Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

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

President Jeong-Sook Shin came to Gun-Ho’s office on the 18th floor in the morning.

“Here is our costume play magazine for this month.”

As he looked through the magazine that President Shin handed to him, Gun-Ho asked, “Is this our third magazine?”

“Yes, it is, sir.”

“Is it selling well?”

“About 3,000 magazines are being sold on a monthly basis. The number doesn’t go up or go down, but it stays the same every month. That means that we have regular readers, and they seem to be loyal too.”

“Does that mean that this costume play magazine is a success?”

“Of course, sir. Selling 3,000 magazine on a monthly basis is a success. Moreover, half of the magazine contents are copied from the Japanese magazine, and the other half are filled up by Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda. It doesn’t cost us much at all to publish our magazine.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“All necessary work in publishing the magazine is handled by our employees without additional cost. Team Lead Min-Soo Oh takes care of the design, and Chief Editor Cheon-Young Pi does the editing for the magazine. We have a great team for it as well.”

“How much do we make by selling 3,000 magazines?”

“We make about 10 million won of profits per month.”

“Is it after we deduct the labor cost?”

“Yes, it is, sir.”

“That sounds not bad at all.”

“Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda is an asset to us.”

“Haha, really?”

Gun-Ho thought about the day when Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda, who used to work as a correspondent for a newspaper, had come to see him for the first time. The Korean restaurant owner in Japan—Ms. Ji-Yeon Choi—was the one who introduced Mr. Yoshitake Matsuda to Gun-Ho. Recalling Ms. Ji-Yeon Choi who was running a restaurant in Akasaka, Tokyo reminded Gun-Ho of Mori Aikko.

‘I have forgotten about Mori Aikko for quite a while now. I wonder if she is doing well. She is a gorgeous woman with full lips and beautiful eyes.’

“Sir!”

“Huh? Uh… yes?”

“What are you thinking about, sir?

Gun-Ho was lost in thought while having a conversation with President Shin, and that looked weird to President Shin.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“We completed the translation on the first half of the scenario that Director Woon-Hak Sim sent to us. We sent the translated version to him, and we are still working on the second half of it. We will be able to finish translating it and send it to him within a few days.”

“That sounds good.”

“Director Sim is doing well in China, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is doing fine. They already finished organizing the production team. It seems that their drama production is drawing a lot of attention in China right now after some newspapers covered the fact that they are getting investment funds from Korea.”

“I see.”

“They are almost done with casting actors and actresses as well. It looks like they will work with a Korean actress for the female leading role.”

“Really? Which Korean actress is casted?”

“I was told that she is new. She is working with BM Entertainment.”

“I guess that Director Sim has a connection in BM Entertainment.”

“He has a friend there, who is an entertainment manager. He also knows its president—Mr. Hyeon-Man Yee.”

“Oh my. Is President Hyeon-Man Yee the famous Hyeon-Man Yee in the entertainment industry? When we participated in the book exhibition in Shanghai last time, he rendered some entertainment performances in Shanghai Sports Complex.”

“That’s right.”

“If that Korean actress is new, they wouldn’t have to pay her a lot.”

“I think so. Director Sim said that he would make sure that the combined pay for actors and screenwriters doesn’t exceed 50% of the production cost. We will see.”

“Anyway, I will try to have the entire scenario translated as soon as possible, so Director Sim could receive it soon.”

“Okay.”

After President Shin left the office, Gun-Ho received a call from Dyeon Korea’s Director Kim.

“Sir, we have received all the equipment and lab tools that we ordered for our new research center, the other day.”

“Oh, you did? Did they complete installing them as well?”

“Yes, it’s done, but I think we’d better postpone the official announcement on our research center’s establishment and also the application to be recognized as a ‘start-up company with technology.’”

“Why is that?”

“In order to be officially designated as a start-up company with technology which devotes to developing new technologies—this is our current goal—we will have to submit the last quarter’s expense status on our research center.”

“Hmm.”

“So, I think the adequate time to apply for it would be early next year since we just installed necessary research tools and equipment.”

“That means we can’t expect to enjoy any tax reduction benefits this year and will have to pay the full corporate tax.”

“I’m afraid so, sir.”

“The tax rate for a company that generates more than 20 billion won annually is 22%. If we can’t find any other way to save the tax, then we will have to pay 22%. However, we shouldn’t waste our time in making something work which wouldn’t work.”

“Understood, sir.”

“It’s October now… Don’t try hard to save money for now. If there are things that we eventually have to spend money on, do it now.”

“Do you think that we should give higher bonuses to our employees at the end of this year?”

“Why don’t you discuss it with the internal auditor? If we raise the amount of bonus for Dyeon Korea’s employees, the workers at GH Mobile will possibly ask for the same. We need to think about possible consequences.”

“That’s very possible. What about if we build a factory in China or India? Instead of reserving profits in cash, maybe we should use those to reinvest in the company to expand.”

“That’s not a desirable way either. The corporate tax rate in China or India is even higher than Korea; I believe it’s around 25%.”

“Is it that high?”

“The U.S. used to have an even higher corporate tax rate. It used to be 35%, and the Trump administration reduced it significantly to 21%. It’s boom time for corporations in the U.S. and Trump’s popularity is skyrocketing.”

“Doesn’t the federal government worry about their possible budget deficit?”

“They will have to make up the deficit from somewhere else. They will have to cut government spending by reducing various subsidies that they are currently providing, for example. They could also increase taxes substantially on imported goods that are coming from other countries.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, let’s make our application to become a start-up company with technology when we are ready—when we have all the necessary paperwork. Also, tell Accounting Manager Myeong-Sook Jo to make sure that she includes all of the labor cost and purchasing price of our raw material in our R&D expenditure.”

“Yes, sir”

Gun-Ho murmured to himself, “Generating high profits creates another problem.”

In the late afternoon, Gun-Ho received a call from Min-Hyeok Kim in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

“I met Suk-Ho Lee.”

“What did he say?”

“Well, I think he didn’t want to tell me that he is having a financial problem. He said that he just wanted to visit the area for sightseeing.”

“That’s it? He didn’t say anything else?”

“He asked me to buy the stores that he bought in Shenyang City. He must have thought that I’m an idiot. Why would I purchase the stores in Shenyang City that are so far away from where I am? Moreover, those stores’ location is terrible.”

“He is probably in trouble.”

“So, I told him that I don’t have money to buy the stores. You know what he said? He said that he will take installment payments from me. He said that there is a development plan around the city for next year, so he is confident that the value of his stores will go up.”

“Really?”

“He looked shabby and depressed. When he learned that I’m driving an Audi with a chauffeur, and also living in a luxurious condo, he looked really surprised.”

“Really?”