The Famous Millionaire

When Hwang said that, other lawmakers present seconded the statement.

“Oh, you, too, thought so. Frankly, I felt upset about him, looking at Mr. Jang’s arrogant actions these days. To put it bluntly, did he make a success without anybody’s help? Didn’t he make such a huge success because we politicians created a good environment for his business activities?”

“You bet. He is just audacious when I see his words and actions these days. He must not have been well bred at home. Tut, tut, tut.”

Hwang didn’t need to take the initiative to censure Hyunwoo, as they competed to blame him.

In fact, politicians and businessmen had inseparable ties.

That’s why politicians call them honey bees because the latter brought sweet stuff called money to the former.

They wanted Hyunwoo to be their honey bee, but Hyunwoo was not that type of businessman. It seemed that he was determined never to cultivate any relationship with politicians.

Of course, he knew several politicians. For example, he knew one young politician with an independent mind, whose constituency was in Sosan City.

But Hyunwoo had no intention to be his honey bee.

“Let me try to meet, Mr. Jang,” said one of the four politicianns.

He was lawmaker Kilpyo Jang, the youngest of them. Even though he was younger than the other three, he was almost 60 years old.

Hwang reacted with delight, “Oh, can you do so? Hope you can bring us good results.”

Several days later, Hyunwoo went to congressman Kilpyo Chuns’s office in Seoul. Though Hyunwoo looked gloomy on the way, he put a bright expression on his face when he got there.

Waiting for him outside the office, Kilpyon hugged him.

“Oh, Mr. Jang. Nice to meet you like this.”

“I should have come here to see you sooner, congressman. Sorry.”

“To be honest, I felt sorry about that. As you have come to see me even now, I feel good.”

Hyunwoo felt like frowning at that but held it back. Though he said that out of courtesy, Kilpyon seemed to take it for granted.

Kilpyon first praised Hyunwoo. Just like a typical politician, he picked up only good words to please Hyunwoo’s ears.

But there was nothing substantial in his remarks. He didn’t mention anything beneficial to his business. He was just paying lip service to Hyunwoo.

Finally, Kilpyo brought up the main topic, which was why he wanted to see Hyunwoo today.

“I think a politician’s first duty is to help businessmen do their business well. Don’t you think?”

If that’s true, Kilpyo was neglecting his duty. Hyunwoo didn’t get any help from him.

But Hyunwoo said casually, pretending not to know, “Thanks for saying that.”

“What do you think is the duty of businessmen then? Is it just to make money and fatten their wallets?” asked Kilpyo.

Hyunwoo already knew what he would say next.

Like a seasoned politician, Kilpyo knew how to say figuratively.

“Everything is supposed to go interlocking. In other words, we have to help each other by sharing what we have. You shouldn’t force any party to make sacrifices.”

“You’re right.”

“Now, you’re seeing eye to eye with me! I don’t have to repeat this to you then. Let’s help each other. Politicians and businessmen should join hands for the people.”

“Got it. I’ll do my best,” said Hyunwoo, bowing to him.

With a satisfied look, Kilpyo nodded his head.

“Okay, let me have some expectations of you. When our politics goes smoothly, our economy goes well and our country will develop. Thanks for coming here.”

Hyunwoo came out of the office with a bitter smile.

‘After all, he is asking me for money, isn’t he?’

Hyunwoo agnoized about it. If he gave Kilpyon the money, the corrupt world around him would be more corrupt. If he refused, he was scared that Kilpyon might take revenge on him.

Hyunwoo went back home to discuss it with his father.

Duyoung gave him some practical advice.

“You have to think about the gains and losses when you make a choice. What do you think you could get when you accept or reject the congressman’s request?”

It was difficult to answer.

Hyunwoo felt there were many lawmakers like Kilpyo. If he had to give political funds to Kilpyo, he had to give political funds to other politicians.

That would make corrupt politics more corrupt.

Why?

Because money is power. If corrupt politicians received money, they would become more powerful, while clean politicians wiould continue to lose their power.

That was the situation that Hyunwoo hated so much. But that’s what he might have to create with his own hand now.

If Hyunwoo refused to give political funds, politicians would use all kinds of means to put pressure on him. KOVE DREAM, Ani & Funny, STM as well as Haenim School would most likely get into trouble in the days ahead.

Duyoung asked again when Hyunwoo was agonized.

“Which side do you think can cause you more losses than gains?”

That was a difficult question, too.

He would have to accept Kilpyo’s request for his own interests. But he would have to fight against Kilpyo for the interests of the country.

Duyoung was of the same opinion, but he recommended to Hyunwoo to choose the option of putting his own interests first.

“Our politics won’t change overnight even if you try to. You might as well succumb to them now. Instead, support young and clean politicians. Over time they will change the world to a better one.”

Nonetheless, he couldn’t decide easily.

In reality and in name, Hyunwoo wasn’t the world’s richest man. Officially, there were three men who were richer than him. When STM was listed on the stock market, his wealth would be more than 100 trillion won.

How much would Hyunwo have to donate in political funds?

That much money would give corrupt politicians absolute power while promising politicians would never challenge them.

Hyunwoo really didn’t want to give the money to dirty politicians.

After all, he came up with a compromise.

‘Okay, let me donate political funds openly. And let me return my money to society to win their support.’

If he won their support, politicians would not be able to touch him recklessly.

When he thought as far as that, he became confident.

He made the decision.

“Even if my companies collapse, I can’t give money to corrupt politicians.”

Hearing his explanation, his mother Jisook expressed concern.

“I’m not sure if you will be okay.”

But Duyoung took side with Hyunwoo.

“You have no reason to feel that way, honey. We are not doing anything bad. And I trust Hyunwoo. He can cope with it wisely.”

Jisook now nodded.

“You’re right, honey. We are just good as long as we can make ends meet. Son, don’t worry. Just push ahead with what you think is right.”

“Thanks for trusting me.”

Hyunwoo translated his decision into action immediately.

He openly donated to political funds in his name. He also announced his plan to donate his wealth to society through the media.

His top priority on donation was education.

<Over the next three years, I’ll build 100 Dalnim kindergartens and accept over 20,000 kids>

The Dalnim kindergartens he planned targeted kids who were three and four years old.

He estimated about 200 billion won per year in financial support. He made sure these kindergartens hired one nursing teacher for three kids and one supervisor for every five teachers. The teachers would receive 20 million won in yearly compensation, and the supervisor would receive twice as much.

In that case, Hyunwoo would pay the teachers 105 billion won for their salaries every year.

Hyunwoo felt the role of nursing teachers would be important.

So, he established the development of children’s education at Sinsung University and Haenim School and hired the teachers in large numbers.

As soon as he announced his plan through the media, he began to build kindergartens around the country.

He also disclosed the teaching methods of Dalnim kindergartens.

They would not teach them how to study. Of course, the kids will learn rudimentary things in preparation for elementary schools, but enhancing their creativity would be the top priority.

Many of the people reacted to Hyunwoo’s proposal favorably. In particular, those low-income newlyweds welcomed it. They already began to ask about the application process.

There might be fierce competition among them to get in, but he felt their intense interest would go down when the kindergartens opened.

Basically Dalnim kindergartens would have the kids spend more time playing than studying, play more outside than inside.

As a result, affluent parents would prefer those kindergartens that would help their kids get better grades when they entered elementary schools.

That meant that Dalnim kindergartens would more likely accept children of low-income families.

Hyunwoo was also interested in the matter of housing.

In his opinion, the two biggest headaches of Korea were education and housing among other things. Though there were so many houses across the country, there were not many homeowners.

Of course, Hyunwoo could not solve the problem completely. But he felt he could at least make a breakthrough in solving it.

So, Hyunwoo made the pledge.

<I will make 100,000 affordable apartment units and one-room studios across the country.>

The apartment units he had in mind was a small standard unit with the space of 13-pyong, just spacious enough for a four-member family to live in. Though they might feel it’s too small, he would offer it at a bargain.

He would spend about 300 billion on this.

Many of the people praised Hyunwoos’ generous donations.

“He is better than the president.”

“Yes, he knows how to get at the heart of the problem. Our government has to take its cue from him.”

There were some who took his promise with a grain of salt.

“Does he want to be a politician later?”

Indeed, some people frowned when Hyunwoo won more and more support from the people.

And some of them even decided to take revenge on him when Hyunwoos’ donations did harm to their interests.