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nAt the Daesung Group at the time.

n“Damn it! Why did America decide to take action?”

nDaesung had already bought a huge amount of crude oil in the futures market, and even rented an oil tanker by paying five times the normal price.

nIn other words, the longer the situation of Saudi Arabia and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz persisted, the better it was for Daesung, because they bet everything on the long-term status quo.

nBut the development unfolded in a completely different direction.

n“Damn it! What are you doing with our ties with the Blue House? You should have found out about the US action! That’s why we have bribed the Blue House officials, right?”

n“Well, I hear that even the Blue House was briefed about their visit belatedly. And they visited here all of a sudden.”

nChairman Junghan Kim could not control his anger despite Yu’s explanation.

nIf things went wrong, not only Daesung Oil Refinery, but also the Daesung Group might go bankrupt. They simply spent so much money securing the crude oil at hefty prices.

n“Got it. By the way, why did the American bastards decline the Blue House’s escort offer?”

n“Well…”

nBang!

n“Damn it! Don’t you know anything? How can I do business in this situation?”

nChairman Kim slammed the desk hard when Director Yu replied hesitantly.

nAt that moment, Mansoo Kim, President of Daesung Oil Refinery, cautiously said, “I’m afraid to tell you this, but if our government imports crude oil from the United States, the prices of crude oil we have purchased in the futures market will drop drastically. Actually, the oil prices in the domestic oil market have already begun to fall. We have to sell them before the prices fall further. I think Japan will buy our oil.”

n“How much do you think they will offer to buy it from us?”

n“…”

nPresident Kim could not answer Chairman Kim’s question because Japan would not buy crude oil from Daesung at high prices if they found out what was going on in the local oil market.

n“If a huge amount of American crude oil begins to be unloaded here, our losses will increase tremendously. The US suppliers are ExxonMobil and Chevron. If they join hands together, they can supply Korea with enough oil for several months within the next several days. Considering that, we need to minimize our losses now!”

nPresident Kim appealed to him to take the second best out of the available worst options. Needless to say, ExxonMobil and Chevron were huge oil companies.

nBut Chairman Kim said, “It’s already late. We’ve rented oil tankers at a huge cost, and we will incur huge losses if we sell it now. I would rather bet on negotiations failing between the US delegates and their Korean partner.”

n“…”

n“…”

n“…”

nA heavy silence fell on the conference room of the Daesung Group.

n***

nAnybody who was engaged in economic activities or who was interested in the economy watched the morning TV news carefully. Even those driving cars or scooters watched it as well because of the oil prices that had almost doubled in two weeks.

nWhen the US economic delegation stopped in front of a huge building in Seoul, everyone watching the TV news was shocked because it was not the Blue House or a hotel, but the Myongjin Group headquarters that they stopped at.

nBesides, the Myongjin Group staff hurriedly came out to greet them as soon as they arrived as if they had been waiting for their arrival.

nAfter all, those watching the TV realized that it was the Myongjin Group that called not only the US Secretary of Commerce and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, but also the leaders of the world’s top oil companies to Korea.

nSo there were quite a few people who were surprised.

n“Man, it’s the Myongjin Group, not the Blue House?”

n“Yeah, I’m surprised it’s Myongjin, not Mirae.”

n“Did Myongjin have such a huge influence?”

n“Of course, it is true that Myongjin is one of the top five conglomerates in Korea, but the visitors are from the United States! Besides, even President William’s right-hand man, Thomas Tyler, has also come!”

nThe people were shocked that the American delegates naturally entered the Myongjin Group headquarters escorted by the Myongjin staff.

nBut some were even more shocked, namely, the Daesung and Kusan Group that had been competing with Myongjin for the second place in top business rankings.

nHanil Energy was also on alert.

n“Do you still have strong ties with Myongjin Oil Refinery right?”

n“Sure!”

n“Contact them! Get an appointment with them by all means!”

n“Understood!”

nMaseok Caltex was on high alert too.

n“Damn it! Those who requested me to join hands with the Daesung Group, come step forward and prepare yourself to be fired!”

n“…”

n“…”

n“…”

nAnyway, the oil refining industry had no choice but to plunge into shock.

n***

nAt the Myongjin Group headquarters.

n“Whew…”

nBefore welcoming the guests, Chairman Hong took a long, deep breath.

nActually, he had met foreign presidents and prime ministers when travelling abroad for business purposes, but he had never met the top officials of the world’s largest country. Besides, he could not help feeling excited because he could also meet the leaders of ExxonMobil and Chevron, who he had never met before despite his huge efforts.

nAt that moment, the elevator door opened, and the top US officials appeared.

nChairman Hong stretched out his hand, then shook hands with them one by one.

n“Welcome! My name is Sangman Hong, and I’m the Myongjin Group’s chairman.”

nHe introduced himself to them in a humble manner.

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Harrison, the US Secretary of Commerce.”

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Walton, the Deputy Secretary of the Interior.”

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Thomas Tyler, Special Advisor to the White House.”

nChairman Hong had plenty of experience meeting lots of people, including politicians and businessmen, so he could immediately figure out the other party’s feelings by checking their expressions.

nFrom their expressions and attitude, he concluded that they were being cautious and polite in dealing with him.

nTo be honest, Chairman Hong was slightly shocked that they were being humble and polite because they could easily act arrogant as they were top US officials.

nNonetheless, they were very cautious and polite in their words and deeds.

nAnd the top executives of the world’s leading oil companies were more or less the same.

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Ian, Vice President of ExxonMobil.”

n“Nice to meet you. I’m Bakon, the General Manager of Chevron’s Asian Branches.”

nWith their famous brand as an oil refinery, ExxonMobil and Chevron were evaluated as more valuable than the Myongjin Group.

nOf course, there was nothing like a master-servant relationship between them even if the two oil giants’ corporate value was bigger than Myongjin, but given the urgent situation Myongjin faced, Myongjin was obviously in a less advantageous position.

nFor securing crude oil was the top priority not only for Myongjin, but for Korea as a whole.

nBut Chairman Hong was even more surprised because of their humble attitude, but he didn’t express his feelings, of course.

nHe wasn’t stupid enough to ask why they were being so cautious.

nAnyway, he escorted them, who were being unusually cautious and prudent, into the conference room..

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