Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

The president of GH Media—Ms. Jeong-Sook Shin gave a call to Gun-Ho after she received the announcement of GH Mobile’s recent job appointment.

“How do you want me to handle the job appointment of GH Media, sir?”

“President Shin, you handle GH Media’s job appointment. I won’t get involved in it.”

“GH Media is a startup company. It’s way too early for us to do any job appointment or relocation at this point. I am thinking of adjusting our employees’ salaries by reflecting inflation and pay increase.”

“It’s your decision, President Shin.”

“I am planning to raise GH Media’s employees’ salaries by 7%. Fortunately, the Japanese translated book—’the person who wakes up in the morning’ is selling very well now. It maintains steady sales.”

“Haha. Well, again, it is totally up to you, President Shin.”

“And we made a contract for the sale of the world history cartoon series of thirty books which is very popular in Amazon.com. The people in the publishing industry are astonished by the contract because of the amount we invested in it. But I am certain that we will succeed in selling this cartoon series. We already started translating the first and second books of the series.”

“Hmm, really?”

“Also, your salary was being sent to you starting this month as a managing director of GH Media. I am not sure if you verified it.”

“Really? I will check it later.”

“Once we raise our employees’ salaries by 7%, your pay will increase accordingly as well. Haha.”

“Haha. That sounds right. Well, keep up the good work.”

When Gun-Ho got off the phone with President Shin, Director Jong-Suk Park entered the office.

“What’s up?”

“Haha. This 10 million won is a windfall for me. I never expected to get this kind of money.”

“Oh, you mean the settlement money from Egnopak’s president?”

“Yeah. Well, if I can make 10 million won by getting 16 stitches on my body, I want to be beaten up once again.”

“You are crazy.”

“Half of this is yours, bro. You didn’t get any money for your injury. Here, take it.”

“You are indeed a crazy man. Take it back to your pocket.”

“You spent a lot of money when we went to Seoul last time to see Egnopak’s president’s son. You bought a drink to Tae-Young Im and others and you also gave them some money too.”

“It’s nothing. I just bought them some drinks, that’s it. That 10 million won is yours, you deserve to take it all. Get some good food with that money so you can recover quickly. It will also be useful when you get to the U.S.”

Gun-Ho headed to Asan City to the construction site of Dyeon Korea’s factory. He used to drive to Jiksan Town from Asan City to visit the construction site when the current GH Mobile’s factory was being constructed in Jiksan Town, but now he was driving to Asan City from Jiksan Town to see another new factory being built up in Asan City.

At the construction site, Managing Director Dong-Chan Kim was there. Director Dong-Chan Kim was recently promoted from a sales director position and he was appointed to the Dyeon Korea location as a managing director.

“Sir, you came.”

“Oh, you are here too. I guess you were wondering how the construction is going since you will be working here soon.”

“Right. I am now focusing on Dyeon Korea.”

“Dyeon Korea’s business is important, of course, however, we still need to focus on GH Mobile. I was told that the sales manager quit GH Mobile because he was not happy with our recent job appointment.”

“He won’t do well even if he gets another job in another company.”

“What about Mr. Chang-Hoon Seo? He is now working in the sales department as a manager.”

Manager Chang-Hoon Seo was recently promoted to a manager position in sales. He used to work in the general affairs department as an assistant manager.

“He is doing very well. He should have joined the sales team earlier. He wouldn’t have been able to fully use his skills in the general affairs department. He is good-looking and he is very good at communicating with others. He is already very popular among our vendors and customers. He told me that he seemed to have an aptitude for sales.”

“Ha, really? That’s good to hear.”

“Oh, I met with the former vice president of S Group the other day as you asked me to. We had lunch together.”

“Where is he living now?”

“He is living in Bundang District now, but he said he will move to Suji in Yongin City soon. It seems that he bought a new house there.”

“I see.”

“His youngest son is in the first year of high school, and his new house is located in a very good school district.”

“School district?”

Gun-Ho smiled bitterly. He thought that since the parents consider a school district as one of the important factors in choosing their residence, the son would be able to get an admission from a decent college within Seoul.

Gun-Ho thought of his high school years for a moment. He didn’t want to go to school because he felt so embarrassed by his shabby sneakers. His high school was not even in a nice area.

Gun-Ho then thought of Egnopak’s president’s son—Dong-Hwan Kim. He didn’t look very smart or decent, but he graduated from USC and he was working as a managing director of Egnopak in LA. What about Egnopak’s president’s daughter? She was a college professor in Suwon City. When Egnopak president’s daughter was having an expensive private tutoring when she was in high school, Gun-Ho was working part-time at a convenience store to make money to buy new sneakers. They had a different starting point in life, and the gap in either social status or wealth became bigger and bigger as life went on.

However, Gun-Ho was dealing with Egnopak’s president in an equal position. Egnopak’s president was someone who Gun-Ho couldn’t even talk to, years ago. That was because Gun-Ho had accumulated substantial wealth now.

“You seemed to be lost in thought, sir.”

Gun-Ho just woke up when Director Dong-Chan Kim talked to him.

“Oh, I was just thinking of my old days…”

“Sir, I will have to go see a client now.”

“Oh, so the S Group’s former vice president is still using the same cell phone number, right?”

“Yes, he is keeping the same number.”

The three selected workers of GH Mobile came to Gun-Ho’s office before they would leave for the U.S. for the training. They flushed with excitement and also anxiety.

Two workers whom the former chief officer of the research center selected were the lead researcher and senior researcher.

“Dyeon requested us to send our three best workers for training. Accordingly, you have been selected by our directors and managers including the research center’s former chief officer.”

The three chosen workers were listening to Gun-Ho courteously. Gun-Ho read the personal data of the three workers. Director Jong-Suk Park was 33 years old while the lead researcher was five years older than Jong-Suk, and the senior researcher was one year younger than Jong-Suk. Jong-Suk had extensive hands-on experience in the field, but the other two researchers had way better qualifications based on papers and they were highly knowledgeable in theory.

“Dyeon is a global enterprise. I hope you use this experience wisely to learn their advanced technology and make this opportunity a valuable experience in your life. Well, it seems that the senior researcher studied in the U.S. as an exchange student and he had a TOEIC score of over 900. Mr. Senior Researcher, you probably speak English very well, so please help the lead researcher and the production director during the stay in the U.S.”

The young senior researcher rubbed his nose; he seemed to feel shy.

“Well, that will be all. You probably need to start packing. You can go now. Oh, Director Choi, did you already prepare the travel expenses for these workers?”

“Yes. They will calculate the expenses in detail after they return.”

“It is good that Dyeon offered to provide an interpreter for our workers. They will communicate with us through GH Development’s secretary—Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh since she speaks English fluently. Ms. Angelina Rein from Dyeon will be the one who usually contacts us. So, if you need anything, Director Choi, please talk to Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh.”

“Understood, sir.”

The three workers left Gun-Ho’s office after giving him a 90-degree bow.