Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho received a call from the stock brokerage firm. Its branch manager wanted to show the customized investment portfolio which Gun-Ho requested the other day.

"Where are you, sir?"

"I am in Jiksan Town, Cheonan City right now."

"Jiksan Town is close to North Cheonan City's IC. Well, I will come to your place then. I want to see your factory too."

"It will take a long time."

"That's okay. I will be there around lunchtime."

President Jang-Hwan Song came to Gun-Ho's office and talked about business matters for a while. Before he left the office, he asked Gun-Ho to have lunch with him.

"The president of our vendor company—Oriental Tech— is coming here today. Why don't you join us for lunch? Mr. Internal Auditor will join too. Oriental Tech's president wants to buy us lunch."

"I actually have pre-engagement for lunch today."

"Oh, you will have a guest today?"

"A branch manager from a stock brokerage firm is visiting me today from Seoul. I won't be able to join you for lunch."

"A brokerage firm's branch manager? Is he coming for the preliminary examination on our KOSDAQ registration application? We are not ready for it yet. We don't have to rush it."

"No no. He is coming for my personal matters, not for our business. By the way, does the KOSDAQ registration matter have something to do with a stock brokerage firm?"

"Yes. The registration is done through a stock brokerage firm."

"Hmm. I see. Well, tell the Oriental Tech's president that I'm sorry that I couldn't join him for lunch today."

"Okay, sir. I will do that."

The Korean restaurant owner in Akasaka, Japan called Gun-Ho.

"President Goo, how have you been?"

"Oh, it's good to hear from you, Ms. Choi."

"You remember my voice. Haha. I thought you forgot about me."

"Of course, I remember you and your name, President Choi."

"Do you then remember a woman with the name—Mori Aikko?"

"Haha. I guess you are upset about something."

"That poor girl, Mori Aikko."

"I'm sorry."

"I told Mori Aikko to get another boyfriend if President Goo doesn't show up like this."

"I've been so busy with the business in China."

"Do you have another girl who is wearing Qipao by any chance?"

"Haha. No, not at all. The only girl I have is Mori Aikko. Believe me."

"I talked with Ms. Jang from the bar in Hannam Town. She said that she was completely done with the interior of her bar a long time ago, but you had never appeared at the bar."

"Well, true… I just didn't have a chance to go there. I am not staying in Seoul, but I am in Cheonan City."

"Why don't you at least give a call to Mori Aikko? She is a young and beautiful girl. She can get a boyfriend in no time if she wants to. She is just a naive girl who grew up in an excluded area— Gion (Kyoto's famous geisha district) only learning Odori."

"I know that."

"Don't tell her that I called you if you see her. I just heard things from Mama-san Segawa Joonkko."

"Thank you for your call. I will go to Japan this Friday and stay there until Sunday. I really miss Mori Aikko too."

The branch manager of the stock brokerage firm arrived.

"Wow. Your factory is amazing. It looks better than the building in Gangnam District, Seoul."

"Was it easy to find the way here?"

"It was easy enough. The factory is located on the main road. I just followed Bong-Joo Yi Road and it led me right here. Why do they name the road after Bong-Joo Yi?"

"The athlete—Bong-Joo Yi is from the area here."

"Oh, I see. That's why they named the road after his."

"Well, why don't you have a seat?"

"Thank you."

The branch manager sat on a sofa while placing his briefcase on the coffee table.

"Well, since it's lunchtime, everyone is out for lunch at the company cafeteria. Even my secretary is out for lunch, leaving me with no one who could prepare tea for us."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I've had my tea on the way at the resting area."

The branch manager started pulling out papers from his briefcase. The weather was hot and the branch manager was wearing a business suit with a tie. He was sweating.

"I've prepared three portfolios for your asset management. The first one is a plan with 70% of risk and 30% of safety. The second one is 50 and 50, and the third one is 70% of safety and 30% of risk."

Gun-Ho read the portfolio carefully. Each program listed the duration, estimated returns and description of the program. They were not a printed pamphlet or anything like that, but it was typed in Excel. He probably made it just for Gun-Ho.

It seemed that the secretary—Ms. Hee-Jeong Park came back from her lunch. She brought green tea to Gun-Ho's office.

"Are you already done with your lunch, Ms. Park?"

"Someone told me that you have a guest in your office, sir. So I finished my lunch as fast as I could."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch. I shouldn't have come at lunchtime."

"No, it's okay."

Secretary Hee-Jeong Park gave a slight nod to the branch manager and left the office.

After reviewing the document that the branch manager brought, Gun-Ho said,

"I will go with the plan no. 3. The safest one."

"I knew you would pick that one. The big players with substantial cash, they usually picked the safest one."

"Really?"

"Sir, I feel bad that I used your lunchtime. I'd like to buy you some lunch today."

"Oh, no. I should treat you. You came all the way here from Seoul to see me after all."

"No. I will treat you, sir. I insist. You are a very important client to us. I brought my company's business credit card."

The branch manager waved the credit card.

"You are not just an important client but you are the most important client to us."

"You are the branch manager in the Gangnam area. You must have other clients with a substantial amount of cash."

"Even in Gangnam District, we call the people with several tens of billions as a big player. You have hundreds of billions won, sir. You are the biggest player, sir."

"Well, let's just go to have lunch."

Gun-Ho took the branch manager of the stock brokerage firm to a Korean restaurant that specialized in a set menu with seasoned wild vegetables, which was nearby Seonggeo Mountain.

"Wow. I like this place. It has fresh air and pleasant breeze. I guess the big players usually live in a city with nature like here, not in a busy city like Gangnam."

"I didn't choose this area to live in. My factory just happened to be located here, that's all."

"Oh, have you applied for the KOSDAQ registration? Your company is registered with DART (Data Analysis, Retrieval, and Transfer System), but I believe it's not with KOSDAQ. Am I right?"

"I'm thinking of going public maybe after three years. I will first have to increase our sales revenue and reduce debts."

"President Goo, if you could let us do your KOSDAQ registration, I will do my best to make it successful."