March 31, 2003, an officetel near Mapo Station.
In a cramped space of barely ten pyeong, thick with the stench of stale cigarette smoke, only the low hum of computer fans and the clicking of a mouse echoed through the room.
At four desks divided by partitions reaching up to waist height, multiple monitors were tightly arranged. Every screen was filled with stock charts and portal news windows.
Do Jae-jun, a full-time investor now in his fourth year, alternated his gaze between the three monitors lined up in front of him. Then, frowning, he leaned forward sharply in his seat.
"...Huh? What is this?!"
His eyes were fixed on the stock chart displayed on the leftmost monitor—the hottest stock these days, ST Co., Ltd.
[ST Co., Ltd.: 60,701 (7,501) +14.1]
It had become the hottest stock in the market, with the foreign investment firm Sovereign launching a hostile M&A and driving the price to hit the upper limit for five consecutive days—an explosive surge that sent it skyrocketing more than elevenfold in an instant.
Although the upward trend was still continuing, the price had shot up too quickly from the bottom, so during the morning session today, it seemed to be taking a brief pause, moving sideways.
There had been very few sell orders during the rally, but now a noticeable amount had started to appear. Anyone who had bought at the bottom would already be sitting on profits well exceeding 1,000%, so it was only natural for profit-taking to begin.
Just as the shares were changing hands and trading was becoming increasingly active, the sell orders suddenly dropped off sharply. Then, the stock chart shot upward at an almost vertical angle, surging more than 10% in an instant—something that couldn't help but be shocking to witness.
Choi Min-gi, a close junior and office mate who traded stocks alongside him, spoke with a flustered expression.
"Did you see ST's stock price? It wasn't moving much just a moment ago, but now it's suddenly jumping upward."
At that, Yoo Hyun-ik—who was the same age as Do Jae-jun—straightened up in a hurry from his relaxed position against the back of his chair.
"Whoa! What the hell is going on? There's a massive wave of buy orders coming in. At this rate, it's going to hit the upper limit again!"
While everyone was flustered and unable to hide their confusion, Jo Jae-woo—the oldest in the office at forty and a full-time investor with ten years of experience—quickly scanned the disclosure window and internet portal news. Then his eyes lit up.
"This is it."
Do Jae-jun, who was sitting across from him, sprang to his feet and asked.
"Did some kind of positive news come out?"
The other two also showed interest and looked over at the same time.
Jo Jae-woo tapped the monitor lightly with his finger and pointed at the breaking news article that had just appeared.
"Sovereign has publicly demanded that three close aides of Chairman Moon Byung-kwon—who was indicted and detained—step down voluntarily from ST Co., Ltd.'s board of directors."
"...!"
"That's really true?!"
As the three widened their eyes and asked again, Jo Jae-woo responded while habitually taking out a case of silvervine pellets and tossing a few into his mouth.
"Yeah. The creditors already decided to convert 2.3 trillion won worth of debt into equity for ST Global, which has been reeling from accounting fraud."
"That's right."
"But why does that matter?"
Jo Jae-woo chewed on the silvervine pellets, feeling a refreshing sensation spread through his mouth as he answered the younger men's question.
"ST Co., Ltd., the major shareholder, also agreed to support it by converting the bonds it holds into equity. But Sovereign is calling this a serious abuse of authority that violates shareholders' interests since proper procedures weren't followed, and they're strongly demanding voluntary resignations."
Do Jae-jun swallowed dryly and spoke.
"The ST board—no, Chairman Moon Byung-kwon—there's no way he'd accept Sovereign's demands."
"Of course not. He's already under detention, so his control over the group has weakened. If even his close aides step down from the board, the governance structure will obviously become even more unstable. Do you think he'd ever accept that?"
At that moment, Yoo Hyun-ik—who had been lounging casually with a cigarette tucked behind his ear—suddenly cut in.
"Then Sovereign could demand an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and try to force a management shake-up."
Jo Jae-woo nodded with a look of certainty.
"They're aiming exactly for that. Knowing full well the others won't willingly step down, they've thrown out this bait first."
At that, Choi Min-gi lightly slapped the desk with his palm, as if he had figured it out.
"So this is the buildup—laying the groundwork to push Chairman Moon Byung-kwon out and seize control of management!"
"Exactly."
Jo Jae-woo said with a smile.
Having heard the explanation, Do Jae-jun rose from his seat, stroking his chin with one hand as he spoke.
"With Sovereign included, foreign ownership in ST Co., Ltd. is already over 40%, right? If the foreign investors join forces, they might really be able to take control of the ST Group."
"Exactly. That's why the buying pressure is surging again and the stock price is shooting up."
Jo Jae-woo gestured with his chin toward the monitor displaying ST Co., Ltd.'s stock chart.
At that, Choi Min-gi widened his eyes and said,
"The ST Group—no, Chairman Moon Byung-kwon—is going to try everything to hold onto management control… Damn. At this rate, there's no telling how high the stock price will go."
"Probably."
Jo Jae-woo replied as he leaned forward and gripped the mouse.
Seeing that, Do Jae-jun asked in surprise,
"Hyung, don't tell me you're going in right now?"
Without hesitation, Jo Jae-woo tapped on the keyboard and placed a buy order.
"Yeah. I thought it had already reached the peak, but it doesn't look like that's the case. It feels like it still has a long way to climb."
The three of them looked at each other for a brief moment, then, without even having time to think it through, hurried back to their seats and quickly placed their own buy orders.
The stock price of ST Co., Ltd., which had been slowing down as profit-taking emerged after its sharp rise, began to burn hot once again following Sovereign's public demand for a management overhaul.
***
Seok-won, seated on a plush leather sofa in his office with one leg crossed over the other, opened his mouth as he looked at Director Choi Ho-geun sitting to his right.
"They revealed their fangs sooner than expected—demanding a change in management less than a month after disclosing their stake acquisition."
A cup of coffee, rich with the aroma of freshly brewed beans, sat on the table, but Director Choi Ho-geun spoke without touching it.
"Sovereign had publicly opposed it several times, yet they still pushed through support for ST Global. You could say they practically handed the other side a justification to attack."
"If they had just left ST Global as it was, the crisis could have spread to securities and even life insurance, so they probably didn't have any other choice."
Director Choi Ho-geun nodded in agreement.
"As you said, if ST Global collapses as it is or if management control passes into the hands of the creditors, the circular shareholding structure could break down, potentially leading to the dismantling of the entire group."
Seok-won rested his clasped hands on his thigh, maintaining a relaxed posture.
"We can assume there's virtually no chance Chairman Moon's side will accept Sovereign's demands, right?"
Receiving his gaze, Director Choi Ho-geun answered immediately.
"Although many key executives have avoided detention, considering the high likelihood that they'll receive prison sentences in the upcoming trials, it's clear they'll try to protect Chairman Moon's remaining close aides at all costs."
"In the worst-case scenario, if he intends to run the company from prison, he'll need people inside the company to act as his hands and feet, so that makes sense."
Seok-won ran a quick calculation in his head before continuing.
"Even at the earliest, Sovereign will only be able to request an extraordinary shareholders' meeting sometime after the end of August."
"That's right. Under current securities law, they need to hold the shares for at least six months before gaining the right to request such a meeting."
"Hm…"
Letting out a thoughtful sound, Seok-won showed an intrigued expression.
"If it comes down to a vote at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting, which side do you think will win?"
"We won't know for sure until it actually happens, but considering that foreign investors—including Templeton Asset Management—hold more than 40% of the shares, it won't be easy to defend management control."
As Director Choi Ho-geun answered with a cautious tone, Seok-won gave a small nod, as if he shared the same view.
"Even excluding the shares we accumulated through overseas paper companies, it still exceeds 30%. If foreign investors join hands with Sovereign, it's going to be an extremely tough fight."
"That's right. On top of that, public sentiment toward Chairman Moon Byung-kwon is already unfavorable due to the accounting fraud scandal, so it will be quite difficult to win the support of minority shareholders."
Seok-won clicked his tongue as he replied.
"Now that it's been exposed that he used company funds at will for personal gain and even manipulated the books, appealing to patriotism won't work either."
"In fact, labor unions that had been at odds with management, along with some minority shareholders, are showing signs of aligning with Sovereign, which is promoting ethical management and shareholder-friendly policies. They say there's a serious sense of crisis even within the group."
"They may have managed to put out the fire for now, but the government won't be able to intervene actively while being mindful of foreign investors. From ST Group's perspective, that's only going to make things even more agonizing."
Director Choi Ho-geun slightly raised his head and added,
"There are also rumors going around that Chairman Moon Byung-kwon will dip into his personal assets to purchase shares of ST Co., Ltd."
"At this point, even a single share matters, so he'll probably try to gather funds by any means to increase his stake. The problem is, even if he does that, the management dispute has already broken out and the stock price has surged sharply, so it won't be easy to raise his holdings to a meaningful level."
"In that case, the value of the 10% stake we hold becomes even more important."
Seok-won smiled meaningfully.
Watching him, Director Choi Ho-geun carefully gauged his reaction before asking cautiously,
"Chairman, which side do you intend to support?"
"I'll side with Chairman Moon."
At the decisive answer, Director Choi Ho-geun showed a slightly surprised expression.
Seeing that, Seok-won tossed out a playful remark.
"Did you think I'd cooperate with Sovereign?"
"N-No, not at all."
Seok-won brought the now properly cooled teacup to his lips and spoke.
"I don't particularly like Chairman Moon, but it's still better than letting ST Group fall into Sovereign's hands like this."
After taking a sip of coffee, he lowered his voice.
"On the surface, they promote ethical management and shareholder-friendly policies, but Sovereign isn't a place that runs companies with a long-term vision—it's a private equity fund that prioritizes profit above all else. Under the pretext of improving management efficiency, they carry out restructuring, extract profits through high dividends, then break up the group and sell it off piece by piece to maximize returns before leaving. That's their real intention."
To them, the company's future and its employees held no value whatsoever.
Director Choi Ho-geun, who was well aware that private equity funds were not meant for long-term investment, nodded with a heavy expression.
"As you said, Chairman, if management control falls into Sovereign's hands, it won't benefit Korea at all."
Seok-won set down his teacup with a relaxed motion and spoke.
"That doesn't mean I'm going to blindly side with Chairman Moon either."
Seeing the puzzled look from Director Choi Ho-geun, Seok-won drew a deep smile across his lips.
"We should walk the tightrope in the middle and extract as much profit as possible."
Imagining both sides clashing fiercely without even realizing they were in the palm of Seok-won's hand—only to be completely stripped bare in the end—Director Choi Ho-geun felt a chill run down his spine.
At the same time, he found himself quietly anticipating how Seok-won would set the stage.
Seok-won rested his chin on one hand as he spoke.
"Since Sovereign has moved faster than we expected, we'll need to revise our plan. Scrap the idea of consolidating the shares we spread across paper companies into one place, and instead proceed with a disclosure of the stake acquisition as is."
Understanding his meaning, Director Choi Ho-geun's eyes gleamed with interest as he asked again.
"If we transfer the shares again, then under current law it would become difficult for us to exercise our rights when Sovereign calls an extraordinary shareholders' meeting—that's why, isn't it?"
"Exactly."
"Understood. I'll proceed as instructed."
Sinking into the sofa, Seok-won calmly organized his thoughts, carefully considering how to steer the situation in the most advantageous direction for himself.