Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

It seemed that being with Jong-Suk reminded Gun-Ho of their old days all the time.

“Jong-Suk, you are too busy these days to go fishing, right?”

“Fishing? No, I can’t. I spend my Saturdays and Sundays studying for college.”

“Really?”

“Speaking of which, I’m wondering how Chairman Lee from Cheongdam Town is doing. I remember his face only hazily now.”

“It has been quite a while since I saw him last time as well.”

“Remember the day when we went fishing together? We couldn’t catch a thing, and then we just had grilled pork belly that day. Bro, what do you think about having pork belly for today’s lunch? I suddenly want to have grilled pork belly.”

“Sure. I want to have pork belly too. I’m sure Chan-Ho Eom would love to have pork belly as well.”

“Meet me at 12 then. There is a grilled meat restaurant on the way to Anseong City after the four-way intersection.”

“Isn’t that restaurant selling Korean beef?”

“They have pork belly as well.”

“Okay. I will see you there.”

It was noon. Gun-Ho, Jong-Suk Park, and Chan-Ho Eum met at the grilled meat restaurant. While watching the meat being grilled on the table, Gun-Ho said, “I’d love to have a glass of soju with the meat, but I can’t. I have to go to Dyeon Korea in the afternoon.”

“You are the president of the company. No one is going to say anything to you about it. I think one glass of soju should be okay.”

“That’s not how it is. I have to be someone to my employees, who set an example.”

“Well, that’s true. Even I— a plant manager— have to be careful with my behavior and words. The workers are paying attention to how I act and say.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.”

When Jong-Suk saw a few pieces of pork belly done on the grill, he picked up some and put Chan-Ho’s plate and said, “Chan-Ho, eat as much as you want. I understand that your work assisting the president is not an easy job. Add some lettuces with it. These lettuces are directly from this restaurant owner lady’s small farm. She grows and harvests them herself.”

“Yes, little brother. These are so good.”

“Hey, you are supposed to call me Mr. Director.”

“Sure, Mr. Director. Haha.”

“After you left my office this morning, I received a call from Suk-Ho Lee bro in China again.”

“Is he doing okay?”

“He is expanding his karaoke, and he asked me if I’m interested in making an investment in it.”

“Really?”

“I told him that I had no money. Even if I have money, who’s going to invest in his karaoke in China? I used to admire Suk-Ho bro. He looked to be a great man back then. But once I came this far with my career, he just looks like someone who is wasting his life without a specific skill to offer to the society.”

“Really?”

“As I have been working as the plant manager, I’ve met a lot of people from a large company or the government for business. They are all gentle and professional. I just couldn’t help comparing them with the people around me including Suk-Ho bro. Suk-Ho bro is like… too tough, and he is not yet adjusted to follow the tacit rules in society.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“He seems to think that I’m still his minion like the old days. I feel bad for him. He needs to break through out of the box that he confined himself in.”

“Breaking through out of the box that he confined himself in? You sound philosophical.”

“Haha. I hear things from here and there, and I’ve grown up too.”

“Didn’t he resent you when you told him that you didn’t have money to invest in his business?”

“Well, he said that I’m missing a good opportunity to make more money. The thing is that I really don’t have money. As you know well, I even took out a loan using my condo and bought all of the forfeited shares.”

“How many shares did you buy?”

“I bought all of the forfeited shares that occurred during the employee stock ownership program. There were 16,000 of them.”

“You indeed bought them a lot.”

“I’m just hoping that Dyeon Korea successfully goes public, and that its stock price skyrockets.”

“It will.”

“Suk-Ho bro didn’t call you, did he? I think it’s not easy for him to give you a call.”

Gun-Ho went to Dyeon Korea in the afternoon.

Director Kim and the internal auditor came into Gun-Ho’s office.

“I haven’t seen you around for a while, sir.”

“Since I have you, Mr. Director Kim, and the internal auditor, I know I can take my eyes off of Dyeon Korea for a while.”

Gun-Ho called for Secretary Seon-Hye Yee and asked for three cups of jujube tea.

“Four machines have been shipped to our China location so far. Our machine no. 1 and no. 2 arrived there first, and then when the machines were successfully built by GH Mobile, we sent them two more machines.”

“So, now the two vacant spots, where the machine no. 1 and 2 used to be in place, are filled with the newly-built machines?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did we test those machines built by GH Mobile? Are they working without any problems?”

“We are already producing our products with those machines, and they are working perfectly so far.”

“We have already sent the workers to China, haven’t we?”

“Yes, we have, sir. An assistant manager from the research center and one engineer from the maintenance team, who was in a team lead position, were sent to China. You’ve already signed the approval form for the relocation of these two workers the other day.”

“I remember that.”

“Since they will need more help in the beginning, we sent Manager Hee-Yeol Yoo and Manager Ahn from the maintenance team to China along with them. They will stay there for several days and give them some guidance and training.”

“I see.”

“Actually it has already been several days since they went on the trip to China. They will return to Korea maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

“That means that Dyeon Korea doesn’t have to export our products to China anymore, does it? Since they locally produce the products that will be sold to the local market.”

“We are still sending the products to China. Their production system hasn’t been completely set up yet.”

“Once the factories in China and India start independently manufacturing the products, we will have to find more clients within the domestic market.”

“I will work on it right away, sir. The encouraging thing is that President Song told me that GH Mobile is going to use Dyeon Korea’s products in fulfilling H Group’s new product orders.”

“We shouldn’t heavily rely on GH Mobile only in selling our products, but we will need to diversify our clientele.”

“That’s true, sir.”

“Do we have any plans in diversifying our client base?”

“There will be an exhibition held in Kintex in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province for rubbers and plastics. We are planning to participate in the exhibition by reserving a presentation booth. It will help our marketing.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s how GH Mobile is in business with Chrysler. They presented their products by participating in a motor show in Chicago and reserved a booth there.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m going to ask our client companies to give us one of their completed products that were manufactured using our products. And, we are going to display those products in our booth as samples. Many rubber and plastic molding companies will be invited to the exhibition, so it will definitely be a good opportunity for us to introduce our products to the relevant industry.”

“That’s a good idea. Please carry out the plan.”

“The new factory in India is in need of machines right now, but GH Mobile couldn’t even start building additional machines because of the twin screws; they are still waiting for the twin screws that they ordered from America. If they come late, we will have to send our machine no. 3 and no. 4 to India.”

“They are expecting to receive the screws tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

“That’s a big relief then. Since they already successfully built four machines so far, I believe they can build one machine per day.”

“You think so?”

“Director Jong-Suk Park takes care of major parts in building the machine using main screws. All other parts are handled by the workers in the maintenance department. They are very quick.”