. Happy New Year. You’ve grown a year older, too.”

Senior Secretary Kim Haeik said that. He looked like he was having fun for some reason.

“Hehe. I’m eight years old now. I’ll probably go to elementary school in March, right? It’s amazing.”

It was true that the word amazing was said. The fact that I had to go to elementary school again was something that I didn’t want but also amazing.

I’m a conglomerate family’s daughter, so it wouldn’t be hard for me to live my school life.

“It’s nice to see you like that after a long time. Don’t be so buried in the affairs of adults, go outside and make friends. It’s not good for the children’s emotional development.”

“Ugh, I’ve heard that so often. Please stop saying that, sir. It hurts my heart. You know? I’m too smart to make friends. Did you come to Sinchon because of that?”

I shrugged my shoulders playfully.

The streets of Sinchon, where Yonsei University’s Baekyang-ro was visible in the distance, were crowded with university students who had finished their semester.

“…That’s not the only reason. I wanted to show you the university… No. Let’s just walk.”

Tap, tap.

The middle-aged man’s footsteps were slow but fast, and the child’s small footsteps were hurried but slow. I stirred the snowflakes floating in the sky and opened my mouth.

“Now, 1984 is already last year. Fortunately, the world is still worth living in.”

I remembered that Nam June Paik’s “Good Morning Mr. Orwell” was broadcast live. It was quite cool, that one.

-Thud.

“Oh my!”

Perhaps he stumbled on a rock, Senior Secretary Kim Haeik stumbled for a moment and lost his balance. I quickly supported him and asked.

“Are you okay?”

He whispered quietly in my ear.

“The National Intelligence Service agents are following us. Be careful with your words.”

“…!”

I gasped.

The Agency for National Security Planning, which would later become the National Intelligence Service, wielded really absolute power during the dictatorship. They would even take a member of the National Assembly and torture them.

Why one of their stooges was following us… No, I guess it’s obvious. In the first place, there’s no way they wouldn’t be watching a high-ranking government official.

Until now, we usually had our conversations at my grandfather’s house, so I didn’t know.

‘I have to stop with the 1984 jokes.’

George Orwell was a very famous communist. And 1984 is a critical novel about dictatorships.

To confirm my thoughts, I casually spoke to him as if nothing had happened.

“Be careful, sigh. You don’t seem to exercise these days? Your senses are getting dull. Aren’t you going to retire?”

= Do you feel like you’re being pushed back politically these days?

“Hahaha. I just stumbled a little. My joints aren’t doing well these days, but I’m not at that point yet.”

= It’s okay. It’s always happening in a dictatorship.

Hmm. So, it’s okay.

I carefully chose a topic, excluding topics that were politically sensitive.

“How are things going these days? It must be tough with it being the end of the year.”

“It’s nothing special. It’s the same as always. I’m having a headache over the inflation rate and I’m also thinking about what industries we should foster.”

“From my perspective, semiconductors are the future. The mid-tier heavy industry is also needed, but I think it is most important to foster the high-tech industry.”

“Are you asking for money now?”

I smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Oh, I don’t accept private favors.”

He wasn’t saying this because there were prying eyes. He wouldn’t accept favors even if there were no one watching him.

“Aww, that’s a shame. But what I said is right, isn’t it?”

Senior Secretary Kim Haeik nodded reluctantly.

“That’s true. Who would have thought Daeha Electronics would be so successful? How many people did they work to the bone?”

He died in the original history before Daeha Electronics made 64K DRAM. Therefore, his perspective on semiconductors was different from before.

“Hehe. That’s a secret. But I think I can make a 1M one by next year.”

“…Didn’t you develop a 256K two months ago?”

Senior Secretary Kim Haeik was a little amazed and looked at me with a new look.

“Hmm~. Probably around the middle of next year? I think it’ll be around that time. I also invested quite a lot with my own money. I also participated in the research, though only a little.”

I remember the eyes of the research team, who had been looking at me with impure eyes, thinking, ‘Why is a child interfering?’, were wide open. It was very thrilling.

Isn’t this why I’m playing the role of a prodigy? Originally, Daeha Electronics will stand on the same level from the point they make 16M DRAM, but I’m thinking of speeding up the process.

-Click.

As we were walking slowly, we entered a building for a moment to avoid the cold wind and the eyes of the agents. After we exchanged glances for a moment, I spoke first.

“What happened?”

Senior Secretary Kim Haeik’s eyes momentarily sank.

“I’ve been put in charge of the work of dismantling failing companies these days… It seems like this is going to get bigger.”

As soon as I heard those words, something came to my mind.

The Dongguk Group dismantling incident. The incident in which a major company, ranked 8th in the business world and representing Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, was dismantled.

“Is it the Dongguk Group?”

“Huh. That’s right. Now, you don’t need to be surprised anymore, but your insight is really amazing.”

“Well, thanks to that, I’m getting a lot of love from Grandpa, too. I even got praised for figuring out that they developed a 256K DRAM last time.”

I had already heard from my grandfather that I hadn’t donated much to the Saemaul Movement, so the evidence was solid. However, it is difficult for the average person to imagine that a large company would be dismantled for falling out of favor with the president.

And, I wasn’t an average person, and my image as a genius was already established.

“This is truly… It’s true that the large companies in this country are weak, but this is a little…”

“Is it transparent?”

“Yeah.”

It meant that it was a bit much to dismantle a company just because they didn’t listen to the President, was that it?

“Well… there is a justification for it. Chairman Kang has been unreasonably expanding his business too much these days. It’s the norm for large companies in this country to just do business by piling up debts. But he made mistakes in a row, so if you investigate, there would be a lot of illegalities and window dressing. Just looking at the debt ratio, it’s 900%. It was bad.”

The problem was that that was the average of the 80s. To be accurate, the debt ratio alone was twice the average, but surprisingly, it wasn’t an unusual number in the 80s.

You can’t help but judge that there is self-interest in it.

“Chairman Kang has become quite pitiful. What a state he’s in at the end of his life. It’s as if he will have to beg to live.”

“Huh? Ah, it’s not to that point. He’s still a conglomerate chairman, so I have to follow some rules. If he submits at the appropriate time, it will be finished by cutting a few things and giving away half of his affiliates. He won’t have the same power as before, but it can’t be helped.”

“…?”

What is this?

The flow is different from the original history. In the original history, Dongguk Group’s Chairman Kang had all of his houses taken away, and he was living off acquaintances and relatives until the regime collapsed.

And, in his final years, he filed a lawsuit to get his company back but, because the company itself collapsed during the financial crisis, he couldn’t get the company back and died a lonely death.

‘Butterfly effect.’

The reason why Chairman Kang fell out of favor with President Jeon Doo-Gwang was the Saemaul Movement donations, but the decisive blow was that he had given a small amount of money, and even that with a promissory note, to the Ilhae Foundation.

A promissory note is something that the stronger party gives to the weaker party, so it is understandable that he was angry. Even though there were circumstances, it was a big slap in the face since the President directly ordered him to raise funds.

However, the Ilhae Foundation, which was supposed to be created due to the deaths of high-ranking government officials from the Rangoon bombing, disappeared. It was created under the pretext of helping the bereaved families who died at that time.

So… Dongguk Group’s Chairman Kang will not be completely out of favor for donating little to the Ilhae Foundation. And, the officials didn’t die, so they could advise the president with a relatively rational opinion.

There are still about two months left until the 2.12 general election, so Jeon Doo-Gwang isn’t that rushed. And he’d be more at ease since he doesn’t know that DJ is returning just before the general election.

Therefore, much milder measures were taken compared to the original history.

‘Interesting.’

Didn’t I already twist one axis of history?

That sensation…

It was very thrilling. I think I might become addicted to this feeling.

“The Foreign Minister said that it’s better to keep them alive and make them surrender than completely dismantle them, as it is better for establishing discipline among conglomerates.”

“That’s probably right. My grandpa will also have a hard time donating, huh? Or am I wrong? If I just look at the company, it seems like he would benefit… Daeha will take charge of acquiring the affiliates, right?”

“…It’s a secret.”

Although it’s a secret, it was half a confirmation.

“That’s good. Hehe. Hmm, first of all, the leadership can’t go to my uncle, so… I’ll have to talk directly to grandpa… Hmm, but I don’t know where they’ll be cut off yet, so I have to take a look at it first. Aww, it’s ruined. It’s ruined.”

I shook my head while chattering, as if talking about something light.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal after all. Hmm. …But, why are you so serious?”

“Haha. Yeah, that’s comparatively fine. It might not be a big deal to you. But… I’m a little worried about the general election. The era is slowly changing.”

Only then could I understand his gaze.

The Dongguk Group dismantling incident was something that Jeon Doo-Gwang had done politically to secure political funds for the general election.

Politics and the economy cannot be separated, so as Senior Secretary Kim Haeik, he had no choice but to consider the political context behind the dismantling of a conglomerate rather than just the dismantling itself.

The fact that the President had to dismantle a conglomerate to create political funds for the general election means… conversely, it means that Jeon Doo-Gwang’s political influence is gradually decreasing to the point where he’s worried about the general election if he doesn’t make such unreasonable moves.

Indeed. The June Democracy Movement is in 1987. Kim Haeik, who has excellent political sense, must already be feeling that trend. The two Kims, who are called DJ and YS, have an enormous influence even now during the dictatorship.

“Well, there’s a lot of time left, right? It seems like it will at least take two years.”

“……For someone old like me, two years is short.”

“For me, that’s a quarter of my life. And, since I think there are more things to worry about right now, I’m focusing less on politics.”

I shrugged my shoulders. The end of the New Military Group is also a very big event, but a more important event will soon occur worldwide.

“Hoo. What is it?”

Senior Secretary Kim Haeik looked at me with an intriguing gaze. He was expecting something since I had always made a big splash whenever I said something like this.

“The dollar. Doesn’t it seem too high these days?”

The Plaza Accord, which greatly adjusted the value of the yen from 250 yen to 150 yen per dollar and created a low dollar, is in September this year.

Low interest rates. Low oil prices. Low dollar.

The era of the Three Lows, which was said to be the greatest boom since the founding of the nation, is coming.