Kathryn_51

The director said he met someone fairly young with white hair and asked how old he was when it turned white. Answer: early '30s due to stress (can't recall if it was an M&A person) and he decided to do with Jun-ho character, partly for the impact, partly so that other characters would be a bit flustered by it - trying to figure out how old he was.

The actor had to come to the studio 3-4 hours in advance every day because it took that long to get the color and style correct.

For those of you who are trying to understand the financial background and events in this show, here’s a quick timeline (might be some revisions after ep. 11):

⚫2021: Sanin Corp. authorizes the purchase of Jumbo Pharmaceutical. Yun Ju No(YJN), a Merger and Acquisition “Legend”, is responsible for the acquisition. An investigation begins regarding insider trading and fraud associated with Sanin’s acquisition of Jumbo Pharmaceutical. The investigation ends when the primary suspect (YJN’s brother) commits suicide. YJN leaves Korea with his wife and daughter.
⚫2022 (March): Sanin issues Convertible Bonds worth 3 Trillion Won (₩3 Trillion) to Samoel, a private placement fund (PPF). The bonds mature in March 2025 at which time Sanin must pay Samoel the ₩3 Trillion . Samoel also holds a “put option” on the bonds which allow it to demand Sanin to convert the loan into Sanin stock if Sanin stock price falls below ₩100,000 for a period of 20 business days. If that happens, Samoel will hold a majority of Sanin stock.
[NOTE: CFO Ha claims that the Bonds can be easily extended, but in fact if Samoel declines, Sanin will need to pay it Samoel the ₩3 Trillion.]
⚫2024 (April): Sanin board meeting. In addition to the ₩3 Trillion bonds, Sanin has ₩11 Trillion in debt (normal bank loans) which are also due in the 1st quarter of 2025. Banks are refusing to lend Sanin any further and it is on the brink of bankruptcy.
Sanin CEO Song Jae Sik calls YJN to return to Korea and help solve this crisis.
⚫2024 (April thru October): Thru a variety of successful deals, YJN’s team has reduced the bank debt to ₩2.5 Trillion.
⚫Still to come: Sanin needs to retire more of the debt before the end of 1st Qtr 2025 and be financially healthy enough to re-negotiate the ₩3 Trillion bonds. [I think that will be difficult to wrap up in Episodes 11 and 12, but we shalll see).

I read an interview with the writer and he said he interviewed people in M&A to ensure that everything was realistic/plausible (my words).

Frankly, I cannot remember a k-drama that was so well-written where characters actions and personalities are consistent throughout the drama, all while keeping the tension high without resorting to tricks and false "clues".

In the last couple of weeks, the episode cliffhangers and the previews have been very misleading. So, my bet is that CFO Ha thinks this is the best time to convince the Chairman that Jun-oh should be fired. He will remind the Chairman about how Jun-no was the reason Jumbo Pharma almost destroyed Sanin. He's not aware of the audit - but he'll use it as a means of not just getting Jun-oh fired but also prosecuted/destroyed. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how this writer seems to weave together the different boardroom battles: two separate goals that inevitably end with Ha's defeat.

Folks say the Chairman is stupid, but he's old-school and "loyalty" is the most important virtue, not competence. He was testing the loyalty of both Ha (who was willing to act corruptly) and JunHo (who - in the end - was not).

I think it's Jun-ho, but I've been looking at dates on various documents, and they don't make sense to me. I read an article where writer-nim interviewed friends in the M&A business, so I think in the end, it will make legal/business sense as to what happened with Jumbo Pharma, but the fact that the "shareholder meeting attendance" was several months after the brother committed suicide is puzzling.

Oh, I was answering your first question - how did this man become chairman of the company.

As for now, he seems to rely upon CFO Ha who keeps reassuring him that everything is well in hand. It's actually one of the less believable aspects of the drama.

The chairman was the original founder/creator of the company. He was extremely competent building valuable apartments throughout Seoul. But he hasn't adapted to present-day Korea or global markets (many Korean construction companies have expanded into other countries, especially the Middle East and even some parts of Africa.

I think CFO Ha is too stupid/incompetent to be the real culprit. But perhaps he was promised a bribe to make the acquisition (as he described the "rebate" process at one of his dinners).

jumbo Pharma was a scam and Jun-ho found out when they were in the middle of purchasing (presumably during due diligence) Jumbo Pharma. However, it's still a mystery as to why/how the brother was dragged into it.

The leader of Samoel/PPF is "David". He has mentioned that Theo/Teo "is the future" of Samoel/PPF. Theo is the young man in the photo with the Chairman and his daughter and thus Chairman's son.

The thirst for revenge can be a powerful motivator and writer-nim has been showing the viewer that revenge/justice is why Jun-ho returned to Korea.

First – the Project M team members were hardly on the screen together – no strategy discussions or team-work. No glimmers of intelligence or foresight. Depressing.

In the past, the board room antics with the various directors/CEOs were fun - the arguments, the drama. Instead, we got too many scenes of various directors playing games and avoiding CFO Ha. It was a plot device to compel Director Ha to try and sabotage Jun-ho, but it was boring.

Jun-ho finally met with his Sunbae, but no discussion about Jumbo Pharma and still no clear picture on what “The Plan” is although it now seems to be; (1) jun-ho becomes an executive and (2) demands opening up investigation into what happened with Jumbo Pharma to discover the real culprit behind the stock manipulation. He is now obsessed with selling the golf course, no matter what the terms may be, so that he can become a voting member of the BoD. Meanwhile Ha is coaching his minion to ensure the deal falls through.

It's a ridiculous premise and I will only be satisfied if it turns out that it was the Chairman who intentionally gave Jun-ho a presumably easy mission in order to goad CFO Ha into sabotaging the sale. Which is a fun idea – but it doesn’t get us closer to any insight on Jumbo Pharma – which is the main reason I’m interested in the drama.

Sunbae is supposedly putting together a team of ????. I’m guessing it’s people who lost their life savings due to Jumbo Pharma. If the team is made of people we have already seen (for instance the taxi driver or the copier repair man at PPF), that will be a lot of fun to watch.

Episode 9 was a major disappointment – banal dialogue; the Project M team didn’t do anything remarkable or intelligent; and far too many circular scenes with no movement forward. And a really stupid cliffhanger.

Mild spoilers below.

No, PFF/Samoel is managed by "David". Theo/Teo is "the future" of PPF. watch carefully - Theo is more interested in getting his hands on Sanin stock than making money for Samoel/PPF.

Counting down at this point - in about 12 hours, Ep. 9 will release (on Viki) and based on preview, we will finally understand some of Jun-ho's backstory and what went down with his brother (and wife).

Is it too much to hope that there might be a Season 2? (Yes, it is probably hopeless). I can't believe they are going to finally show us what happened 3 years ago (2021) AND wrap it up so that the bad guys are somehow punished.

I posted above my "theory/speculation" a few minutes before replying to your comment. I think Jun-no's wife betrayed him - it seemed so obvious to me in that Ep. 6 scene. Thus far, writer/director have not cheated us with a "oh, character X said ZZ in Ep3? Surprise - we were kidding" scene. Maybe I'm naive, but so far, script seems to be playing it straight w/no red herrings/misleading scenes. We shall see. 😊

I wouldn't mind a possible romance late in the drama, but for now writer is showing that these two people have very similar life experiences/style - lonely, no friends, don't even know how to make the finger heart gesture! The instinctively know what the other is thinking/doing.

I think the purchase of appliances is going to mean something later - perhaps his wife finds out. She's going to show up in Korea in Ep. 9 or 10.

I don't think Jun-ho was framed. Unbeknownst to him, his brother used insider information to invest in stocks based upon Sanin M&A activity. And yes, I think Theo was somehow involved because otherwise, his role in this drama serves no purpose whatsoever.

Assuming they stick the landing, this drama will go on my Top Five list.

I’ve done M&A work before. This is a guess what happened with Jumbo Pharma. It’s heavily based upon the rise and fall of Theranos, a US health technology company that promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a device called the "Edison. At one time, it was valued at $9 Billion. But their claims were false and data was manipulated. Private investors lost everything.

Speculation:
1. Jumbo Pharma claimed to have created some sort of game-changing medicine. Many people invested in the company. It’s unclear if it was privately funded (like Theranos) or traded on the stock exchange.
2. Jun-ho proposed an Acquisition Plan (see, for example, Ep. 3 re: ChaCha Acquisition Plan). A Memorandum of Understanding or Exclusive Negotiating Rights Contract was signed by the parties (also see Ep. 3) and due diligence commenced.
3. Jun-ho’s wife overhears (or, more probable, sneaks through Jun-ho’s papers/computer/phone) and provides the information to his brother, Yun Ju Seok. Ju Seok purchases stock based on insider information. (It’s unclear if is Sanin stock or Jumbo Pharma stock.)
4. Thru due diligence, Jun-ho discovers that Jumbo Pharma is “a sham” and decides that the acquisition should not go forward.. . . . . . but (??) CFO Ha went ahead with the acquisition anyway.
5. The acquisition almost destroyed Sanin because Jumbo Pharma was worthless.
6. Song Theo/Teo was somehow involved. (he showed too much interest in Yun Jun-ho’s possible connection to Jumbo Pharma).

The number one question is WHO GOT THE MONEY??. CFO Ha says that Jun-ho siphoned it away, but he doesn’t really know. Apparently over a thousand people lost their “life savings” and some committed suicide. Where did the money go??

Jun-ho isn’t going after CFO Ha – he’s going after the culprit that scammed people from their life savings.

THE END

In a past life, my job was to negotiate contracts. The number one goal was to have a win-win for both sides. Thus, to me - this is a perfect demonstration of the "art of negotiation" because Jun-ho spends the time (or is lucky) to discover what's important to the other side so he can reach a satisfactory deal. This strategy was demonstrated over and over again in the first episodes. Episode 7-8 was a bit different - and, in fact, it was Min Jeong who found a way (perhaps inadvertently) to bring about the final positive result.

I haven't watched "Hot Stove League", so I don't have a good idea of what you were personally expecting. I'm enjoying this drama because each weekend there is a problem/crisis that is explored, investigated, hits roadblocks and is resolved by the end of the weekend. In the background, several other mysteries are unfolding (what happened 3 years ago with Jumbo Pharma?; What is Jun-ho plan for retribution? who is the wife? what is PPF's real plan?. The last four episodes are going to be wild as all of these mysteries come together and intersect.