Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho went to work at his office in GH Building, Sinsa Town.

President Jeong-Sook Shin, who was working downstairs, came up to Gun-Ho’s office.

“Thank you for coming the other day to the costume play event with your wife.”

“So many people came, and I could feel their excitement. I guess the event was successful.”

“The items related to the event and souvenirs, that were brought by Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda from Japan, are sold out.”

“I guess you made some profits, huh?”

“The items targeted at children are not very expensive. I think we made several million won from the sale.”

“As long as you didn’t incur any loss for hosting the event, it’s good.”

“Our workers commented after meeting Young-Eun that the president’s wife looks so elegant. And Assistant Manager Ji-Young Jeong and Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh here agreed to it.”

“Well, I guess they are just being polite.”

“No, sir. Young-Eun looks prettier since she got married.”

“Haha, you think so?”

“Since we have enough cash in the company’s reserve, I’ve made another contract with an agency for ten educational books.”

“I see.”

“GH Media has published more than 50 books so far. It’s a stable publishing company now since, whether it sells a lot or not, books are being sold on a daily basis.”

“Hmm, really? Oh, you know what? I have something that I’d like to discuss with you. Do you have time to talk now?”

“What is it about?”

President Jeong-Sook Shin’s eyes widened as Gun-Ho asked for her time to discuss something.

“Let’s first have a cup of coffee.”

Gun-Ho asked Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh to bring two cups of coffee.

While having coffee, Gun-Ho started talking.

“There are lots of production companies of soap operas in Shanghai, China, either big or small.”

“Of course. China is a huge country.”

“I’ve received a request to invest in one of those production companies.”

“A production company of soap operas? It will cost a substantial amount of money.”

“I am aware of it. I was thinking that GH Media should make the investment.”

“Huh? GH Media? Even though GH Media becomes stabilized, it is still a small company. We don’t have that much money.”

“Don’t worry about the funds. I will personally handle the necessary investment funds for it. I just want to use GH Media’s name to invest.”

“Do we need to increase our capital then?”

“It won’t be necessary. It will be like this. I, an individual, will lend my personal funds to GH Media for a short term, and GH Media will use the funds to make an investment in China. Of course, we will have to file a report with the foreign exchange authority since a substantial amount of money will be transferred internationally.”

“I haven’t run a large company before with a significant amount of money. Also, I don’t have any knowledge in the soap opera industry.”

“The production company in China will take care of the soap opera business. We just need to make an investment. Since you are the president of GH Media, you will have to sign the contract.”

“What if it doesn’t go well? I’ve heard that the movie or the soap opera business is highly risky.”

“As I transferred part of the company shares to you last time, currently I own 95% of GH Media while you have 5% of them. If the production business succeeds, you will earn 5% of the profit. If the business doesn’t go well and if we happen to file a bankruptcy, so if we have to pay the national taxes, I will be liable for 95% of them, and you will have to pay 5% of them.”

“I don’t know, sir. I’m just puzzled.”

Gun-Ho was thinking that he should prepare 10 billion won as investment funds for the production company in Shanghai and the Antang City’s terminal project.

“The branch manager of the stock brokerage company told me the other day that I can expect to earn 4.25 billion won for my 170 billion won in my account. I wonder how much taxes would be imposed for the income. Also, I received a dividend of 950 million won from GH Media and Min-Hyeok’s company in China. How much tax should I expect to pay?”

Gun-Ho called for the accounting manager who had a tax accountant license. His name was Jin-Young Hong.

“Mr. Assistant Manager Hong! Please come to my office.”

Assistant Manager Hong stopped what he was working on and came to Gun-Ho’s office.

“Please have a seat.”

Assistant Manager Hong looked at Gun-Ho’s face while sitting on the sofa.

“I have a few questions to ask you since you have a tax accountant license.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Someone I know received an interest income and dividend income. How much tax would be imposed for those incomes?”

“If both types of income occurred, that person is subject to aggregate taxation on financing income.”

“What percentage should he expect to pay?”

“Aggregate tax on financing income is a cumulative tax, so the tax rate depends on the person’s amount of income.”

“Hmm, really? Then can you give me the range of the tax rate?”

“It’s from 6 to 42%. What is his total income?”

“I was told that it’s about 6 billion won.”

“Wow! 6 billion won? Then his tax rate will be definitely 42%. If a person’s total income exceeds 500 million won, the applicable tax rate is 42%.”

“He will have to pay more than 2.5 billion won for tax then.”

“That’s correct. Even though he pays that much tax, that means he is making that much money. Only a few people would make that much in our country. He must be a happy man.”

Gun-Ho couldn’t smile.

“Hmm, I see. You will have to pay more taxes as you make more money; that’s how it works, I see. Okay. You can go back to your work.”

After the assistant manager left Gun-Ho’s office, Gun-Ho threw a pen to the floor.

“F*ck! The National Tax Service is robbing us.”

Gun-Ho gulped down water and tried to stay calm.

“Well, I should pay taxes as I make money. That’s how I contribute to the country. Nothing is determined yet. I didn’t even get a bill for my tax dues. Let’s wait and see.”

Gun-Ho received a call from Dyeon Korea’s Mr. Adam Castler.

“I came back from China.”

“Is everything fine?”

“Yes. I’ve conducted a thorough inspection, but I didn’t find any problem. The amount of cash in the reserve is accurate as well.”

“I’m not surprised. Dingding is a meticulous person.”

“I’ve also verified that more than 90% of their clients are Korean companies. According to President Min-Hyeok Kim, he spent a lot of money in developing Korean clients. That’s why we let them keep running the company.”

“Of course.”

“As to the land where the storage is located, in my opinion, its appraisal is a bit overvalued. However, since the price of the area’s real properties is on the rise, I decided to let it go.”

“You will see. You will soon see the price of the land increasing dramatically.”

“Okay, sir. Let’s sign the contract. Why don’t you come to Dyeon Korea?”