Chapter 198: Cracks Begin from Within (2)

I continued to speak.

“You probably heard what Shin Jung-woo did last night.”

My voice lowered.

“Those people crossed the line.”

“Detention, assault, threats.”

“And they even thought about piercing through public power.”

I pointed with my finger at the report containing the warehouse photos.

“What they want is only one thing.”

“To make someone vomit out lies even if they are false, and to bring down Taeseong.”

My voice continued.

“If we cannot cut this off, next time, whether it is evidence fabrication or threats, dirty means will be directed toward us.”

The expressions of the employees gradually changed.

From dissatisfaction to eyes full of vigilance.

I was silent for a moment.

That silence made people's hearts firm.

“This is not for the sake of Taeseong, but for the sake of our HJ Partners.”

“To protect ourselves and to move forward… we must cut off the wrong connection.”

My gaze turned toward the employees.

“Now, what you want to ask is probably this.”

The corners of my mouth rose slightly.

“So, if we win, what remains?”

I spoke without hesitation.

“I will definitely leave something for you.”

The air in the conference room fluctuated greatly.

“If this matter is sorted out, I intend to clearly pay out performance bonuses.”

I finished by bowing my head.

“Even if it is hard, let us gather strength just this once more.”

“Once we finish this game, from then on, we can lead the future in the way we want.”

The quiet conference room was filled with heat.

Some even clapped their hands.

Their eyes also changed.

The fatigue remained the same, but a reason to move forward was created.

I confirmed the changed atmosphere before I nodded my head.

“Now, good.”

“Then from now on, let us talk about what we should do.”

“Do you know what Daehan is most afraid of right now?”

I spoke without waiting for an answer.

“It is precisely the money line.”

“To be exact, it is the fear of the money line being cut off.”

I stopped speaking for a moment and pointed at the pile of materials stacked on the table.

“Daehan does not collapse easily.”

“Even if the media bites them, even if the prosecution rushes in, they hold out until the end.”

“The reason is simple.”

My gaze slowly scanned the employees.

“It is because money is circulating.”

The conference room became still.

“As long as money circulates, they never collapse.”

At my words, several employees agreed and nodded their heads.

I continued speaking.

“So what we have to do is not float one more article.”

“The moment we fight over whether it is true or not, we fall into a swamp.”

“And those people will aim for that point too.”

I slowly swept the table with my palm.

“Where the money comes from and where it flows to.”

“And who is holding that valve?”

“We strike that exactly.”

My gaze turned toward Choi Seo-jun.

“Director Choi Seo-jun.”

Choi Seo-jun rose from his seat.

Already, the Daehan Group fund flow chart was displayed on the large monitor screen.

“I will report the investigation results.”

As he pressed the remote control, the screen changed.

[Core of Daehan Group's Fund Supply]

Choi Seo-jun raised his voice.

“Daehan’s primary fund artery is Woojin Bank.”

The air in the conference room became tense.

I nodded my head without a word.

Choi Seo-jun pointed at the Woojin Bank logo with a pointer and spoke.

“It is not a simple transaction.”

“Woojin Bank is the representative of the lender group and even doubles as the agent.”

“In effect, Woojin holds all the practical work of convening lender group meetings, requesting material submissions, and judging covenant violations.”

I asked.

“What happens if Woojin moves?”

“The rest follow and move as well.”

Choi Seo-jun pointed at the next screen.

“Second is Daehan Finance.”

“It is practically an internal safe where subsidiary funds are gathered.”

“On the surface, it looks like money circulates here, but once the lender group shakes, Daehan Finance wavers along with it.”

The screen passed.

This time, the composition of the lender group was visible.

Choi Seo-jun pointed out the items and explained.

“The lender group is composed like this.”

“Woojin Bank is the representative bank and has the largest limit.”

“Next is Kookmin Jeil Bank.”

“It is at the joint lead manager level and has great influence on the short-term liquidity line.”

The screen passed again.

“Industrial Development Bank is the core for the project and infrastructure industry tranche side.”

“And the Export-Import Finance Corporation holds overseas projects and export finance.”

Everyone concentrated while tapping on their keyboards.

Choi Seo-jun’s voice echoed throughout the conference room.

“The important thing here is that the lender group does not wait until the facts are confirmed.”

He continued speaking while turning over the materials.

“If something like money laundering or overseas account tracking happens like this time, they will pull out the clauses from the agreement first.”

I spoke while crossing my arms.

“Good.”

My gaze was fixed on the Woojin Bank logo on the screen.

“If so, the conclusion is one.”

“To bring down Daehan, we shake Woojin Bank and make the lender group move to block the passage of Daehan Finance.”

I turned my head and looked at Choi Seo-jun.

“Director Choi Seo-jun.”

Choi Seo-jun faced me with a tense expression.

“Woojin Bank needs a justification to move right now.”

“What is the thing we can create the fastest right now?”

“There are two justifications.”

Choi Seo-jun caught his breath for a moment and changed the monitor screen.

“Woojin Bank is afraid of losing money, but what they fear even more is being entangled together.”

My eyes narrowed.

Choi Seo-jun explained while pointing at the table with the pointer.

“The total exposure, loans, guarantees, and L/Cs that Daehan Group is tied to with the financial sector is 41.8 trillion won.”

A low exclamation flowed through the conference room.

Exposure.

It is a word used in the financial sector, but the meaning is simple.

It refers to the total burden banks must bear when Daehan Group wavers.

In other words, it was the total amount exposed to risk.

Included within that were loans, which were money already lent.

Various guarantees that the bank might take responsibility for instead if an accident occurs are also included.

And finally, L/C (Letter of Credit) is a letter of credit.

It is a concept like a payment safety device where the bank guarantees that if this company cannot pay money in an overseas transaction, we will pay instead.

On the surface, it looks like a trade procedure, but if a problem arises, it immediately becomes a passage through which money leaves the bank.

Choi Seo-jun pointed at the bottom of the table.

“What is becoming a problem now is that this figure is not just the loan balance.”

He slowly continued speaking.

“Loans are money that has already gone out, but guarantees and L/Cs are money that can explode all at once the moment an accident happens.”

Choi Seo-jun stopped speaking for a moment and then turned his head.

“And if you ask when that accident changes from a possibility to a reality, it is when original documents appear like now and the word money laundering is attached.”

The air in the conference room became chilly.

The reason banks got scared was not because of morality.

There was the point that they could lose money, but what was even more frightening than that was being entangled together.

If such a frame is applied even once, Woojin Bank opens an internal risk review, and the lender group pulls out the agreement clauses to simultaneously apply interest rate recalculation, additional collateral requests, and limit reductions.

It is not that Daehan collapses because they cannot get money.

They begin to collapse from the moment the money is blocked.

Choi Seo-jun put down the remote control.

Silence flowed through the conference room.

It seemed everyone was stunned by the number 41.8 trillion.

I let out a low sigh.

“Good.”

“Then the answer is simple.”

I looked at the screen with the Woojin Bank logo.

“We just have to make Woojin Bank move.”

As those words fell, Choi Seo-jun’s expression hardened stiffly.

“Representative, Woojin Bank will not move based on risk alone.”

I answered first.

“Is it because Kang Do-yun, the president of Woojin Bank, is Chairman Nam Kun-ho’s brother-in-law?”

“Yes.”

Choi Seo-jun nodded his head and continued speaking.

“It is his wife's family, but the background of the Woojin Bank president reaching that position will not be just based on performance.”

He displayed the Woojin Bank asset growth graph on the screen.

“The reason Woojin Bank grew like this was not because it was this scale from the beginning.”

The pointer hit a point on the graph.

It overlapped with the period when Daehan Group was aggressively expanding its business.

“The occasion for Woojin to rise from mid-sized to its current major status was when they opened transactions with Daehan.”

“Every time Daehan conducted an overseas project, Woojin entered as the lead manager.”

At those words, someone quietly swallowed their dry saliva.

“To put it simply, it can be seen that Woojin Bank grew thanks to Daehan.”

“Every time Daehan increased borrowing, laid out guarantees, and opened overseas letters of credit, Woojin stood at the very front line.”

“In that process, Woojin earned commissions and also gained trust in the market.”

He changed the screen.

There, a sentence written in bold was visible at a glance.

[Woojin Bank : Numerous lead manager results for Daehan Group. Lender group agent.]

“As you can see, this is beyond a simple friendly relationship; it is no different from an alliance.”

Choi Seo-jun turned his head and looked at me.

“Therefore, Woojin Bank will not turn its back on Daehan due to just any bad news.”

“There will be personal connections like being Chairman Nam Kun-ho’s wife's family line, but the bigger thing is that Woojin Bank is tied together with Daehan Group.”

He added.

“If Woojin abandons Daehan here, the market will interpret it like this.”

Choi Seo-jun caught his breath for a moment and spoke.

“Woojin is on the same side as Daehan, and if Woojin abandons Daehan, this becomes fatal to both.”

The air in the conference room became one layer heavier.

Choi Seo-jun made a conclusion.

“Representative, instead of shaking Woojin, we must make it so that Woojin collapses together the moment Woojin protects Daehan.”

“Only then will an alliance formed through blood relations become meaningless.”

As Choi Seo-jun’s presentation ended, silence settled inside the conference room.

No one could easily bring up the next words.

It was because of the weight given by the word blood relation attached in front of the name Woojin.

At that time, I slowly raised my head.

And as I looked at Choi Seo-jun, an arc was drawn in my eyes.

The expression of being pleased fit exactly.

It looked as if I had heard the answer I wanted.

“It is good.”

My voice became even calmer.

“Woojin Bank was on Daehan Group’s side from the beginning and will be on Daehan Group’s side in the future too.”

“Then there will be only one reason for Woojin Bank to move.”

I pointed at the logo with my finger.

“If protecting Daehan becomes a matter of killing Woojin, how will they come out?”

I continued speaking without shaking.

“Will Woojin Bank really hold out until the end to protect Daehan even then?”

Attention was focused on me.

“Saying Woojin does not budge at any moment also means that we just need to create a situation where Woojin has no choice but to budge.”

I looked at Choi Seo-jun again.

I was wearing a more satisfied expression than a moment ago.

“Director Choi Seo-jun.”

“Yes, Representative.”

“It is a good analysis.”

“Thanks to you, the direction became clear.”

I nodded my head and spoke.

“I will shake Woojin Bank.”