Chapter 318

Chapter 318

Despite the Japanese government’s request, the media continued to report on the loss of the public pension fund. The public’s dissatisfaction showed no sign of subside.

Japan continued to foretell a hard response, and asked for help from the United States and the international community. However, everyone’s reaction was lukewarm.

Although it is true that OTK Company took advantage of its mistakes, it is wrong to make a mistake in the first place.

This time, the amount was large and it became an international issue, but minor order accidents occur frequently in the financial world. I wonder if Japan had taken active measures against the mistakes of foreign financial companies in the meantime, but when it saw a profit, it stood still and raised its voice when it saw a loss, so it was natural that no one would take the side.

The US government ignored it, and the Korean government made it clear that it would not be involved in this case.

Unlike Japanese politicians who complain every day, most Korean politicians are reluctant to even mention this incident. It is because I saw the approval rating of the Liberty Korea Party plummet at the words of party leader Yeon Na-kyung, and also because of the learning effect that Kang Jin-hoo had in the meantime.

Prime Minister Okazaki sharpened his teeth.

‘I was comfortable with President Park Si-hyung.’

He was well aware of the importance of Korea-Japan relations. He accepted Japan’s offer to cooperate, because he covered past historical issues.

Thus, the comfort women agreement was signed, and South Korea no longer raised the issue of comfort women to the international community. In addition, on the issue of compensation for forced labor, it took the method of continuing to postpone the trial in cooperation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It doesn’t make judgments at all.

But when the government changed, everything changed. President Huh Chang-min broke the comfort women agreement reached by the previous administration. And the Korean judiciary ruled that Japanese companies should compensate for the forced labor.

If Lee Jeong-hye succeeded Park Si-hyeong as president, she would have stood up for Japan in some way.

But if you think about it, it is because of Kang Jin-hoo that Lee Jung-hye did not become president. It was also Kang Jin Hugo that raised Karos, a rival of Japanese automakers.

So, the death of Yoshizawa Masao has been raised as an issue and criticized public opinion has been raised, but 14.97 million Toyota shares have been sold in his hands!

Rumors began to spread that Zhou Cha had contacted Jinhu Kang. It was highly probable that it was true, as both sides did not deny it.

If Zhou Cha gets a 10 percent stake in Toyota, it is clear that it will actively intervene in management.

This is the worst for Toyota and for the Japanese government.

If Kang Jin Hu has an idea, he will not hand over the stock to Zhou Cha, but… … .

‘You should know what this guy is thinking!’

* * *

Despite the clarifications of party leader Yeon Na-kyung, criticisms against the Liberty Korea Party continued.

In the end, CEO Na Kyung, who opened in one day, withdrew his remarks and made an official apology. At the same time, he said again that there can be various interpretations of individual events.

Taek-gyu, who was watching the scene on TV, asked.

“Why the hell is that party so side with Japan?”

I said while looking through the Japanese economic data I received from Hyunjoo’s older sister.

“What day or two did the Liberal People’s Party place importance on Korea-Japan relations?”

When Park Si-hyung signed the comfort women agreement with Japan, the Liberty Korea Party was the ruling party. To the victims who were angry and protested that the agreement could not be accepted, Rep. Yeon Na-kyung said that it was a great agreement that advanced Korea-Japan relations and that it should be accepted in a grand victory.

In addition, when it was revealed that the previous administration had delayed the trial for compensation for forced labor through a judicial transaction with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he defended it, saying that it was an appropriate measure in consideration of Korea-Japan relations.

However, when this incident broke out, the Korean people were told that they had to consider the feelings of the Japanese people, so the people’s clothes were bound to explode.

“Isn’t that just because I don’t want to listen to you?”

“What… … .”

there won’t be any

“It is true that Japan is an important partner for Korea. If you don’t know about other things, you can’t ignore Japan in terms of economic power. Because Japan is the only country that has been economically chasing the United States.”

The fact that the subculture market, such as games and anime, has developed to that extent in the first place, speaks of Japan’s economic power.

“Why did a country that did so well fall into a prolonged recession?”

“Because of the Plaza Agreement.”

In 1985, the United States, which could no longer see a trade deficit, forced the yen to appreciate through the Plaza Accord. As a result, the Japanese economy suffered from a decline in exports, and the government lowered interest rates and relaxed lending regulations to stimulate the economy.

This liquidity supplied to the market raised the price of the asset. Real estate and stocks soared. House prices in downtown areas rose tenfold, and the stock market soared, causing the Nikkei index to soar from less than 10,000 to just before 40,000.

“At the peak of the bubble, it was said that if you sold Tokyo, you could buy the whole of America.”

Taek-gyu nodded his head to see if he had heard it.

“There was such a bullshit.”

It makes no sense now that I think about it, but back then I believed that everything was possible.

But the bubble must be extinguished.

The bubble burst in an instant when the central bank, fearing overheating of the economy, raised interest rates and started liquidity recovery. Real estate plummeted, and people who borrowed money to buy houses were sitting in debt. The Nikkei also fell below 10,000 again, and financial institutions went bankrupt one after another.

Since then, the Japanese economy has fallen into a state of de facto deflation.

Deflation, in which prices continue to fall, is a disaster for the economy. As the price of the product goes down over time, there is no reason to consume it right away.

If everyone delays consumption, the product does not sell, and if the product is made, it does not sell, so companies reduce investment, employment, and production. As workers’ employment and income become unstable, the vicious cycle of shrinking consumption is repeated again. (The most representative deflation in human history is the Great Depression. The dollar was used to prevent deflation.)

Amid the stagnation called the Lost Decade, Prime Minister Okazaki assumed the post of prime minister with a promise to revive the Japanese economy.

There have been several attempts to get out of the recession, but the reason they failed is because they were prescribed in stages and passively.

So, he suggested a way to simultaneously implement financial policy, fiscal policy, and restructuring.

This economic policy was called okazakinomics, or three arrows. One arrow is easily broken, but three arrows are not easily broken.

Prime Minister Okazaka put his plan into action, even replacing the governor of the Bank of Japan who was opposed to it.

He printed and supplied unlimited Japanese yen, borrowed from the government to invest in social overhead capital (SOC), and started regulatory reform and structural improvement.

“In other words, quantitative easing.”

“What exactly is quantitative easing?”

“It is a term that was not originally used in the existing economy.”

The government uses a variety of measures to prevent the economy from overheating and stagnation. One of the most prominent of these is money supply control.

The way to control the money supply is the interest rate. When the interest rate is raised, the money released in the market returns to the bank and the money supply is reduced. Conversely, when the interest rate is lowered, it is not enough to withdraw the money from the bank account, so both you and your partner receive a loan and the money is released into the market.

What if we need to keep increasing the money supply to prevent a recession, but the interest rate is 0% and we can’t lower the interest rate any more?

The concept that emerged at this time was quantitative easing.

The central bank prints money and uses that money to buy government bonds and corporate bonds to directly supply currency to the market.

“Anyway, the key is the yen in the end.”

When unlimited money was printed and released in the market, the value of the yen naturally decreased.

There are three main reasons why this was possible. First, Japan has a large economy and the yen has the status of a quasi-key currency in the international community. Second, Japan was deflation, so no matter how much money you release, you don’t have to worry about inflation. Third, the United States tolerated it.

“Who would benefit from the yen?”

Taek-gyu said right away, as if he had nothing to think about.

“Otakus?”

“right. typo… … Huh?”

Why are otaku here?

“With low yen, Japanese travel and Japanese products are cheaper. Thanks to that, with the same amount of money, I was able to do more abundantly.”

“… … .”

I heard it and it’s true. Virtue is a law that is greatly affected by the exchange rate.

“Otaku is also an otaku, but automobile companies have benefited the most.”

The yen dropped from 100 yen per dollar to a maximum of 115 yen. This meant that if you sold the goods at the same price in a foreign country, you would make 15% more profit.

When price competitiveness was created by the low yen, Toyota and Honda increased sales by discounting prices, and profits soared.

As Japanese automakers are doing well, sales of automakers in other countries have decreased.

The yen is actually a way to increase Japan’s exports by manipulating the exchange rate. In this case, of course, other countries with overlapping export industries are bound to suffer losses.

For this reason, it is also referred to as the neighborhood deprivation policy. South Korea, China, and Germany, which were affected, criticized Japan, but Japan is still not stopping quantitative easing.

Anyway, thanks to this, the Japanese economy escaped the long-term recession and entered a recovery phase. The Nikkei Index, which stayed at the 8,000 level, soared to over 20,000, and the price level rose little by little, out of chronic deflation.

This is the reason why Prime Minister Okazaki’s approval rating is strong despite several scandals.

“Japan and Germany have the 3rd and 4th largest economy in the world, but they are not listed on the permanent board of directors. What could be the reason?”

“Because they’re both war criminals?”

“answer.”

The peace constitution, which stipulated the renunciation of war and the prohibition of possessing an army, is nothing more than a shackle for Japan, a war-criminal country.

So, on the basis of Okazaki’s strong approval rating, he set out to amend Article 9 (Peace Constitution) of the Constitution, which bans war and military possession.

Abolishing the peace constitution meant that Japan would end the post-war regime and return to normalcy. And an ordinary nation must have military power commensurate with its economic power.

East Asia currently has a delicate balance of power between China, Russia, South Korea, North Korea and Japan. But what if Japan goes into rearmament?

Japan is one of America’s most important allies. From the U.S. point of view, there is no reason to stop Japan from strengthening its arms with its own money. (In this case, of course, it will buy U.S. weapons).

The problem is the neighboring countries.

Are China and Russia just watching Japan’s rearmament? Naturally, these countries will also increase their armaments, and then Korea will have no choice but to follow suit.

South Korea already spends a lot more on defense than its economic power because of North Korea. If East Asia as a whole enters into an arms race, it will also suffer economically.

“Well, aside from those issues, we will continue to run into each other in the automobile industry.”

Prime Minister Okazaki not only encouraged exports with low yen, but also provided various support to the automobile industry.

2.3 trillion yen.

It is a huge amount of money larger than the market capitalization of most large corporations, but according to the financial statements of Matsukata, it is only 1.5% of Japan’s public pension fund, and compared to Japan’s astronomical economy, it is a new blood.

In this way, there is no significant damage to the Japanese economy.

However… … .

“It will certainly deal a blow to Prime Minister Okazaki.”

* * *

Foreign Minister Takeo Okamoto has arrived in South Korea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Korea. The Foreign Minister is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and is in a position to lead all Japanese diplomats.

This is the first time he has entered Korea.

Foreign Minister Okamoto headed straight to the headquarters of OTK Company as soon as he got off the airport.

“Okamoto. It’s a name that seems to be familiar to men and women all over the world.”

“What… … .”

That being said, condoms are also human names.

Protesters again gathered in front of OTK Company. This time, it was not a conservative organization, but a group of comfort women and victims of forced labor.

Taek-gyu gave the instructions, and the cafe staff on the first floor of the building quickly got out and turned tea and blankets.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

Despite the cold weather, the comfort women and the grandfathers of forced labor victims also came out in person. The reason we gathered here is to ask for an apology.

Foreign Minister Okamoto was directly responsible for leading the Korea-Japan agreement on comfort women. However, once an agreement was reached, he continued to reduce the problem or deny Japan’s responsibility. Still, he shouted loudly to the South Korean government to fulfill the agreement responsibly.

After that, when the comfort women agreement was broken and a judgment was issued for compensation for forced labor, from this point on, they began pouring out rubbish-like nonsense.

For the victims, digging up the wounds was not enough, so it was like sprinkling salt.

When I heard that Foreign Minister Okamoto had almost arrived, I personally went out to meet him.

Demonstrators were gathering, and hundreds of police officers were standing in front of them. If anything happens to the Japanese foreign minister, it will become a diplomatic matter.

Dozens of cameras were installed on one side. It seems that all the leading domestic and foreign media outlets have come.

Moments later, three black Toyota vehicles arrived. Foreign Minister Okamoto got out of the car as slogans and shouts of angry protesters were heard. There was an interpreter next to him.

He said, “You have worked hard to come a long way.”

Foreign Minister Okamoto smiled pleasantly.

“no. Thank you so much for your time.”

We shook hands affectionately in front of the protesters watching.

“But why did you come to Korea?”

He said.

“Let’s go into the details and take it slow.”

I shook my head.

“You must be busy with each other, right? I can only guess what you came for, so I’ll tell you first so you don’t waste your time.”

I put all of his stupid words back together as they were.

“The judgment of the Supreme Court of Japan is final and irreversible. If such pressure is applied despite the court’s ruling, who will trust and trade in the Japanese stock market? According to the judgment of the former Japanese court, I will not refund even a single share. Aren’t we supposed to keep our promises?”

As the interpreter spoke, Foreign Minister Okamoto’s expression hardened.

After all, where did the Japanese foreign minister get such a treat? Because I’m like me, I treat you like this.

If OTK Company was a Korean company, it would not have been easy to do this. But we are an American company. We also have legitimacy.

I manually opened the closed car door again.

“If you have nothing more to say, you can leave.”

He got into the car as if nothing had happened. But when the camera was obscured by the car door he looked at me and said

“You will regret it.”

I leaned over so as not to be caught by the camera and spoke in English.

“In the meantime, not one or two people have said similar things to me. President, Prosecutor General, Vice Chairman Zhou Cha, Chinese Commerce Minister, etc. Aren’t you curious about what’s going on with them now?”

“… … .”