19

7:50 a.m. Korean time.

L6 exploded during flight on Hawaiian Airlines flight HAL745, which was heading from Las Vegas to Hawaii.

The L6 in a passenger's pocket burst, causing burns to the passenger's thighs and fingers, and the plane turned around and made an emergency landing 30 minutes after departure.

It is reported that the passenger exchanged the L6 for the recalled product the day before.

This news was immediately transmitted to media outlets around the world, and all airlines in the U.S. banned L6 on carry-on and baggage.

Korean media also reported the news as urgent news. Images of passengers carrying L6 being stranded at the airport were broadcast on the news.

8:35 am.

An emergency meeting was convened at Seosung Electronics' Gangnam office building.

Black sedans entered the Gangnam office building parking lot one after another. IM Division President Cho Dong-jun and executives, as well as Vice Chairman Lim Jin-yong, were caught on the broadcasting company's cameras.

9 am.

Immediately after opening, Seosung Electronics began trading with a drop of as much as 10 percent. The KOSPI index also lost 38 points.

Foreigners took selling positions in both futures and spots, pouring out Seosung Electronics stocks. Then, even institutions started selling, and it fell to 13 percent by afternoon trading.

All investors' attention was focused on the Gangnam office building.

* * *

Articles were posted on the Internet all the time. Reports from securities companies also poured in. Most of the articles recommended buying Seosung Electronics, but there were no recommendations for selling.

[When the financial crisis occurred, Seosung Electronics' stock price fell to the late 300,000 won range. At that time, investment expert Park Il-chan said the following.

'The opportunity to buy Seosung Electronics at this price will not come again in the future.'

Since then, Seosung Electronics stock has risen more than four times, proving that what he said was correct.

It's the same this time too. An unprecedented event occurred called the L6 explosion, but this was only short-term negative news.

For investors with a long-term perspective, now is the opportunity to buy Seosung Electronics stocks at the cheapest price.]

"They say now is a good time to buy?"

I muttered in bewilderment.

"These crazy people..."

If it's that good, everyone should buy some.

Institutions were recommending active purchases and at the same time they were pouring out sales. What kind of inconsistent behavior is this?

Perhaps thanks to the continued publication of articles and reports, institutions were selling all at once, and only individuals were struggling to support their purchases.

Of course, individuals are not fools either.

The reason for the purchase may have been the belief that the worst-case scenario of discontinuation of the product could be avoided.

Once the meeting is over and measures are announced, plummeting stock prices will rebound.

What choice will Seosung Electronics make?

* * *

Seosung Group Gangnam office building main building conference room.

The entire executive team, not only from the IM division but also from the CE, semiconductor, and display divisions, except those who were on a business trip, gathered in the conference room.

The people gathered here were no different from the leadership team that runs Seosung Electronics, Korea's top company. Their combined annual salary alone easily exceeded hundreds of billions of won.

The reason they gathered together was because of an unprecedented event called the L6 explosion. Maybe that's why everyone had dark expressions and was extremely silent.

"The vice president is coming in."

When Lim Jin-yong entered the conference room, the executives all stood up from their seats.

"Please take a seat."

Jinyong Lim sat in the chairman's chair. The original owner of the place collapsed a year ago and was hospitalized. Even if he recovers, it will probably be difficult to return to management.

Lim Jin-yong was only the vice president in name, but in reality he was the same as the chairman of Seosung Group.

He said, looking around at the executives.

"Everyone knows what the situation is now. "If the battery was the problem, why did the product with the battery replaced explode?"

The executives' eyes turned to Cho Dong-jun, president of the IM division.

President Cho Dong-jun opened his mouth.

"The cause of the explosion is currently being confirmed."

"How long do you think it will take to get the results?"

President Cho Dong-jun answered Lim Jin-yong's question.

"It could be done within a week at the earliest, but more time is needed to determine the exact cause."

The problem was that the recall was rushed.

Even if it took time, they should have definitely found the cause and dealt with it.

"Is there a solution?"

Myungsoo Kim, who is in charge of the Future Strategy Office, said.

"First, we need to buy time by announcing the recall, and then find the cause and solve it in the meantime."

"Are you saying we're going to recall it again?"

"Saving time is the priority."

There is no way consumers will be convinced that they will repair the product now, so a recall is the best option.

The problem is that this is already the second time, and whether the cause can be found in the meantime.

"That's the best way to reduce losses."

There was one more way. But no one mentioned the method. This is because the expected loss was too great.

The consensus was that we should take the time to find the problem and solve it.

Now the decision was up to the owner.

Lim Jin-yong could not make a decision easily.

'What is the best thing to do? 'What decision would my father have made?'

This is a company founded by his grandfather and raised his my father. After his father fell ill, it was up to him to lead the company.

Something caught his pondering eyes. A wooden model ship was displayed in a cabinet on one side of the conference room.

Jinyong Lim recalled his grandfather carving wood to make a model boat when he was young. At that time, his grandfather sat him on his lap and said:

'A company is like the ship of Theseus.'

At that time, he didn't know what that meant.

It was later that I learned about the term Theseus' Paradox.

The ship that Theseus and the young men of Athens returned in had thirty oars. The Athenians preserved their ships.

The wooden boat rotted over time.

When the planks rotted, they were removed and new boards were laid down. When the oars rotted, oars made of new wood were put in.

As the ship was preserved and changed one by one for 1,000 years, it became difficult to find the original parts of the ship.

As a result, Athenian philosophers raised this question.

Is this ship the same as before or a different ship?

Objects can be replaced one by one until all the originals are gone, and yet appear like the original objects.

The same goes for companies.

Seosung Electronics was created after the Korean War. At that time, the technology was transferred from a Japanese electronics company to assemble household appliances.

None of the employees who worked at that time remain to this day. None of the products produced at that time are currently produced. The headquarters and factory also moved several times.

People have changed, products produced have changed, and locations have also changed. Everything has changed, but despite this, Seosung Electronics is still Seosung Electronics.

So then what on earth can define Seoseong Electronics as Seoseong Electronics?

In an instant, he felt like his mind became clearer. Once his complicated thoughts were organized into one, a path appeared.

The executives were all looking at his mouth.

Lim Jin-yong looked around at them and said.

"As of today, we will be discontinuing the L6. "Announce that we will refund all products sold and provide sufficient compensation to consumers who wish to exchange them."

At one point, there was a stir among the executives.

Discontinuing the product was the worst decision they could ever imagine.

Not only do they have to refund all products sold so far, but they also have to give up future sales. Damage to the company's image will also be inevitable.

"No matter how much money we lose, we just have to make it back. But if a company loses trust, that's the end of it. We lost our customers' trust by creating a problematic product. And we lost trust again by recalling the problem without even resolving it. "This is the last chance we will have."

The voice was calm, but the tone was firm.

In the midst of silence, President Cho Dong-jun stood up.

"I will prepare the announcement right away."

* * *

1:40 PM.

An emergency press conference was held at Seosung Electronics' Gangnam office building.

Cho Dong-jun, president of the IM division, stood in front of reporters.

He read the manuscript he had prepared with a sad expression.

"Seosung Electronics has decided to stop selling and exchanging L6. Although the cause is currently being investigated and detailed testing is in progress, this decision was made with customer safety as the top priority. Customers currently using L6 are advised to immediately turn off the power and exchange or refund the product. "We deeply apologize once again for causing great inconvenience and concern to our customers, business partners, and partners who have trusted and loved L6."

Everyone was shocked by the unexpected announcement of discontinuation of the product.

Reporters rushed to ask questions.

"Whose decision is it?"

"How much do you think the loss will be?"

"Are there any countermeasures after product discontinuation?"

President Cho Dong-jun calmly responded to reporters' questions.

More than 6 million L6 units have been sold so far, and expected sales were 70 million units.

If all of this is refunded, even a simple calculation would result in a loss of 6 trillion won. If you consider the cost of recalls and inventory disposal costs, the financial loss becomes even greater.

Not only did expected future profits disappear, but the decline in market share, corporate image, and trust in the smartphone market was an even bigger loss.

Experts predicted that Seosung Electronics' loss from this incident would amount to at least 20 to 50 trillion won.

At the end of the press conference.

Individuals turned from buying to selling, and as foreigners and institutions began selling, followed by program selling, the stock price of Seosung Electronics reached its lowest price.

There were no more buy orders, only sell orders piling up.

When Seosung Electronics, which accounts for the largest share of the index, plummeted, the KOSPI index instantly lost over 100 points, sidecar was activated and trading was temporarily halted.

KOSDAQ also could not avoid the aftermath. Although Seosung Electronics was not included in the index, IT-related component stocks were concentrated there.

In a situation where Seosung Electronics was at its lowest price, there was no way small and medium-sized businesses that supplied to Seosung Electronics would be safe.

Related parts stocks all hit their lowest prices.

The proportion of individuals in KOSDAQ is much higher than that in KOSPI.

As individuals began selling off, even pharmaceutical and travel stocks that had nothing to do with this incident began to plummet.

KOSDAQ also activated a sidecar and trading was halted for 5 minutes.

Although sidecars are sometimes activated in KOSDAQ, this was the first time since the financial crisis that a sidecar was activated in KOSPI.

After 5 minutes, trading resumed again, but the plunge could not be stopped. Rather, everyone threw away their stocks out of fear that they might fall further over time.

The KOSPI index fell by -6.3% compared to the previous day's closing price, and the KOSDAQ index fell by -8.7%.

It was the beginning of Black Tuesday, which would later be remembered in the history of the Korean stock market..