America: My Time

Chapter 1123 Abandonment
Chapter 1113 Abandonment

What does Lee Boo-jin want? Is it assets, is it money? No, it's power! Don't be fooled by the fact that she could represent John before; her influence was limited. But if she could gain John's approval, she would gain his power, the power to be above the Koreans. At that time, she would have no pressure in Korea!

The more Lee Boo-jin understood the madness of the South Korean conglomerates, the more she realized the terrifying pressure she faced. If it were merely about fame and fortune, she wouldn't need so much scheming. But she wanted more than just fame and fortune; she wanted power—power above all others. Having enjoyed such benefits and understanding the true nature of the South Korean conglomerates, her ambition naturally grew. Because she came from a chaebol family, assets and money were unimportant to her; power above the South Koreans was what mattered most!
You have to give as much as you want to receive. Lee Boo-jin understood this very well. If she only wanted to maintain the status quo, she wouldn't need to give much; she could simply keep it as it was. But she wanted more, so she had many ideas and plans, which led to everything we have now, and to the appearance of these beautiful women in front of her.

Competing for favor—that was Lee Boo-jin's choice. Only in this way could she consolidate her position and protect her interests. She had witnessed the madness of the Korean conglomerates and feared that if she lost her beauty, she would be abandoned. If it really came to that, she didn't think she could still gain her father's approval, and her fate would be terrible!

John was well aware of Lee Boo-jin's thoughts, but he couldn't persuade her at all. Coming from a chaebol family, she wouldn't believe his promises. John also knew how crazy the Samsung Lee family was, so he stopped trying to persuade her and said those words to put her at ease.

John understood how determined Lee Boo-jin was to make such an arrangement, so he couldn't possibly refuse. However, this meant he would need to make more adjustments, and he also needed to give her access to many of the assets on the Korean side.

John wasn't worried that the madness of the Korean conglomerates would be exposed and the public would know, putting him in trouble. John didn't have such concerns because he wasn't one of those crazy Koreans. Those guys had long since lost their humanity, or rather, they lost their humanity in the face of power. John wasn't like them, and his focus wasn't on Korea. Even if those guys were exposed, it wouldn't affect him. John had already established his playboy persona; as long as he didn't go too far, no one would care.

For those in high society, for those tycoons, is women a problem? Absolutely not. Nobody cares. Everyone knows exactly what Hollywood is like, but does anyone criticize it? Does anyone object? No, because everyone understands it's a transaction. As for the crazy things hidden in the shadows, nobody pays any attention. That's power, that's the power of capital.

The reason the Koreans and Americans are in trouble is because they have internal problems; otherwise, they wouldn't be facing these issues. In a capitalist society, the power of capital is stronger than imagined. John is well aware of all this, so he doesn't care!
"Are you really not going to communicate with those guys in the government anymore?" When they couldn't see that the negotiations with Asia Energy were continuing, and even heard that Asia Energy was going to abandon the project in South Korea, those guys in the South Korean government got a little anxious, so they went to Lee Boo-jin again!
"There's no need for any further communication with them. The decision has already been made. I was initially giving them a chance because the previous cooperation had gone smoothly, but these guys mistook my kindness for weakness. So they should bear the consequences themselves. Sakhalin Island's energy resources are limited, and they are insufficient to supply both Japan and China. In that case, why should I be kind enough to give them another chance and make an unnecessary investment?"

“But I’m worried they won’t be satisfied and might do something foolish that could affect our investments here!” Lee Boo-jin said with a worried expression. The more she understood the situation in South Korea, the more worried she became. In her opinion, South Korea had gone mad and become so arrogant that they didn’t know when to stop!
"Let them be. If they really want to be my enemy, I don't mind teaching them a lesson. What happened to Japan back then is not impossible for South Korea to experience. Without the US market, what do you think South Korea will do? This tiny island nation dares to dream of being our enemy and scheming against the US conglomerate. They're just overthinking it."

John utterly despised the arrogance of the Koreans. Those Japanese guys were arrogant too, but look what happened to them. The Koreans aren't even as good as the Japanese. What right do they have to make demands? What right do they have to provoke American conglomerates?

"Ignore them and don't worry about what kind of punishment they might receive. Wrongdoings have consequences. If they don't offer enough benefits, they'll pay a heavy price—they might lose their lives. Next, you'll gradually learn about shipbuilding, chemicals, and automobile investments, and slowly begin to take over everything here!"

Betrayal? Would John worry about Lee Boo-jin betraying him? John wasn't worried at all, because she wasn't stupid. She knew what was in her best interest, and betrayal would only bring her a heavy price. The Samsung Lee family couldn't protect her, let alone the South Korean government. If she dared to betray them, death would be the best outcome!

Seeking refuge with other American conglomerates? That's impossible. No one would accept it, no one would choose to be John's enemy. A smart person wouldn't do something so foolish. Perhaps John might have such concerns about uncultured, simple-minded individuals—after all, they're too foolish and have limited vision. But for a beautiful woman like Lee Boo-jin, born into a wealthy family, such a foolish decision is impossible. Having received an elite education, she naturally knows what she can and cannot do!

“But once they make a move, the investments here will inevitably be significantly affected, and there might even be major chaos. Those guys are all too arrogant now, and I’m worried they might take targeted actions!” Lee Boo-jin didn’t trust those Koreans at all, feeling that these arrogant guys would definitely cause some trouble!

“Let them be. If they dare to make a move, they’ll pay the price for their stupidity. I’m not worried about them not making a move; whatever I lose, they’ll have to pay double. You don’t think I’m really that easy to talk to, do you?” John shook his head as he said this. He could be generous to the women around him, but anyone who dared to scheme against him or even provoke him would pay a heavy price. Of course, if these guys dared to target his assets in Korea, John wouldn’t mind teaching them a lesson and cutting off their source of income. That is, provided they had the guts and the power. However, John didn’t think these guys would dare to attack him. If they dared, they would have already done it, and he had dealt with these guys before. Unless they truly lost their minds, they wouldn’t act rashly!
The Koreans had considered using their charms, but unfortunately, they never had a chance. Lee Boo-jin stood in their way, so John had little to do in this regard. Although the Koreans also wanted to build relationships and improve the situation, they all failed.

In the past ten days or so, John has been surrounded by many beautiful women, with Lee Boo-jin by his side the entire time. Moreover, she has accompanied John to learn about all the industries in South Korea. This situation shattered the many ideas those guys had. What worried the Koreans most was that John took Lee Boo-jin to meet with the US military officials stationed in South Korea. This news forced those who were eager to make a move to give up.

"Alright, I'll leave things on the Korean side to you. I've done what I was supposed to do. Now it's up to you to see how you perform. If there's anything you can't handle, contact me. I still need to take care of some things on the Japanese side!" John didn't make many arrangements or preparations for things on the Korean side because Korea wasn't that important to him anymore. Shipbuilding or car manufacturing, it didn't matter; there were always alternatives.

Today, Taiwan's development is accelerating, its expansion in Southeast Asia is speeding up, and Japan is making concessions. All of this has made South Korean investment less important. If South Korea had made a bold move when John was initially planning his strategy, they might have had a chance to influence it. But now their influence is not as great.

When John's plane took off, the old guys in the US already knew that John's target was Japan. The Japanese guys were all excited because they had received a cooperation invitation from Asia Energy. Asia Energy had abandoned its project in South Korea and wanted to increase cooperation with them. How could the Japanese guys not be happy!
Although there has been no news of new oil fields from Sakhalin Island, the Japanese already know that Sakhalin Island has been repaired and production has resumed. As long as the undersea oil pipeline in Japan is completed, a steady stream of energy will flow into Japan through the pipeline. Moreover, John's petrochemical plant in Japan is now complete and is just waiting for the energy to arrive!
Does Japan lack energy? Absolutely. They would naturally accept having access to energy nearby, especially since it's so convenient. Only a fool would refuse. As for John's request, these Japanese guys don't see any problem with it. They'll manage the operations, each holding half the shares, and they don't see any issues with that.

Before the cooperation, Asian Energy had already explained their reasons to the Japanese, laying everything out in the open, which made the Japanese more willing to accept the cooperation. In their view, the Koreans' greed was a foolish choice; trying to use the market as a threat was simply wishful thinking. The Korean market was insignificant, at least for now, while the Japanese were much more clear-headed.

Only a fool would refuse access to cheap energy; in their eyes, the Koreans are a bunch of fools, a bunch of fools blinded by greed. When Asian energy companies wanted to transfer some of the energy originally allocated to the Koreans to the Japanese market, these guys were naturally willing to accept, as it would reduce their dependence on Middle Eastern tycoons.

Of course, they knew that doing so would make them dependent on John's Asian energy, but they preferred to trust John, and they all saw profit in cooperating with him. This was the benefit of the reputation John had cultivated; no one saw anything wrong with such a partnership.

As for those Koreans, if we're going to sever cooperation, we should do it cleanly and decisively. All resources on Sakhalin Island will no longer be supplied to them. Instead, we will choose to cooperate with Japan. This is a huge headache for the Koreans. As for their share, it will all go to Taiwan, China, and Japan.

When John's plane landed at Tokyo Airport, Sakhalin Island suspended its cooperation with South Korea. All previous cooperation intentions were canceled, including those related to resources and energy. The reason was simple: South Korea was too greedy and insisted on delaying the signing of contracts, trying to put pressure on John to get Asian energy companies to cooperate with them. However, their scheme failed, and John directly abandoned the cooperation with them.

The Koreans were completely dumbfounded by this turn of events. They hadn't expected things to happen so quickly. They had thought there was still a chance, but now all those chances were gone. They no longer had the opportunity to negotiate with John, as he was already in Tokyo.

This time, John's arrival was not immediately disturbed by the Japanese. Akio Morita, that old guy, had truly retired and did not bother John, nor were there any invitations to parties, because they all knew about the situation on the Korean side and that John's cooperation with the Koreans had failed.

At this point, they didn't want to bother John, because they all knew the cooperation wouldn't go wrong; it was just an internal struggle among them. John had always stayed out of this, letting them handle things themselves. As for who had the better methods, that would depend on their individual abilities. How many shares they would get, and who would gain control of the operations, was their own business, so these guys could simply wait.

(End of this chapter)