It was Monday.
Gun-Ho received a call from Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee who would be starting working that day in Dyeon Korea as its new senior director.
“It’s Hyeong-Woo Lee. I’m on my way to Asan City right now. My work starts today.”
“Can you come to Jiksan Town first? Before heading to Dyeon Korea in Asan City to work, I want you to meet with the executive officers in GH Mobile. I will text you with the GH Mobile’s factory address.”
“Yes, sir. I will do that.”
“And, you are bringing a copy of your resident registration certificate, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I’m carrying my resident registration certificate along with my resume. I also prepared photos for ID as well, just in case.”
Gun-Ho was also on his way to GH Mobile in Jiksan Town at that time. On the way to his car, he received another call. It was from SH Investment Partners’ President Geun-Soo Son.
“Good morning, sir. I’m calling you to make sure that you have no work instruction for me today. You told me last time that I can just sit in the office and read books or spend the day doing no work today. I just wanted to make sure again that you don’t have anything that you want me to do today.”
“Do we have some funds left in the company’s business bank account?”
“Yes, sir. We have about 10 million won left.”
“Then, play with Dyeon Korea’s stock today with the funds by repeatedly buying and selling it, and watch the stock market closely to see if stock manipulators start their moves again with Dyeon Korea’s stock.”
“Understood, sir.”
When Gun-Ho arrived at GH Mobile in Jiksan Town, Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee was waiting for him while standing next to the gate with his car parked there. He was driving a Passat from Volkswagen.
“Sir, you are here.”
“Why didn’t you go into the office? Why are you waiting for me outside here?”
“I just thought that it would be better that I go in there with you.”
Once they entered into Gun-Ho’s office, Gun-Ho first called for President Song.
“This is Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee. He is Dyeon Korea’s new senior director. He will be handling its international market development.”
“Oh, is that right? Very nice meeting you. I was wondering who is the new senior director at Dyeon Korea. I saw the announcement about the tentative boarding meeting today, and one of the main issues was about having a new senior director. My name is Jang-Hwan Song, by the way.”
After President Song left Gun-Ho’s office, Gun-Ho called for the general affairs director next.
“I want you to meet with Dyeon Korea’s new senior director. He will be working with market development, especially international markets.”
The two men had a handshake in greeting.
“Mr. General Affairs Director, can you give him a tour of the GH Mobile’s production site?”
“Of course, sir.”
Gun-Ho then turned his gaze to Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee and told him, “Go with the general affairs director. He will show you around. After finishing your tour at the production site, please come up to my office right away.”
“Yes, sir.”
After the general affairs director and Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee headed out to the production site downstairs, Gun-Ho picked up an economic newspaper to read while enjoying his morning tea. About 30 minutes later, Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee and the general affairs director came back to Gun-Ho’s office.
“Thank you, Mr. General Affairs Director. You may go back to your work now.”
After the general affairs director walked out of the office, Gun-Ho asked Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee, “So, what do you think about the production site here in GH Mobile?”
“I am very impressed actually. This is my first time visiting the production site of a manufacturing company. I didn’t expect to see so many people working there. Also, I was amazed by the great facility and equipment.”
“This company is not registered with KOSDAQ, but it is a private company. GH Mobile is not using public investors’ funds through the stock market in expanding its business or in establishing its subsidiary companies overseas. They use only the profits that they make from the sales of their products.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“If this company becomes a public company, we will have many shareholders who would try to intervene in managing the company. I didn’t want that to happen, so I decided not to register it with KOSDAQ.”
“I see…”
“Your father—Mr. Beom-Sik Lee—is one of this company’s shareholders. He owns 15% of the ownership, Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee. Are you aware of it?”
“Yes, I’ve heard about it from Mr. CEO Park of A Group’s planning and coordination department.”
“GH Mobile is currently owned by three shareholders. Mr. Beom-Sik Lee owns 15%, and President Song, who you met earlier, owns 3%, and I own 82%.”
“Oh, I see.”
“President Song used to work in S Group as its vice president before joining GH Mobile.”
“S Group is a large company, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. I asked him to come and work with me in GH Mobile. I offered him a stock option of 5% when I asked him to join us here. But later, I decided to transfer 5% of the ownership to him, instead of giving him a stock option. I did that because that seemed to be more convenient and less complicated.”
“Maybe that’s better for him.”
“President Song has been working hard in GH Mobile, and because of him, this company became this large and stable.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“GH Mobile is one of the major shareholders of Dyeon Korea. It officially owns 9 million of Dyeon Korea’s shares.”
“Oh, is that right? Is it 26 million shares that Dyeon Korea issued so far in total? I read about it online. Is it right?”
“Yes, it’s correct. Dyeon Korea’s business partner—Lymondell Dyeon in the U.S.— owns the same portion equally as Dyeon Korea. Both of them own 34.6% each.”
“They must have owned 50:50 at first, but as it became a public company and subsequently offered its stock to the public, their ownership portion has decreased, I guess.”
“That’s exactly what happened.”
Gun-Ho continued, “Well, I think we are done here. Shall we head out to GH Machines now?”
“Oh, there is another company called GH Machines? A Group’s CEO Park told me about GH Mobile and Dyeon Korea before I came here, but I’ve never heard of a company called GH Machines.”
“GH Machines manufacture all of the machines that are used by Dyeon Korea.”
“Really? I thought Dyeon Korea imports their machines from Lymondell Dyeon in Seattle, U.S.”
“It is true that we did import machines from them in the beginning. But, as we wanted to save the cost—their price was too high—we started building necessary machines on our own.”
“Oh, is that right?”
Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee seemed to be astonished.
“Who is running GH Machines then? I guess that it has to be someone who is extremely knowledgeable and competent in building machines.”
“GH Machines’ current president used to work in GH Mobile before, as its plant manager. He is now successfully running GH Machines.”
“Oh, I see.”
Gun-Ho took Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee to GH Machines.
“Mr. President Park, please meet Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee. He is a new senior director at Dyeon Korea. He will be developing international markets for it.”
“Developing international markets? Really?”
Jong-Suk Park smiled and extended his hand to Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee for a handshake.
“I’m Jong-Suk Park in GH Machines.”
At the moment, someone called Jong-Suk Park at the production site for his presence. While Jong-Suk Park was away from the office for a moment, Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee said to Gun-Ho in a low voice, “GH Machines’ president is way younger than I expected. When I heard that he used to work as GH Mobile’s plant manager, I thought he would be at least a mid-aged man. When I took a tour at the GH Mobile’s production site earlier, I met most of their management people, and they were in their mid-40s or 50s. So, Mr. President Jong-Suk Park used to work at GH Mobile managing those people even though he was a lot younger than them.”
“Even though he is young, President Park is equipped with seven technical licenses and certificates. There was a Japanese world-renowned engineer from Lymondell Dyeon. His name is Sakata Ikuzo. He highly spoke of President Park’s competency in the field when he worked with him in GH Mobile.”
“Is that right? Well, I’ve noticed that his eyes are unusually glittering. I can tell that he is not an ordinary man for sure.”
“He started his career in this field right after he completed his military service. He was about 25 years old at that time. He started as a welding engineer. So, he has been in the field more than ten years now.”
“Hmm, I see.”
