The rule was to never hold positions overnight, and even if he did, it was only for small amounts, but he had missed the liquidation time while thinking about last night’s dream.
‘Whatever, it’ll probably drop tomorrow too.’
The weak trend of the U.S.
dollar was continuing, so he was already at a decent profit.
True to his usually optimistic personality, Oh Gap-su shook off his anxiety and turned off the computer.
He was already excited about what kind of beauty he would meet at the casino today.
Just as he was about to get up, a colleague from the next seat poked his head over the partition and spoke.
“The Director is looking for you.”
Oh Gap-su smacked his lips, took an envelope out of his drawer, and went to the restroom.
He pulled ten hundred-dollar bills from his wallet, slipped them into the envelope, and returned to the office.
Yi Mun-gi, forty-three years old, was the head of Jogwang Trading Company’s “Foreign Exchange Manipulation Office” and Oh Gap-su’s direct superior.
Jogwang Trading Company was the local Macau subsidiary of Workers’ Party Office 39, directly supervised and operated by the Party Secretariat.
The official duty of Office 39 was overseas “foreign currency earning,” but its main task was managing the slush funds of Kim Jong-il and his close aides.
“Come in.”
When he opened the door and went inside, Yi Mun-gi personally stood up to welcome Oh Gap-su.
And rightfully so, as he lived in a luxury villa with his family and sent his two children to an international school.
He couldn’t afford such a lifestyle on the salary provided by the Party alone.
It was only possible because of the bribes Oh Gap-su periodically handed over.
As soon as Oh Gap-su sat down, he offered the prepared envelope first.
“My performance wasn’t very good this week.”
“In life, things can’t always be good.”
Quickly pocketing the envelope, Yi Mun-gi continued.
“Don’t make it too obvious when you go around.
Your nickname is Nolsae.”
“I don’t care about the nonsense spouted by pathetic fools.”
Nolsae Tribe was the North Korean term equivalent to South Korea’s Orange Tribe.
Oh Gap-su asked.
“How are the circumstances in The Republic?”
“It seems quite difficult.
The pressure from the higher-ups is getting worse.
Because those American Imperialism bastards keep freezing The Republic’s secret accounts, they say we’re the only place money can come from right now.”
Office 39 managed various illegal funds in addition to slush funds.
They also managed proceeds from the smuggling of opium and heroin, export payments for counterfeit cigarettes, and distribution funds for counterfeit U.S.
currency.
Since they were all illegal transactions, even if they were hit with freezing measures, there was nowhere to complain.
However, “foreign exchange futures margin trading” was a legal transaction, so even the USA couldn’t do anything about it.
It was in the mid-1960s that the foreign exchange dealing room, called the “Foreign Exchange Manipulation Bureau” in North Korea, was established.
At the time, a loan acquired from France in francs was converted into U.S.
dollars, and over the next six months, the dollar rose significantly, leaving a substantial exchange profit.