Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 578: Building Bus Terminal (2) - Part 1

Gun-Ho was reviewing the joint venture contract in Jae-Sik's office, that had been translated into the Korean language by Ms. Eun-Hwa Jo. Gun-Ho didn't find any anomaly in the contract. Basically, the contract explicitly stated that the Chinese partner would make investment in-kind by providing the 10,000 pyung large land where the terminal would be built on. And the Korean partner would bring the half of the entire projected investment size in cash which would be 25 million dollars.

The contract also clearly indicated that since the land in which the Chinese partner would make their investment which wasn't worth 25 million dollars, but less, so in order to fill up the gap, they would give the Korean partner an intercity bus business license.

When Gun-Ho was reviewing the contract in the office, the office manager lady who was in her 30s brought a cup of tea to Gun-Ho.

"This is black tea. Guizhou Province is famous for its black tea."

Gun-Ho took a sip of the tea. He liked its taste and scent.

"This is very good. What do you call this tea here?"

"We say, Qian Hong."

Gun-Ho truly liked the taste of the tea.

Gun-Ho visited the condo with Jae-Sik Moon, that Jae-Sik told him that he liked. The location was not bad. It was pretty close to his workplace. However, it didn't look luxurious at all.

"I don't recommend this condo for you. I wouldn't choose this one if I were you."

"Why not? I like it."

"The joint venture company will pay for the place where you would live. You don't have to try to save their money by selecting an inferior condo. Do some research to see in which area the foreign presidents of other companies are living. Since Eun-Hwa Jo often talks with local Chinese people, ask her about it as well. Also, you might want to talk with the managers in the company too. Most of them have been living in this area for a long time, and they should know better about the safe and wealthy residential area around here."

"Do you think it would be okay if I choose a bit expensive condo?"

"It doesn't matter at all. The joint venture company decided to purchase it because they want to make an investment in the real estate as well. They are not buying you a condo, but they are buying a condo for the company and let you live there. So, you don't have to be concerned about its price. I'm sure that the Chinese partner will prefer to buy a condo in a rich area because there is more chance for the price of condos there to increase in the future."

"Hmm, I see your point."

"The most important thing in finding a residential area is to find the area where many rich people are living in. You have heard of Gangnam District's story, right? That the house price there had never gone down. The government always steps in whenever the gap between rich and poor grows severely because that would undermine workers' motivation to work hard. However, even with the government's interference and regulation, the house price in Gangnam District has always been on the rise."

"I understand what you are saying. I thought I'd better find one that would be compatible with a condo in Incheon City. You're right. I will look for another condo."

Gun-Ho checked into Shangri-La Hotel downtown. Jae-Sik Moon was still with Gun-Ho, and he asked, "Would you like to have a drink?"

"Well, since we have a meeting tomorrow, let's have a drink at the restaurant inside the hotel. We don't have to go far. You can let the car go, right? We can ask the chauffeur to pick me up tomorrow morning at 9. And, you can take a taxi to go back to your place tonight."

"Sure. I can take a taxi by myself. Taxi drivers here seem to know every hotel in this area, so there is no problem for me to go back to my hotel by taxi by myself. Or, I can even take a bus."

"You are the president of the joint venture company. I don't think it's a good idea for you to take a bus often. Well, can you wait at the lobby for me? I will drop my suitcase in my room and will meet you there."

Gun-Ho went up to his hotel room carrying his suitcase.

After a while, Gun-Ho came back to the lobby. He was wearing a more comfortable outfit. He was also carrying a black vinyl bag.

"What is that?"

"It's my gift for you. I brought some red pepper paste and Pollock roe."

"Oh, my gosh. These are things that I can hardly find here. I am actually almost out of red pepper paste. I'm so happy to see all these key ingredients for Korean food."

"There is no Korean market in this area, huh?"

"I've heard that there is one, but I don't know where it is. Also, I don't expect that they carry fresh ingredients since they have to be all shipped from Korea. And they must have a very limited selection of items."

"Did you send the car back to the terminal?"

"Yeah. He is gone. This hotel probably has good restaurants, but why don't we go out to have a drink? We are downtown, so there are tons of decent restaurants around here, and we can reach there on foot."

"Sounds good. Let's go then."

Gun-Ho and Jae-Sik entered a small and cozy restaurant on the street. A young female waitress, who was probably not even 20 years old, brought a menu book to Gun-Ho's table.

"Jae-Sik, why don't you pick dishes for us?"

Jae-Sik smiled as he pushed the menu book to Gun-Ho's side.

"I'm not good at placing an order in a restaurant yet. Since you speak Chinese fluently, why don't you order dishes for us?"

Gun-Ho asked the waitress in Chinese, "What's the most popular dish in this restaurant?"

"Suan Tang Yu is the most often ordered food among our customers. Miao people love the dish."

"What else do you recommend for us?"

"Niurou Fen is good too."

"Okay. We will then have Suan Tang Yu and Niurou Fen as you recommended. Also, please bring us cooked rice and one bottle of beer."

Jae-Sik Moon, who couldn't understand Chinese, asked, "What did she say?"

"She said the two most popular dishes in this restaurant are Suan Tang Yu and Niurou Fen. Suan Tang Yu must be a fish dish in a spicy and sour stew, and Niurou Fen is probably something like Udong."

"Oh, the spicy and sour fish stew? I've had it before. It was not bad at all."

After the table was set with the dishes that he ordered, Gun-Ho said while filling up Jae-Sik's glass with beer, "After I sign the contract tomorrow, I will have to send 3 million dollars within ten days."

"Do you have that much cash? 3 million dollars is more than 3 billion Korean won."

"I still have the sales proceeds after having sold GH Logistics' land."

"What about capital gains tax? The tax must be a substantial amount of money."

"I might not have to pay as much as I initially expected for capital gains tax. Since the company is responsible for the tax, I can pay the tax later when its corporate tax is due. We don't even have to file for the tax right away."

"Is that right?"

"Oh, GH Logistics is now working with a new tax accountant office in Siheung Town. The one that you used to work with in Seonghwan Town, Cheonan City is too far for my sister to often visit. So my sister found the new one in Jeongwang Town, Siheung City."

"Oh, she did? Well, as long as she feels comfortable working with the new tax accountant office, that should be good."

"I visited that office once to discuss the capital gains tax for the property transaction of GH Logistics. According to the tax accountant, since the company had owned the land for a short period of time, it will have to pay 30% of the profits that it made, but they will try to lower the amount by reflecting its business expenses."

"Hmm, really?"

"Oh, did you change your address from Mangwon Town to the condo in Incheon City where your parents are living now?"

"Yeah, I did. That condo is under my name, so I changed my address there."

"That's good. If you happen to be imposed for capital gains tax as an individual who sold the land to GH Logistics, just let me know, okay? I think the amount of tax imposed on you must be nominal because you sold the land to GH Logistics without much profit anyway."

"Okay, I will let you know."