Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho and Jong-Suk continued to talk, "How is Manager Seo doing in the sales department? Is he good?"

"As you know, it's not an easy job. We don't sell our product to individuals, but we have to appeal to a highly specialized market. So it's really hard to earn a new order. People who have been in the field for a long time like President Song have an already-established network in the field and they can get some new orders from the companies that they used to work before. But, Manager Seo is new to the field. It's really hard for him to bring a new client."

"Hmm."

"But he is very diligent and persistent with our current clients. Even though he hasn't brought any new client yet, he highly contributed to raising the quantity of the product orders from our current clients."

"I like the fact that you are getting along very well with Manager Seo and also with the head of the labor union. Keep it that way. I know that many of the members of the labor union are working with you in the production field. Get closer to them. Buy them a drink sometimes. I will raise the limit of your allowable expenses."

"How's Jae-Sik bro doing? Is his transportation company doing well?"

"I don't know yet. It's too early to say anything. He just started the business."

"He needs to be more outgoing and proactive. If they handle heavy equipment, I can introduce some potential customers for him."

"Heavy equipment? Jae-Sik does that too."

"Oh, really? Then I will give him a call. The factory that I used to work for uses a lot of heavy equipment. They should need some transportation services. I have all the driver licenses of all kinds of heavy equipment."

"That's nice. Your help will be greatly appreciated, Jong-Suk."

"Bro, about Dyeon Korea's Manager Hee-Yeol Yoo…"

"Oh, are you talking about Manager Hee-Yeol Yoo who received the special training in the U.S.? What about him?"

"Manager Yoo is the only person who knows the recipe and skills for the chemical compounds. Director Kim and Director Yoon are not engineers or researchers but they only do management. Assistant Manager Il-Gi Seong who went to the U.S. with Manager Yoo for the training is now working in the sales team with Director Kim. I understand that sales work is critical to our company given the nature of our business, but we have to think about this."

"What are you saying? Is there any problem with Manager Yoo?"

"No, that's not what I meant…"

Jong-Suk suddenly stopped talking, realizing they were not alone in the office. Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh was there in the office with them. Yeon-Soo Oh was a smart woman. She quickly thought that she should give them some privacy to talk about their business.

"I will be outside. Maybe I can converse with Ms. Hee-Jeong Park."

"Sounds good."

Once Yeon-Soo Oh left the office, Jong-Suk continued to talk, "If Manager Yoo decides to leave our company, that could be a problem to us. We hired twelve people last time including workers with experience, but they need some time to learn what Manager Yoo knows."

"Hmm."

"So, I think you'd better have them enter all the data relevant to any chemical compounds recipes that are highly advanced into the president's computer."

"You mean all of them?"

"Yes. Enter everything now, and then the data has to be updated every time they develop new products."

"Hmm."

"I'm not saying that I don't trust Manager Yoo, but we have to be careful given the gravity of the possible damage to the company."

"Jong-Suk, I always try to trust the people who I decided to work with. Leave it as it is. I don't think Manager Yoo would ever do such a thing."

"If you can't, bro, I will do it."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I will talk to Director Kim and I will ask him to make an official suggestion during the meeting. Oh, since Manager Yoo is not an executive officer, he won't attend our meeting. Then, we can talk about it during the general meeting that occurs once a month."

"I will take care of it."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just leave it to me."

"Okay."

"Oh, I heard you are very close to Dyeon Korea's Director Kim. You call him brother, huh?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Haha. You know that Director Kim is twenty years older than you, right? He can't possibly be your brother, man."

"I don't know. He asked me to call him brother and he likes it a lot whenever I call him brother."

"Haha. Is that right?"

"Yeah. Director Kim saw me calling Manager Seo brother the other day, and he complained to me why I don't call him brother too, just like I do to Manager Seo. So I started calling Director Kim brother ever since. He said that he feels like being younger again since twenty-years younger man calls him brother."

"Haha. I see."

"But President Song is different."

"How different?"

"He is a bit cold. He doesn't even laugh at my jokes at all."

"Really? Well, we can't be all the same. Hey, I guess it's time for you to go home. You will have to give an extra care to your wife, huh? Since she is pregnant."

"Thank you, bro."

Mr. Brandon Burke and Ms. Angelina Rein arrived at Dyeon Korea.

"Hey! President Goo!"

"Hey, Brandon Burke!"

The two men hugged each other happily when they saw each other.

"Hello, Ms. Angelina Rein!"

"Hi, Gun-Ho Goo!"

Gun-Ho had a handshake with Ms. Angelina Rein. Gun-Ho felt it inappropriate to give a hug to a lady for a greeting.

Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh greeted Angelina Rein.

"Oh, Ms. Oh. I've spoken with you over the phone several times. It's really good to see you in person. You are so young and pretty!"

Director Yoon led them to a meeting room. There was the national flag of South Korea and the star-spangled banner placed on the table in the meeting room. The representatives of both parties sat at the table facing each other. In the American co-venturer's side, Mr. Brandon Burke sat in the middle with Ms. Angelina Rein and the vice president of the joint venture—Mr. Adam Castler on his left and right. Mr. Brandon Burke's bald head looked particularly shiny that day. The interpreter—Mr. Lee sat next to Mr. Adam Castler.

On the other side, Gun-Ho was sitting in the middle with Director Kim and Director Yoon on each of his sides. Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh who came to do the interpretation work sat next to Director Yoon. Assistant Manager Seon-Hong Park from the general affairs team also attended the board meeting. His job was to record the meeting.

A banner saying that Dyeon Korea's first board meeting was hanging on the wall. Once everyone sat at the table, Mr. Lee—the interpreter took a picture of all the attendees. Gun-Ho looked around.

'Shoot. I'm the only one who can't speak English!'

Director Kim majored in English literature from college and he served his military service in Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA). Even though He didn't have a chance to use his English, he still could understand it. Director Yoon had worked abroad before. He studied engineering from Seoul National University but he learned English while working overseas. Interpreter Lee and Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh both studied abroad, so they surely spoke English very well. Gun-Ho was the only one who didn't understand English. However, he was sitting in the middle at the meeting table as the president of the joint venture.

The board meeting finally began with Assistant Manager Seon-Hong Park's declaration,

"We now begin the first board meeting of Dyeon Korea."

Interpreter Lee who was standing next to the assistant manager interpreted what the assistant manager just said, "I'd like to get things started."

The assistant manager continued to speak, "We will start with the earnings report. Mr. Adam Castler will present the report."

Mr. Adam Castler started handing out a booklet to each attendee; a bunch of A4 papers was stapled together. Gun-Ho looked at the title of the document. It said, "Business Results Report."