America: My Time

Chapter 804 John's Conditions

Chapter 794 John's Conditions
The reason why South Korea suffered a heavy blow from the US during the 1997 Asian financial crisis was because they lacked self-awareness and dared to swindle money from the US. It's usually the US that swindles others; the fact that South Korea dared to do such a thing shows that they were too arrogant, too stupid, or too conceited. They thought the universe belonged to them, so now these guys don't take the US seriously, and it's understandable that they did such disastrous things.

Samsung dared to come alone, wanting to monopolize all the benefits, which shows how arrogant the Koreans are. It was precisely because of the Koreans' behavior that John was amazed. His relationship with the Koreans was not that good, and he had even had a confrontation with them before. John found it unbelievable that these guys were still so arrogant.

South Korea's economy isn't that strong yet; it's nowhere near the level of Japan. Even the Japanese have to be cautious and don't dare to be arrogant. They even need Akio Morita to intervene. But South Korea is so self-righteous, even arrogant enough to come to Japan in person. This is incredibly ignorant and rude.

After Samsung's failure, John soon received an invitation to a cocktail party—an official invitation from the South Korean government. However, John thought the invitation was foolish. At this point, they should just sit down and discuss their demands. These guys didn't think they could get the oil they wanted without paying any price. Besides, John's relationship with them wasn't that good. What was the point of his advance planning? Wasn't it to make more money? And these guys were wasting his time.

As night fell, the hotel's limousine, guided by a driver, slowly drove into the reception venue. John had barely stepped out when a group of people greeted him warmly. Most of these men were South Korean officials, and John knew at first glance that they were up to something again; there was definitely something wrong with this reception.

"Mr. John, it's a pleasure to have you here!" Soon, the man was introducing John to the other people, and among them John saw Lee Kun-hee and other South Korean chaebols. Seeing these men, John couldn't help but sigh. These chaebols all possessed an arrogance that John couldn't understand. Compared to the Japanese, these men seemed overly assertive and ostentatious.

What surprised John the most was seeing the US ambassador to South Korea. It seemed that this guy had also received a bribe from South Korea, otherwise he wouldn't be here. Besides, John didn't have any connection with this guy.

Upon entering the reception, John parted ways with the others. The ambassador then sat down with John in a corner, while Sachiko was led to a more secluded spot. It was clear John and the ambassador had business to discuss, and it wasn't appropriate for her to participate in such an important matter. John knew this woman had likely received not only benefits from the Koreans but also instructions from the White House; otherwise, she wouldn't have appeared before him.

"Mr. John, hello. I'm sure you're very confused right now. The reason I'm here is that I hope you can give the Koreans some benefits. This isn't my intention, but the White House's!"

"Hehe, I thought of that a long time ago. But why should I accept the White House's opinion? Even the president has no right to interfere with our normal trade. Besides, the Koreans don't want to give us any benefits. How is that possible!" John didn't care about the guy in front of him at all. If Old Man Shi hadn't done those things and the relationship between the two sides hadn't been in trouble, John would have given him face and been willing to have a good talk with the Koreans. But now John didn't feel that he needed to give him face.

Although the guy in front of him was unlikely to harm his interests and didn't dare to do so, John didn't want to accept his proposal. He wouldn't do anything without benefit, and he wasn't afraid of any tricks his Korean side might play. If the Koreans dared to play dirty tricks on him, he would teach them a lesson.

"There are benefits, of course. South Korea is willing to give you more convenience in the entertainment industry, and also more convenience to Phoenix Group and Legendary Entertainment. You know that South Korea's situation is not very good right now, and it is already very difficult for them to make such concessions. All you need to give is oil in South Korea. They don't want much, just 70% of your oil reserves in South Korea. You can negotiate the price yourselves, or like Japan, you can decide it yourself!"

John shook his head and said, "I don't think these benefits are of much use to me. Phoenix Group has already established itself in the Korean entertainment industry, and we already have our own company there, so I don't see any profit in their terms. I've already taken care of all the benefits they're offering! I'm open to cooperating with them, but I need Standard Chartered Bank to have access to Korea. If they agree, then I'm all set!"

"Fine, if you insist, I can tell them, but whether those guys agree or not is beyond my knowledge!"

"I understand. Whether they accept or not is their choice. I believe they won't refuse my request. After all, South Korea's economic situation isn't very good right now, and they currently have no oil sources. If the situation in the Middle East worsens, South Korea will run out of oil, and their economy will be directly plunged into difficulties, even to the brink of collapse. To be honest, South Korea isn't much different from Japan in terms of resources; both are heavily reliant on external sources. Japan has always been working to improve itself and find a way out for itself, but South Korea doesn't have that kind of strength right now!"

As soon as John finished speaking, the ambassador understood his meaning. The Koreans had no choice in this negotiation; they had to accept it whether they wanted to or not, since they didn't have oil reserves like Japan. "Mr. John, I understand. I'm relieved to hear your words. I'm sure those guys are getting impatient. Let's go see them and hear their decision!"

This guy is quite capable; he clearly doesn't want to take responsibility for things himself and doesn't want to antagonize these Korean conglomerates. After all, he can get a lot of benefits from them, and offending these guys would affect his own interests.

As John and the ambassador stood up, a waiter quickly led them to a corner not far away, where the others were already waiting. When John and the ambassador sat down, the waiter served everyone champagne.

"Mr. John, what do you think of our proposal?" The official asked immediately, after all, South Korea's situation wasn't too good right now, and if a domestic oil shortage affected the economy, it would be a disaster for them.

"I need to add one condition: Standard Chartered Bank can enter South Korea. If you agree, I can agree to your terms, and even give you a larger share of oil. How to allocate it is your own business; I won't get involved, since I don't know much about this area. The price just needs to be the same as in Japan. I wonder if you can accept that!"

“Mr. John, your request is beyond our ability to decide. We need to report this to our superiors!”

John hadn't expected these guys to give him an answer at this point; it wasn't something they could do. So he smiled calmly and said, "It's alright, I can wait for your answers. However, I don't have that much time to stay here. As you know, I need to go to China to find out the situation there, and then to Taiwan. So if you can't make a decision quickly, we'll have to wait until our next meeting to discuss this matter!"

"Mr. John, how long can you stay here?"

"Three days, I'll stay here for a maximum of three days. After all, I'm very busy and can't stay here forever for such a small matter!"

John's answer infuriated the Koreans. What was important to them was considered trivial by John, which was a disregard for them. But they were powerless to do anything about it, since John held the resources they desperately needed, whether it was oil or other energy sources, which they were in dire need of.

“Okay, we will get back to you as soon as possible. However, we have heard that Mr. John has cooperation with Japan and Southeast Asia in oil supply. We wonder if we can also obtain the same ‘cooperation’?”

Good heavens, these bastards are really greedy. Their cooperation hasn't even been finalized yet, and these guys are already thinking about more 'cooperation'. It seems the Koreans are also very eager for oil. It's not greed that's scary, it's the lack of greed. The more oil these guys need, the happier John will be, which means the Koreans will fall into his trap.

John shook his head and said, "It's not impossible for us to reach a cooperation agreement, but it won't be much. After all, I've already promised Gu Nihong, and we can't ignore Taiwan either. Taiwan is a major customer of Western Energy, and we can't disregard the feelings of our major customers. So, if you want more oil, I'm powerless to help. However, you can talk to the Middle Eastern tycoons and sign a short-term supply agreement. It shouldn't be too much of a loss. After all, for you, it's better to get through this difficult time first, and this loss is nothing compared to the national interest."

(End of this chapter)