On November 17th, at 4 p.m., the South Korean won (their money) hit its lowest point ever.
The exchange rate fell to a record 1008 won for 1 US dollar.
On this day, Zane's company and all the other big money players made a ton of money.
Zane's company, Gale Capital, earned over $10 million. But the biggest winner of the day was the giant bank, Merrill Lynch.
"Boss," Henry said, his voice serious, "we just got news. Merrill Lynch sold $9 billion worth of South Korean won in just a few hours. They completely smashed the South Korean money market!"
"Darn!" Zane gasped.
"Selling $9 billion in just a few hours... they must have been planning this for a long time," Zane said. "South Korea's backup money... I heard it's less than $7 billion. That means the South Korean government has no way to fight back at all."
Henry nodded. South Korea just couldn't compare to Japan.
Japan had over $200 billion in backup money, so they could at least put up a fight. But South Korea? With only $7 billion? They couldn't do anything.
In fact, most of the big money players hadn't even made their move yet. Just one big bank was enough to bring down the whole country.
South Korea was in big trouble.
...
At the same time, in South Korea...
The government was having an emergency meeting at the Blue House (their White House).
"Where's the money?!" one man yelled at a government official. "Our country doesn't even have $7 billion in backup money? What happens next? You have to take responsibility!"
Before he even finished, all the other government members started yelling, too. They blamed everyone, even the President.
"The people at the Ministry of Finance must resign!" "Yes, this is all their fault!" "Everyone, the big companies like Samsung and Daewoo are all waiting for the government to help them! If they fall, our whole country is finished!"
The room was full of noisy shouting. All the "elegant" and "polite" officials were screaming at each other.
In South Korea, politics is run by the chaebols (the giant, family-owned companies). From the moment you're born, the hospital, the house, the car, your job, your clothes... even your toilet paper... it all comes from a chaebol.
Many of the men in that room were just spokesmen for these giant companies. They were at the meeting for one reason: to make sure the government used its money to save the chaebols.
What about the small businesses? Or the regular people?
"Who cares about them? We have to save the chaebols!"
But the government itself was in huge trouble.
After the meeting, a spokesman went on TV and said the now-famous words: "We will lose 30% of workers' jobs to keep 70% of workers' jobs."
...
What happened next was easy to guess.
Many companies shut down. People lost their jobs. South Koreans were scared and angry.
But did Zane and the big money players care? Nope.
They just kept betting against the South Korean won. For three more days, the won just fell and fell.
Countless small businesses in South Korea closed. Even the giant chaebols were losing badly.
The worst one was the Daewoo Group. It was the second-biggest company in South Korea, with 260,000 employees. It was a giant.
But because it had borrowed so much money, the crisis hit it like a truck. The company's value crashed. The myth that "Daewoo will never die" was finally broken.
All over the country, people who had lost their jobs gathered in the streets. They were shouting, still believing their government would find a way to save them.
...
Back at Gale Capital...
Zane was in his office, watching the news from South Korea on TV. He couldn't help but feel amused.
"You're still believing in them?" he sneered. "Your government and your big companies aren't thinking about saving you. They're just trying to save themselves."
Sure enough, it didn't take long for another piece of news to break.
A man from the South Korean government announced: "We are unable to stop this crisis. We have decided to ask the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) for help."
This caused an uproar!
The people of South Korea, who just a second ago believed their country was a world power, were completely stunned. Their dream was shattered.
Of course, a lot of people were also happy. "It's great!" they said. "The IMF will help us! We're going to be okay!"
Zane just shook his head, full of disdain.
"The IMF? You think they're a charity?" he thought. "The IMF is really just the United States. They're a wolf that devours people whole."
A few days later, the IMF and the South Korean government signed a rescue deal. The IMF agreed to lend South Korea $57 billion.
"Wow, that looks so generous," Zane thought, laughing to himself. "I bet there are a lot of extra rules attached to that."
He was right.
The "extra rules" from the IMF completely cut South Korea to pieces.
Rule 1: The IMF forced South Korea to shut down all the banks that were helping the big chaebols. This cut off the chaebols' money and hurt them badly.
Rule 2: The IMF forced South Korea to raise its interest rates to 30%. This super-high rate would make many more companies go bankrupt.
Rule 3: The IMF forced South Korea to fully open its money market to foreign investors.
This last rule was the most poisonous one.
It meant that companies from other countries (like America) could now come in and buy all of South Korea's banks and companies for super-cheap prices. It turned South Korea into a defenseless battlefield.
The United States' goal was clear: to take over South Korea and turn it into their own backyard.
"Boss, the opportunity is here!" Henry said, his voice full of excitement. "The IMF 'aid' isn't a gift! Because of these rules, the giant chaebols in South Korea are about to die! Even if they don't go bankrupt, they're going to lose half of everything!"
Zane, of course, already knew this.
...
The IMF's plan "worked," but the big chaebols were torn apart by Wall Street.
The Daewoo Group, the second-biggest company, was almost completely dismembered. It went bankrupt and lost 40% to 50% of everything it owned.
The big banks that did this made billions of dollars.
And Zane? He made a profit of over $700 million from the South Korean market in just a short time. He might have even made more than he did in Japan.
"Haha!" Zane cheered, feeling on top of the world. "Cleaning up South Korea just feels refreshing!"
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