I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 19: Economic Boom (1)

The significance of the Plaza Accord... was that a country directly intervened in exchange rates.

It’s even considered a successful move by the U.S. to suppress Japan as it surged forward.

Well, if you dig into it, it gets a bit complicated... but honestly, you don’t need to know the details.

What matters is the outcome. Don’t you think?

“Soon, the Japanese economy is going to spin like it’s lost its mind. So much so that our economic boom will look like a joke in comparison.”

That was the first thing I brought up when I met with Executive Director Ha Joo-seong again.

Whether it was because Grandfather had hinted at something or simply due to a newfound respect for my abilities, Executive Director Ha was acting much more polite toward me.

“Since the yen has appreciated... exports are out of the question. That means it’ll come down to the domestic market.”

Exactly.

Ha Joo-seong, who had worked at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, would understand what I meant.

Honestly, any Korean with a bit of sense could figure it out. If money doesn’t move outward, then... there’s only one place left for it to go.

Real estate.

“Real estate’s going to spike. Do you think we could invest my money in that direction?”

Japan’s insane real estate bubble in the 1980s is... quite famous.

There was even a saying that you could sell the land in Tokyo and buy all of the United States.

Not a joke. At the time, land prices in Japan were 100 times higher than in the U.S.—700 times if you were talking about Tokyo specifically.

Does that even make sense?

Of course not. In the end, the bubble burst, and Japan had to endure painful years of economic stagnation.

But I intend to ride that bubble and milk it for all it’s worth. Naturally, I’ll do the same during the IMF crisis and the subprime mortgage crash.

If money is just going to roll in while I sit still, why would I stop it? I’m not obligated to rescue people struggling through a recession.

And who knows if it would even help if I tried? A half-baked attempt to stop a bubble might just create a bigger one later.

“Do you have any interest in the stock market? I recall you saying last time that you preferred stocks over real estate...”

Ha Joo-seong cautiously suggested I invest in stocks. It was his area of expertise, and it was something that suited my preferences too.

After all, I was a finance guy in my past life.

“Mmm, you’re right. Stocks are definitely going to surge too. But this time’s a bit tricky. It’d be fine if I did it under Daehwa Securities’ name, but right now... I kind of need some slush funds.”

“Ah, then it can’t be helped. Japan’s tax laws are quite complex too. I’ll have an expert handle it.”

Honestly, if I could, I’d love to just go nuts buying NTT. It’s a bulletproof stock until the bubble bursts.

What kind of company is NTT...? It’s a Japanese telecommunications firm that just went public this year after being privatized from a state-owned enterprise.

It might not be well-known among ordinary people in the 21st century, but at the time, NTT was overwhelmingly the world’s top company by market cap.

As of 1988, NTT’s market cap was about $277 billion. IBM, in second place, had $76 billion. The gap was insane.

For reference, Korea’s GDP at that time barely passed $200 billion. A single Japanese company was vastly larger than the entire Korean economy.

That was Japan’s bubble economy—unbelievably massive, with a growth rate and scale that bordered on madness.

It was why people called Chairman Yoo Seong-pil insane for trying to beat Japan’s Sony by diving into the semiconductor industry.

The difference between Japan in its lost decade and booming 1980s Japan was night and day.

But... it’s kind of hard, honestly.

Stocks are a different beast from real estate. With all the financial oversight, money laundering is tough.

It’s time I started preparing slush funds of my own.

Sure, at my age, setting up slush funds might be overkill, but once real-name financial systems kick in, it’s going to be much harder.

Better to prep in advance. I can always earn more money later.

“I’ll buy land as a private individual. If I just hold on to it and sell it later, I could make five times the return.”

Right now’s not the time to aggressively make money.

This is a time to quietly build connections and hunker down for a solid future.

Until the day comes when I’ll overturn everything in Korea, I’ll swim calmly through the boom.

***

After that.

I met with Economic Secretary Kim Hae-ik for the first time in a while. These days, he was immersed in the joyful struggle of figuring out how to best capitalize on the Triple Low Boom.

“You were right, Ha-yeon. The dollar really dropped. And more sharply than expected. Haha, this means our foreign currency debt concerns will ease up soon.”

Now that Japan’s exports had collapsed, Korea had practically no competition.

We’d just stepped onto the platform of becoming a mid-tier country, and our product quality wasn’t bad. Our labor costs were still low, so compared to developed countries, our price competitiveness was massive.

For someone like him, leading Korea’s economy, there couldn’t have been a better tailwind.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Hehe, I guess I was lucky. Just when I stepped into this field, a massive opportunity like this came up.”

Naturally, semiconductors were one of Korea’s main export items.

Starting with semiconductors, it made perfect sense for me to be interested in exports.

It wasn’t a coincidence that I focused on the Plaza Accord.

The yen’s appreciation, semiconductor exports, the semiconductor industry—everything was interconnected. That made it easier for me to speak convincingly.

I was still just a child, after all. It wasn’t easy to insert myself into fields I had no obvious connection to.

Kim Hae-ik, who had no way of knowing what I was really thinking, looked at me and chuckled.

“For that, you seemed awfully confident. From what I heard, you made quite the bold gamble.”

“Well... I just gave it a shot. It was an investment with some risk management.”

Granted, I’d shoved that risk onto Daehwa Securities—but that’s what all the people at the top do.

If it wins, it’s mine. If it loses, someone else eats the cost. That’s the golden rule of embezzling company funds.

Compared to that, I had limited the potential loss to only my assets. That made me practically a saint.

Hmm... the more I think about it, the more upright I seem.

Ugh, if I keep being this nice, I’m gonna have to worry about my karma later.

“I heard you’ll be in second grade soon. Come to think of it, you’ve grown a lot. Are you tall for your age?”

He tilted his head as he looked me over again.

“Yup. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» I think I’m ranked first in height in my class.”

I smiled proudly and stood a bit on my tiptoes.

Maybe it was thanks to the ability I got when I reincarnated, but I was growing up fast.

I’d formed a few hypotheses about hormones, but none of them led to meaningful conclusions.

My aging would probably stop around age seventeen, once I was fully grown...

Anyway, it helped lessen the disadvantage of being young. Adults always judge children’s age by their height, after all.

“A boom is coming. Korea might not have many resources, but we’ve scraped by with people and technology. It’s about time we saw the rewards.”

A natural smile appeared on his face, filled with complex emotions.

“You must be happy?”

When I asked, he nodded and smiled.

“Of course. How could I not be? That such luck would come while I’m still a public servant in economic affairs... There probably won’t be many people after me who’ll experience something like this. Korea’s grown too big for a single economic official to steer the nation’s direction now.”

Then, Economic Secretary Kim Hae-ik added:

“But... there must be some small measures to prepare for the coming recession.”

There is always a recession at the end of a boom.

He valued economic stability over growth. Even before the boom hit, he was already preparing for the downturn.

A question occurred to me. Honestly, anyone would wonder.

“Do you think it’s possible to prevent a recession?”

If he started preparing now to counter the foreign currency crisis, would it really be enough?

“Well... I believe we need to aim for a soft landing. Right now, our companies are too obsessed with growth.”

“That’s... going to be tough.”

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“It will be.”

In the 1980s, South Korea wasn’t even a fully-fledged mid-tier country.

A superpower like the United States could preemptively let the air out of a bubble, but for Korea, it was practically impossible.

We’re dying to charge forward—and you want to stop economic growth to avoid a future crisis?

It’s nearly impossible. Especially once political logic gets involved.

That’s why I felt reassured.

I wouldn’t be the one to bury my last remaining friend with my own hands.

“Don’t worry. By the time this boom ends... I’ll have grown up quite a bit too. I’ll help you then.”

I gave him a soft smile and laughed like a child.

.

.

.

Well, I do mean it when I say I’ll help.

At the very least, I’ll be far more competent and helpful for economic growth than the majority of chaebols out there.

One thief who steals from ordinary people is more than enough—and that thief is me.