Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 378: Basecamp For The Transportation Company (1) - Part 1

When they entered the auto repair shop, Gun-Ho could smell oil.

Its floor was black because of the oil residues. Pieces of Styrofoam were found on the floor as well. In the office space, old desks were still there. It was dusty, and some papers were scattered there, but the office was quite spacious. Chan-Ho noticed that there was a refrigerator in the office.

"Is that refrigerator in a working condition?"

When Chan-Ho asked about it, the realtor responded, "Probably not. If it worked, they would have taken it with them. They left it here probably because it would cost them even to throw it out."

Gun-Ho noticed some tears on the ceiling.

"The building frame should be good. I believe you can still use it after some minor repairs. Just focus on the land. It's a nice square figure and leveled well. Trucks can get in without any problem."

"If it was larger, it would have been perfect."

"If you really need a larger land, why don't you buy the farmland next to this one? The owner put it on the market before."

"But it's farmland. The leveling must be different."

"Not very different though. The difference in depth is less than 50 centimeters. So, the use of the land can be changed."

"Land use change?"

"Of course. This area is open for development. You can convert farmland into non-farming uses as long as you pay the fee."

"I've heard the fee is expensive…"

"It's 30% of the officially assessed land price. But, sir, once you convert it into non-farming use, the price of the land will substantially increase."

"Really?"

"Or, if you want to use it just for a parking lot, you can just change the purpose of the land. Since it is now listed as a field, you can just indicate that it would be used as a rice paddy."

"Will it be okay? If I don't do farming after indicating it is to be used as a rice paddy, the government won't say anything?"

"You will have to pay some penalties for not farming the land."

"Hmm."

"Can farmland be purchased by a company?"

"If the company is an agribusiness company, then there shouldn't be any problem. You said you want to do an auto repair shop, right? If an auto repair shop purchases farmland for farming, that wouldn't sound right."

"That's true."

"An individual can purchase farmland. You can buy it with your name, sir."

"There is no restriction for an individual to buy farmland?"

"You need a permit to purchase farmland."

"A permit to purchase farmland?"

"Yes, the government will make a determination on whether you will truly do farming with the land."

"How can they find out? If someone says he would do farming then that's what it is, isn't it?"

"They will first look at where you live. What address do you have for your residency?"

"It's Dogok Town in Seoul."

"Well, then you won't be qualified to purchase farmland here. You have to be a resident of Seonghwan Town. If you live outside the town, your address has to be close enough to easily commute like within 30 kilometers."

"30 kilometers?"

"It's about the distance that you can ride a bicycle to get here, so it is believable that you intend to farm here while you live 30 kilometers away from the land."

"It seems to be very complicated to buy farmland."

"If you are going to open an auto repair shop, the size of 980 pyung should be big enough, and the price of 2 million won per pyung is reasonable."

"Okay. I will think about it and will let you know."

"Can I get your business card, sir?"

"Chan-Ho, why don't you give your business card to Mr. Realtor? I didn't bring mine today."

"Chan-Ho? My little brother's name is Chan-Ho, too."

On the way from the land, Gun-Ho asked Chan-Ho, "Chan-Ho, do you remember the code for that combination padlock?"

"Yes, I do. It's 4786."

"I will store that code in my smartphone; otherwise, I won't be able to recall it."

"Are you going to visit there again?"

"Not me. I will ask Jae-Sik to come by quietly."

"Oh, I see."

When Gun-Ho arrived at GH Mobile, it was after 11 am.

President Jang-Hwan Song was out of the office to meet with a client and the internal auditor was also out to attend an economic forum.

The secretary—Hee-Jeong Park brought a cup of tea for Gun-Ho.

"Since President Song and Mr. Internal Auditor are not in the office, would you like to see other executive officers?"

"No, that's okay. They must be busy."

Gun-Ho had his lunch in the company cafeteria that day. He was standing in a line to get his food just like any other employees when the head of the labor union saw him. The head of the labor union quickly brought Gun-Ho's lunch and placed it on the table.

"You don't have to do that."

The head of the labor union sat at the same table with Gun-Ho.

"Bon appetit, sir."

"Thank you, you too."

The general affairs director also came to the cafeteria for his lunch. When he saw Gun-Ho having his lunch there, he joined Gun-Ho as well.

"Sir, when did you come?"

"I just arrived."

"Any news from the labor union?"

"No, it's good. I always tell the members of the labor union that in order for us to have a good work life, our company's business has to do well. And I also tell them that before we make any complaints to the company, we need to check if we are doing our job right."

"Haha, really? It seems that the members of the union listen to you."

The general affairs director said while eating the food, "Ever since this man took the head of the labor union position, it has been very quiet and peaceful. The previous head of the union during the Mulpasaneop days was not good at managing the members, and that created a lot of noise from them."

"Oh, I see."

The labor union's head seemed to feel good. He voluntarily brought and offered water for Gun-Ho.

After lunch, Gun-Ho had his afternoon coffee in his office and took a nap before heading to Dyeon Korea. When he arrived at Dyeon Korea in that afternoon, he first went straight to the production site to see if all of the eight machines were working fine. The workers at the production site greeted Gun-Ho.

The products were piled up in the storage. It seemed that the eight machines were producing more than enough products. He then went into the compound room which was a restricted area. The workers in the room were wearing masks. They gave a bow to Gun-Ho when they saw him coming into the room. Manager Yoo who was in charge of the site quickly came to Gun-Ho.

"Sir, you are here."

"How are the new employees doing?"

"They are doing great."

"You will have to teach them a lot."

"Don't worry about it, sir."

"I don't worry about this team since you are here, Manager Yoo."

Manager Yoo seemed to feel a bit embarrassed.

"Manager Yoo, you used to live in Seoul, didn't you?"

"Yes, I moved to this area five years ago when I was working for Mulpasaneop. I got married while I was living here too."

"Please don't forget to enter any manuals and recipes into the computer and be mindful of the security. This is the core technology of our company."

"I'm doing it, sir."

Gun-Ho tapped Manager Yoo's back before leaving the compound room.

Even though Jong-Suk suggested Gun-Ho to have Manager Yoo enter all the related information about the chemical compounds recipes into the president's computer, Gun-Ho didn't ask it to Manager Yoo.