Chapter 495

A public opinion war unfolded over the JN Battery.

Experts attacked various problems with the JN Battery. 'Safety has not been proven,' 'mass production in a short period is impossible,' 'the OTK Battery is already sufficient,' 'the price is too expensive,' and so on.

OTK Company countered this by stating that safety tests are being conducted as soon as the battery pack is made, and that Seosung SB is in the process of creating the necessary production line for mass production.

The biggest point of contention was, of course, the supply of the main raw material, Geratinium. Lunar resource mining was clearly a groundbreaking method, and it was a project that was actually in progress. But few people thought it would be possible right away.

There was also a backlash from civic groups. They were concerned that this would lead to an indiscriminate space development project. In front of the OTK Company and SpaceX headquarters, groups such as the 'National Moon Association,' 'World Space Protection Organization,' and 'Space Love Club' held fierce protests.

"Stop lunar resource mining!"

"Isn't it enough that you've destroyed the Earth, are you trying to destroy the moon as well?"

"The moon is not the territory of anyone, but a common resource of mankind!"

"A healthy moon for our descendants!"

"Kang Jin-hoo must immediately stop the attempt to mine Geratinium!"

***

While SpaceX was preparing to send a spaceship to the moon, the situation in China was getting more and more serious.

As Henry had said, Albert Management and a few hedge funds moved first. It was now an open secret that they were forming a single force.

They all short-sold Chinese stocks. The proceeds from the sale of the stocks naturally came in yuan. They then resold this yuan on the market and bought dollars.

By repeating this, the stock price goes down, and the dollar goes up.

In a word, they took a short position on the entire country of China. The hedge funds openly announced their positions and gathered their forces, and global speculative capital moved behind them.

Even the media was mobilized for this.

The hedge funds gave huge advertising fees to the media, and the mainstream media all over the world fanned the sense of crisis by reporting on the fall of Chinese stock prices and the bankruptcy of companies.

How can this be stopped?

The most effective means is an interest rate hike. Raising interest rates can stabilize the exchange rate by increasing the interest burden of speculative forces and at the same time increasing the demand for the yuan.

But for now, this means cannot be used. If they raised interest rates in the current situation, the companies and banks that could not repay their debts would go bankrupt in succession.

The second-best option is to move in the opposite direction of the hedge funds' position. That is, to buy stocks to boost the stock price, and to release foreign exchange reserves to sell dollars and buy yuan.

This will make the stock price go up, and the dollar go down.

In fact, China has defeated speculative forces in a similar way twice before. In 1998, Hong Kong defended the value of the Hong Kong dollar with its foreign exchange reserves and at the same time even changed the short-selling regulations to defeat the speculative forces. In early 2017, when speculative forces aiming for a devaluation of the yuan poured out short sales, China raised the yuan deposit rate to its highest level in a short period, inducing a sharp rise in the yuan and giving the speculative forces a hard time.

There are countries that are wary of excessive government market intervention, but China is a country that has grown with a state-led planned economy from the beginning.

This time, too, the financial authorities' market intervention was a matter of course.

To achieve the current goals of the Chinese government, the value of the yuan must be stably maintained. As a rise in the exchange rate would also disrupt the internationalization of the yuan and the One Belt, One Road plan, Lan Shuqing, the head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, which can be called the head of the Chinese financial authorities, declared an all-out war against the speculative forces.

'China will fight to the end. Short-selling that bets on a decline in the yuan will inevitably lead to a large loss!'

However, as bad news continued to break out both at home and abroad, it was difficult to guarantee victory.

To win this war, you need more money than your opponent. China's current foreign exchange reserves are estimated to be $2.6 trillion. It still boasts the world's largest, but it has decreased by a whopping $500 billion in a few months.

One might think that this is enough to defend against the attack of speculative forces, but the actual available money is less than $500 billion.

Foreign exchange reserves are the foundation on which the value of the yuan is maintained. Ironically, the more you exhaust your foreign exchange reserves to prevent a decline in the value of the yuan, the more the value of the yuan falls.

If the foreign capital that has entered China begins to sell off its assets and starts an exodus to avoid further losses, the foreign exchange reserves will soon be depleted.

After hearing my words, Taek-gyu nodded.

"That's why we have to step in."

Apart from its corporate value, the cash that OTK Company can mobilize is small. Fortunately, it's not like there's no way to get money.

Taek-gyu asked.

"But what if China or Russia doesn't keep their promise later, even after we've done all this for them?"

When the situation changes, thoughts also change.

Since both are dictators, if the situation changes, they will prioritize their own political standing over their promises to me.

"It doesn't matter."

If China had kept its promise to guarantee Hong Kong's autonomy, the current Hong Kong protests would not have happened. If Russia had kept the Budapest Memorandum, the Ukraine conflict would not have happened either.

If you lose, you lose everything anyway.

But if you win...

"Then, whether it's China or Russia, they'll be watching our every move."

***

I gathered all the employees of the company in one place. Hyun-joo noona and Ellie were also present.

At this meeting, I made a major announcement.

"We will issue corporate bonds worth $800 billion."

Team Leader Jung Gi-hong asked cautiously.

"Uh, um, 800 billion won?"

The amount was so large that he looked as if he had misheard. Well, come to think of it, 800 billion won is also a large amount.

"No. Dollars. 800 billion dollars."

The look of doubt on his face quickly turned to one of horror. The other employees were also surprised. After all, issuing corporate bonds of this size at once is unprecedented.

"Will... will there be people who buy them?"

Due to the credit crunch, money is not circulating in the market right now. Many companies in need of funds have issued corporate bonds, but the atmosphere is such that even AA-rated corporate bonds often fail to be fully subscribed.

No matter how big OTK Company is, and no matter how much larger the bond market is than the stock market, selling this many bonds is not an easy task.

"That's why we have to issue them with good conditions that will attract investors."

Team Leader Seo Sang-won pointed out a problem.

"It's not easy to issue corporate bonds of that scale in a short period."

The issuance and sale of corporate bonds must be approved by the financial authorities according to a set of requirements.

The value of OTK Company is over $1 trillion at a minimum. But while its corporate value is high, its equity capital and rate of return are low. Moreover, that corporate value has never been properly evaluated as it is a private company.

In fact, the biggest problem is something else.

That is, Rothschild controls the financial system. If we try to sell them in the US or Europe, they will use all sorts of means to interfere.

We don't have time.

"To be precise, I should call them just bonds, not corporate bonds. I'm thinking of issuing them with my stake as collateral."

"What?"

It's a stock-backed bond, where the creditor gets the stake instead of money if the money is not repaid by the maturity date.

One of the employees raised their hand.

"What is the purpose of issuing the bonds?"

I answered immediately.

"We are going to fight the speculative forces that are short-selling."

The employees were surprised again. I had mentioned it to the team leaders once before, but this was the first time I was telling everyone.

Senior Sang-yeop had a look on his face as if his soul had left his body.

"Ah, after Brexit and the Big One, I thought this kind of crazy stuff was over."

Both events were battles where the company's fate was on the line, and we won. What about this time?

Team Leader Seo Sang-won said with a cautious expression.

"It's too early to confront the speculative forces right now. It won't be too late to respond after it has fallen a bit more."

Hyun-joo noona shook her head as if she had a headache.

"While other companies are desperate to get out, you're saying you're going to jump in?"

Industrial capitals that have factories and businesses in China have no choice, but financial capitals have been rushing to sell their assets. Buildings in first-tier cities that were hard to buy for money a few months ago were pouring out onto the market with their prices lowered, but there were no buyers, and the prices fell even further.

I thought of the prisoner's dilemma.

If everyone on a ship rocking in a storm tries to escape at once, the balance will be broken and the risk of sinking will increase. But if sinking is certain, it is more profitable to move before others. Even if it accelerates the sinking.

From the perspective of the people on the ship, it is in their common interest not to sink. Someone has to stand firm in the middle to prevent the ship from sinking.

I am the largest shareholder and the CEO.

Therefore, I don't need to get anyone's consent for my decision. But if I can't even make my employees believe, how can I make others believe?

I looked around at the employees and said.

"OTK Company has done many things so far. But if the global economy collapses due to the current crisis, all the things we have been pursuing, such as electric cars, TWR, VRMMORPGs, Saemangeum, and the JN Battery, will all come to nothing. This is not for China or the world, but for us. If we succeed, we will be remembered in history as the ones who stopped a financial crisis."

Even after I finished speaking, the conference room was quiet. They probably couldn't bring themselves to say it, but they were thinking about the possibility of failure.

Taek-gyu tilted his head and said to me in a small voice.

"That's strange. In a case like this, someone should stand up one by one, clenching their fists and shouting things like 'Alright!', 'Let's do it!', 'We can do it!', 'We'll just trust and follow the CEO!'"

"..."

Reality is not an anime.

"Any questions?"

At my question, a woman with bright blonde hair raised her hand.

"This seems like a very unreasonable plan."

Her father is the vice chairman of RCK Bros, Shin Byeong-doo. She would know better than anyone how serious the current crisis is, and how difficult it is to stop.

Yuri said in a trembling voice.

"It would be great if it works out, but if it fails, the company will be taken over."

If you can't pay back the money, the stake is transferred, and if the stake is transferred, the company is taken over. No investment company makes this kind of reckless investment. Especially if the chances of winning are slim.

I looked at Yuri and smiled.

"Don't worry."

"Senior..."

At my words, Ellie smiled brightly.

"I like that it's not boring when I'm with you, Jin-hoo."

At those words, Yuri, who was about to say something, closed her mouth.

I looked at Hyun-joo noona and said.

"I'll leave the issuance and sale of the bonds to Golden Gate."

Noona nodded as if she had no choice.

"If it's OTK Company's stake, there will be many who will covet it. But are you really okay with this?"

"Of course."

I then said to Taek-gyu.

"You should say a word as the vice president."

"Me?"

After crossing his arms and pondering for a moment, Taek-gyu immediately opened his mouth as if he had thought of something to say.

"Even if the company goes bankrupt because of Kang Jin-hoo, I'll make sure you all get a hefty severance package, so don't worry too much."

"..."