Chapter 6

### Chapter 6 (6/477)

### Chapter 6: How to Catch This Guy (3)

Jaejun stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

Kang Ho-seok rambled on about No Gyeong-beom in a disgruntled tone for a while. Finally, he checked the time.

"Mr. Jaejun, I have to go now."

"Understood."

"...Come with me. If I'm there, No Gyeong-beom might treat you a bit better."

"Are you close?"

"Somewhat. I might just be imagining it, but No Gyeong-beom and I are from the same university, the same major, and even joined the company at the same time."

"Ah, I see."

Jaejun asked, even though he already knew. Not only that, he also knew that while Kang Ho-seok had topped the recruitment exam, No Gyeong-beom always outperformed him in performance.

"Are you not envious? From what I know, No Gyeong-beom is the top performer."

Kang Ho-seok had a look on his face that said, "How could you not know?"

"Securities is about more than just performance. It's hard to express, but if I have to, I'd say it's about 'survival.' Haha."

"Survival?"

"Yes. Haha."

Kang Ho-seok laughed, perhaps feeling awkward about what he had said.

'Survival, this guy has something.'

As Kang Ho-seok hurriedly stood up, Jaejun rose, savoring the implications of his words.

"Let's go!"

---

Jaejun and Ho-seok took the elevator to the 4th floor, entering the office where the fund managers were stationed. Kang Ho-seok approached a corner desk by the far window and tapped on No Gyeong-beom's cubicle.

No Gyeong-beom, with a scowl, turned around and, upon confirming that the culprit was Kang Ho-seok, huffed and turned back to his monitor.

"No Gyeong-beom, I've brought a new recruit. You talked to Manager Seo Hyeong-gil, right?"

"You're late."

"I was showing him around the company to help him get familiar, so it took a bit longer."

"Leave him here."

No Gyeong-beom said nothing more, continuing to stare at the monitor and tap the number pad on the keyboard. A cold atmosphere enveloped the room.

Ignoring this, Kang Ho-seok introduced Jaejun to him.

"Mr. Jaejun, come over and say hello. This is Team Leader No Gyeong-beom."

Jaejun approached No Gyeong-beom and greeted him.

"Please take care of me..."

No Gyeong-beom cut off Jaejun's greeting irritably.

"Don't talk to me when I'm focused on the monitor. Don't move either."

"Hey, No Gyeong-beom. You should at least acknowledge the greeting and stand him up."

"..."

"No Gyeong-beom!"

Only then did No Gyeong-beom turn around, his face full of annoyance, seemingly holding back with great effort.

"I'm sensitive right now, so go to the 3rd floor and ask Kang Byung-gu to support the new recruit. He'll be better than me."

With that, No Gyeong-beom turned back to the monitor, treating Kang Ho-seok and Jaejun as if they were invisible.

'What a jerk.'

Jaejun inwardly sighed and followed No Gyeong-beom's gaze to the monitor filled with various graphs.

Shin Nan Construction, Daesik Foods, Robert Electric, Jae Kyung Machinery...

Robert Electric? Jae Kyung Machinery?

Suddenly, historical records flashed through Jaejun's mind.

'Wait. 1996... Is this it?'

Robert Electric and Jae Kyung Machinery were...

Pump stocks.

Jaejun quickly scanned No Gyeong-beom's monitor again. The Robert Electric on his screen was already in the process of selling off the remaining shares after the operation had ended. Jae Kyung Machinery, having completed the accumulation phase, seemed to be preparing to drive up the stock price.

'The top fund manager at Current Securities is running an operation?'

Jaejun knew the history of the securities industry from his past life. He had investigated the behavior of second and third-generation conglomerates who got involved in pump stocks, so he knew most of them.

'A guy who uses operations to line his own pockets... and he's using the company's money to do it.'

In this era, the targets of operations were stocks with 3 to 5 million shares issued. The major shareholders or related parties owned 30% to 50%, and institutions typically held around 20%. The shares available on the market were 30% to 50%, or about 1.5 to 2.5 million shares. With daily trading volumes less than 1% of the listed shares, 1% would mean 10,000 to 20,000 shares traded. If they accumulated for 15 days, they could gather 150,000 to 300,000 shares.

In other words, with the funds to move 300,000 shares, they could start an operation. For a 20,000 won stock, it would be 6 billion won, and for a 10,000 won stock, it would be 3 billion won. A fund manager with the authority to move about 50 billion won per stock could use the company's funds secretly, take the profits, and return the funds to their original state.

Secretly moving funds could involve using nominee accounts or other securities company counters... There were many ways to turn thoughts into reality.

If funds were lacking, they could look for a front man. There were plenty of loan sharks in Myeongdong.

Jae Kyung Machinery seemed to be a stock that required a significant investment...

About 200 to 300 billion won would be needed.

From 1995 to 1998, the stock market was rife with such operations.

Thus...

'No Gyeong-beom holding pump stocks is no coincidence. He's definitely in the middle of an operation. Jae Kyung Machinery is too big for him to handle alone, so he must have a partner...'

Jaejun stopped his train of thought and slowly followed Kang Ho-seok, who was leading the way out of the office, while quickly scanning the monitors around him.

'Who is it...'

He checked if any other employees were holding pump stocks.

The first fund manager's monitor he saw displayed:

Taeyang Industry, Daesun Chemical, SS Telecom, Barbarian, Shin Hong Wako, BYB.

From the graphs, these were low PER stocks.

Stocks with a low price-to-earnings ratio, indicating they were undervalued in the market and had the potential to rise.

'But low PER stocks can take a long time to rise. At least five years, so you need a lot of patience.'

Why patience?

Because in this era, foreigners who could be considered modern financiers had swept up the low PER and low PBR stocks. The rest, while low PER, were not of interest to the market, so their performance remained unchanged.

Look at BYB, a company that makes underwear. Would there suddenly be a surge in underwear sales?

It's a stock that won't get attention until a trend of wearing two layers of underwear emerges.

The next fund manager's monitor still held onto construction and heavy industry stocks, waiting for them to rise, with a blinking mouse cursor.

The 1980s were the heyday of construction and heavy industry stocks. Those holding onto these stocks were people who couldn't let go of the hope that the past glory would return.

Stock trends don't come and go.

Jaejun continued to scan the monitors as he passed by the fund managers.

Daehyang Industry, Man Kuk Steel, Sam Yook Electronics, Han Sung Steel Pipe, Seok Gong Enterprise, Taeyang Industry, Daesung Logistics, Hye Sung.

These were low PBR stocks.

Stocks with a low price-to-book ratio, indicating they were undervalued in the market, similar to low PER stocks.

They were like claiming an elephant's leg was a tree trunk.

Trees don't move.

Let it go already.

Low PER and low PBR stocks were already preempted by foreigners, making it hard to make big profits.

One stock caught Jaejun's eye.

Daehyang Industry!

'Even if you hold Daehyang Industry until 2007, you can make a huge profit. The question is whether this person can hold it for ten years.'

I really want to tell him.

Most other fund managers held blue-chip and quality stocks.

POSK, SS Electronics, HD Motors—stocks with high liquidity, making them easy to buy and sell.

Jaejun felt a sense of loss as he looked at them.

The fund managers lacked distinct characteristics.

No one was deeply focused on a specific sector.

Investments that failed to apply proper analysis and future value to companies.

These people misunderstood foreigner investment as textbook investing.

'Are they failing to properly apply analysts' reports to real-world investments, or are the analysts failing to create proper reports?'

Even by 2010, 15 years later, ordinary investors were familiar with terms like PER, PBR, blue-chip, and value stocks. In the market, low PER and low PBR stocks were already preempted by institutions, foreigners, and even retail investors, leaving few promising value stocks. By 2020, the focus was on profiting from stock bubbles and crashes, and fund managers made rational investments based on analysts' reports.

But this was a completely different world.

'They shouldn't be blamed, as they lack experience.'

---

3rd floor, Analysts' Office.

At the end of the space, in the best-looking seat, sat Manager Kang Byung-gu.

Kang Byung-gu, who had already arrived at his desk, gestured for Jaejun to hurry up as he slowly followed.

"Mr. Kang."

Kang Byung-gu stood up and greeted Kang Ho-seok first.

"Hey, this is the new top recruit, Jaejun."

"Please take care of me."

"Welcome."

Kang Byung-gu greeted him with a friendly smile and extended his hand for a handshake. The grip was firm.

Why the strong grip? Is it a greeting? Or are you trying to show that you're superior?

After the handshake, Kang Byung-gu continued a casual conversation with Team Leader Kang Ho-seok, asking about his well-being. After a moment,

"Since No Gyeong-beom asked, please take care of Mr. Jaejun."

"Sure, don't worry."

Kang Ho-seok turned back while leaving, waving and disappearing.

Kang Byung-gu's expression changed.

"Hey, new recruit."

His tone was completely different from when Team Leader Kang Ho-seok was there.

"You're the top recruit, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"English?"

"I'm pretty good at it."

"Then translate this first."

Kang Byung-gu threw a stack of 200 pages of English documents at Jaejun.

"Translate?"

"Why? Don't you want to?"

"No, I don't."

"When a senior tells you to do something, you do it. Got it?"

"..."

"Go to that corner, translate the documents, and organize them neatly. Bring them to me before lunch."

Jaejun took the documents from Kang Byung-gu and quickly scanned his monitor.

Robert Electric, Jae Kyung Machinery.

The same stocks as on No Gyeong-beom's monitor.

'...Another pump stock.'

That means, you two are partners.

Kang Byung-gu and No Gyeong-beom.

An analyst and a fund manager.

A perfect match.

Sitting at the corner desk as instructed, Jaejun stared at the back of Kang Byung-gu's head, lost in thought.

There is a firewall in place to prevent fund managers and analysts from exchanging opinions.

Between fund managers and between analysts and fund managers.

Laypeople might find this strange, but this system is necessary.

What would happen if two people colluded and a fund manager recommended a stock in large quantities, and an analyst recommended it?

What if dozens of analysts recommended the same stock?

The firewall is there to prevent the manipulation of a company's stock price or any dishonest behavior.

Only publicly available information can be exchanged.

...How to catch these guys.

Pump stock, Jae Kyung Machinery.

Jaejun recalled the history of securities stored in his mind.

In July 1995, the stock price of Jae Kyung Machinery, which was 10,000 won, rose to 130,000 won by September 1996, due to rumors that it had developed wastewater treatment equipment.

Of course, the development of wastewater treatment equipment was a clear falsehood.

It was revealed two years later by the Financial Supervisory Service that the rumor about Jae Kyung Machinery developing wastewater treatment equipment was a fake flyer used in the operation.

However,

The Financial Supervisory Service only caught the situation, not the culprits who had already profited.

The perpetrators had disappeared, and no one knew who the backers were.

Even Jae Kyung Machinery denied any involvement, as they had no capability and no evidence.

Only the investors who lost money were left feeling wronged.

But...

The two perpetrators were right in front of Jaejun.

No Gyeong-beom and Kang Byung-gu.

Great, let's start with this.

As Jaejun opened the English documents given by Kang Byung-gu, he almost shouted, "You damn bastard."

The documents detailed the wastewater treatment equipment being developed by the American company GreenField.

They planned to spread the rumor that Jae Kyung Machinery had developed the equipment by mixing this information.

This is it.

Jaejun stared at the back of Kang Byung-gu's head, calmly analyzing the situation.

He is preparing a report on Jae Kyung Machinery.

This means the stock purchase is almost complete.

Once the report is released, they will sell the accumulated shares.

Damn, Jaejun picked up the calendar on the desk and started flipping through it.

It's June now. They will likely start driving up the stock price in July. So, their operation timing is about one to two months away.