Golden Spoon Investor

A few days later.

From early morning, Gimpo Airport's international arrivals hall was crowded with reporters, their cameras and microphones filling the space with noise and anticipation.

Lee Sook-young, her hair tied back with a string, checked her wristwatch with a tense expression and muttered under her breath,

"Why is he taking so long to come out?"

Then she turned to look behind her, at Kim Sun-han, who stood by a tripod-mounted camera with a large lens.

"Sunbae, you're sure he's coming out through this gate, right?"

Since smoking wasn't allowed inside the airport, Kim Sun-han was chewing on a lozenge instead. He answered lazily,

"I told you, didn't I? This is the fifth time you've asked."

"It's already past noon and he still hasn't shown up," she grumbled.

In response, Kim Sun-han jerked his chin toward the crowd of other reporters surrounding the arrivals area.

"Look around. Every single one of them is camped out here. That means this is the right gate. Just wait a little longer."

"Ugh."

Clicking her tongue, Lee Sook-young tightened her grip around the voice recorder in her hand, ready to use it at any moment.

"Still, to think he fled overseas only to get caught by the Chinese police and sent back to Korea... What a way to humiliate the entire country — from accounting fraud to international disgrace."

"Tell me about it."

At that moment, the quiet arrival gate—silent because no passengers had come through for a while—suddenly slid open from both sides. Instantly, every reporter in the area, including Lee Sook-young and Kim Sun-han, turned their heads in unison.

In a tense hush, two burly men in black suits emerged, holding a frail, elderly man between them. His head was bowed low.

Although his face was mostly hidden by a white mask and a baseball cap pulled down low, everyone instantly recognized him—the second most powerful figure in Korea's business world, Chairman Yoo Chun-seok of the Daegwang Group, who also served as the chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries.

In that instant, the hall erupted in a storm of camera shutters and flashing lights.

Click-click-click-click!

The barrage of flashes was so intense that Yoo Chun-seok raised his arm to shield his eyes, revealing a pair of handcuffs glinting beneath the sleeve of his coat.

Kim Sun-han didn't miss the moment—he snapped the shutter at lightning speed, capturing the shot perfectly.

Meanwhile, reporters surged forward like a wave, thrusting microphones and recorders toward him, their voices overlapping in a barrage of questions.

"Do you admit to the large-scale accounting fraud?"

"Is it true you tried to avoid returning to Korea to escape prosecution?"

"There are allegations that you embezzled a massive sum of company funds—is that true?"

"There are testimonies claiming you personally ordered the falsification of financial records. Would you like to comment on that?"

Despite the sharp, relentless barrage of questions that seemed to slice through him, Yoo Chun-seok remained silent.

No—he couldn't speak.

Surrounded by a crush of reporters and airport security guards struggling to contain them, he bit down hard on his lower lip and kept his gaze fixed on the floor, consumed by unbearable humiliation.

"Please move back!"

"Chairman Yoo! Just one word, please!"

"Move! Step aside!"

Security guards pushed and shoved their way through the throng of reporters, who lunged forward like a pack of hyenas closing in on prey. The prosecutors hurriedly escorted Yoo Chun-seok through the exit, practically fleeing the scene.

Kim Sun-han quickly captured several shots of their retreating figures before lowering his camera. Beside him, Lee Sook-young let out an exasperated cry.

"Damn it! We waited more than six hours and didn't even get a single word from him!"

After wrestling with airport security and other reporters, Lee Sook-young looked completely disheveled—her hair a tangled mess, her flushed face gleaming with sweat. Seeing her like that, Kim Sun-han clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"tsk, tsk."

"Sunbae! Is this really the time to stand around clucking your tongue like some bystander watching a fire across the river?"

"So what do you want me to do then?"

Kim Sun-han replied casually as he expertly packed his camera into its case and folded up the tripod.

"You're heading to the prosecutor's office, right?"

"Of course!"

If she went back to the newsroom empty-handed, she'd definitely get chewed out by the bureau chief. With a grimace, Lee Sook-young nodded in resignation.

"Then let's move. We need to grab a good spot before everyone else gets there."

Slinging the camera bag over his shoulder, Kim Sun-han quickened his pace, with Lee Sook-young hurrying alongside him.

Moments later, the other reporters followed suit, pouring out of the arrivals hall like an ebbing tide, all rushing after Chairman Yoo Chun-seok.

***

Jinhae Naval Base, Naval Operations Command.

Nestled deep along the coast, surrounded by towering mountains that formed a natural barrier, and protected at the front by a chain of small islands acting as breakwaters, the Jinhae Naval Base had long been regarded as a natural fortress. Its deep waters provided safe anchorage from typhoons and other natural disasters, and its geography made it nearly impossible for enemy forces to launch a successful attack.

Over the pier, where ships of various sizes were moored, a Bell 412 helicopter painted in Norton Blue and Crystal White two-tone swooped down in a wide arc before gently landing on a helipad to one side.

Colonel Oh Jae-guk, dressed in a black winter service uniform, hurried toward the aircraft, one hand pressed firmly to his cap to keep it from being blown away by the rotor's powerful wind.

With his coat flapping wildly, Colonel Oh grabbed the door handle and pulled open the passenger cabin.

As the rotors gradually slowed and the wind subsided, a man stepped out — Seok-won, dressed in a gray suit and wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, accompanied by his secretary, Han Ji-sung.

Colonel Oh, who had been standing respectfully to the side, straightened his posture and saluted crisply toward Seok-won.

"Welcome to the Naval Operations Command, sir."

"Thank you for the warm welcome," Seok-won replied with a slight smile, extending his hand. Colonel Oh quickly grasped it, returning a brief and formal handshake.

"I am Colonel Oh Jae-guk, Chief of Staff of the Naval Operations Command," he introduced himself. "The Commander is waiting for you at the pier. Please, allow me to escort you there."

Seok-won nodded lightly, and Colonel Oh raised an arm to lead the way.

As they exited the helipad area, a red-plated sedan — a Hyundai Grandeur marked with two silver stars, symbolizing a rear admiral's rank — stood parked nearby.

The waiting driver saluted smartly and opened the rear door. Seok-won climbed in, followed by Colonel Oh and Han Ji-sung.

The Grandeur started smoothly and rolled away, heading toward the pier where the naval ships lay anchored.

***

"So that's the famous Typhoon-class nuclear submarine, huh?"

The moment Admiral Ryu In-jung, Commander of the Naval Operations Command, received the report that the long-awaited Severstal had finally arrived at Jinhae Naval Base, he rushed straight to the pier. Standing there, he gazed upon the vessel with a look of deep emotion.

It was a breathtaking sight—like a floating fortress adrift upon the sea. The Severstal, massive and imposing beyond imagination, slowly approached the dock with the help of tugboats. Ryu's mouth hung open in awe.

"This is my first time seeing it in person as well," said Brigadier General Gong Sang-min, the Chief of Operations. "It's truly astonishing."

Brigadier General Cho Hwi-moon, standing beside him, could barely contain his excitement as he replied,

"The American nuclear submarines were enormous, but this one… this one makes them look small in comparison. There's simply no other word for it—it's gigantic."

Cho's reaction was understandable. As the commanding officer of the 9th Submarine Flotilla, which the Severstal would be assigned to after completing its large-scale refit and overhaul, he couldn't take his eyes off the submarine. His face glowed with exhilaration.

Gathered along the pier were not only naval officers but also researchers from the Agency for Defense Development and submarine engineers from major shipbuilding companies—all waiting eagerly for the chance to inspect every last bolt and rivet of the Russian nuclear submarine.

Off to one side stood a group of foreigners with distinctly different appearances—it was the U.S. Navy's technical team.

Though the Russian Navy had effectively abandoned its Typhoon-class submarine program due to its dire economic situation, the Severstal remained a legendary weapon—the same one that had once instilled fear across the United States during the Cold War. There was no way the Americans would pass up this rare opportunity to study its internal systems and technology in detail.

"I heard its submerged displacement exceeds forty-eight thousand tons, correct?" Admiral Ryu asked.

"Yes, sir," replied Commodore Cho Hwi-moon immediately. "It's equipped with six 21-inch torpedo tubes at the bow, and between its twin pressure hulls are twenty R-39 SLBM launch tubes arranged in two rows."

Admiral Ryu smacked his lips softly, a faint trace of regret in his expression.

"It would've been even better if the SLBM launch tubes weren't empty—if they'd brought the missiles along as well."

At that, Chief of Operations Gong Sang-min replied in a soothing tone,

"If that were the case, sir, the Severstal would've never made it this far."

"Well, true enough. The Americans wouldn't have just sat back and watched."

Everyone knew that transporting armed nuclear missiles would have immediately triggered severe international sanctions for violating nuclear treaties—but even so, Admiral Ryu In-jung couldn't help but feel a twinge of greed.

Seeing this, Commodore Cho Hwi-moon, his excitement still not fading, said eagerly,

"Even without the SLBMs, once it undergoes a complete overhaul and gains the capability to launch over a hundred Tomahawk missiles simultaneously, it'll become a weapon that will make not only North Korea but also neighboring countries nervous."

Admiral Ryu nodded emphatically.

"You're right. If a submarine suddenly surfaced out of nowhere and launched a hundred cruise missiles at once, even I'd feel a lump in my throat."

"I think anyone would, sir," Gong Sang-min added with a grin.

Although the submarine's acoustic tiles were peeling off in places and rust had crept along its hull—symptoms of years of neglect by the Russian Navy—none of them cared about that.

All they could feel was reassurance and pride at the thought that this massive nuclear submarine would soon belong to the Korean Navy.

Then, as if recalling something, Admiral Ryu remarked,

"Once the refit is complete and it's officially commissioned, it'll be the largest vessel in the Korean Navy."

"That's true," Gong Sang-min agreed immediately.

Commodore Cho Hwi-moon also couldn't hide his satisfaction. For years, the submarine corps had been treated as the underdog within the Navy—but with the arrival of the Severstal, he felt certain that submarines would soon rise to become the Navy's core strategic force. A broad smile spread across his face.

"Sir, it seems Chairman Park Seok-won has arrived," said a lieutenant standing nearby.

All three men turned their heads at once to look in the direction he pointed.

A sedan bearing an admiral's insignia on its red license plate—a Grandeur—was approaching the pier.

Admiral Ryu's face lit up as he exclaimed,

"Right on time."

A short while later, as the Grandeur sedan approached and came to a stop, Seok-won stepped out alongside Colonel Oh Jae-guk, who had gone to greet him earlier. Commander Ryu In-jung, accompanied by his subordinate officers, moved forward to welcome them.

"Chairman Park, welcome," said Commander Ryu with a broad smile.

"It's good to see you again, Commander," Seok-won replied warmly, shaking his hand. They had met a few times before, and the exchange carried an air of familiarity.

"Was the trip down to Jinhae too tiring?"

"It's a long way, but I couldn't miss a day as special as this," Seok-won said with a chuckle.

"Hahaha, indeed. Today will be a truly historic day for the Korean Navy."

Commander Ryu laughed heartily, then turned serious as he looked at Seok-won with genuine appreciation.

"If it weren't for you, Chairman Park, I doubt we could have ever dreamed of acquiring a nuclear submarine—let alone the world's largest Typhoon-class—during an economic crisis. We're deeply grateful."

"I'm just glad that I could be of some small help to the Navy, who stand guard over our seas day and night," Seok-won replied modestly.

"Small? Please don't say that," Ryu said, lowering his voice with sincerity. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime gift for our Navy."

The surrounding naval officers nodded in agreement, their expressions solemn.

Seok-won's eyes moved past Ryu's shoulder to the massive hull of the Severstal, now fully moored at the dock.

"I saw her back in Russia, but seeing her here in Korea—it feels different," he said quietly.

Commander Ryu turned as well, his gaze filled with pride and affection as he looked upon the giant submarine.

"I also heard that you're covering all the refit costs yourself, Chairman," Commander Ryu said.

"Well, since I'm the one who brought her here, it's only right that I take responsibility until the end," Seok-won replied casually.

It was a simple statement, but one few could ever make. Commander Ryu looked at him in open admiration.

"They say the refit alone will cost at least several hundred billion won. I don't even know how to begin to thank you. With the defense budget slashed because of the financial crisis, if the Navy had to fund the overhaul on its own, it might have taken years before the submarine could be recommissioned."

Commander Ryu bowed his head slightly, his tone filled with genuine gratitude.

"We've received such an immense favor from you, yet we have nothing worthy to offer in return. It makes me feel truly sorry."

At that, a faint gleam appeared in Seok-won's eyes.

"In that case, could I ask one small favor?"

Commander Ryu blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected a request so soon. Still, after a brief pause, he nodded.

"If it's within my authority, I'll do whatever I can. Please, go ahead."

"You're aware that I've agreed to fund the construction of six new patrol boats for the Navy," Seok-won began.

"Of course," Ryu replied immediately.

Looking at him with a serious expression, Seok-won continued,

"I'd like all six of those patrol boats to be assigned to the Second Fleet in the West Sea."

"...!"