Hong Kong Movies: You Hongxingzi, what the hell is the charity king?

Chapter 842 "840" Samsung Electronics 45% Stake Acquired! IMF: ? ? ? Fuck!

20 points,
After dinner,

"Mr. Guan!"

"The reason I invited you here today is to discuss your marriage to my daughter..."

In the Li family courtyard, meticulously trimmed green plants are arranged in a pleasing, staggered pattern, and a winding cobblestone path leads to a wooden wing room.

Inside, the wooden furniture is simple and elegant, and arranged in a neat and orderly manner.

The floor was covered with clean and tidy tatami mats, on which was placed a low wooden tea table, which was already filled with exquisite tea snacks, including cute Korean pastries and steaming hot tea.

Lee Kun-hee and Kwan Cho sat facing each other, with Lee Boo-jin sitting obediently beside Kwan Cho, glancing at him from time to time, a sweet smile on her lips.

Lee Kun-hee personally poured tea for Guan Zu, the steaming hot tea filling the cup with its aroma.

As he poured tea, he said, "Mr. Guan, we have spoiled Fu Zhen since she was a child. If she has done anything wrong, we hope you will forgive her."

Guan Zu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and smiled as he replied, "Mr. Li, you're too kind. Although Fu Zhen doesn't have many merits, I like her very much."

Lee Boo-jin: "…………"

Lee Kun-hee paused for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "Mr. Kwan, we Koreans have always placed great importance on family traditions and marriage. If you and Boo Jin can get married, it will be a blessing for our Lee family."

Lee Kun-hee couldn't very well say "Come and save Samsung." His words, seemingly about the marriage, were actually a subtle test of Kwan Cho's attitude towards Samsung's current predicament, hoping to use this opportunity to get Kwan Cho to help the Samsung Group.

"Oppa~~~"

Lee Boo-jin looked at Kwan Jo with an eager gaze, eight parts genuine and two parts acting.

Her status as a chaebol heiress meant either an arranged marriage or marrying into a wealthy family, leaving her with no control over her own destiny. Rather than choose either of those, she'd rather marry Guan Zu. He's handsome, powerful, rich, and incredibly charming; compared to him, other chaebol heirs are simply trash.

Guan Zu said solemnly, "Don't worry, I will not let Fu Zhen down."

Upon hearing this, Lee Kun-hee was delighted: "Then when will we get married? So we can set a date."

Kwan Cho: "I'm sorry, I need to discuss this with my wife. I always respect her opinion when it comes to family matters."

Lee Kun-hee: "…………"

Lee Boo-jin: "…………"

Guan Zu completely overwhelmed him.

He immediately got stuck and couldn't finish his sentence.

You wouldn't be thinking of dumping me without a second thought, would you?

No, we need to get Fu-jin pregnant as soon as possible. Once she has Kwan-jo's child, everything will be much easier.

Lee Kun-hee then chatted about some everyday matters.

Half an hour later...

Lee Kun-hee finally brought up the issue of Samsung this time.

However, we didn't start with Samsung, but with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Just last month, the government applied for financial assistance from the IMF, but the conditions were too stringent, so the government did not agree."

"Then at the beginning of this month, the IMF came to South Korea and conducted a comprehensive investigation into the economy, finance, and other aspects."

"Then, several requests were made..."

Guan Zu took a sip of tea and continued listening.

He was very curious about what conditions the insatiable IMF had set.

Lee Kun-hee began to explain point by point.

"The first measure is to significantly raise bank interest rates and implement a monetary tightening policy."

Guan Zu paused.

"Cattle!"

While raising interest rates can alleviate inflation, it could be a recipe for disaster for South Korean companies and individuals already burdened with massive debt.

This is forcing these companies to go bankrupt!
Moreover, corporate and individual bankruptcies naturally lead to a large number of bad debts for South Korean banks, which in turn leads to bankruptcies, and these bankruptcies further perpetuate the cycle of more corporate bankruptcies.

Needless to say, the next steps will be rising prices and job losses...

If Guan Zu remembers correctly, it seems that the IMF also made the same request to Thailand, which infuriated the Thai people.

Lee Kun-hee: "Then the IMF's second condition: fully open up to foreign investment, allowing overseas capital to acquire and control local banks."

Guan Zu: "Awesome!!"

This is directly targeting South Korea's financial sovereignty.

South Korean banks are facing a massive amount of non-performing loans and high debt; they're doomed!

Then, once European and American banks enter the market, South Korea's financial sector will inevitably be dominated by them.

From now on, South Korea will just be America's ATM.

This is negotiation with a gun to your head.

The IMF is a blatant and legitimate tool for exploiting people, and it truly deserves its reputation!

Lee Kun-hee: "Third, we demand that the government enact laws that allow companies to lay off employees on a large scale, without any conditions."

Guan Zu nodded. Needless to say, these Americans wanted to convert full-time employees into casual workers, which could greatly reduce the company's costs.

From this perspective, the claims made by people in Dongda University in later generations—that foreign-invested enterprises offer generous salaries and abundant benefits—are unfounded.

It is a true story.

But the real reason is definitely not that foreign companies are conscientious, but that the powerful local government in Tokyo University makes them afraid to act recklessly.

The stronger the government, the less likely foreign companies are to act recklessly.

The weaker the government, the more reckless foreign companies become.

"Fourth, they demanded that major conglomerates reform and accept capital injections. Although they haven't specified which conglomerate and what conditions, I know Samsung won't be spared."

“We, Samsung, are one of the top three conglomerates in South Korea, and they certainly won’t let us go. Moreover, given their greed, the conditions will inevitably be extremely harsh.”

(P.S.: Later information indicates that 52% of Samsung Group's shares and 82% of Samsung Electronics' shares were owned by American capital, although this seems to have decreased later.)
At this point, Lee Kun-hee's expression turned grim.

Samsung Group was built by his father's hard work, and now he may have to watch helplessly as Samsung's sovereignty is handed over.

Guan Zu then thought of something else.

The negotiations with the IMF continued until early December 1997 before a formal agreement was reached. Negotiations with the chaebols, however, didn't begin until 1998.

In January 1998, something very significant happened.

In January, South Korea launched a "Donate Gold to Save the Nation" campaign.

Newly elected South Korean President Kim Dae-jong led by example by donating his own gold jewelry, urging South Koreans to donate gold to replenish the country's foreign exchange and gold reserves.

Subsequently, more than 300 million people lined up at banks across the country to donate their gold jewelry, including rings, earrings, and necklaces, to the government free of charge, totaling more than 227 tons of gold, worth $21 billion.

The madness of this movement even surprised US President Clarington.

Are these Koreans crazy?
As for the final agreement reached between IFM and the South Korean government in December, it resulted in South Korea losing a portion of its economic sovereignty, which is tantamount to treason. Many South Koreans even regard this as the greatest national humiliation since Japan annexed Korea.

……

Inside the side room,
The aroma of tea wafted through the air as Guan Zu sipped his tea, listened attentively, and savored Lee Kun-hee's anger.

“Mr. Guan…the reason I invited you here this time is not only to help with Fu Zhen’s wedding, but also to ask for your assistance.”

They have been working together for over two years.

There were no conflicts between the two sides, and the Eight Star Group developed rapidly, which in turn enabled the Samsung Group to quickly expand its market share of various products and gain many benefits.

Therefore, Lee Kun-hee had a very good impression of Kwan Cho, his collaborator: he was rich, easy to work with, and the collaboration was pleasant!
Those Americans are absolute vampires.

So why not seek help from Guan Zu instead of satisfying those insatiable Americans?
He didn't know how rich the Five Star Group was, but it was definitely super, super rich.

Guan Zu took a sip of tea and said slowly, "How much do you want?"

Lee Kun-hee: "The more the better!"

Guan Zu: "How do you want to cooperate?"

Lee Kun-hee: "If I said I would lend you money and pay you interest, I would be insulting you. Therefore, Samsung Group is willing to sell its shares."

The Samsung Group is enormous, encompassing numerous sectors including electronics, finance, machinery, and chemicals, and owning many subsidiaries such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, Samsung SDS, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Corning, Samsung Networks, Samsung Fire & Marine Engineering, Samsung Securities, Samsung C&T, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering, and so on.

Samsung Electronics is the largest and most core subsidiary of the Samsung Group.

This is also something that Guan Zu values.

Technology is the future!

Guan Zu nodded: "I can offer 10 billion US dollars to acquire 50% of Samsung Electronics' shares..." What an outrageous offer!
Bang!
Lee Kun-hee stumbled and fell backward.

"Impossible, there are too many."

"So how much are you going to give?"

"At most 20%..."

Upon hearing this, Guan Zu immediately stood up and said, "Farewell!"

Lee Kun-hee quickly stopped him: "Wait a minute~~~ We can have more shares, but we can't interfere in the management of Samsung Electronics' affairs."

Guan Zu: "Both the board members and the finance director are indispensable... but I can promise to give you my full support... Also, the involvement of American capital cannot be done casually..."

The two sides went back and forth...

Guan Zu increased the funds to US$20 billion to increase the acquisition of shares in the Samsung Group.

The negotiations are destined to be far from over, but the initial intentions have been reached.

That night,

Guan Zu stayed at the Li family residence.

At 22:00, Lee Kun-hee prepared to go to sleep.

“Dong dong dong~~~~”

Lee Kun-hee: "???"

This is the first time I've realized how bad the sound insulation in a house really is!

Also, it's heartbreaking to see my own cabbage being trampled so much.

after an hour,

The sound rang out again: "Thump thump thump~~~"

Two hours later,
The sound rang out again: "Thump thump thump~~~"

Lee Kun-hee: "…………"

I closed my eyes in despair.

……

……

A new day,
When Guan Zu got up, he saw Lee Kun-hee sitting in the yard, reading a newspaper.

dark circles.

"Old Li~~"

"???"

Lee Kun-hee looked at Kwan Jo in bewilderment.

Lao Li?

What is this name?
They don't treat themselves like outsiders, and they don't even use honorifics.

If an ordinary person dared to say that, they'd be slapped across the face. But the other party is Guan Zu... well, never mind, it's not a big deal, right?

What's the news today?

Guan Zu sat down opposite Lee Kun-hee and picked up a newspaper from the table.

At this moment, the maid brought tea, knelt down in front of him, and placed it on Guan Zu's table.

Guan Zu looked at the newspaper: "Financial storm rages, South Korea's economy hangs in the balance, Taiwan abandons New Taiwan Dollar, exacerbating panic."

Guan Zu has a super memory, so learning Korean is quite fast for him, and reading a newspaper is a piece of cake for him.

"In recent days... international financial speculators led by Soros have been launching a near-devastating attack on the South Korean financial market through a series of malicious tactics..."

"A massive sell-off of the Korean won caused its exchange rate to plummet from 920 won to 1 US dollar in just half a month to a terrifying 956:1..."

"The stock market was not spared either..."

"South Korea is standing on the edge of a cliff, teetering on the brink of collapse..."

Guan Zu glanced at the newspaper, then looked at Lee Kun-hee in surprise: "Old Lee, what kind of newspaper is this? Is it some kind of reactionary organization? How dare you report such news at this time? Isn't this causing panic among the people? Haven't you implemented any news censorship?"

Lee Kun-hee's face was grim, a mixture of anger and shame in his expression: "There are some newspapers that are beyond our control."

Kwan Cho shook his head: "You guys are no good. In Hong Kong, we'd take a hard line against newspapers like this."

Lee Kun-hee rolled his eyes: "You think I don't want to?"

To put it bluntly, they just don't dare.

Because those newspapers are backed by the American daddy.

The South Koreans could only vent their anger.

……

Over the next 10 days,
Five Star Group and Samsung Group have been negotiating.

Samsung Group urgently needs money, while Kwan Cho wants to sign a contract before the IMF negotiations are finalized; both sides are in a hurry.

Therefore,
10 days later,

Kwan Cho and Lee Kun-hee officially signed the acquisition agreement, acquiring 45% of Samsung Electronics' shares (after the IFM is established, American capital will acquire a portion of each party's shares).

This share acquisition percentage is too high, but Lee Kun-hee is confident in Kwan Cho, otherwise he really wouldn't dare to give Kwan Cho so many shares.

When this deal was finalized, it even caught the attention of the South Korean government.

However, the South Korean government is currently overwhelmed with problems and has an upcoming election, so it only inquired about the matter and did not stop it.

On the day the contract was signed,
The news spread throughout Samsung Electronics.

The acquisition was not conducted under the name of "Hong Kong Island Enterprise Five Star Group", but under the name of "Eight Star Group" (in reality, it was still Five Star Group that made the acquisition).

The news spread,

Everyone at Samsung Electronics breathed a sigh of relief.

First, Samsung Group finally has money.

Secondly, they won't be laid off.

Third, the Eight Star Group has a high reputation, and although it has Hong Kong capital, the Koreans do not reject it.

On the same day,

In the stock market, Samsung Electronics' stock price suddenly surged, rising against the market trend.

……

Meanwhile, the IMF's negotiating and investigation team stationed in South Korea quickly received this message.

"Hong Kong capital?"

The foreigners were all utterly astonished.

Hong Kong is still in the midst of a financial crisis and is being attacked by Soros, so how come Hong Kong capital still has money to go to South Korea to snatch their profits?

Snatching food from a tiger's mouth, damn it!
The three major South Korean conglomerates: Hyundai, Daewoo, and Samsung.

These are all prime targets for them, with Samsung Electronics being a key target due to its strong technology.

Now, this piece of fat has been swallowed up by another piece of fat in their eyes.

Go against Tiangang!

Wait a minute... why is Hong Kong Island still holding up?
Is George Soros a complete idiot?!

As for the IMF, they are waiting for the Hong Kong crisis to erupt so that people will come to them for help, and then they will impose harsh conditions to reap the benefits from Hong Kong.

"Fake!"

"Have Soros increase the pressure!"

……

……

1997 year 12 month 18 day,
After the first review by the IMF, South Korea finally received a loan of $35.8 billion.

This means that South Korea has officially accepted the humiliating terms of the IMF.

(End of this chapter)