Park Si-hyeong has faced numerous crises while engaging in business and politics. Yet, he has overcome all these challenges to reach this position.
He has enjoyed enough power and made ample money.
Now, all that remains is to retire peacefully after stepping down from the presidency. If it weren’t for Kang Jin-hoo, that is.
In Korea, he would have used his power and money to somehow prevent it. However, there was no way to stop what was happening in the U.S.
‘If only Kang Jin-hoo were to disappear, wouldn’t all the problems be solved?’
With political options blocked, all sorts of thoughts crossed his mind.
He should have taken precautions before things escalated like this…
Kang Jin-hoo was the hero who saved California. If anything happened to him, the U.S. would never sit still.
Moreover, thinking rationally, Kang Jin-hoo’s disappearance wouldn’t resolve the issues either.
Park Si-hyeong didn’t expect the flaws he knew about would lead to such a predicament.
If airbags had exploded right after the release, causing dozens of deaths, he would have taken action sooner. However, out of over 50 million units released, only a few hundred had issues.
‘Only a dozen or so deaths caused this uproar?’
Isn’t it likely that more people have died choking on candy?
While he was unable to find a solution, CarOS eventually announced the airbag defects in Eunsung Motors to the media. Eunsung Motors took no significant action.
Taking the wrong approach might exacerbate the situation.
Recalls and the bankruptcy of PAS were as good as settled facts. The more significant issue was that the U.S. Department of Justice had begun an investigation into the intentional concealment.
Wasn’t it said that bad news doesn’t come alone?
In a frantic search for a response plan, Secretary Lee Il-seon suddenly appeared at the Police Agency. He had been unreachable for days and showed up without prior permission.
Surprisingly, he revealed to the media that the president had instructed conservative groups to conduct staged demonstrations.
From his perspective, it was an unavoidable choice.
If it were in the past, the trial would have been dragged out until public interest waned, eventually resulting in a suspended sentence. Afterward, I could have secured a position from Eunsung or PAS.
But now, both the police and the prosecution are on high alert, making it difficult to promise a position later.
Claiming responsibility unnecessarily could lead to bearing the burden alone. On the other hand, if I only conveyed the instructions, I could avoid responsibility.
Park Si-hyeong, watching the scene on TV from the Blue House, was engulfed in shock.
“What a bastard!”
He had taken in this rootless person and even made him an aide. After a lifetime of indebtedness, this was betrayal!
However, this was just the beginning.
Once a crack appeared, it quickly spread uncontrollably in all directions.
***
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a mandatory recall order for vehicles equipped with PAS airbags. Other countries were also considering similar measures, leaving the South Korean government as the only entity remaining inactive.
Automakers expected to benefit from this were celebrating. Some even openly advertised, “Our car’s airbags are safe.”
Following this, a congressional hearing was held in the U.S.
PAS executives were summoned one after another to the U.S. If they did not voluntarily appear, Interpol would register them as Red Notice targets, leaving them with no choice.
During the Toyota recall crisis, the willful concealment of issues became a serious problem. Toyota agreed to pay a fine of $1.2 billion in exchange for a deferred prosecution. However, PAS could hardly afford such an amount. Moreover, related laws had been strengthened since then, making it impossible to avoid prosecution even if a fine was paid.
Someone had to take responsibility, which would mean arrest. They would likely spend several years in prison.
U.S. prisons are notoriously rife with racism. What would happen to a person of color entering such a facility for corporate crime?
The stakes were too high to shoulder the burden solely out of loyalty or dedication to the company. Additionally, such dedication usually arises only when the company is functioning well. After a few years in prison, the company might no longer even exist, making any sense of loyalty meaningless.
Senators grilled the PAS executives on who the ultimate responsible party for the concealment was. The key was knowing how far up the chain the reports went and who gave the orders.
To evade responsibility, PAS executives were willing to testify.
They asserted that they reported numerous times to Park Si-hyeong, the then governor of Gyeonggi Province, who directly ordered the concealment. It’s always tough at the beginning; once someone began to speak up, testimonies and evidence flowed out.
“I went to him every month with settlement reports after he was elected president.”
“I reported every time there was an airbag-related incident.”
“Important decisions were made directly by Park Si-hyeong, excluding CEO Park Si-han.”
The hearing was broadcast live, shocking everyone who was watching.
Who would have thought that the real owner of PAS was the President of South Korea?
***
– (Jin Yeo-jun) We are starting the full-scale tribute broadcast for the leader. Unfortunately, today is the last broadcast. We have been tirelessly asking whose PAS it is, but now we no longer need to.
– (Jo Woo-jin) Because it has finally been revealed that PAS belongs to the leader.
– (Jo Woo-jin) The issue of the true owner of PAS first came up during the last presidential election’s Korean party primaries.
– (Jin Yeo-jun) Let’s listen to the leader’s remarks from that time again.
– What does PAS have to do with this? Who is the true owner? It’s all a blatant lie! I have not lived that kind of life! You all know this is a lie, right?
– (Jin Yeo-jun) Hehehe! It’s still funny hearing it again.
– (Jo Woo-jin) I burst out laughing every time I hear it.
– (Jin Yeo-jun) From the leader’s point of view, how frustrating it must have been? I mean, where in the world is someone who can’t say their own company is theirs? Are they Hong Gil-dong or what?
– (Jo Woo-jin) It’s really fortunate that the leader has finally regained his company.
– (Jin Yeo-jun) But what’s ridiculous is that all the people called to the U.S. hearings all mentioned the leader’s name. Not one person is willing to take the fall for him. “I’m the one! I’ll go to jail in place of the leader!” Why can’t they say that?
– (Jo Woo-jin) As I’ve said before, the leader thinks solely of himself. If he doesn’t care for those around him, why would they care for him?
– (Jin Yeo-jun) The thorough leader doesn’t trust anyone. He couldn’t even trust his own brother, which is why he handled PAS’s affairs himself after becoming president. That’s how we got here.
– (Jo Woo-jin) We have to see that the leader’s diligence has become his downfall. He may be feeling wronged now and blaming the late CEO Tak Kwon-taek.
– (Jin Yeo-jun) That makes sense because if PAS hadn’t colluded with Eunsung Motors to fraudulently acquire TKT Precision, we wouldn’t be in this situation, right? And the late CEO Tak Kwon-taek’s documents were the final blow. The records revealing that airbag defects were reported multiple times to Eunsung Motors and PAS, as well as to the relevant institutions, have been fully disclosed. Perhaps the leader thinks the emperor was stabbed by a slave.
– (Jo Woo-jin) It’s like he was stabbed twice. Once for the airbag defect, and another time for exposing the cover-up.
– (Jin Yeo-jun) It is said that slaves stab twice. Anyway, someone who tipped us off asked us to make sure to say this: After realizing there was a defect in the airbag he developed, CEO Tak made every effort to inform others. But Eunsung Motors and PAS rushed to silence him and conceal the truth.
– (Jo Woo-jin) Now they will pay the price. The only thing left for the leader is to be investigated once his term is over.
– (Jin Yeo-jun) Hehehe! The leader is going to jail!
***
The spark jumped directly into the political arena.
Choi Moon-gil’s candidacy for the presidential election created a landscape with one conservative candidate and two progressive candidates.
The Liberty Korea Party was absorbing the centrist conservative demographic through image renewal, and thanks to Choi Moon-gil nibbling away some of Heo Chang-min’s votes, Lee Jung-hye was widening the gap and leading.
The dream of becoming president was within reach.
If things continued this way, the first female president would be born. However, just before voting, a major crisis erupted.
No matter how much one distances themselves from the pro-Park faction and calls for a change in power, the Liberty Korea Party fundamentally struggles to deny its ties to Park Si-hyeong.
In particular, Lee Jung-hye served as a spokesperson for Park Si-hyeong’s campaign during the last presidential election and actively defended him when issues about the actual ownership of PAS emerged.
During the presidential debate, New Politics Party’s Heo Chang-min focused his attacks on this point.
“During the last election, candidate Lee Jung-hye repeatedly claimed that PAS had no connection to President Park Si-hyeong. Do you still hold the same view?”
Lee Jung-hye evaded the question and spoke vaguely.
“I think we need to monitor the investigation a bit more.”
“Is PAS tied to President Park Si-hyeong or not? If yes, then abusing power for your own company and colluding with Eunsung Motor is a matter that should lead to immediate arrest after the term ends. Please state your position, candidate Lee Jung-hye. So whose PAS is it?”
As the interrogation continued, she desperately denied it.
“You shouldn’t make such claims based on unverified facts.”
“Didn’t PAS executives testify in the U.S. Congress?”
“How can we trust what those people say?”
“Have you seen the recent video circulating on the internet?”
Heo Chang-min played a video he had prepared.
It was a secretly filmed lecture from the early days of PAS where Park Si-hyeong stated that he established and operated PAS.
“Isn’t PAS linked to President Park Si-hyeong now?”
“That is…….”
Without a rebuttal, Lee Jung-hye spat out whatever came to mind.
“There’s no subject.”
“Excuse me?”
“You said, ‘I established and operate PAS,’ but you didn’t say ‘I’ did it, did you?”
Heo Chang-min asked, bewildered.
“Are you playing word games with me?”
“What do you mean, playing word games?”
“Then if saying there’s no subject isn’t a word game, what is it? This is mocking the public.”
Touched on the mark, Lee Jung-hye grimaced and shouted while pointing.
“No, how can you say that? Resign from your candidacy immediately!”
***
[President Park Si-hyeong Directly Ordered Cover-Up of Airbag Defect]
[Long-Standing Controversy Over True Ownership of PAS!]
[Whose PAS Is It?]
[President Park Si-hyeong Remains Silent]
[No Statement from the Blue House]
Han Min-goo mumbled as he read the flood of media articles.
“Well, it has come to this.”
With the revelation that Park Si-hyeong is the true owner of PAS, the various benefits Eunsung Motors received from the government could not help but become a problem.
The government-led hydrogen vehicle support initiatives would be halted immediately.
“Maybe this is for the best…”
Unlike hydrogen cars, electric vehicles had limitations in battery capacity and charging time. However, Professor Kim Ho-min had developed a next-generation battery that surpassed those limitations.
While it would take time to commercialize, at this point, the scales had already tipped towards electric vehicles.
The hydrogen vehicle camp had already shown signs of breaking away, and this incident put an end to it.
Eunsung Motors had invested huge sums into hydrogen vehicles and had finished developing two new models, only awaiting mass production. However, given this atmosphere, there was no way they could sell even if they launched.
For now, they needed to rethink their future vehicle development plans from scratch.
“Where did it all go wrong?”
Was it when they sold CarOS? When they antagonized Kang Jin-hoo? Or was it when DHK Engineering went bust?
Perhaps there had been several opportunities for reconciliation.
What if, when realizing that Eunsung Motors had ruined his family and caused his father’s death, he had genuinely apologized and sought cooperation? Would things have turned out differently from now?
Regretting it now is already too late.
Looking back now, even if it weren’t Kang Jin-hoo, something would have blown up eventually.
Why didn’t they take any action upon discovering the airbag defect?
Was it simply due to the partnership with PAS? Did they naively think this level of defect wouldn’t be a problem?
“I must be getting old.”
The current situation was the worst crisis for Eunsung Motors.
However, Eunsung Motors was not weak enough to collapse like this. They had sufficient cash and stamina to endure.
Toyota also faced a shaky moment during the recall crisis, but didn’t they overcome it?
Eunsung Motors could undoubtedly do the same.
But before that, someone had to take responsibility for this situation.
Han Min-goo gave his final orders as chairman.
“Prepare for a press conference.”
Chairman Han Min-goo held a press conference at headquarters.
“Eunsung Motors will conduct a recall for all vehicles equipped with PAS airbags to ensure consumer safety. This will apply equally in all countries and will proceed as soon as parts are procured. All employees will pledge to do their utmost to resolve the issue promptly. We sincerely apologize to all consumers who love Eunsung Motors.”
The announcement of the recall immediately became breaking news. However, an even more important announcement was yet to come.
Chairman Han Min-goo spoke calmly.
“I take full responsibility for this incident. I will resign from the position of chairman of Eunsung Motors and all other roles, effective immediately. I sincerely apologize once again.”
After finishing his announcement, Han Min-goo bowed at a 90-degree angle.
For the retirement of a giant leading the second-largest group in the business world, it was a humble sight.
