Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

The restaurant called Seongung was a Chinese restaurant located in the basement level of a building. It was in the vicinity of Seoul Arts Center. So, many visitors to the art center were often good customers of this restaurant.

It was a high-class restaurant with round tables, which offered a full course meal.

"Thank you all for having come to my wedding the other day."

"We were just a few friends from your high school, but there were tons of people at your wedding. I knew you must have a large social network with your business and all, but it was more than we expected."

"Min-Hyeok Kim who led the wedding couldn't come today since he is still in China. He asked me to say hello to you all."

"His business there is doing good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, he is doing great. Last year's sales revenue was 7.8 billion won. In China, 7.8 billion won of sales revenue is considered as doing fabulously good."

Gun-Ho's friends from high school were envious of Min-Hyeok and also felt jealous of him. For them, Gun-Ho was someone who they couldn't even feel jealous of since his wealth was so enormous that they wouldn't be able to achieve it even if they put everything they had into it. However, Min-Hyeok Kim and Jae-Sik Moon were different cases. Their friends thought that they could have been in their successful position if they had help from Gun-Ho.

'Anyone who received help and support from Gun-Ho is doing great. Min-Hyeok Kim and Jae-Sik Moon have their own business now, and they are very successful.'

A restaurant waitress brought jasmine tea.

"We will all have the course-A. That's the best course meal in this restaurant, right?"

"Yes, sir."

Jae-Sik Moon took out three bottles of liquor from a huge paper bag that he brought.

"These are Maotai. President Goo asked me to bring these."

"Maotai?"

They all screamed and clapped in excitement.

The food started coming out. Since it was a course meal, small dishes came out one after another.

"Where is Suk-Ho Lee? I don't see him today."

"He went to Shenyang City, China. He is not doing good."

"What's wrong? The last time I heard about him, he bought some commercial stores."

"He bought three commercial spaces, and he is having a hard time renting them out. So, he put them on the market for sale, but they are still on the market. He is losing his investment money there."

"Shoot."

"If he was going to do business in China, he should have consulted someone who knows well about the China market before putting his money there, like Gun-Ho Goo who went to college there or Min-Hyeok Kim. He made a huge mistake by getting into the business in China without being well prepared."

"You need either Kkwansi or establish a firm in order to successfully run a business in China. An individual businessman could easily lose their money. Look at those successful large companies that expanded their business to China, like Samsung or Hyundai. On the other hand, lots of individual businessmen come back to Korea after losing their investment."

"Well, anyway, Min-Hyeok's company is really doing well. It's generating 7.8 billion won annually, huh? That's indeed a lot even though those are all President Gun-Ho's."

"Hey, how's Won-Chul Jo doing? Was he promoted?"

"Nah, I'm still a manager. I'm thinking of quitting my current job."

"Why is that so? It's one of the largest companies in Korea, right?"

"My supervisor is nagging me too much. I don't think I can stand it anymore."

"Man, just stay there. You need to suppress your anger at work sometimes. You will encounter the same problem even though you move to another company."

"By the way, how do you know Minister Jin-Woo Lee who presided over your wedding?"

"We are taking the same class at the Advanced Center of Administrative Development at Seoul National University."

"Hmm, I see."

"Oh, isn't Minister Jin-Woo Lee the son-in-law of the president of the company that you are working for?"

Min-Ho, Kang who is working for a civic organization, chipped in.

"President Goo, why don't you help Won-Chul Jo by asking Minister Jin-Woo Lee for a favor? Won-Chul seemed to seriously need a promotion at work."

"Haha. Minister Lee doesn't take that sort of request. Let's drink."

The restaurant was a rather quiet place since it was a full course meal restaurant, compared to a pork belly restaurant that they often went to.

Gun-Ho said while eating a shrimp dish, "Byeong-Chul, so you are getting married soon, huh?"

People at the table started murmuring as Gun-Ho broke the news.

"Byeong-Chul, you are still single? Is he trying to marry twice?"

"No, I planned to get married last year, but I had to cancel it when my dad passed away."

Byeong-Chul then distributed his wedding invitation to the friends.

"Where is the wedding venue? Oh, it's on Yeoui Island."

"Yeah, it's a wedding hall next to the Small and Medium Business Center.

Gun-Ho extended his hand to Byeong-Chul for a handshake.

"Congratulations. Hey, let's all go to his wedding to congratulate him on his wedding. Byeong-Chul was ranked number one in our class in high school. We all admired him at that time."

"That's true, but he is too quiet and shy."

Gun-Ho lifted his glass of Baiju and clinked it to Byeong-Chul's glass.

"Congratulations again. I will definitely be at your wedding."

"Thank you."

Min-Ho Kang who worked for a civic organization asked, "At your wedding, President Goo, when the officiator introduced you, he mentioned that you have several companies. How many companies do you have?"

"I have five. If I include the ones in China, I have seven companies."

"Seven companies? Wow. Then what's the total annual sales revenue?"

"It's not much. If I total them, it would be about 100 billion won."

"100 billion won?"

The people at the table suddenly became quiet. They all had been working and making money right after graduating from college, and it had been years already, but not many of them saved even 100 million won yet. The fact that Gun-Ho owned seven companies and those companies generated 100 billion won per year truly shocked all of his friends.

"President Goo, your wife is a medical doctor, right? I guess you will have a healthy life after you retire since she can treat you as soon as you feel sick."

Everyone at the table laughed out loud.

"Haha. That's true."

"Which hospital is she working for?"

"It's Seoul National University Hospital. It's right across the street from Daehakro."

"Oh, that means she graduated from Seoul National University, huh?"

"Yes, she did."

The people at the table became quiet again. If Gun-Ho was not in his current position as a successful businessman, those friends would be sarcastic about Gun-Ho, who used to work in a factory, married a medical doctor. However, they didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by making stupid jokes.

Gun-Ho clinked his glass to Min-Ho Kang's and said, "Are you still working for the civic organization?"

"Yes. I'm in a sort of important position there."

"How much do you make?"

"You can't compare the salaries of a regular company in a private sector to the salaries for a position in a civic organization. We make a lot less which is normal. I'm making almost 2 million won."

"Hmm, I see. I heard that your wife is doing the same work."

"That's right. We are doing the same work together. She is more crazily into civic work than me."

Everyone laughed as Min-Ho talked about his wife.

Gun-Ho asked, "Is your civic organization designated by the government as one of those organizations for donation?"

"Yes, it is. We were actually designated as such recently.

"Good. Then I will make a donation to your civic organization for your wedding gift. Send me the bank account number where I can send funds to."

"Thank you."

Min-Ho Kang looked pleased, and he clinked his glass of liquor to Gun-Ho's delightedly.