Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

When Gun-Ho, the Mulpasaneop president, and Min-Hyeok arrived at the restaurant—Hwadongchancheong for the dinner invitation from Chinkkweo Seon—the president of Jinxi Construction Company, the Mulpasaneop president seemed to be astonished by the splendid and luxurious interior of the restaurant.

“Wow. Even though this is a restaurant in a province, its decoration is very impressive.”

Gun-Ho asked the office manager who came with Min-Hyeok to order dishes that were appropriate for the elders, like seafood, for example, considering the president’s age.

“Hey, President Goo!”

The president of Jinxi Construction Company— Chinkkweo Seon and the vice president of the joint venture— Kkangsin Kkao arrived at the restaurant. Gun-Ho introduced the Mulpasaneop president to them.

The Mulpasaneop president seemed to drink a lot that day in distress.

“Are you okay, sir? You seem to drink too much.”

“I’m okay. I used to drink way more than this when I was young.”

When they all drank enough liquor, Deputy Mayor Seukang Li came to the restaurant. He seemed to have drunk already somewhere else before he joined Gun-Ho.

“Hey, President Goo. Good to see you. I just came back from a meeting in Suzhou City; otherwise, I could have joined you earlier.”

“Seukang Li, this is President Se-Young Oh. He is the president of a parts manufacturing company in Korea.”

“Really?”

“Sir, this is Deputy Mayor of Kunshan City. He ran to the restaurant when he heard I was here. He is a good friend of mine.”

“Deputy Mayor!?”

Once Deputy Mayor Li joined Gun-Ho’s party, they ordered more liquor and the restaurant was again filled with the sound of their talking. Gun-Ho was laughing and talking with Deputy Mayor without help from an interpreter, and the Mulpasaneop president was looking at Gun-Ho enviously. Min-Hyeok was also talking with the president of Jinxi Construction Company on his own; his Chinese had improved a lot to the level that he no longer needed an interpreter to talk with a Chinese native speaker.

Gun-Ho interpreted for the Mulpasaneop president from time to time while talking with Deputy Mayor, out of concern that he might feel isolated because of the language barrier.

“I guess in order to have a business in China, speaking the Chinese language like you is a must. I was reckless in expanding my business to China without knowing the local language. I shouldn’t blame my son for the failure I experienced here. I was the one who had suggested my son in the first place to go to China and do business.”

The president drank more in regret.

“I guess it’s time to let the next generation pick up things that my generation was doing. My generation is already old-fashioned in the business field. We need young people who could move with the times.”

The next morning, Gun-Ho and the Mulpasaneop president got up late because of the heavy drinking they did last night. When Gun-Ho went down to the hotel lobby, Min-Hyeok was already there waiting for him.

“I guess I drank too much last night. Geez, it’s already 8 o’clock. When did you arrive?”

“I arrived here an hour ago.”

“An hour ago? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I didn’t want to. You overslept because your body needed it. Sleep is the best way to get your energy back.”

“Oh, the president is coming. He seemed to just get up as well.”

“Let’s go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.”

“Are they still serving breakfast at this hour?”

“Breakfast is served until 9 am. I asked them about it already.”

“Okay, then. You haven’t had your breakfast yet right, Min-Hyeok?”

“No, I haven’t yet.”

The hotel restaurant still had some food left for breakfast. The food there was okay. All three men chose to eat porridge over rice.

When they arrived at Pudong Airport, Gun-Ho let Min-Hyeok go back to work. There was still plenty of time before boarding. Gun-Ho took the president to a lounge at the airport.

“Can we have the Chinese tea that we had yesterday? I really liked that tea.”

Gun-Ho ordered Dragon Well tea.

The two men enjoyed the hot tea without saying a word. When Gun-Ho finished half a cup of his tea, he said,

“Umm, sir. I heard that the court examiners don’t trust the sales director for the payment plan he submitted to them with the anticipated revenue of the company.”

“I am actually with them.”

“If so, the court receivership would be revoked, and those 16 creditors with the court payment order would start the sales process.”

“Hmm.”

“Moreover, the company currently has an outstanding balance of over 300 million won with Korea Electric Power Corporation (“KEPCO”). Once the court receivership is revoked, they would cut off the electricity supply to the company.”

“Hmm.”

“According to the factory caretaker, he had seen several companies’ court receivership revocation, and once the revocation is decided, the workers would usually quit the job right away.”

“Whew.”

“Why don’t you sell your company? Enjoy the rest of your life with your family, away from all these worries. Spend more time with your grandchildren and go on a trip with them.”

“Who would want this company? Nothing much left here.”

“Sir, you also need to think about the gravity of the unpaid wage claim. Too many workers haven’t been paid for a long time. If you can’t resolve it any time soon, you could be prosecuted.”

“Do you think my employees would file a criminal complaint against me?”

“The department of labor would.”

“Hmm.”

“The workers actually would too. They wouldn’t stay unpaid just for you, sir. They would turn their backs on you.”

“Hmm.”

“I will be frank with you, sir. I would give you 2 billion won for your retired life.”

“2 billion won…”

The president looked up at the ceiling.

“2 billion is way too low. Even though the company’s current assets appears to be minimal, it has steady business and customers. I thought I could receive at least 5 billion won. The price gap between you and me seems to be too big.”

“If you insist on your price, there is nothing I can do but giving up on Mulpasaneop. The reported debt to the court is over 70 billion won. In addition to 2 billion won I would give to you, I would have to spend a substantial amount of money on the company.”

“This company is equipped with a quality management system; it has TS16949 and SQ (quality management system approved by Hyundai Automobile). Hyundai Automobile doesn’t easily approve the system unless a company has a perfect quality management system.”

“That’s why I offered 2 billion won.”

“That’s way too low.”

Silence filled the air for a moment.

“To be honest with you, sir, the investors who would invest in my business don’t agree on acquiring Mulpasaneop. They all said there is nothing much left with this company.”

“Hmm.”

“Sir, sell your company when there is a buyer. Even though you post an advertisement for an M&A, investors wouldn’t buy a company that has so many unpaid wage claims. If the company is KOSDAQ registered, then they might think about acquiring it because they could increase capital stock without consideration or issue convertible bonds; however, Mulpasaneop is not a KOSDAQ registered company, isn’t it?”

“Hmm.”

“If you can’t do M&A, you would be criminally charged. Moreover, both of you and your son would become a person with a bad credit score.”

“What do you mean by getting a bad credit score? The company is a separate entity from me as an individual, and the debt is the company’s debt.”

“It doesn’t work that way in your case, sir. According to the record filed with the court, you and your son are the joint surety for Mulpasaneop for the amount of 3 billion won with Korea Credit Guarantee Fund. Do you think you can pay off 3 billion won?”

“That son of a b*tch Korea Credit Guarantee Fund!”

“Korea Credit Guarantee Fund is a sort of quasi-public entity, but they had to claim their money with the court to cover their as*. Your son is still young. You want to give your son another opportunity to stand on his feet again, don’t you?”

“Hmm.”

“When I was younger, I once couldn’t pay off 12 million won. I didn’t go through the individual rehabilitation process, but I went through the process to recover my credit score. I know what it’s like to live with a bad credit score and live without money. The most valuable asset I have is such an experience, and the lesson I learned from it. Please set aside your emotions, and think about the future and the reality.”

“I am so exhausted today. Let’s talk more about it later.”

The president stood up and walked toward the gate to board the plane; he was staggering.