Chapter 352: Buffs Piled High
"What are you...?" Choi Ji-yeon asked curiously.
"Anyway, I owe everything I have today to Chairman Jiang from the very beginning. Thinking that way makes me feel better."
Looking at Liu Zhimin, who seemed to take it for granted, Choi Ji-yeon's mouth slightly opened.
She can even convince herself like that?
Although it's true that your debut is inseparable from Chairman Jiang, it doesn't mean you should completely erase your own efforts.
Liu Zhimin's words made it sound as if Jiang Shu could elevate anyone to Liu Zhimin's current status.
But it was Liu Zhimin herself who said it, which made Choi Ji-yeon not know how to refute her.
It's just...
Absurd.
Forget it, it's hard for her to be on the same wavelength.
"I'll work first, call me if you need anything."
"Okay, you go ahead," Liu Zhimin nodded in response.
Inside the room.
As Dr. Choi Min-soo entered the office, he saw Jiang Shu sitting at the desk, holding an iPad and flipping through something.
"Chairman Jiang," Dr. Choi Min-soo said with a smile, interrupting Jiang Shu's browsing.
"Minister Choi is here." Jiang Shu looked up, a smile appearing on his face when he saw Dr. Choi Min-soo.
He casually put down what he was holding and quickly walked over to Dr. Choi Min-soo, extending his right hand.
Dr. Choi Min-soo's posture was slightly respectful; he lowered himself before shaking Jiang Shu's hand. This expressed his respect for the other party and showed his importance as a subordinate.
For Dr. Choi Min-soo to have reached his current position, besides his own strong abilities, he also has his own backing in the Seoul High Prosecutor's Office, which is above the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office.
Through various inquiries, Dr. Choi Min-soo also learned where his nomination for the Vice President position came from.
The Grand Prosecutor's Office Strategic Department.
South Korea's prosecutorial system is divided into three levels, from highest to lowest: the Grand Prosecutor's Office, the High Prosecutor's Office, and the District Prosecutor's Office and its branches.
As for the Strategic Department, many people are unfamiliar with this department of the Grand Prosecutor's Office, but if they have seen the movie "The King," they would not be unfamiliar with it.
In the movie, the head of the Strategic Department holds negative materials on chaebols and high-ranking officials across the country and can, to a certain extent, influence elections.
The real-life Strategic Department naturally does not have such great influence, but in some aspects of power, it is even more significant than in the movie.
Among them, especially its influence within the prosecutorial system, the Strategic Department plays a role that is even more terrifying than the Human Resources Department, which manages personnel transfers.
Upon learning that Jiang Shu had actually used the Strategic Department to move him into a lower position, Dr. Choi Min-soo decided to become Jiang Shu's spokesperson at the District Prosecutor's Office.
This was a leg too thick to be any thicker!
As long as he could tie himself to this aircraft carrier, he might be able to enter the High Prosecutor's Office before he turned forty!
And so, the scene before them unfolded.
"Minister Choi, please have a seat," Jiang Shu said with a smile, releasing his hand and gesturing for Dr. Choi Min-soo to sit down.
"Yes!" Dr. Choi Min-soo stood ramrod straight, nodded to Jiang Shu, and then sat down with a smile.
"How is Yang Hyun-suk doing?"
"He has already been taken into custody. It was publicly announced that he was detained in a detention center, but he has actually been transferred to Incheon Prison."
"You didn't do anything to him, did you?"
"No, we arranged it according to the custody standards for a chief-level official. President Yang has been very cooperative and has not attempted to leak anything to the outside world," Dr. Choi Min-soo reported.
"YG is already at its wit's end after this incident," Jiang Shu chuckled. "Now, YG's internal team is already discussing splitting up, and Yang Hyun-suk himself is well aware of this. Rather than going back and being held accountable and fighting over profits, it's better to hide in prison and avoid the limelight."
"Yes," Dr. Choi Min-soo also laughed. "Besides YG's internal issues, public anger towards Yang Hyun-suk is also very high. Although YG put forward a Vice President as a scapegoat, public anger is not that easy to extinguish. He also knows that if he goes out, he could easily be attacked."
What YG did this time can be said to have incurred public wrath. Not only was Yang Hyun-suk imprisoned for the cases he confessed to, but the scapegoat Vice President was sentenced to thirty years in prison.
South Korea does not have the death penalty, so thirty years is already the absolute maximum. The forty years for the 'Alphabet Room' case is rather unique. Although the 'Slave Room' is also horrific, it is still far less severe than the 'Alphabet Room,' so even for similar types of crimes, the sentences are relatively lighter.
"Have the loose ends been dealt with?"
"Cleaned up," Dr. Choi Min-soo nodded. "Guaranteed no omissions."
Jiang Shu nodded upon hearing this. It has been shown in TV dramas that after a few years or a decade, lingering loose ends become the gravediggers that topple entire buildings.
Either don't do it, or do it cleanly and decisively.
"Regarding the announcement of Yang Hyun-suk's charges, what time do you think we should choose?" Dr. Choi Min-soo asked.
"Soon. IZONE's last comeback has already started. Announce it before their disbandment concert at the end of the month, to give YG a final send-off."
YG was already on the verge of falling out of the 'Three Greats' due to the failure of their new group, and now, due to the 'Slave Room' incident, they are severely weakened. This skyscraper of K-pop is now teetering on the brink.
"Understood."
IZONE had already made their comeback in early May. Thanks to Jiang Shu's previous press conference, the sales of this first full-length album surpassed those of any previous album, reaching an astonishing three million units in a very short period. It is expected to reach four million units by the end of the golden growth period for sales in early June!
Before this, if anyone had said an album could sell four million copies, it would have been a joke, simply impossible.
But when that number was prefixed with the IZONE label, it didn't seem so hard to understand anymore.
Before this, the highest-selling single album was IZONE's mini-album "fantasy fairy tale," with sales of 3.01 million copies.
And this time, with IZONE's 'guilt buff,' 'disbandment buff,' 'victim buff,' 'top group farewell buff,' and many other halos, perhaps such a result is not so surprising after all?
"The Tax Office has some thoughts on YG's taxes. Do I need to inform them?" Dr. Choi Min-soo pondered for a moment before asking.
"No need," Jiang Shu shook his head slightly. "Let YG's matter end here. The YG of the future is no longer a concern."
YG is completely finished after this battle.
The 'Four Greats' will revert to the 'Three Greats' once more, only YG among the 'Three Greats' will be replaced by DM.
Business competition is like this; one misstep, and a once-dominant leading enterprise can fall from grace in a very short time, completely fading into obscurity.
"What you need to do next is to shift the personnel monitoring YG to another company."
Dr. Choi Min-soo's expression changed.
"Which company is it?"
"Big Hit."
