Chapter 199: Cracks Begin from Within (3)

The air in the conference room changed.

The shoulders that had been drooping from fatigue rose slightly.

Their gazes gathered on the monitor again.

I drove in the final nail.

“Let’s not try to persuade the Bank President, Kang Do-yun.”

“Persuasion will not work.”

My voice lowered a little.

“We give him the options.”

“Whether to hold onto Daehan and sink together, or to cut off Daehan and survive alone.”

I spoke while letting out a short breath.

“Now, I suppose the real meeting begins from here.”

My gaze turned toward Choi Seo-jun again.

“The first wedge that will make it impossible for Woojin Bank to hold out just because they are family.”

“What shall we drive it in with?”

Choi Seo-jun could not answer immediately.

He merely repeated opening and closing his lips.

I waited for a moment and then slowly continued speaking.

“Director Choi, Woojin Bank will hold out domestically.”

“It is not like the world does not know whose wife's family Kang Do-yun belongs to.”

“Then where is the place where Woojin cannot hold out?”

“Money does not circulate only domestically.”

As if he had recalled something, words popped out of Choi Seo-jun cautiously.

“Are you talking about foreign currency?”

Instead of an answer, I merely wore a light smile.

It meant that was the correct answer.

At that time, Park Jae-woo, the team leader of the Fund Management Team who had been quietly looking through the materials, even raised his hand and spoke.

“Representative!”

I turned my gaze and spoke.

“Please speak.”

“If it is foreign currency, there is a way to pressure Woojin Bank through the dollar payment network side.”

Several people in the conference room widened their eyes at the same time.

It seemed no one had thought of that.

Park Jae-woo spoke while explaining it simply.

“To put it simply, Woojin Bank cannot do as it pleases with the path for sending and receiving dollars overseas on its own.”

Moving KRW domestically can be done with just the bank system.

However, dollars are different.

Dollars that go out and come in from overseas move along the international payment network, and in that process, they must pass through the window of an overseas bank.

No matter how big a domestic bank is, if the side holding that window says to stop, remittances and payments can actually be delayed or blocked.

Park Jae-woo explained as if drawing a path in the air with hand gestures.

“For Woojin Bank to process dollar payments overseas, they create an account in their name at a bank in the US or Europe and use that as a passage.”

“That passage is commonly called a Corres bank.”

Corres bank.

That is, literally, an overseas partner bank that processes things on their behalf.

Because it is difficult for domestic banks to directly operate a dollar payment system overseas, they open an account at an overseas bank and borrow that bank's network to process dollar remittances and payments.

In other words, it is a structure where overseas dollars do not circulate by Woojin Bank alone, but together with an overseas gatekeeper.

Park Jae-woo lowered his voice.

This was the core from here on.

“And there is a word those gatekeepers are most sensitive to.”

The conference room held its breath.

“It is precisely money laundering.”

Park Jae-woo spoke while cutting it short.

“The moment words like paper companies and overseas account tracking are attached together like J&T Marine Tech, which became a controversy this time, the overseas side will judge it as dangerous.”

Choi Seo-jun nodded his head as if he understood immediately.

It was not just Choi Seo-jun.

Everyone gathered in the conference room was the same.

Park Jae-woo continued speaking.

“If Woojin Bank protects Daehan and continues to rotate transactions, it will look like this to the overseas gatekeeper.”

He pointed at the number 41.8 trillion won on the screen with his finger.

“Woojin is the passage through which dangerous money flows.”

What overseas banks are afraid of is not the incident itself.

It is the moment their bank's name is stamped together with that incident.

Once the suspicion is attached that they have allowed transactions involving money laundering to flow through even once, that bank loses trust in international transactions.

That loss becomes a level where the foreign currency transactions of the entire bank can be shaken, not just for a single company.

“So, to shake Woojin Bank, instead of persuading Bank President Kang do-yun, we squeeze the dollar-side path first.”

The conference room was filled with tense heat.

Just a moment ago, it was full of a feeling of being at a loss, but now they were finding a solution.

I looked at Park Jae-woo and nodded my head slowly.

“Good.”

“That is exactly the answer I wanted as well.”

Satisfaction was smeared on my expression.

I raised my head and moved to the next step.

“Now, then, let us draw up an execution plan.”

“What we must do to touch the dollar payment network.”

“And which gatekeeper we will touch.”

At those words, the conference room heated up again.

***

At the same time, the Woojin Bank main branch.

The morning sunlight brushed past the glass window, but the air inside the bank had been a war since dawn.

As soon as the articles from Daehan Group broke, Woojin Bank's entire morning schedule flew away.

From the Risk Management Headquarters, Corporate Finance, Global Business Team, to the Compliance Team.

They, who usually barely saw each other's faces once a month, gathered due to the emergency meeting.

Bank President Kang Do-yun was sitting in the middle of the conference room.

He was relaxed, matching his round impression.

“Everyone, there is no need to make a fuss.”

“Is this the first or second time Daehan goes through something like this?”

“And we are the lender group agent.”

“If we waver, the market wavers even more.”

He slowly turned his gaze and continued speaking.

“So we must keep our center first.”

“Is that not so?”

Several executives nodded their heads and matched his mood.

“That is right, President.”

“There is no need for us to step forward first for no reason.”

“Just like until now, the media will become quiet in a few days.”

They did not refute Kang Do-yun's words.

No, they could not.

Since everyone knew why Kang Do-yun was sitting in that position, how could they open their mouths?

Kang Do-yun continued speaking while wearing a satisfied expression.

“We can just go while believing in Daehan.”

“Deliver it like that to other places too.”

“Tell them not to worry about risk because it is manageable.”

He drove it in while slowly scanning his gaze.

“Let's not let there be agitation inside for no reason.”

“You know what I mean, right?”

There was an atmosphere of relief in the conference room.

They thought it would be okay since the President, who is close to Daehan, said so.

At that time, Vice President Heo Sang-gyu raised his head.

He was the Vice President in charge of risk.

He had kept his silence throughout the meeting.

Instead, he carefully examined the printouts placed on the desk.

[Overseas Corres Bank: Review of the possibility of switching Woojin Bank transactions to Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)]

Heo Sang-gyu spoke.

“President, I am sorry, but this is not a problem that will be solved just because the domestic media becomes quiet.”

The conference room suddenly became quiet.

Kang Do-yun's gaze turned cold.

Heo Sang-gyu continued speaking without minding it.

“If the overseas Corres banks move, it will be out of the range we can control from then on.”

Someone cleared their throat.

The meaning of that word in the conference room had a different significance.

Corres banks are the overseas windows through which Woojin Bank sends and receives dollars, and no matter how big a bank Woojin is domestically, they cannot conduct dollar payments alone.

They held the passage that the overseas bank processes on their behalf.

Heo Sang-gyu thought of that point as an element of anxiety.

“If it switches to enhanced due diligence, every transaction we do must go through a difficult procedure.”

“Remittances could be delayed, and perhaps some transactions could be put on hold.”

Heo Sang-gyu caught his breath for a moment and then continued speaking.

“If that is repeated, we will become dangerous first, not Daehan Group.”

Kang Do-yun tapped the desk with his finger.

“Vice President Heo, is that not an assumption!”

“Let us not get too far ahead.”

“It is not an assumption.”

Heo Sang-gyu spoke firmly, unlike usual.

“The overseas side does not wait for a confirmation to come out.”

“They might draw a line first just based on suspicion.”

As those words ended, one of the executives who supported Kang Do-yun cut in.

“Vice President, are you not worrying too much in advance?”

“If we show ourselves getting scared first for no reason, it will only give concern to the market.”

Heo Sang-gyu thought while looking at them.

'These things are always like this.'

Kang Do-yun let out a small sigh and then opened his mouth as if to soothe him.

“Vice President Heo, I know what you are worried about.”

“But what will we do if we get scared first?”

“Daehan is our core client, and if we let go of Daehan, that is also a loss.”

At those words, the conference room became one with voices supporting the Bank President.

Heo Sang-gyu felt like something inside him was breaking.

Now was not the time to calculate losses.

However, no matter how much he spoke, it did not work, so what was the use?

Heo Sang-gyu closed his mouth.

And the meeting ended just like that.

As soon as he returned to his own office, he closed the door hard.

The Bang! The sound was so loud that the secretaries flinched, but it did not matter to him.

He roughly loosened and threw his tie and threw the report onto the desk.

“Ha, fuck.”

A curse word popped out naturally.

He tried to hold it in, but he absolutely could not.

“Manageable?”

“Let's see if those words still come out after going bankrupt.”

He spat out like a monologue while looking out the window.

Unlike him, the city was peaceful.

However, it looked different in his eyes.

What supported that peaceful city was when there was trust.

He knew well how quickly a bank collapses once that trust is broken.

Heo Sang-gyu sat in the chair and spread the thrown report again.

He gritted his teeth.

The moment they protected Daehan, Woojin would also be dragged in together.

He knew that Kang Do-yun would not listen to his words.

If anything, he would protect them more.

They were the kind of people who did not care what happened to the bank as long as it was under the name of the family.

That was why anger surged even more.

Heo Sang-gyu picked up the phone placed on the desk.

A locked voice was heard from over the receiver.

-Yes, Vice President.

“Call all the managers in charge of our Corres bank lines.”

“Since we will have a meeting from now on.”

“Ah, and not the President's line….”

“You know what I mean, right?”

After catching his breath for a moment, he added a final word.

“Hurry up because every hour is urgent.”

-Yes, I understand.

While Vice President Heo Sang-gyu was moving, the lobby on the 1st floor of the Woojin Bank main branch became busy.

It was because Nam Kun-ho himself, who made the Republic of Korea stir, made a direct visit.

His coming here was not simple.

Knowing that if Woojin Bank, the main transaction bank, wavers, Daehan also has no answer, so he had made a direct visit.

If the side holding the path where funds come in and go out changes its mind, even a large corporation's breath is blocked.

Nam Kun-ho headed straight for the Bank President's office.

Kang Do-yun was out to meet him.

Kang Do-yun approached Nam Kun-ho with his hands gathered and wore a smile.

“Oh my, did you come all the way here.”

“Since you must be busy with many official matters.”

“You should have called for me.”

“Between us, it doesn't matter who comes.”

“Haha.”

As Nam Kun-ho, sitting on the sofa, looked at Kang Do-yun, he was busy bowing like a person overwhelmed by his spirit.

He found Nam Kun-ho very difficult.

Not just because he was the Chairman of Daehan Group, but his breath was blocked when he saw him, who is his older sister's husband.

On top of that, his sitting in this position was also something that would have been impossible if not for Nam Kun-ho.

He knew well what his position was even within Woojin Bank.

As a result, he became infinitely shabby in front of Nam Kun-ho.