Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho laughed and said,

"I don't have 230 billion won. That's not why I want to buy that building. I will lend some money from a bank to acquire that building."

The internal auditor looked at Gun-Ho with a skeptical look on his face.

"Still, you need a significant amount of money to start a loan processing to acquire that expensive building…"

The internal auditor who used to work for a bank couldn't figure out at all how much money Gun-Ho had and the level of capacity Gun-Ho could bring into his business.

'I know this young man is rich, but I can't figure out how rich he is though. When did he make that much money? He is only 30 something years old.'

The internal auditor couldn't understand how Gun-Ho possibly accumulated that much wealth at his young age.

Gun-Ho continued to talk,

"You three need to go to Seoul the day after tomorrow and pay a visit to President Park who is the owner of the RiverStar building in Sinsa Town. His office is located on the 18th floor. Tell him that President Gun-Ho Goo of GH Mobile sent you there. He is actually expecting you."

"Are you going to give him a call before we arrive there?"

"Of course, I will."

"What do you want us to do there?"

"Mr. Internal Auditor, you will have to check the building's liens, the status of their security deposits, rental income, the depreciation cost, and their building maintenance reserve, and also find out if they have any unpaid taxes. You can take one of our accounting staff if it is necessary."

"Yes, sir."

"Once you get there, talk with the accounting manager. Their accounting manager is a 50 something years old lady, and she has been working for President Park for 30 years."

"Yes, sir."

"Director Yoon, I want you to meet with a person there, and they call him Director Yoo."

"Director Yoo? Okay, sir."

"Check the building's design drawing and see if there are any defects, cracks or damage of the building."

"Yes, sir."

"Manager Jong-Suk Park, when you get there, check the building's piping and boiler, and their elevator, electricity, and drainage system. And also see if their automated parking system is in a working condition."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't hover around at work but leave in the early morning of the day after tomorrow."

"Which car are we taking?"

"Don't bring several cars to get there. I think Manager Jong-Suk Park can drive and take you all in his car. Manager Park, why don't you go to the accounting department and ask for prepaid expenses for the trip? You will need it to pay the toll fee and lunch expenses and stuff."

"Yes, sir. I will do that."

After three men left Gun-Ho's office, the sales director entered the office.

"One of our customer companies—Mandong Company wants to talk with you. They want you to come to their office."

"Mandong Company? Why they want to see me?"

"I don't know, sir. Their managing director wants to talk with you."

Mandong Company was one of KOSPI*-listed companies. The company had been doing its business in the field for a long time and it had several subsidiaries and branches; it was a big company.

"How much do we supply to that company?"

"It's our second-largest customer after S Group. We supply our products to them worth 1 billion won per month."

"Can you meet with them on behalf of me?"

"I already suggested to them that I would come by, but they insisted on meeting with you, sir. They seemed to be upset when I asked them if I could meet with them."

"They haven't filed any claim with us about our products, right?"

"No, there is none."

"Hmmm. I can't think of any reason why they want to see me. Let's visit them tomorrow afternoon, and you come with me."

"Yes, sir."

In the afternoon of the following day, Gun-Ho headed to Mandong Company, accompanied by the sales director. It was located in the industrial area in Poseung Town, Pyeongtaek City.

Gun-Ho and the sales director had to leave their ID with the security office at the entrance and sign on their guest book in order to enter the company. It was the usual process for a big company.

"They must export a lot of their products overseas since they are manufacturing home appliances."

"That's why they are located in the vicinity of Pyeongtaek Port. Their second factory is situated in the Changwon Industrial Complex which is close to Masan Port."

The sales director smiled.

"It's nice that their managing director who wants to see me is in their Pyeongtaek location, rather than in Changwon. It would take us half a day to get Changwon."

Gun-Ho and the sales director waited in a waiting area for a while before Mandong Company's managing director came in with their manager who was in charge of purchasing of necessary products.

"We have once met during the last meeting for the suppliers and vendors, haven't we?"

"We actually met once when the president of Mandong Company held a friendship golf tournament."

"Oh, did we?"

The managing director dragged his chair to sit close to Gun-Ho and leaned toward him.

"President Goo, do you know the president of Egnopak?"

"Yes, I do."

The sales director wondered when the managing director mentioned the company name—Egnopak out of nowhere.

"We haven't done any business with Egnopak."

"Why don't you stay quiet, Mr. Sales Director?"

The sales director couldn't say anything when Mandong's managing director told him to stay quiet since Mandong was a major customer of GH Mobile.

While the sales director suppressed his desire to say something back to the managing director, Gun-Ho smiled. Gun-Ho thought that even though this man was a managing director of a big company that happened to be GH Mobile's major client, he was just an employee who was working for the company on a salary.

"Is there something I need to know about?"

"Our president is close to the president of Egnopak. Egnopak's president recently pressured our president not to have business with GH Mobile. He even said that GH Mobile's president is a jerk and shouldn't get involved with him for anything."

"He is a cowardly man."

"What?"

The sales director had no idea what these two men were talking about and he was curious. He didn't know something was going on with Egnopak's president.

Gun-Ho was calm and he said,

"Mr. Managing Director, you do know the American company called Lymondell Dyeon, don't you?"

"Of course, I do. It is a global manufacturing company of chemicals."

"The president of Egnopak planned to do a joint venture with Lymondell Dyeon and wanted to have a factory in Korea for that business."

"Hmm. I wasn't aware of that."

"And he demanded Lymondell Dyeon 51:49 and they declined Egnopak's offer for a joint venture."

"Hmm."

The managing director was listening to Gun-Ho with his arms crossed, and he seemed to be enjoying the story that Gun-Ho was telling him.

"So, Lymondell Dyeon picked our company instead, as their co-venturer."

"Huh? What? With GH Mobile?"

"That's right. We will build a factory for the joint venture on the land in Asan City where we used to have our factory. Lymondell Dyeon and GH Mobile agreed on 50:50."

"That sounds right. You have to do 50:50 for an international joint venture."

Note*

KOSPI - Korean Composite Stock Price Indexes