Investor That Can See The Future

Chapter 380

After Prof. Petrov’s research team succeeded in testing the TWR, Russia actively promoted it and attracted partners.

It was intended to dominate the nuclear power plant and energy markets in the future with the TWR as a weapon. The country that responded most actively to this was Japan.

After the Fukushima disaster, Japan stopped all nuclear power plants in operation and pushed for nuclear phase out, but after Prime Minister Okazaki came to power, it turned to building nuclear power plants by operating them again.

Although it is a realistically unavoidable choice, the Japanese people’s fear and anxiety about nuclear power still persisted, and public opinion against it was strong.

Under such circumstances, if a safer and more efficient nuclear power plant could be built, there was no reason to hesitate.

Japan quickly joined the TWR camp. The calculation was that Japanese companies would take charge of the construction and operation of the nuclear power plant even if it bought the core technology.

As Japan is a country with excellent nuclear technology, Russia was happy to join it as an important partner. But suddenly, the Russian side unilaterally notified that it would cut off business with Japanese nuclear power plants.

Japanese officials strongly protested.

“This is a breach of contract!”

President Trusova Rosatom blamed all of this on the earthquake.

“CEO Kang Jin-hoo is against it, so we can’t help it.”

“No, OTK Company’s stake is only 36 percent, isn’t it? All decisions are made by the Russian government and Rosatom?”

“I don’t know about that, and we are in a difficult position.”

Excluding Japanese companies is also a blow for Russia. This is because it is equivalent to giving up the golden opportunity to enter the Japanese nuclear power plant market.

However, although both were disappointing, it was clear which one would be more disappointing.

“Then please try to persuade the Russian side.”

“We want to do that too, but the domestic public opinion is not very good now because of what happened the other day.”

“Is this a thing of the past?”

“Didn’t your politician declare war on Russia?”

“Ah, no, a declaration of war. what is that… … ?”

“Anyway, what do you do when Kang Jin-hoo says he can’t be president? As you know, severing ties with Japan is a loss for us as well.”

Trusova said as if it were a last resort.

“If you want to argue, go to CEO Kang Jin-hoo instead of us and argue.”

* * *

The Russian media focused on the remarks of the Japanese House of Representatives last month, saying, “Even if we go to war, we must reclaim the four northern provinces.”

President Vysotsky called it a provocation, and anti-Japanese sentiment simmered in Russia.

Japan could not contain its embarrassment. At the time of the remark, the atmosphere was moderately shifted to Japan’s quick apology, but suddenly it became a problem and fell.

Besides, it wasn’t just a matter of putting a cover on words. Japan has even announced a detailed plan to strengthen its military force in the four northern provinces, which it claims sovereignty over, and to suspend Japanese visa-free entry.

Thanks to his strong response to territorial disputes, President Vysotsky’s domestic approval rating has risen significantly.

The Japanese Foreign Minister also stepped forward when the TWR cooperation was suspended and the Japanese-Japanese relations showed signs of worsening due to overlapping remarks by the House of Representatives about war.

Foreign Minister Okamoto met with the Russian Foreign Minister.

“I’ve already apologized several times, and didn’t the member in question step down and resign?”

Foreign Minister Pimenov shook his head.

“That is not enough. We need a direct apology from the Japanese Prime Minister and a promise to prevent recurrence.”

“As you know, the basic position of the Japanese government is that the four northern provinces are Japanese territory.”

This remark also came out of the process of defending such a position. If the prime minister came forward and apologized, it could be seen as Japan’s renunciation of territorial claims, which was practically impossible.

“Like the Republic of Camellia, the Kurils are Russian territory.”

Originally a Finnish territory, Karelia was handed over to the Soviet Union during the Winter War. As it remains an autonomous republic of Russia even today, it means that the Kuril Islands occupied by Russia after the victory in World War II are also Russian territory.

“How could this be?”

“When circumstances change, behavior changes.”

In the meantime, Japan has used economic support and cooperation as a bait to influence Russia. From the point of view of Russia, which was blocked by Western sanctions, Japan’s capital was like a rain shower of drought.

However, thanks to the development of TWR, Russia has a negotiating card, and is seeking to attract foreign investment by taking advantage of OTK Company’s advancement.

Under these circumstances, Japan’s economic influence is bound to diminish.

Foreign Minister Okamoto recalled a young Korean man he had met briefly before. It was the first such humiliation since he assumed the position of foreign minister in charge of Japanese diplomacy.

“Is this also related to CEO Kang Jin-hoo?”

Foreign Minister Pimenov neither affirmed nor denied that statement.

“I look forward to sincere measures from the Japanese side.”

* * *

Kang Jin-hoo’s remarks became reality one by one.

Following the Japanese embargo on OTK batteries, news came that Japanese companies were excluded from TWR construction.

It was a series of unbelievable things that one person did.

Following the electronics industry and nuclear power industry, the automobile industry is also in crisis. This is because the OTK battery embargo also applies to Japanese automakers.

Japanese cars have excellent performance, durability, and reasonable prices. It was evaluated as a leader in the field of future cars and eco-friendly cars.

Toyota’s hybrid car, the Prius, and Nissan’s electric car, the Leaf are representative examples.

But this was already a story many years ago. The Japanese automobile industry has been unable to keep up with the recent changes in the automobile industry.

With the development of OTK batteries, electric vehicles have broken through the 1,000-kilometre wall, but Japanese electric vehicles are still at around 300 kilometers.

To overcome this situation, the Japanese government gathered automakers, electronics companies, and battery companies to form Auto Alliance, and started technology standardization and joint development, but there was no progress in autonomous driving technology development, and the Japanese battery market share was fell day by day

Toyota, who should take the lead role, was caught up in a dispute over management rights due to an order mistake at Nishida Securities, and Zhou Cha tried to control Toyota’s Chinese business.

While the Japanese auto industry was wasting time, Karos entered into technical alliances with GM, Ford, and Eunsung Motors and poured self-driving electric vehicles into the market.

A growing sense of crisis that they might be isolated from the global market, some companies showed signs of leaving Auto Alliance, and took individual actions.

At the same time, CL Chemical and SSK Innovation started production of OTK batteries for automobiles.

The most important thing in an internal combustion engine is the engine. On the other hand, the most important thing in electric vehicles is the battery, not the performance of the motor. Therefore, in order to make an electric vehicle that is globally recognized, OTK batteries were essential.

Honda and Nissan were contacting each other to place an order, but negotiations were completely halted at the words of Jinhoo Kang.

The damage didn’t stop with automakers.

Japanese auto parts makers are globally recognized for their technological prowess, and their parts are exported to all over the world, including Korea and the US.

However, rumors began to circulate that the industry was excluding automakers that had a lot of business with Japanese parts makers from supplying OTK batteries.

Jinhoo Kang never said anything directly, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but automakers all reacted sensitively.

From the point of view of Japanese parts makers that were expanding exports to the low yen, they were struck by lightning. The damage has now spread to the entire Japanese automobile industry.

The stock prices of automakers such as Toyota and Honda plummeted all at once, and parts makers stumbled all at once.

* * *

Taek-gyu muttered with his arms crossed.

“Japan had a plausible plan. Until he was beaten by Kang Jin-hoo.”

When Prime Minister Okazaki first talked about sanctions, few people thought that this situation would last for a long time.

This is because they expected that Korea would take a step back and compromise at an appropriate level.

But this is what I was talking about when I wasn’t there.

In Japan and Korea’s power games, of course, Japan has an advantage. But what if it was a battle between Japan and OTK Company?

Even if the value of OTK Company exceeds $1 trillion, Japan is the world’s third largest economy and its annual GDP alone exceeds $4 trillion. If we convert this to an enterprise value, wouldn’t it be over 40 trillion dollars?

But there is one big difference between the two. That is, I don’t have to look out for the shareholders, but the government should look out for the people.

Prime Minister Okazaki and the LDP have already struggled with declining approval ratings after the Nishida Securities crisis. That’s why I put the irrational number of trade sanctions against my counterattack.

If Japan’s damage starts to materialize, the approval rating will drop even more. Of course, this also suffers damage.

However, there are many other markets in the world besides Japan.

“Even in order to diversify imports and exports, we need to expand our business with Europe.”

Well, it’s not something I came up with, it’s an opinion that has been around for a long time. But not everyone did.

So this time I decided to

“I’m going from Germany. The company is doing well.”

“Buy a present.”

When we said we were going, they said welcome.

Including OTK Company’s private planes, Korean businessmen’s planes flew toward Europe.

* * *

Japan was keenly aware of Korea’s move.

Even when the Liberal Kuomintang criticized the government and the South Korean government showed no response, they thought it was going their way.

However, when Jin-hoo Kang stepped in, things started to go awry.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

Jinhoo Kang first brought businessmen together. And within a few hours, he announced a strategy to develop the technology in the long term and expand business with Europe in the short term.

He also restricted OTK battery exports and TWR participation, conversely launching an offensive against Japan.

The Japanese government was taken aback by this move.

I thought that if Japanese companies stopped supplying materials and parts, the Korean economy would stumble, but if they do it wrong, Japan will be hit even harder.

After the strong earthquake, he reached out to Europe using the card he held in his hand. The news that Jin-hoo Kang was coming made Europe excited.

German Chancellor Meissner canceled his domestic schedule and hurried to prepare to welcome Korean businessmen, and the heads of other neighboring countries considered traveling to Germany.

Now, the strengthening of economic cooperation between Korea and Europe was obvious.

Korea will increase imports of European materials and parts, and Europe will increase imports of Korean finished products.

Once the supply chain is changed, it becomes difficult to resume supply even if sanctions are lifted later. In addition, Korea and Japan share a significant portion of export items such as home appliances and automobiles. If Korea expands exports to the EU, where will it suffer the most?

When the situation became like this, voices of dissatisfaction erupted among Japanese companies.

“Is Prime Minister Okazaki having an idea or not?”

“The reason the US sanctions China is because it has a trade deficit of over $400 billion. However, Japan is seeing a surplus of 3 trillion yen in Korea. Where else is the trade surplus sanctioning the trade deficit?”

“If this continues, Japanese cars will be completely isolated from the global market.”

“If Korean companies change their parts supply chain to Europe, what is the use of lifting the sanctions later?”

“Why did you bring political issues to economic issues?”

“Did the Japanese government learn nothing even after losing over 2 trillion yen?”

As the economic damage to Japan was becoming a reality, countermeasures were necessary.

The Japan Innovation Association insisted on additional sanctions, but even within the LDP, there was talk of lifting the sanctions immediately and negotiating with South Korea.

But if Japan backs down like this, it will only become a laughing stock to the whole world. I needed an opportunity to change my position.

Now, there is no possibility that Jinhoo Kang will step down. What remains is the response of the Korean government.

If the other person puts out their hand first, it will naturally lead to a conversation.

By the way… … .

As previously announced, the Korean government began the process of seizure of assets in Japan in response to the judgment of compensation for forced labor.