Dear Comrade

Chapter 14. A butterfly flapping its wings could trigger a nuclear storm on the opposite continent. (5)

Chapter 14. A butterfly flapping its wings could trigger a nuclear storm on the opposite continent. (5)

And soon after, a new unheard of bank was launched on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges in Japan.

Moreover, although the name of the bank was also a name, the actions taken immediately after its inception could not help but tilt the heads of traders on the Japanese stock exchange even more.

– Peony (Peony) Investment Bank? An emerging investment bank established in Hong Kong?

– It’s the first bank I’ve ever heard of…. Buying all put options with the Nikkei index on sale as an underlying asset? What if the maturity date is more than 3 years? I don’t know who they are, but they look like they’re desperate to lose money. Or did the manager do some medicine?

– What is it? Someone please explain. What are these guys doing now?

– To me, that looks like some kind of futures product…. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a stock index instead of a spot. So, if you look at the product description… you mean to buy a put option unconditionally from over there? Is the premium too high?

– Crazy…… In a word, those Peony Investment Bankers bet a huge amount on the Nikkei stock index crash three years later.

– What? really….? But our Japanese stock market can’t fall! There is even an observation that the Nikkei index may reach 40,000 points for the first time in history next year!

– So those Peony Bankers are crazy people. I don’t know who it is, but the guy behind me firmly believes that the Nikkei index will plummet in three years. That’s why you buy put options at such a high price. Of course, there is no common sense that such a thing would happen. At least for a few years.

And at this point, the Nikkei index plummeted, which no one could have imagined.

Soon, the ‘Nikkei Index Put Option’ product brought by the crazy (?) Peony Investment Bank began to be sold in Japan like wings.

Individuals and institutions alike began to show interest in derivative financial products offered by this emerging investment bank, and Peony Investment Bank began sweeping put options based on the Nikkei stock index as an underlying asset.

And, there was a person who watched all these scenes with concern.

‘General Secretary, I want you to know what you are doing now.’

‘I know. You prophesied that the Japanese stock market was a bubble. And I bet money on that prophecy.’

‘But if that prophecy goes wrong, our republic will literally go bankrupt. I liked the high risk high returns, but this is… really crazy! In addition to the full amount of the former general’s slush fund, I also put the money that Room 39 had prepared for most of the business overseas to buy the put options of those over there.

‘Don’t worry, the money will come back to you with huge profits soon. Isn’t it a gamble to be a derivative financial product? All we have to do now is find a suitable collaborator.’

‘……..?’

‘I told comrade Choi Seung-il that I had two things to do. First of all, one of them is done, and I will instruct the other one from now on. What do you think it is?’

‘……..I do not know.’

‘Throwing nets. In fact, the net has already been cast and we just have to wait for someone to catch it. If my prediction is correct, there will be someone who will contact you soon. It’s my second order and goal to have a relationship with that person.’

And Jeonghwan’s prediction came true.

After a while, a phone call from Hong Kong was connected to the secretary’s office.

Over the phone line was the voice of a middle-aged man in his fifties who spoke British English.

– Hi, are you the person behind the Peony Investment Bank?

– That’s right. Call me Kim. It is almost impossible to eavesdrop on this line, but please understand that we cannot reveal your real name just in case.

– It’s the same for me, so there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m um… Call me ‘George’. I’m also a well-known person on this floor, so I can’t reveal the name I usually use.

– Georgera, are you Esperanto?

– My parents used it often. Anyway, did I say Choi Seung-il? I went to your agent and they connected you as if they were waiting. You bet your options on the Nikkei index quite heavily, can I ask what is the basis for such a judgment that goes in the opposite direction to the market trend?

– Before revealing that, there is one thing I want to make clear first.

– What do you want to make sure of……?

Junghwan, who had spoken up to this point, took a deep breath and asked the middle-aged man across the phone.

– Are you calling me… as an individual or on behalf of a party with a stake in you?

– ….it’s a force…. You can see it that way. Although it is difficult to see us as a single organization, everyone agrees that the Japanese should not be allowed to grow their power any longer. Yes, it is the latter.

– And the reason the faction, including you, called me… Perhaps it’s because I first put the idea that you guys were envisioning and preparing, George. Am I right?

– ……………

The other side of the phone line didn’t say anything for a while.

After 30 seconds of silence, the voice asked again, with a slightly more serious tone than before.

– This is what I’m going to say, Kim, you’re the first to do it. That’s right. To be honest, we were all perplexed. It’s because we’re making the same movements as we do in places we didn’t expect at all. Morgan Stanley, the Salam Brothers… Now everyone’s clamoring for plans to revise. It’s still in the preparation stage, but it seems like everyone was struck by lightning…

– You go as planned. I have no intention of hindering your progress.

– We, no, why should I trust you, Kim? From what I’ve learned, you and the Peony Bank you run have a pity that the leader of one of the most closed hereditary dictatorships in Asia, or perhaps in the world, is involved…

– Let me confirm one thing, George, your sentiment is correct. My name and title appeared prominently in the New York Times a while ago, but I decided not to ask about each other’s identities on this call, so feel free to call me. It’s not an official public figure, and if your wealth and international influence are bigger than mine, it won’t be as big anyway.

– Thank you for your generosity, General Secretary, no, Kim. But tolerance is tolerance, and it’s true… To be honest, if you were to tell the Japanese financial markets where Peony Bank actually owns, that alone would have quite a bit of a blow to your operations. General Secretary… Kim Your country’s credibility is already converging to the worst in the international community.

– That’s the story of the previous leaders, and it will be different from now on. I think the news of the regime change would have spread to the United States too… When the original leader changes, policies and countries change too. Come to think of it, didn’t the US leadership change recently? I remember seeing your column in the Wall Street Journal George Herbert Walker Bush about the financial policies of George H.

– ….and it seems you already know who I am. I thought I was the only one who knew who it was, but I was mistaken.

-George There was a faint Eastern European accent in your English. And ‘George’ reads like this, ‘George.’

– ………………………….

Silence again.

However, Junghwan insisted that he was not his enemy, regardless of the silence of his opponent.

– George, you are an immigrant. It is also liberal in its support of free trade, low tariffs and open markets. I also want my country to adopt a market economy system. One day, a stock exchange will be built here as well. And for my country to become that way, now this move is the first step.

– ……………

Still, George, no, ‘George’ didn’t say anything, but Jung-hwan knew by intuition that he was being persuaded little by little.

– Please pass it on to your co-workers. I’ll take a fraction of the return they’ll enjoy, but that’s an investment for the future. Aren’t you investors? You know what it means to put up with the present for the greater good of the future.

– Well, then. My colleagues do, but I wonder how I’m going to convince them. I was planning to invest the money of my fund, too, but Kim, you took a significant part of my clients’ future earnings.

– Hahaha… That’s it. Think of it as an investment for your future relationship with me or Peony Bank. George, look to the future. The Soviet Union will collapse and East Germany will be shaken. Only they don’t know that. If you take my side here, I will be with you in the opportunities that will come.

– ……………I doubt you are really the leader of a communist country. The worn-out stockbrokers on Wall Street are betting that they won’t be able to roll their tongues as well as you. Surely you are different from your brother or your father.

– I hear that a lot these days. How about dropping a third nuclear bomb on the Japanese archipelago with me?

At Jeonghwan’s subtle offer, George seemed to think about it for a moment.

But this silence did not last long.

– ……..I’ll pass it on to my college classmates at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Don’t be greedy with put options and be prepared to sell put warrants. The time will probably be three years or so.

– thank you. So now that we’re friends, can I ask you a favor?

– Are you asking for a favor in 2 seconds after becoming a friend? what this time?

– This is not a difficult request. There is one person I know who mistakenly believes that the future of the Japanese economy will continue to be bright.

– Hmm, well, 99% of the people on the planet right now think so. So we’ll make money.

– Yes, but the problem is that I bet on him. Not money, but political positions. But now he’s making a fuss about selling his options. I told him that if he waited a few more years he could get a much bigger profit, but to no avail.

– You idiot. So Kim, do you believe I can convince him? In one word, sell my name?

– Yes, to paraphrase, George, all you have to do is say that you were betting your money on the collapse of the Japanese economy and the political life of the politicians who will soon be responsible for it, like me. He’s not an idiot either, so if you show him to that point, he’ll understand. So, in a word… well…

After he was reincarnated in North Korea, Jung Hwan struggled for a while to get his head around an expression he had not used for a very long time.

It is an expression that is used quite often in Korea in 2019, but it felt strange to use it for this person at this time, in this place.

Oh, I remembered.

But how do you say this in English…?

So…….

– Give me my warranty. Can you do this with your friends ?