Chapter 376

Chapter 376

There is a saying, ‘You get hit by AMZ’.

AMZ, which started as an online bookstore, has expanded to online shopping malls, cloud, news, content production, streaming, AI speakers, devices, advertisements, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and finance.

AMZ’s expansion strategy was simple. Instead of entering the market and pursuing profits, even if it makes a large loss, it first increases the size as much as possible. When economies of scale are created, they lower costs further and attract more users at lower costs. In that way, it is to take down the competitor with the game of chicken and then take over the market completely.

‘AMZ hit’ was used to mean that if AMZ enters the industry, there is only one thing left to do is ruin the competitors.

Economists used the coined word ‘OTK’ to compare it.

When Jinhoo Kang first invested in Karos, Face It, and M Pizza, no one cared. But those companies have driven out their current competitors and have almost dominated the market.

Therefore, when OTK Company took over a startup called Togobox that produces and shares videos, rumors spread throughout the industry in an instant.

Although there is no immediate change, the related companies did not let go of tension.

Everyone knew roughly what the OTK Company had acquired the video platform for.

“Are you aiming after the VRMMORPG is released?”

Recently, the biggest issue in the game world is Lost Fantasy Online, which is currently popular, and VRMMORPG with a development plan announced.

OTK Games said that it would still allow internet broadcasting on all platforms regarding Lost Fantasy, but the policy is likely to change once VRMMORPG is released. Wouldn’t it be possible to allow game broadcasting only on its own platform and ban others, or operate it in such a way that only other platforms receive a fee?

Either way, they won’t just watch them monetize the content they create.

“But wouldn’t that be a case of success?”

“It means you have the confidence to be successful.”

“Otherwise, we wouldn’t spend 10 billion dollars on development.”

With this incident, Vice President Oh Taek-gyu received new attention. The fact that the vice president wore a mask and broadcast the game was known through Chairman Im Jin-yong, who appeared on the broadcast.

“Is that the purpose of checking the marketability of game broadcasting, not travel?”

“I’m sure I’ll do the test after putting on the mask myself.”

“It’s something I can’t do.”

“Is the Iron Man mask a provocation against Disney?”

Before Kang Jin-hoo’s appearance, Warren Boat was the best investor in the world, and he is still admired and respected by many.

The person he considers his partner, friend, and teacher to be the vice-president is Charlie Bane. There is an anecdote that Warren Boat always consults with Charlie Bane when he’s unsure about an investment, and at the end slaps his knee and exclaims, ‘You’re right, Charlie Bane!’

Maybe Kang Jin-hoo and Oh Tae-gyu are the same.

Compared to Jinhu Kang, the vice president, Taek-gyu Oh, is hardly known to the public. But the financial world was already grasping the information.

He is Jin-hoo Kang’s middle school classmate, and he only graduated from high school.

He may think that he is a high school graduate, but there is nothing more meaningless than an academic background on this floor. If not, are all geniuses with all kinds of careers, such as Harvard University, Yale University, MBA, and CFA, working under someone else?

“I don’t think it’s a joke that the vice president is in power.”

“Looking back, it was the deputy representative who first established OTK Company and invited Kang Jin-hoo.”

“It is necessary to keep an eye on the movement of the vice president in the future.”

“Maybe even more vigilant than Kang Jin-hoo… … .”

* * *

KEPCO posted the largest deficit in history. The stock price was cut in three, not even in half, and investors poured fire on the government.

The reason for this is that the utilization rate of nuclear power plants has fallen sharply this year.

Although KEPCO is a publicly traded company, it is a public company. Because of this, they are subject to government control. When the international oil price rises, the refinery raises the price of gasoline and diesel it sells.

However, since electricity rates are set by the government, not by KEPCO, KEPCO has a structure in which it makes a profit when the cost of electricity production decreases and loses when it increases.

Although it is said to be temporary, this state cannot be allowed to persist. In the end, you have to choose one of the three.

Either increase the operation rate of nuclear power plants to lower costs, raise electricity rates, or the government compensates the deficit through taxes.

The government showed a sign of embarrassment, but insisted that there would be no increase in electricity rates.

Electricity cost is directly related to inflation, and it is not a problem that can be easily dealt with as there are concerns that an increase in the cost of electricity will damage the low-income class. Especially when it comes to elections.

Under such circumstances, Professor Nikolai Petrov, who is leading the development of TWR, visited Korea.

As Isaac Newton said, “You can see far away because you sit on the shoulders of giants,” new ideas and technologies are built on the foundations laid down by mankind.

But even a tall man with good eyes can see even a little further, even if he is sitting on the shoulders of the same giant.

In this respect, Professor Nikolai Petrov was certainly a genius.

Having succeeded in the TWR experiment, he solved the problems one by one. Now, commercialization was only a matter of time.

As miniaturization and modularization are possible, it is planned to be manufactured for ships as well. If TWR is loaded as fuel, it will have tremendous economic feasibility compared to conventional marine oil.

It can dramatically reduce fuel costs and eliminate the need to refuel in the middle of a long voyage. Of course, safety measures should be prepared for various marine accidents.

The Russian government actively supported the construction and export of TWR, and all countries with plans to build nuclear power plants joined the TWR camp with great interest. This included NATO members, which had economic sanctions against Russia.

After waiting for a while, Professor Petrov and his companions walked out of the departure hall.

Nuclear physicists are regarded as important figures in any country, but after the development of the TWR, Professor Petrov was designated as a national security target.

For this reason, bodyguards belonging to the Russian government followed suit on this trip to Korea. The eight-headed men in black suits caught up on either side of him, wearing sunglasses and with in-ears in their ears.

However, if anything happens to him, it could turn into a diplomatic issue between Korea and Russia. For this reason, the NIS staff paid full attention to security, such as controlling part of the departure hall.

I welcomed him.

“It’s nice to see you in Korea.”

Professor Petrov smiled brightly.

“Haha, it’s been a while.”

A middle-aged, hairless man standing next to me bowed his head politely and spoke in English.

“Welcome to Korea. This is Kim Yong-jun, president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.”

Professor Petrov shook his hand.

“nice to meet you. I have known about Korea’s excellent nuclear power technology for a long time. I am glad to meet you like this.”

Professor Petrov’s trip to Korea was made at my invitation.

First, he will visit Hankuk University to meet professors and students from the Department of Nuclear Engineering, then tour the Korean nuclear power plant facilities with other researchers and meet with KHNP officials.

* * *

The Blue House did not take a special position, but the world paid attention to Professor Petrov’s visit to Korea. In particular, the expectations of the Korean nuclear power industry were very high.

I headed to Korea University with Professor Petrov. Professors from Korea University had already gathered in one place.

Professor Myung-Jun Kim smiled.

“I don’t know how many Nobel Prize winners I have met thanks to my pupils.”

“Professor Petrov hasn’t received it yet.”

“This year, without knowing it, won’t it definitely ride in physics next year?”

“It would be.”

If you don’t give it to me, that would be weird.

Professor Petrov was welcomed by professors from the Department of Nuclear Engineering, nurturing the best nuclear engineers in Korea. Emeritus professors who could be called elders also came to visit. These people who developed Korea’s nuclear power plant technology on bare ground are now gray-haired elderly people.

Without them, Korea would not have dreamed of building a nuclear power plant with its own technology.

The lecturers were given priority to students from the Department of Nuclear and Nuclear Physics. First, students from Hankuk University applied, and then students from other schools.

The remaining seats were occupied by engineering students from Korea University. Engineering students gathered in the auditorium. Even a simple chair in the warehouse was mobilized, but there were still not enough seats, so some of them sat up to the stairs.

Opportunities to meet world-class scholars are rare.

Among them, to his surprise, the figure of Princess Enrique was also seen. No, I’m not surprised that I’m now an engineering student at Korea University.

I got on the podium first and said to the students.

“Introducing Professor Nikolai Petrov!”

* * *

After the Nishida Securities Incident that shook the international financial world and Japanese politics, Prime Minister Okazaki dissolved the House of Representatives and held a general election again.

The result, as before, was a victory for the LDP.

Although the whole world was aware of the peculiarities of Japanese democracy, the LDP’s re-election was a surprise.

What kind of government can win the election even if it blows away 2 trillion yen of the national retirement fund?(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

Although they succeeded in re-establishing power, the LDP’s number of seats decreased significantly. However, the Democratic Party, the main opposition party, did not increase the seats either.

So, who took the remaining seats? It was none other than the Japan Innovation Association that made the most strides in this general election.

The LDP, as we all know, is a conservative right-wing party. However, the Japan Innovation Association is a far-right party that cannot be compared to him.

Compared to them, the LDP seemed to be a moderate center force.

“The Nishida Securities crisis has made Japan a laughing stock all over the world! What happened to the slogan that Prime Minister Okazaki promised to bring back the strong Japan of the past? When will the constitutional amendment to a normal state take place? How long does Japan have to bow its head while only paying attention to neighboring countries?”

Kato Nakamura, president of the Japan Innovation Society, shouted that if he wins and becomes prime minister, he will hold South Korea accountable, even if he goes to war.

“Japan protected Korea from the Western powers and led Korea on the path of modernization! However, Korea is not even aware of that grace and is desperate to devour Japan! They faked the fact that they were “comfort women” and “forced laborers,” claiming compensation from Japan, and plundered 2 trillion yen of Japanese people’s retirement funds by defrauding them! Since when did Japan become such a happy country? I and the members of the Japan Innovation Association will definitely hold the Korean government accountable and put it back to normal!”

Even within the LDP, lawmakers from the anti-Okazaki faction, who belonged to the minority, left the party on a large scale and transferred to the Japan Innovation Association, and the far-right populism was properly blocked, and the Japan Innovation Association succeeded in increasing the number of seats from only 11 to 73.

The Nishida Securities scandal is also related to the Prime Minister’s personal corruption. So it was wisest not to talk about it at all.

Prime Minister Okazaki and Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers declined to comment as much as possible, but the Japan Innovation Association continued to push the issue.

Members of the Japan Innovation Association also made hard-line remarks in the National Assembly.

“Jinhoo Kang should get down on his knees and apologize.”

“We need to fix Korean burlesque hair.”

“It is impossible to reclaim Takeshima at this rate!”

“Several ties with Korea should also be considered!”

Governor Nakamura Kato argued that the Nishida Securities crisis should be resolved together with the issue of compensation for forced labor and the issue of comfort women.

“It seems like there are multiple problems, but the essence is simple. That is, Korea is trying to subdue Japan and extort money. The solution is also simple. The Japanese government should hold the Korean government accountable with the determination that it is willing to cut off diplomatic ties and avoid war. If we are pushed out of here, Japan will become a laughingstock of the international community.”

From the perspective of the Japan Innovation Association, it was like holding a flower-viewing plaque.

If Prime Minister Okazaki stays still, he just has to keep pouring accusations, and when he takes action, he can boast of himself as thanks to them.

The LDP was also well aware of this, but in order not to be pushed back, it had no choice but to take a hard line.

Prime Minister Okazaki issued his official statement.

“I urge the Korean government to promptly resolve the issue of seizure of Japanese companies following the OTK Company’s compensation and apology, implementation of the comfort women agreement, and judgment on compensation for forced labor. In case of actual damage to Japanese companies, the Japanese government will respond with various sanctions such as tariff hikes, restrictions on transactions with related companies and restrictions on remittance.