Gun-Ho continued to talk to Director Kim and Mr. Adam Castler about his plan sending Mr. Interpreter Lee to India.
“Mr. Lee used to work in a branch office abroad of a large company, and he oversaw the business there. I believe he would do an amazing job there. I just talked with Mr. Lee about this. Both of you— Director Dong-Chan Kim and Mr. Vice President Adam Castler— have constantly been talking to me about hiring Mr. Lee as an employee.”
“That’s right, sir. I think he will be an asset to our company.”
Mr. Adam Castler and Director Kim seemed to be satisfied that their recommendation was accepted by Gun-Ho.
“Mr. Lee had worked in an overseas branch office manager with a level of manager position, so I think it’s fair that he starts with us with the same level of position. Do you all agree with me on this?”
“Of course, sir.”
“I’m with you.”
“When we negotiated the terms for the joint venture with Dyeon America in the beginning, they promised Dyeon Korea an exclusive right to sell the products in the entire Asia. I strongly recommend Mr. Adam Castler visiting our sales company in China in the near future along with India.”
“Okay, sir. I will do that.”
“And, since Mr. Lee won’t be able to interpret for you any longer, I will have another person assigned for your interpretation work. I will select one among our new hires.”
Director Kim chipped in.
“In the beginning of Dyeon Korea, we hired two workers who speak English fluently. One of them is working in a trading team, and the other is in the sales team. I think we can have one of them to work with Mr. Adam Castler to interpret for him. Their English pronunciation is actually better than Mr. Interpreter Lee’s, maybe because they are younger.”
“Let’s have either of them take dual duties. They can still do his work in the same team that they currently belong to while doing interpretation work for Mr. Adam Castler. Mr. Adam Castler, since you are the one who will closely work with one of them, it’s up to you who to pick between the two candidates.”
Mr. Adam Caslter chose the one from the trading team without hesitation. And he said, “Please assign me Mr. Kim from the trading team. He speaks English very very well.”
Director Kim laughed and said, “I think Mr. Adam Castler hadn’t completely felt comfortable working with Mr. Lee. Mr. Interpreter Lee is excellent at his work, but he is way older than Mr. Adam Castler, so it wasn’t probably easy for Mr. Adam Castler to ask him to do some additional work for him like running an errand. On the other hand, Mr. Kim from the trading team is only 30 years old. I think he could better assist Mr. Adam Castler in that sense.”
“How about Mr. Kim’s work performance in the trading team?”
“He is good. He is from a good family. He is positive and pleasant to be around. Don’t you think, Ms. Seon-Hye Yee?”
Director Kim threw the question to Secretary Seon-Hye Yee who was there for the interpretation work. Director Kim was teasing her for some reason.
“Ye… Yes, of course, sir.”
Gun-Ho noticed that Seon-Hye blushed.
Gun-Ho called for Assistant Manager Seon-Hong Park from the general affairs department. After a moment, he entered the president’s office with his notebook.
“Please write this down.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We are hiring Mr. Jong-Geun Lee as a full-time employee, who is currently working for the interpretation work in connection with Mr. Adam Castler. We will give him a manager position, and he will be relocated to the office in India as a branch manager there. He will be dispatched to India on July 1st.”
“Yes, sir.”
It didn’t even take 30 minutes for the general affairs team’s assistant manager to bring the approval form for the new hire. Director Kim and Mr. Adam Castler already signed it. Once Gun-Ho signed it, the official announcement of the new hire was sent to each department, and the news was posted on the bulletin board.
The workers gathered in front of the bulletin board and started talking.
“We will have an office in India, huh?”
“Yeah. Mr. Lee was not an employee here? It seems he is joining us as a new hire.”
It was lunchtime. Gun-Ho wanted to eat outside with Director Kim and Mr. Adam Castler.
“Where to go for lunch today?”
Gun-Ho recalled nice restaurants that he saw when he was driving on the road in the direction to Yoogu Town, Gongju City from Oeam Folk Village in Oeam Town, Asan City after Gwangdeok Mountain.
“I think I saw very good restaurants in the area. One of them was located near a police station there.”
As he thought of the location near a police station, he thought of the chief of police in Asan City.
“I think maybe I should ask Mr. Chief of Police of Asan City to join me for lunch today since the restaurant is in the area. I have been thinking about contacting him since I ran across him at the funeral the other day, of Assistant Commissioner Park’s mother from the Advanced Center for Administrative Development at Seoul National University. I wonder if he would join me for lunch though since he is a government official. I will just call him and find out.”
Gun-Ho made a call.
“I’d like to talk to Mr. Chief of Police, please.”
“May I tell him who’s calling?”
The person, who picked up the phone, sounded young, so he shouldn’t be the chief of police.
“I’m the president of a joint venture company with a foreign firm, in Asan City.”
“I’m sorry? Could you say that again?”
“Please tell him that the president of Dyeon Korea— a joint venture company with a foreign firm— would like to talk with him.”
“Please give me a second.”
After a moment, Gun-Ho could hear a man’s deep voice.
“Hello?”
“Hi. This is Dyeon Korea’s president. We met at the funeral of Assistant Commissioner Park’s mother last month.”
“Oh, the joint venture with a foreign company?”
“That’s correct. I will be in the area around lunchtime today. I wonder if you would join me for lunch.”
“We have a restaurant in the police station.”
“Our joint venture’s vice president is an American. I would appreciate it if you could talk to him about the safety of the area while having lunch with us. It will give us good comfort once we talk with you in person. Please allow me to treat you.”
“As a government employee, I should be very careful with things like this. As you are aware of the Kim Young-ran Act— the anti-graft law, even one-time lunch could be put under strict scrutiny.”
“It’s just lunch. I think it should be fine. I will be with our American vice president.”
“Where do we meet?”
“I’m not very familiar with the area. A quiet restaurant will do.”
“Well, then let’s meet at the Korean restaurant called Daehwasan. It’s on the road towards Asan Maengssi Haengdan.”
“Sounds good. We will be there by noon.”
Gun-Ho asked Mr. Adam Castler and Director Kim to have lunch with him that day.
“We are going to a Korean restaurant around Daehwa Mountain. It’s close to the historical landmark— Maengssi Haengdan.”
“Are we going that far for lunch?”
“Asan City’s chief of police will join us.”
“A chief of police, sir?”
Director Kim and Mr. Adam Castler looked at each other; they looked puzzled.
“He wants to assure that Asan City is a safe city, with the foreign vice president— Mr. Adam Castler. Let’s have lunch together.”
Gun-Ho’s party arrived at the restaurant a little past noon because of the traffic on the road. The chief of police was waiting for them at the restaurant entrance. It seemed that he just arrived there too. When Gun-Ho’s Bentley arrived, the chief of police looked at the vehicle wondering if that was Gun-Ho’s.
“Hello, Mr. Chief of Police. It’s good to see you.”
“Oh, hi. How have you been?”
“This is Mr. Adam Castler. He is our vice president of the joint venture company.”
“How do you do?”
The chief of police had a handshake with Mr. Adam Castler.
Gun-Ho introduced the chief of police to Mr. Adam Castler while they were having a handshake.
“This is the chief of police in this area— Asan City.”
Once Mr. Adam Castler realized who he was having a handshake with, he firmly held the chief of police’s hand. Gun-Ho also introduced Director Kim and Interpreter Lee to the chief of police.
“This is our joint venture’s director.”
“And this is the branch manager of our office in India. He is here to interpret for Mr. Adam Castler.”
The chief of police was not alone either. He was with a man who looked like he was in his 40s.
“This is the head of the foreign affairs section of our police office.”
The Korean restaurant was neat and classy. Since its location was far from a city, it was not crowded at all.
