Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Min-Hyeok Kim continued, “I watched the TV drama— Shiguang Ru Meng— that was aired in Shanghai City. You know, the drama that you invested in. The Korean actress— Lial Zhiang— became very popular after Shiguang Ru Meng aired in China. But, I don’t see her any longer.”

“Lial Zhiang? Oh, you mean Lia, right? We don’t work with her anymore. After she gained popularity, she asked for a higher pay. I guess many TV drama production companies are not willing to pay her that much.”

“That’s one of the big problems with actors and actresses. Once they become popular, they ask for too much stuff.”

“Have you heard of anything about a movie— Menghuan Yinghua? Have you seen any news about the movie production?”

“I think I have. I’ve been keeping my ear out for that movie since I know that you are investing in that movie production. It seems that the actress who plays the lead female role is Japanese, not Korean.”

“That’s right. She is Japanese.”

“I read news coverage about the movie in a newspaper and also on the internet. People seem to be intrigued by the fact that a real Japanese geisha is playing the geisha role in the movie.”

“Hmm, really?”

“I watched their movie production presentation as well on TV. That girl is gorgeous. And she looks very Japanese.”

Gun-Ho felt good hearing Min-Hyeok highly speaking about Mori Aikko.

“I invested in that movie production significantly. 50% of their production cost is coming from me.”

“How much is that?”

“I initially intended to invest 2 billion won in the TV drama, but I didn’t have to since the TV drama was successful. I ended up investing only 1 billion won there. And, I put an additional 5 billion won in the movie production.”

“5 billion won? That makes your total investment funds in China 9 billion won, including 3 billion won for the terminal project where Jae-Sik Moon is working at.”

“Actually, I had purchased 5 condos in Antang City, Guizhou Province. So, it’s going to be more than 10 billion won.”

“10 billion won? President Goo, you are indeed a rich man. I sometimes wonder if you are the same Gun-Ho Goo who I had known before.”

“Don’t be silly. I will talk to you later, okay?”

After getting off the phone with Min-Hyeok Kim, Gun-Ho was lost in thought with his legs crossed.

‘GH Parts Company that Min-Hyeok Kim is running seems to be doing well. I’m not trying to make a big money through that company, and I’m sure that it will gradually and stably grow. It was the right decision that I didn’t establish that company as a child company of GH Mobile. If GH Mobile was its mother company, there would have been tons of paperwork to handle just to make a report to it, not to mention a lot of interference from it in running that company. Min-Hyeok Kim is managing that company independently and freely which is very nice.

If that company achieves a yearly revenue of 12 billion won this year, a dividend will have to be distributed with a higher amount than last year’s. Because of the dividend, Min-Hyeok Kim is working so hard in making more revenue and reducing production costs. I believe giving him 5% of the company ownership interest was the right decision.

Dyeon China that his wife— Dingding— is running and GH Parts Company are cooperating with each other for their businesses, and that’s very good.’

Gun-Ho felt good that day. Even the tea that he was having tasted exceptionally good. Gun-Ho called for Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh.

“This Chinese tea— Longjing tea— is very tasty. I think maybe because you are good at making the tea. I’d like to have one more cup of Longjing tea please.”

Gun-Ho took enough time enjoying the Longjing tea that Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh brought to him.

Gun-Ho received a call from President Jae-Sik Moon in Antang City, Guizhou Province later that day.

“President Goo? It’s Jae-Sik Moon. I have good news for you.”

“What is it?”

“I received a call from Fang Di Chan (real estate agent). A 30 pyung large condo in Huaxi Huayuan is now selling for more than 200 million won. According to him, there are a lot of people who want to buy a condo there, but there are not many condos available to sell.”

“Hmm, really?”

“We bought the condo for 160 million won, so you can say that we already made 40 million won per unit. And we have 5 of them, so if we sell them all now, we will make 200 million won. It has been only several months since we bought those condos. We did great since we made 200 million won in a few months, right?”

“You said that there are not enough condos to fulfill the demand, right? The price will go up higher soon.”

“The problem is that people don’t move out from that condo community once they move in. Moreover, many units there are owned by investors who lease them out, just like you are doing, President Goo. The person who is living next to mine is renting that unit as well. He said that his landlord is a rich man from Hong Kong, and he owns 10 units there. I don’t think those investors/landlords will not put their condos on the market to sell anytime soon.”

“Well, since no one would sell, the price will go up even higher.”

“I agree with you. Huaxi Huayuan is like Gangnam District in Korea. There is high demand and very low supply. Even a layperson like me could see that the price will increase substantially.”

“Have you heard anything about raising property tax there?”

“No, I haven’t. In China, newspapers don’t really talk about real estate. It’s like Korea in the 90s.”

“Hmm, really? That’s good. It’s better having the real estate price rising quietly.”

“Oh, and the president of the construction company that is building the terminal here wants to see you in person.”

“For what? Is that about the construction cost? That’s between me and our Chinese partner of the joint venture. It has nothing to do with the construction company that undertook the terminal construction work for the joint venture.”

“No, it’s not about the construction cost. He wants to play golf with you. It’s his personal interest, I guess.”

“Playing golf?”

“There is a 72-hole golf course in Guiyang City, and he is looking for a friend to play golf with there. He said that when you come and visit the area to attend the board meeting or something, he’d like to have a round of golf with you.”

“Haha. Did you say 72-hole? That must be a giant golf course. I didn’t know Chinese people enjoy playing golf. A golf course in Guiyang City must be in an isolated area.”

“When I told him that the upcoming board meeting has been postponed because of the issues with the terminal construction cost, he looked very disappointed.”

“Really? Well, I don’t have any business interest intertwined with him, so I guess I can play golf with him when I have a chance, or not.”

“For now, when he brings up the topic again, I will just tell him that when you have a chance to visit the area, you will play golf with him.”

“Okay. That’s fine.”

After getting off the phone with Jae-Sik Moon, Gun-Ho thought about the construction company that was building the terminal in Antang City.

‘It must not be a small company since it undertook the construction work building the terminal. That company’s president must have good business connections in the area.

But, why does he want to play golf with me? He probably wants to ask me to make an investment in his business or something. We’ve never met before; there is no way that he is purely interested in hanging out with me. When a person, who doesn’t even know me, wants to play golf with me, that means he has some other agenda other than golf.

I have no intention to make any more investment in China though. I’ve been putting too many funds there. There will be no new investment this year for me. I might reinvest there with the funds that I would make in China, but I won’t transfer any of my funds from Korea anymore.’