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CH250 | GSI
🕑 Added 2025-03-25 03:32:30 +0000 UTCDaeheung Group Headquarters
Late in the afternoon, the spacious lobby, lined with artificial marble, was in chaos, packed with over forty reporters.
The media had rushed in after receiving word of an urgent press conference from Daeheung Group.
As PR staff hurriedly guided them toward the first-floor auditorium, the arriving journalists exchanged greetings with familiar faces and gathered in small groups, chatting amongst themselves.
One reporter, his tie loosened, strolled around with a notebook in hand before spotting someone he recognized.
"Oh, Senior Go, you're here too?"
Go Daehong, a journalist from Hanseong Ilbo, lifted his head at the greeting and responded dryly.
"You think I'm the only one? Look around. Practically every major media outlet is here."
"Yeah, no kidding. What's going on all of a sudden?"
"How should I know? And even if I did, do you think I'd share it instead of getting an exclusive scoop for myself?"
Ju Chido, a journalist from World Economy News, smirked and stuck close to Go Daehong.
"Come on, don’t be like that. If you know something, let’s share the info. We’re all in the same business, right?"
"Same business, my ass. If you got a scoop, you'd hog it all for yourself."
"Oh, come on. You’re still bitter about the Sechang Bio story?"
"Would you have forgotten? You have no idea how much grief I got from my editor because of that!"
"Alright, alright. How about I buy you a drink after this? Let’s call it even."
Go Daehong snorted and held up two fingers.
"Two rounds. Then I’ll consider forgiving you."
"Fine, fine. But seriously, you haven’t heard anything?"
Lowering his voice, Ju Chido glanced around, conscious of the swarm of reporters nearby.
"Nothing. Looks like no one else knows either."
Go Daehong shrugged, implying he had already tried asking around.
"Then what the hell is this about? Calling in every business journalist in the city… This has to be big."
"We’ll find out soon enough."
Just then, a PR staff member raised his voice over the crowd.
"The press conference will begin in five minutes. Please make your way inside!"
"Oh, looks like it’s starting."
"Let's go!"
As Go Daehong, Ju Chido, and the other reporters murmured amongst themselves, they made their way into the auditorium.
By the time they had roughly settled into their seats, a side door opened, and Park Jinhyung, the president of Daeheung Textile, strode in with his secretary general, Oh Inhwan, his expression grim.
After whispering something briefly to a PR staff member, he left Oh Inhwan standing nearby and walked alone to the podium.
As Park Jinhyung faced forward, he took in the sight of more than forty reporters from various media outlets gathered before him.
In the front rows, dozens of cameras on tripods locked their lenses onto him, their flashes bursting wildly as the cacophony of shutter clicks filled the room.
“Testing… Testing…”
As the sound of camera shutters gradually faded, the PR manager standing at the moderator’s seat on the left tapped the microphone lightly and brought it to his mouth.
“Thank you to all the reporters for attending despite your busy schedules. We will now begin the emergency press conference with Daeheung Group’s representative, President Park Jinhyung of Daeheung Textile.”
Park Jinhyung swept his gaze across the gathered reporters, took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly before speaking in a weighty tone.
“The reason we have urgently gathered the press today is that there is something we must inform the public about regarding our group.”
The auditorium, which had been buzzing just moments ago, fell into an attentive silence as journalists hurriedly pulled out their notebooks or switched on their recorders to capture his words.
“We recently discovered that someone has been secretly acquiring large amounts of stock in our core affiliate, Mido Department Store. After conducting an investigation, we confirmed that a hostile takeover is currently underway, targeting our group.”
“!”
The room erupted in shock as if a bomb had just been dropped.
While most had sensed that something significant was about to be revealed, no one had anticipated that it would be a hostile takeover.
In South Korea, it had long been an unspoken rule among chaebol groups to avoid hostile takeovers of each other’s companies, making this revelation all the more astonishing.
“A hostile takeover?!”
“Mido Department Store? Who the hell is behind this?”
“Could it be Lotte?”
“Or maybe Utopia? They’ve been expanding aggressively lately.”
Some reporters had come merely because of a tip-off from the Daeheung Group PR team or at the direction of their desks, not expecting much. But the moment the words "hostile takeover" were uttered, their drowsy minds snapped to full attention.
Any thoughts of grabbing a quick drink after the conference using their travel stipend vanished entirely.
Their instincts screamed “scoop!” and their eyes sharpened with focus. The previously sluggish flashes from the cameras reignited, flickering rapidly as the sound of shutters filled the room again.
The blinding lights didn’t faze Park Jinhyung in the slightest. Standing firm, he continued speaking without so much as a blink.
“They attempted to disguise their actions as foreign investment while secretly amassing stock. But what’s truly despicable is that the mastermind behind this scheme… is none other than Donghae Group.”
At the mention of Donghae Group—not Lotte or Utopia, the expected contenders in the department store wars—the room once again erupted into chaos.
“Donghae Group?!”
“This is completely unexpected.”
“A battle between Donghae and Daeheung Group... Tomorrow’s front-page headline is practically set.”
As the reporters’ eyes gleamed with excitement and their pens moved swiftly across their notepads, Park Jinhyung stood at the podium with a determined expression, raising his voice.
“We strongly condemn Donghae Group’s despicable attempt to seize control of a domestic company by leveraging foreign forces. We officially demand that they immediately cease their attack on Mido Department Store! If they continue their aggression, we will mobilize all of our group’s resources and fight to the very end to protect our company. That is our firm declaration here today!”
As soon as Park Jinhyung finished his statement, the reporters sprang to their feet like a swarm of bees, bombarding him with questions.
“When did Donghae Group begin their hostile takeover attempt?”
“Which foreign entities are backing them? Please disclose their identities!”
“What specific countermeasures will you take?”
“Are you absolutely certain that Donghae Group is behind this?”
With a brief bow of his head, Park Jinhyung offered no response. Instead, he stepped down from the podium and walked straight toward the side exit.
“Wait a moment!”
“President Park Jinhyung!”
Desperate not to lose out on an exclusive, the reporters surged forward. But the PR staff and security personnel, who had been standing by, quickly rushed in to block their path.
The auditorium instantly descended into chaos, resembling a disturbed beehive. The PR manager, drenched in cold sweat, clutched the microphone and shouted over the commotion.
“Everyone! We will distribute press releases with further details. Please maintain order!”
At that moment, two PR staff members emerged, each holding stacks of printed press releases in both arms.
The moment the reporters saw them, they swarmed like predators spotting fresh prey, abandoning their pursuit of Park Jinhyung in favor of grabbing the documents.
“Please, there’s enough for everyone! Take them in an orderly manner!”
Despite the PR manager’s repeated assurances, it was no use.
The reporters, their eyes burning with the prospect of a scoop, stormed forward like a horde of locusts. In the frenzy, minor scuffles even broke out.
“Move! I got here first!”
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“Hey! Stop pushing!”
Amidst the chaos, Park Jinhyung and Secretary General Oh Inhwan slipped out of the auditorium, only to run into Seok-won, who had been waiting in the hallway.
“Good job.”
“Reporters… sigh.”
Park Jinhyung let out a small sigh and pulled a cigarette from his inner pocket.
Oh Inhwan, ever the attentive aide, quickly flicked open his lighter and lit it for him.
As Park Jinhyung inhaled deeply and exhaled a long stream of white smoke, he muttered.
“We just threw a bomb. When the stock market opens tomorrow, all hell will break loose.”
Seok-won, his hands casually tucked into his trouser pockets, responded coolly.
“Isn’t that exactly what we wanted?”
“Yeah… But now, the real war begins. Do you think we can pull this off?”
Chairman Park Tae-hong hastily convened the company's executives for an emergency strategy meeting and declared a crisis management system to prevent the hostile takeover.
He then entrusted full authority to his second son, Seok-won, putting him in charge of leading the forthcoming battle for stock acquisition against Donghae Group.
Not everyone was entirely on board with this decision.
Though they acknowledged Seok-won’s keen financial acumen, some worried that he was too young to handle a matter that could determine the fate of the entire group.
However, when Chairman Park slammed his palm on the conference table and demanded to know what everyone else had been doing while Seok-won uncovered Donghae Group’s sinister scheme, the room fell silent.
Even Park Jinhyung, the eldest son and president of the textile division—who might have felt slighted that such an important task was given to his younger brother instead of him—threw his full support behind Seok-won. With that, no one dared to voice further objections.
“To be honest, I’m not so sure about this.”
“What?”
Seok-won smirked, raising one corner of his mouth as he looked at his hesitant older brother.
“No matter how I think about it, I just can’t see myself losing.”
“Damn it, you scared me for a second.”
“Haha.”
Seeing his brother’s relieved expression, Seok-won exuded confidence.
“I’m not joking—I mean it. Donghae Group will soon realize they picked the wrong fight. Just trust me and watch.”
“Yeah… I really hope you’re right.”
President Park Jin-hyung let out a small chuckle, then spoke seriously, holding his cigarette between his fingers.
“I’ll secure as much liquid cash as possible and get it to you quickly.”
“You said we have about 10 billion won readily available, right?”
Park Jin-hyung nodded heavily.
“Yeah. As you know, we poured most of our funds into the construction of the new Gangnam branch, so our cash reserves are tight.”
“That makes sense.”
“We’re considering taking out bank loans using idle real estate as collateral and issuing additional convertible bonds (CBs). So don’t worry—just focus on acquiring shares.”
With Daeheung Group’s liquidity drained from purchasing the Sampoong Department Store site and constructing the Gangnam branch, the only immediate option to secure funds for stock acquisition was taking on debt.
With the IMF crisis looming, dramatically increasing their debt might help them stay afloat for now, but in the long run, it was like willingly stepping into a fire.
Seok-won, fully aware of this harsh reality, flashed an enigmatic smile as he watched Park Jin-hyung steel himself for the battle ahead.
“I’ll take care of the remaining shortfall myself. Don’t proceed with the bank loans or CB issuance—just have them ready as a backup.”
“You’ll need at least several hundred billion won. Are you saying you’ll cover that yourself?”
“You know... I’ve made quite a bit of money.”
“What?”
President Park Jin-hyung tilted his head in curiosity, then suddenly recalled the time his younger brother gifted their father a private jet.
"He said he got lucky and won a massive U.S. lottery jackpot, then multiplied his wealth through investments, right?"
Even so, for Seok-won, this was practically his entire fortune. Yet, he was willing to put it all on the line for the sake of the group—an enormous decision.
Of course, this was all due to Park Jin-hyung’s mistaken assumption—he had no idea how much wealth Seok-won truly possessed.
“As your older brother, I feel guilty for putting this on you, but… I’m counting on you.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re brothers—this is the time to help. Besides, attacking Daeheung Group is the same as attacking our family. There’s no way I’d sit back and let that slide.”
“That’s true. You’re absolutely right.”
A cold glint flickered in Seok-won’s eyes as the corners of his lips curled into a smirk.
“Just watch—I’ll make sure they regret ever picking this fight.”
