Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho headed home after work, carrying the presentation document that the internal auditor had handed to him.

When he arrived at home, Gun-Ho started practicing giving the presentation for tomorrow.

“Well, hello to you all. I’m the president of Dyeon Korea—Gun-Ho Goo. Our company is a joint venture company having a partnership with the world-renowned chemical company in the U.S.—Lymondell Dyeon…”

At that moment, Young-Eun came into the room and watched Gun-Ho practicing his presentation. When he saw Young-Eun in the room, he said to her feeling embarrassed, “I have a presentation tomorrow. It’s an IPO presentation. I have to speak in front of public investors.”

“Where will the presentation be held?”

“It will be in the Grand Ballroom in the 63 Building.”

“Haha. You picked a nice place. I guess it’s an important presentation, huh?”

“How is your cold? Are you feeling better now?”

“I’m fine.”

“I feel so relieved that you are good now. I was worried about Sang-Min.”

“So, you are saying that you are glad that I’m okay now because of Sang-Min, not for me, huh?”

“Both,” said Gun-Ho as he grabbed Young-Eun’s hand and pulled her close to him into his arms, and then he kissed her.

“Oppa, seeing you practicing for tomorrow’s presentation, I feel like you are just an employee of a large company rather than a wealthy business owner.”

“I think you told me that when we met for the first time.”

Gun-Ho later fell asleep while preparing the presentation for tomorrow.

When Young-Eun stopped by Gun-Ho’s room later, she found Gun-Ho lying down on the bed with some papers scattered on the bed around him.

After picking up the papers and placing them on the table, Young-Eun kissed Gun-Ho on the cheek, and then she turned off the light before leaving the room.

The following day when Gun-Ho went to work in GH Building, Sinsa Town, he reviewed the IPO presentation materials again.

At that moment, he received a call from GH Mobile’s President Song.

“It’s me, sir, President Song.”

“Oh, hi. I didn’t expect to receive your call in the early morning.”

“Director Jong-Suk Park gave me his resignation letter this morning. He said that he wants to start his own business. He said he would open a company that builds machines.”

“I think he told me about having his own business before. Well, I guess he finally decided to carry out his plan.”

“I refused to accept his resignation letter and tried to convince him to stay with us, but he is adamant about quitting his job. He also said that working with people who are older than him but in a lower position than him has not been easy for him. He said that he felt embarrassed when he had to ask them to do things. He also mentioned that he didn’t want to be a burden to you, sir.”

“I think he feels confident working with machines, and he believes that he can handle the machine manufacturing work on his own. That’s why he wants to start his own business feeling he is ready.”

“We really need Director Park in GH Mobile, sir. Our factory will be in trouble without him.”

“He told me before that if he opens his own business, he would find a factory near GH Mobile. Since he would be close to GH Mobile, if GH Mobile needs his help, he would come and help us. He won’t be with us all the time, but he will be around for sure.”

“Starting his own company would cost him a substantial amount of money. I wonder if he is ready financially.”

“Director Park makes a living fine, but he doesn’t have a large amount of money to handle it by himself. He asked me to make an investment in his business, and he said he would call his company GH Machines.”

“Hmm, if his new business would be connected with GH Mobile in some way, and he would still maintain close contact with us like part of GH companies, maybe it’s better for us.”

“You think so?”

“Think about it, sir. The chief research officer and I are in our mid-50s, and other directors like the general affairs director, the accounting director, and the new director in the quality production department, they are all in their early 50s. After ten years, these people including myself will reach their retirement age. Once we leave the company, who’s going to lead GH Mobile on a daily basis?”

“Well, we can find a new person, can’t we?”

“Sure. We can find someone from outside through a headhunter or something, but even in that case, we need someone who knows our company inside and out thoroughly. If Director Park stays with GH Mobile in his current position for the next ten years, he will only know well about the production field. It’s hard to grasp a whole picture of the business at his current position. On the other hand, if he runs his own business even though it’s a small company in size, he will definitely learn to be a good CEO.”

“But, once he quits our company, there is no guarantee that he would come back.”

“Well, if he calls his company GH Machines, we can make his company as part of us. Moreover, you said you would invest your funds into his business, right? Your funds will be in his company, and his company’s name contains the word—GH—then we can make it work.”

“How?”

“We can later merge two companies—GH Mobile and GH Machines. Once we merge the two companies, we can place him in a senior director or vice president position, and eventually, give him the CEO position to run the entire company. Of course, you will have to recognize him then as someone who could successfully run GH Mobile, sir.”

“Hmm, merging the two companies…”

“Once he starts running his own company, he will desperately learn all sorts of business activities that are going on in every single business such as finance, general affairs, production quality control, sales, etc. He is currently taking night classes at a university after work. He has the will to learn and improve himself. He is rough sometimes, but I know that he is a decent person. He is simple and loyal. I’m sure he will be loyal to you. He is not someone who would betray you later. He will be an excellent right-hand man of GH Mobile.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, please accept his resignation for now.”

“Okay, sir.”

After getting off the phone with President Song, Gun-Ho thought about it.

‘That’s right. I can merge the two companies later. I can always make him come back to GH Mobile by merging.’

Gun-Ho opened the internet.

Minister Jin-Woo Lee’s upcoming by-election was still in play. The voting gap between him and his opponent was fluctuating. Minister Jin-Woo Lee was leading right now, but it could change at any time.

Gun-Ho thought, ‘Minister Jin-Woo Lee must feel very anxious right now. He probably wants to call me, but since I already told him that the second attack will take place in the middle of this month, he wouldn’t call me until then. He should have done a better job for the constituents in his election district by participating in volunteer work or something like that. He had been actually ignorant about the community. He could have done better than this.’

The media already talked about Minister Jin-Woo Lee’s future path that he could take once he was elected in the upcoming by-election. They said that he would take the leadership of his political party—Gonmyeong Party—leading the party.

It was the day of the IPO presentation.

The internal auditor left for the presentation venue in Youido Island earlier than the scheduled time, taking Ms. Accounting Manager Myeong-Sook Jo and Mr. Assistant Manager Il-Gi Seong with him, who drafted the presentation materials. He wanted to check the place of the presentation in advance before the public investors arrived. The agency which had been and also would be helping Dyeon Korea through the process until it successfully would go public—the stock brokerage company—was supposed to make all the arrangements for the presentation, but the internal auditor wanted to verify everything on his own to be sure. Gun-Ho also arrived at the place earlier, and he tested the microphone and the PowerPoint presentation materials as well. Mr. Vice President Adam Castler was seen there as well. He maintained his smiling face while sitting on a chair.