Chapter 36 : That Time I Laid Down the Law in South America.

TL: Skye

There is one immutable truth in the stock market.

HODLing always wins. As long as you're convinced you picked a good stock, the one who endures through storms and market crashes is the one who laughs last. That is the iron law of the stock market.

And today, I confirmed that truth once again with my own two hands.

[U.S. Federal Budget Deal Reached in Dramatic Fashion, Shutdown Ends.]

It was the fifteenth day of the third month since the Arduous March began. At last, the American shutdown had ended and the USAID loan had come through.

"Hnngh..."

They say times of hardship end as suddenly as a bolt of lightning. The tearful Arduous March had finally come to an end.

I steadied my swelling heart, straightened my clothes, and opened the conference room door with a confident stride.

The Senior Secretaries all rose from their seats in unison.

"Good morning. It seems everyone's heard the news... Let's start by reviewing the current issues. Senior Secretary for Education?"

At my prompting, Sergio began his report with confidence.

"How do you plan to execute the budget?"

"Yes, now that the shortfall in the education fund has been fully covered, we plan to rapidly implement the plans that had been postponed. In particular, we intend to expedite the construction of additional schools to ease the burden on overcrowded ones."

"Good. How is the university construction coming along?"

"The foundation work is complete and the framework is going up now. We estimate roughly three more months until completion."

"Three months... Isn't that excessively fast?"

"There's a particular secret to how we shortened the construction period."

Sergio explained with a gentle smile.

"First, instead of building high-rise structures, we utilized the spacious site to spread things out across multiple two- and three-story buildings. The construction methods became simpler, which greatly increased speed. Additionally, we brought in a large number of former public officials who had been dispatched to Tortilla Farm to lend a hand."

"Ah."

"Thanks to all the shoveling and pickaxing at the farm, they're in excellent physical shape. On top of that, many of them originally came from the Ministry of Construction or the Ministry of Land, so they have an eye for reading blueprints. When we offered the condition that they'd be reinstated to their original departments once construction was finished, many people volunteered."

After going through all that ordeal, they certainly knew how to get things done.

"Very good. Excellent work."

Reports from the other departments followed.

"Clearing of Tortilla Farm's Third Agricultural Zone has been completed. The quality of the corn harvested this time is over 20% better than previous years. Achieving this year's food self-sufficiency target should be well within reach."

"Tortilla F&B's lunchbox business has entered a stabilization phase. There have been reports that students' nutritional status has noticeably improved."

"Public safety conditions are also favorable. In the past month, not a single crime has occurred, including misdemeanors."

I found myself nodding along the entire time I listened to the reports.

Food, education, public safety. The most fundamental conditions of a functioning nation were finally falling into place.

"Everyone has worked hard."

I closed the report and looked around at the secretaries.

"The Arduous March has finally come to an end. We'll be picking up the pace on the infrastructure projects we've only been planning until now, so I ask for everyone's support."

The meeting wrapped up with the Senior Secretaries' affirmations.

As I left the conference room and headed back to the Presidential Office, Isabella fell into step beside me.

"Your Excellency, I have good news."

"What is it?"

"Starting tomorrow, Taeyang Apparel's factory will begin full-scale operations."

"Oh, really? As expected of Koreans, they're incredibly fast. It feels like they just broke ground yesterday, and they're already starting operations."

"It seems Senior Secretary Aman at the Ministry of Commerce helped out quite a bit."

It was a speed unimaginable in South America.

Even if administrative obstacles had been cleared, building the factory, hiring people, and getting it running was entirely the company's own doing.

The fact that they'd pulled it off in such a short time was truly worthy of the "hurry hurry" Korean spirit. [TL: "ppalli-ppalli" is a well-known Korean cultural trait of doing things quickly]

"Are the preparations all wrapped up?"

"Yes. According to reports, the equipment inspections have been completed perfectly and the test runs have gone well."

"What are they producing?"

"They plan to produce Laiki running shoes and sportswear OEM orders received from the U.S. headquarters. They've already completed hiring and basic training for 2,000 workers."

Two thousand jobs. And these were positions at a foreign company paying high wages of over 400 dollars a month. It would undoubtedly be a major boost to San Marcos's economy.

"Is there anything we can help with? Power or water supply issues, for instance."

"There haven't been any particular requests. Thanks to Senior Secretary Aman's thoroughness, they say nothing is lacking."

"That's a relief."

I nodded but added one more request.

"Still, tell them to check in frequently just in case. If anything's needed, have it resolved right away."

"I'll tell them to pay extra close attention."

It might seem like overkill, but this was how it had to be done.

'Depending on how well Taeyang Apparel performs, it'll determine whether the rest of Korea's textile industry follows suit.'

What if they crashed and burned? Then obviously no one else would follow. If Taeyang Apparel, a company with real clout in the industry, failed, no other company would want to invest.

On the other hand, if they succeeded? Everyone would be clamoring to get in. And when that happened, there'd be no need to give them the same special treatment as Taeyang Apparel.

For San Marcos, where unemployment was at extreme levels, this was a matter of sheer desperation.

"Please tell Senior Secretary Aman to form a task force and provide active support. Along with the message that failure is absolutely not an option."

"Yes, understood."

"Ah, and about that personal fund I handed over before."

"Do you mean the one million dollars you donated to the education fund?"

"No, I didn't donate it, I lent it... Anyway, I was wondering if I could get that money back..."

"Your Excellency, you need to work on your jokes a bit more. You are San Marcos and San Marcos is you, so who would fall for that? You simply moved money from your left pocket to your right pocket. Hu hu hu."

"No, wait, what kind of sophistry..."

At that point, I had no idea.

That a problem would erupt from a place I never expected.

***

Two weeks later.

I was on my way back from inspecting the operation of newly installed cranes at Libertad Port.

"The unloading speed has definitely improved. Cargo that would have taken an entire day before is now being handled by morning."

"It's thanks to the new cranes. The dock workers struggled at first, but they adapted quickly and efficiency has been climbing."

I was nodding contentedly at Isabella's report from behind the steering wheel when a familiar sign at a familiar location caught my eye.

"That must be the Taeyang Apparel factory over there."

I'd only heard about it; this was my first time actually seeing it.

I'd been busy dealing with issues that had piled up during the Arduous March, and I'd avoided visiting for fear of being a nuisance.

"Would you like to stop by?"

"Hmm... Let's not go in. Let's just watch from a distance. From inside the car."

"Yes, let's do that."

As we headed toward the Taeyang Apparel factory,

"...Huh? What's that?"

An unexpected sight appeared outside the car window.

Dozens of people had gathered in front of the Taeyang Apparel factory gate, and the atmosphere was quite hostile as they shouted loudly.

"Let me go take a look."

"It could be dangerous. Let the security team go first..."

"They're civilians, what danger could there be? Let's find out what's going on first."

I stepped out of the car and approached the factory.

"You bastards! Are you telling us to drop dead?!"

"The stench is unbearable! Shut this factory down right now!"

"Our cornfield is dead because of your factory! What are you going to do about it?! Huh?!"

Up close, the situation was more serious than I'd thought.

The citizens were hurling harsh protests at employees who appeared to be factory staff, and the employees were flustered and sweating bullets.

"What's going on here?"

I waved the bodyguards back and approached quietly to ask. One agitated old man jabbed his finger and yelled,

"And who the hell are... Gasp!"

The old man saw my face and his eyes went wide as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Y-Y-Your Excellency?!"

The crowd went silent in an instant.

"Wh-who? Your Excellency?"

"Good heavens! It really is Your Excellency!"

People who had gone pale dropped the farming tools they'd been holding.

Clang! Thud!

The enraged mob that had been screaming bloody murder just moments ago fell silent in unison, as if on cue, and cleared a path.

"What brings Your Excellency here..."

"I was passing by and heard the commotion, so I came to see. What's this all about?"

At my question, the old man who had been protesting about dead corn choked up and poured out his grievance.

"Your Excellency! Please save us! Those factory people... they dumped poison in the stream!"

"What? Poison?"

"Yes! A few days ago the creek water turned pitch black and started reeking of rot! All the crops we worked so hard to grow are dead because of that water!"

"Do you have evidence?"

"H-here, I brought some of the water from the creek."

Seeing the murky, blackish color of the water in the container, it was clearly wastewater from the dyeing process.

This sort of thing can happen in factory zones from time to time, but this was rather serious.

It looked like it had been dumped outright, plain as day.

"I understand. I'll look into it personally and take action. So please, everyone, go home for now. If there's a problem, I will make sure it's resolved."

"You'll handle it personally, Your Excellency?"

"You are all citizens of San Marcos. And I hold a position that requires me to look after its citizens. I will definitely resolve this, so don't worry and please head home."

"Y-Your Excellency! For lowly people like us. Sniff..."

When I turned to Isabella with a stern expression, she deployed the bodyguards inside and outside the factory.

"You may go in now."

Perhaps word of my arrival had gotten inside, because when I entered, CEO Choi Ilju was waiting with a face drained of color.

"Y-Your Excellency! You're here!"

"CEO Choi. What happened here? Unauthorized discharge of wastewater?"

CEO Choi waved his hands frantically, insisting it was unfair.

"It's a misunderstanding! It was absolutely not intentional!"

"If it wasn't intentional, then what was it?"

"W-well, the thing is..."

CEO Choi's explanation went like this.

Originally, Taeyang Apparel had planned to keep the Korean factory as the main operation, considering the local workers' skill level, and run the San Marcos factory as a secondary one, gradually transferring production lines.

Since San Marcos's labor costs were absurdly cheap, it was still a profitable arrangement even that way.

But an unexpected variable came into play.

"Your own brand took off?"

"Yes. The fashion brand we launched recently went viral on social media, and orders flooded in so heavily that we had to redirect all the Korean factory lines to that."

"And then?"

"The Korean factory went all-in on the in-house brand, and all the existing Laiki supply orders were shifted here. Including the dyeing process."

"Ah..."

"But an unforeseen problem arose. With production volume quadrupling... the factory's wastewater treatment facility was woefully inadequate in capacity."

The dyeing process uses an enormous amount of water.

On top of that, all sorts of chemicals are involved, so purification facilities are essential.

However, according to him, the treatment tanks at the San Marcos factory had been designed for small-scale production only.

"We planned to seal it in tanks and process it gradually when capacity allowed... but we missed the timing on closing the valve, and wastewater leaked into the ground for about three hours."

CEO Choi made his case, but whether it was a mistake or deliberate, the fact remained that environmental contamination had occurred.

And that meant criminal liability.

The problem was,

'I can't actually throw him in jail over this.'

Taeyang Apparel was the very first company to establish a factory in San Marcos.

If the CEO of that company were locked up, it would clearly have a negative impact on future investment.

I let out a sigh and spoke.

"CEO Choi, are you willing to compensate the people who were affected?"

"Of course."

"Then please compensate them at a fair amount... actually, a bit more than fair. I'll inform Senior Secretary Aman, so you can coordinate with him."

"Thank you."

"And let me ask one more thing."

"Yes."

"Does this kind of thing happen in Korea too?"

"In Korea?"

"Cases where the wastewater tank fills up and the factory has to shut down, like now."

"Ah..."

CEO Choi thought carefully before answering.

"In Korea, large-scale communal wastewater treatment plants are generally installed. Wastewater from each factory is collected through pipelines into a central facility, purified, and then discharged. Individual factories don't need their own treatment facilities, and there are no capacity concerns. They simply pay the treatment fees according to the meter reading."

"Ah..."

Right.

That's what an industrial complex was supposed to be in the first place.

I must have been in San Marcos too long.

Because my standards had adjusted to San Marcos's level, the "industrial complex" I'd envisioned was something you'd see in 1980s Korea.

And there I was, running around trying to attract businesses...

'This one's on us.'

What was even more chilling was...

Remarkably, not a single one of the Senior Secretaries had pointed this out.

"Of course, I'm not saying San Marcos's conditions are bad. We knew what we were getting into, and above all, the difference in land prices is enormous."

"What about the factory? Is it running right now?"

"We've stopped it for the time being since we need to finish treating the wastewater first."

"You must have deadlines. That's a problem."

"This is a mess of my own making, so it's fine."

"It's not fine at all. This is the first production run in San Marcos. You can't miss the deadline."

I turned to Isabella and said,

"The military has surplus wastewater tanks, right? Let's lend those for now."

"I'll tell Commander Pedro to bring over everything they can spare."

"Use these for now to get by. As for a communal wastewater treatment facility, I'll discuss moving forward with installing one."

"Truly... thank you!"

Watching CEO Choi bow his head, I thought to myself,

'I'm going to have to gather the Senior Secretaries and give them a proper dressing-down.'

Slacking off like that.

*****

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