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nAt the Mirae Group headquarters at that time.

n“Do you mean Myongjin Group Chairman’s youngest son said that to you?”

n“Yes, Dad.”

n“I think his name is…”

n“Juyoung Hong.”

nChairman Jungwhan Yon finally recalled that name.

nAs far as he could remember, Juyoung was very quiet and reticent.

n“Is this the guy who got perfect marks in all subjects out of the blue, right?”

n“That’s right.”

n“Oh my God!”

n

n

nChairman Yon could not hide his surprise as if he could not believe it.

nThen, he looked at his granddaughter Bora again and opened his mouth.

n“This guy named Juyoung told you that I should not waste money because he will be able to arrange for a huge amount of crude oil to be imported to South Korea, and assured you that the Mirae Group would be supplied with oil at the normal price, right?”

n“Correct.”

n“…”

nChairman Yon could not help but be speechless when he heard the same answer to his repeated questions, wondering if he heard her wrong.

nOf course, he did not rebuke her because he knew how smart she was.

nAt that moment, she said, looking at him, “Of course, I know you can’t believe him. I know what he said to me is just absurd, so I thought hard about it, but…”

n“Got it.”

n“Pardon?”

n“I fully understand what you mean. I have no intention of wasting money like Daesung anyway.”

nChairman Yon was already aware of Daesung’s efforts to secure crude oil in the futures market. In fact, he reached out to the futures market ahead of Daesung.

nBut he did not make the same choice as Daesung because the futures market was full of racketeers and cheaters.

nHe thought to himself, ‘I didn’t intend it for this occasion, but I’ve prepared some measures to break through the current difficulties anyway.’

nHe let her out of his office, and pondered over Juyoung Hong deeply.

n***

nAt the Office of the Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

n“So, the US Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and the senior advisor to President William are coming to Korea?”

n“Yes! We’ve just received the report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!”

n“When are they arriving here?”

n“Tomorrow!”

nThe Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs was startled by his deputy’s report.

nSo he jumped up from his seat despite himself, and at that moment, the chair he was sitting on was pushed back and hit the wall strongly.

nSlam!

nThe U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior were far from low-ranking officials, and Thomas Tyler, the senior advisor to President William, was the President’s right-hand man, often called the President’s alter ego. So much so that his visit itself could be called President Willam’s visit itself.

n“What’s the purpose of their visit?”

nStunned that the top US officials would visit Korea tomorrow, Myongsan Lee, the Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, asked with a stammer.

nBut his deputy answered, “Well, I hear that even the Ministry for Foreign Affairs didn’t get any detailed information…”

n“Um…”

nHearing that, the Special Assistant quickly racked his brain to make the best educated guess.

nHe could not tell the Minister he didn’t know why they were visiting this time.

nWhile he was reviewing their job descriptions carefully, he could come up with one answer.

nClearly, the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for US international trade and economic growth, and the Department of the Interior manages countless domestic resources ranging from timber to oil production, although their work slightly overlaps with the Department of Energy.

nWhen he took into account such factors, he could figure out why they wanted to visit South Korea at this time. In other words, the most pressing problem for Korea at this stage was securing crude oil.

nWhen he pondered over why the US President’s senior advisor joined the other two, he concluded that their visit this time reflected the US President’s intentions.

n“Let me hurry up!”

nHe moved quickly to cope with their sudden visit.

nGiven the situation, the United States would not supply oil for South Korea at cheap prices, but they would be better than the racketeers in the oil market.

n‘By the way, I don’t know why they have decided to take action just now when our government has repeatedly asked for their help.’

nThe United States changed its position from an energy importer to an exporter thanks to the shale revolution.

nSo, the South Korean government worked tirelessly to persuade the United States to export oil to Korea.

nThe sudden surge in gasoline prices aroused public outrage, which was a huge pressure on the government. But the Korean government’s lobbying activities in the United States didn’t work because Korea was not the only country faced with oil shortages.

nJapan was also faced with similar shortages.

nSo the Korean government was even more on alert because if Japan succeeded in importing crude oil from the United States while Korea failed, the Korean people would obviously label their government as incompetent, which would definitely pull down the President’s approval rating.

nAnyway, the Blue House, or the President’s official executive office, was shocked by the chief presidential advisor for foreign affairs’s report.

nOf course, they immediately leaked it to the press because that was the best way to raise their approval rating.

nWhen the news about the top US officials’ visit to Korea broke, the top five oil refineries of Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Hanil Energy, and Maseok Caltex went into high alert right away.

nDaesung was more tense than other groups because they had already spent a lot of money to buy crude oil in the futures market at more than five times the normal price.

nWhen they sell the oil in the domestic market, they would have to raise prices to make up for their huge losses.

nAnyway, everybody paid attention to Incheon International Airport, where the top US government delegation would arrive.

nIn Incheon International Airport.

nClick! Click! Pop! Pop!

nLots of photographers were busy taking pictures here and there.

nAs already known to the press, the US Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior arrived, along with Thomas Tyler, the senior advisor to the President of the United States.

nAt that moment, somebody appeared behind them.

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n

nA reporter recognized him, and said stammeringly, “Isn’t he ExxonMobil Vice President Ian?”

n“Who is that guy next to him? He’s from Chevron…”

nExxonMobil is one of the world’s leading oil companies, along with Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP. Shell isn’t quite on par with the rest of them, but given the shale oil revolution in the United States, Shell is certain to emerge as one of the top five oil companies in the world. A high-ranking executive from Shell also appeared with them.

nEven though the reporters had already guessed the purpose of their visit, they were now quite certain when they confirmed the entourage of the top US delegation.

nThen another group of officials appeared.

nThey were from the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

n“Welcome. We will escort you.”

nThere was no grand welcome ceremony for them because they came to Korea without any notice or any consultation with the Korean government. Nonetheless, the Blue House and the National Assembly worked together to welcome them for it was essential to enlist the cooperation of the United States to secure crude oil as soon as possible.

nBut one of the top US delegates said, “Sorry. We’ve got an appointment at the moment, so we will visit the Blue House later.”

n“Pardon?”

n