As Seong-ho Kim came out of Tak-hyeon Lee's office, Do-beom Hwang called him to a stop.

"Seong-ho. Let me have a word."

Do-beom Hwang, his face still drained pale, pulled Seong-ho Kim off toward one side of the Seongjungwon yard.

Seong-ho Kim followed him to the far end of the yard, and once he'd confirmed no one else was nearby, he asked Do-beom Hwang:

"Chief Secretary. What is it?"

"Seong-ho. What in the world is going on?"

"You saw it yourself. You already know."

Do-beom Hwang shook his head and let out a deep sigh.

"Hhh…"

Having exhaled, Do-beom Hwang, his face still pale, spoke to Seong-ho Kim.

"It's not that I didn't understand the footage I just watched. What I mean is…"

"I know."

Do-beom Hwang was about to go on, but Seong-ho Kim spoke first.

"I know what's worrying you, Chief Secretary Hwang. But you of all people must know this is exactly what the Chairman wanted."

At Seong-ho Kim's remark, Do-beom Hwang could not say otherwise.

He, too, knew as well as Seong-ho Kim did what Tak-hyeon Lee wanted.

"But did it have to be this way? Those men are practically the founding fathers of Ilhyeon Electronics. Rather than cutting them loose outright, couldn't we have persuaded them to retire on their own terms?"

"That's exactly why I came the way I did."

"That's why you came?"

Do-beom Hwang looked at Seong-ho Kim with a puzzled expression.

Seong-ho Kim began explaining to him that coming to see Tak-hyeon Lee had not been about driving those men out.

"Chief Secretary. If I'd meant to drive them out, I wouldn't have brought this to Seongjungwon — I'd have gone to the prosecutors or the National Intelligence Service."

Hearing this, Do-beom Hwang found himself nodding without meaning to.

"If you had… they'd have been branded not just criminals, but traitors to the state."

"Exactly. And with the destination being Japan of all places — public sentiment being what it is, Chung-do Lee and his family would never have been able to live in Korea again."

Semiconductor technology was regarded as…