An Investor Who Sees The Future

Who is the most famous person in Korea?

You might name various politicians or idols, but if you asked people, one hundred out of one hundred would say the name Kang Jin-hoo.

That’s how much Kang Jin-hoo created issues himself and always stood at the center of them. There was even talk that if he were to launch an A-Tube channel, he would immediately hit 10 million subscribers.

When Kang Jin-hoo announced a press conference, the entire nation turned their eyes to their TVs, the internet, and smartphones. People were focused on how he would respond to the controversy surrounding his mother.

And Kang Jin-hoo’s response at the press conference was shock itself.

Representative Myeong Jin-wook was a senior member of the New Politics Party, the leader of the pro-Heo faction, and even mentioned as a potential next presidential candidate. Yet, Kang Jin-hoo had openly declared he would bring down such a politician.

And he did so by even offering reward money for tips, like putting a bounty on a criminal!

Using money as bait to dig up dirt on an opponent is a common occurrence. Therefore, it wasn’t strange for Kang Jin-hoo to use such a method.

But announcing it publicly to the entire nation was beyond imagination. Moreover, saying he would dig up everything on the family’s corruption as well.

Reactions flooded the internet in real-time.- Ah! Thrilling! Always fresh!

- Big fun, major fun again today. This is why I can’t leave Hell Joseon ^^

- An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, family for a family!

- Foreign countries are going crazy too. CNN, NHK, CCTV are all running breaking news.

- Wow! F***, Kang Jin-hoo is insane.

- Looked like he completely lost it. Judging by his eyes, he looked really f***ing pissed.

- What happens now?

- What do you mean what happens? Either Kang Jin-hoo or Representative Myeong Jin-wook is finished.

- Doesn’t it look like Representative Myeong Jin-wook is going to get totally wrecked?

- As a human being, you shouldn’t mess with parents. My main job for 10 years has been keyboard warrior, and my side hustle is armchair general, but even I don’t insult parents.

- Kang Jin-hoo’s father passed away, he cut ties with relatives, and his mother is his only family. It’s understandable he’d snap like that.

- Acknowledge the righteous anger? Yup, acknowledged. I acknowledge it, you acknowledge it~

- Even I think there’s nothing to say even if they fight in real life^^

- LOL The protagonist isn’t hiding his filial piety.

- But why is Myeong Jin-wook hiding his common sense?

- He’s not the protagonist.

It didn’t end there.

This time, Kang Jin-hoo turned the tip of his sword towards the reporters.

“I’ve seen the crappy articles you’ve been churning out. You certainly did a fine job connecting my mother to the golf course assault committed by Ms. Kim Se-yeon. As you know, my mother neither committed assault nor stood by idly at the scene.”

A reporter shouted.

“Aren’t they part of the same golf group? Surely you aren’t denying that fact?”

Kang Jin-hoo glared at the reporter and said.

“There must be at least 10 people who played golf with Ms. Kim Se-yeon, so why are you only writing about my mother in the articles?”

“CEO Kang Jin-hoo is a public figure!”

“My mother isn’t a public figure, is she?”

The reporter persisted with his argument.

“The public has the right to know. It’s natural for reporters to write articles for this purpose, and there should be no sacred cows!”

“Is that so? Then shall I offer reward money and dig into your parents? Shouldn’t the public know if anyone in your family or your circle has caused trouble?”

The reporter was stunned by those words.

“Reporters are not public figures!”

“What exactly is the standard for a public figure? Reporters seem to treat anyone famous as a public figure. Then I’ll make you a public figure. If you’re confident, state your name right here, right now.”

“……”

Leaving the speechless reporter, Kang Jin-hoo looked around at the other journalists and spoke in a cold voice.

“I’ll give you exactly three days. By then, take down the irrelevant articles and issue corrections for any false information.”

At this, the reporters were shocked and cried out in unison.

“Are you trying to stop reporters from writing articles?”

“Is it acceptable for a chaebol to trample on the freedom of the press like this?”

“This is media suppression!”

“Even under dictatorships, things like this didn’t happen!”

Kang Jin-hoo scoffed at the reporters’ protests.

“A journalist is someone whose job is to deliver factual information to the public. Someone who fabricates stories not based on facts is just a trash reporter. I’ll let it slide, to an extent, when you criticize me in newspapers, broadcasts, or online. But I will not tolerate it when it comes to my family. If you’re okay with having not just yourself, but your parents, spouse, children, and extended family thoroughly investigated, then try to hold out until the end. Because I will go to the very end too.”

The press conference hall fell silent. Not a single reporter could utter a word. It made sense, as family is precious to everyone.

Kang Jin-hoo stared directly into the camera and said.

“The same applies to posts and comments online. I give you exactly three days. After that, I will respond to any remaining posts using all possible means and methods. That is all.”

***

The internet erupted at Kang Jin-hoo’s words.

The malicious commenters, who had been watching the press conference with amusement until then, were thrown into shock. They had been happily watching someone else’s house burn, but now the fire was about to spread to their own homes.

If they were bystanders before, now they had become involved parties.

These commenters came from all walks of life, young and old. Only a tiny fraction had actual malice; the vast majority posted hate comments out of boredom, to relieve stress, or simply out of habit.

Often, there’s no real reason why people curse others. Looking at the comments on the articles about this incident, the level was severe.

- Wow! Kang Jin-hoo’s mom was staying at the Ceylon Hotel?

- She went golfing all the time too LOL

- Totally living in luxury with her son’s money.

- They really need to raid and seize everything. There will definitely be more cases of power abuse.

- Chanel bags~ Golf clubs~ Even though her son has so much money, she sure pocketed those diligently.

- What on earth did they do at those secret meetings?

- Probably went clubbing at places like Kukbingwan Nightclub at night, hitting on younger men.

- It’d be hilarious if you went for booking (matchmaking) and Kang Jin-hoo’s mom was there.

-ㅎㅎ Looks like Kang Jin-hoo will get a new stepdad soon! Congrats congrats~

The commenters hastily deleted the posts and comments they had made.

Portals and media outlets were inundated with requests to delete content. The customer service center of Neotin, Korea’s largest portal, was completely paralyzed.

- Oh f***! We’re screwed!

- What the hell are they doing? Why haven’t they answered for three hours? Pick up the phone, you bastards!!!

- Argh! It was easy to write, why is deleting so damn hard?

- He’s going too far just because I insulted his mom a bit. Still, I’ll delete it for now.

- I lost my ID and password, what do I do? I wrote that she’s a mom-chung (leech mom) sucking her son dry, they wouldn’t sue over something like that, right? Right?

- How old are you?

- 2nd grade~

- F***, the world’s ending. I can’t get married for fear of having a kid like this.

- Just take your punishment, kid. Even if you’re a minor immune from criminal charges, what hell are your parents going through?

- Argh! Why isn’t Neotin answering?

- This is driving me crazy! I think I wrote a comment, but I don’t know where or what I wrote.

- Going to the headquarters now to demand they delete my comments!

- Please delete the comments I posted ㅜㅜ I’ll spend my life reflecting ㅜㅜ

- I’m unemployed and just spend my days online at home, if the police contact me, I’ll get kicked out. Please save me~

- Isn’t there a way to delete everything at once? How can a person remember every single hate comment they’ve posted? ㅜㅜ

- Let’s go start a Blue House national petition to demand deletion of hate comments!!!

Media companies were in an uproar as well.

Kang Jin-hoo had publicly declared that if they didn’t delete false articles and issue corrections, he would investigate not only the reporters who wrote them but also their families.

Any other chaebol would never have dared say such a thing, worried about the cost and public opinion. But Kang Jin-hoo was different. It wasn’t just about the money; he never cared about public opinion in the first place.

Journalists united to issue a statement of condemnation.

[We Condemn OTK Company CEO Kang Jin-hoo’s Suppression of the Press!]

(Excerpt) The threats made by CEO Kang Jin-hoo against reporters during his press conference constitute an act of media suppression unseen even under dictatorships. This not only infringes upon the freedom of the press but also deprives the public of their right to know, ultimately harming the citizens.

The press must focus solely on the people, not chaebols or figures of power.

Regardless of the hardships and adversity, we journalists will fight to the end to inform the public of the truth!

However, at the same time, every media outlet simultaneously deleted speculative articles related to Kang Jin-hoo’s mother and removed all mentions of ’Kang Jin-hoo’s mother’ from articles about the golf course assault incident.

For articles that were factually incorrect, they quietly issued small correction notices.

- LOL Looks like they talk big but don’t actually want to die.

- It’s freedom of the press when I criticize someone else’s family. It’s media suppression when someone says they’ll criticize my family. What kind of miracle logic is this?

- Typical trash reporter trait.

- This was the trash reporter’s fault from the start. What connection did Kang Jin-hoo’s mom even have to the golf course assault?

- At least politicians get voted out in the next election if they talk nonsense. These bastards just say ’if not, oh well’.

- They said the pen is mightier than the sword, they didn’t say they’d take responsibility ^^

- Ah! Seeing the trash reporter get shaken down is so refreshing.

- It’s not just the trash reporter, the keyboard warriors and armchair generals are freaking out too.

- The internet is suddenly becoming clean~

- One word from Kang Jin-hoo is a hundred times more effective than a government PSA.

***

When Representative Myeong Jin-wook linked the golf course assault incident to Kang Jin-hoo’s mother and exposed it, many within the ruling party felt a sense of satisfaction.

Just as intended, the nuclear phase-out controversy completely subsided, and everyone focused on the golf course assault. It also had the effect of rallying nuclear phase-out supporters and ruling party backers.

Myeong Jin-wook wasn’t the first politician to suffer at Kang Jin-hoo’s hands, so he hadn’t provoked Kang Jin-hoo thoughtlessly.

Kang Jin-hoo was on extremely bad terms with the Liberty Korea Party, whereas his relationship with the New Politics Party wasn’t that terrible. Even Kang Jin-hoo likely wouldn’t want to make enemies of both major parties.

Furthermore, he himself was a heavyweight politician, and Kang Jin-hoo usually didn’t pay much attention to controversies about himself in the political sphere. If he had cared about such things, he would have given the government a heads-up before investing in the Russian nuclear power plant.

When you’ve been in politics for a long time, you tend to develop instincts.

He had anticipated some level of backlash and had prepared sufficiently for it. In fact, it was a good opportunity to cultivate an image as a true politician fighting against the chaebol.

It truly was a plausible plan.

If the target had been Kang Jin-hoo himself, his prediction might have been correct.

However…….

’What the hell is wrong with him?’

Watching the press conference, Representative Myeong Jin-wook was too stunned to close his mouth.

Just like the saying ”Fish cannot live in perfectly clear water,” many things had happened for him to rise to his current position.

Who in the world doesn’t have dust when shaken?

’He’s going to dig up everything not just on me, but my family too?’

The weight of the same words changes completely depending on who says them, when, where, and how. The fact that Kang Jin-hoo hadn’t protested privately but announced it openly to the media meant he truly intended to see it through to the end.

Moreover, Kang Jin-hoo had made enemies of media outlets and even some malicious netizens. His attitude was as if he intended to fight the entire Republic of Korea. In any case, now that things had come to this, he couldn’t back down.

Representative Myeong Jin-wook also held a press conference. He shouted towards the reporters.

“Threatening and intimidating a member of the National Assembly elected by the people to silence them is the outdated behavior of Korean chaebols! This constitutes crimes such as special intimidation and obstruction of business, and I will consider legal action! I will never back down from such threats and intimidation! Citizens! Please protect this Myeong Jin-wook!”

However, the reaction from the citizens who heard his words was rather ambiguous.

- Well, even if you ask us to protect you…….

- We want to protect you, but…….

- Perhaps you should apologize for insulting his parent first?

- I am a supporter of Representative Myeong Jin-wook. My truly sincere advice is, go kneel and beg before Kang Jin-hoo gets even more pissed off. This is likely your last chance.

- LOL Let him be. Looks like he’ll be shaken down and disassembled to the nano-level soon.

- It’s a pity. He was a potential next presidential candidate, after all.

- Seriously, what kind of nerve did he have to mess with Kang Jin-hoo’s mother?

- Sigh~ If Myeong Jin-wook is out, who should I vote for in the next presidential election?

***

Calls from supporters and protesters flooded the New Politics Party headquarters.

Opinions were sharply divided among the New Politics Party lawmakers. Some argued for suing Kang Jin-hoo, while others insisted Representative Myeong Jin-wook should apologize.

Floor Leader Jang Hyun-joon smoked a cigarette, lost in thought.

’If we back down here, it won’t look good to the public.’

And Representative Myeong Jin-wook didn’t seem willing to back down easily either.

Offering money to dig into the private lives of a lawmaker’s family, even if not the lawmaker himself, was clearly intimidation and potentially illegal.

If they simply let this pass or bowed their heads, the authority of the National Assembly would hit rock bottom.

As he agonized over finding a solution, Representative Park Chang-soo suddenly burst in.

“Th-this is bad!”

“What is it?”

“K-Kang Jin-hoo has gathered officials from chaebol groups.”

“Huh? What for, all of a sudden?”

“He says he’s going to dig up and expose every single instance of lobbying involving current and former New Politics Party lawmakers!”

Floor Leader Jang Hyun-joon was so shocked he dropped the cigarette from his mouth.

“That crazy……”