My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 226

#A Guy Who Should Be Dead Is Alive?

“Aren’t you nervous about meeting the successor of the Daeguk Group, Detective?”

“Not really.”

“You have a heart of steel.”

Jeong Iyeon chuckled while driving. Park Dojun simply smiled at her words and fell into deep thought.

‘So, Hong Geun-jong is still alive at this time.’

He hadn’t even thought about it because he was already dead in his previous life.

‘There was a lot of talk about it back then.’

Assemblyman Hong Woo-jong is not the eldest grandson. He is the second of two sons and one daughter, with an older brother and a younger sister.

However, his younger sister had an artistic temperament and wasn’t interested in succeeding the group. Moreover, Daeguk Group, to which Hong Woo-jong belonged, strictly adhered to the principle of male-first succession, so she didn’t participate in the succession war at all.

‘No, it’s hard to even call it a succession war.’

Usually, a succession war involves fighting over shares and persuading shareholders to get even one more vote, but Hong Woo-jong didn’t have any of that. After Hong Geun-jong’s death, he became the only successor.

In the case of the third child, Hong Min-yeong, she was completely detached from the operation of the company, so even after Hong Geun-jong’s death, she had no chance of becoming a successor.

‘Later, the third child, Hong Min-yeong, also died.’

The details are unknown. However, there was a rumor that Hong Min-yeong was killed by a robber in France, where she was studying fashion.

‘They say it was a robber from a refugee background?’

In the end, the culprit was not caught, and the robber ran away with Hong Min-yeong’s luxury bag, ring, and cell phone.

‘I remember this, probably because it’s not something I can forget.’

Since France, where Hong Min-yeong died, has different jurisdiction, there’s nothing Korea can do about it.

‘Hong Geun-jong followed by Hong Min-yeong… It’s too obvious.’

He doesn’t remember how Hong Geun-jong died. That means he was murdered. And after that, Hong Min-yeong also died not long after, and Hong Woo-jong swallowed up the entire Daeguk Group.

Of course, National Assembly members are not allowed to hold concurrent positions. But many National Assembly members are running businesses.

It’s like covering your eyes and saying ‘Ah,’ you just put up a figurehead and tell them what to do.

If you do that, your shareholder status is maintained. And there are no legal restrictions on a National Assembly member’s voting rights as a shareholder.

“What kind of person is Hong Geun-jong?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t know him.”

By the time his bad relationship with Hong Woo-jong started, Hong Geun-jong was already dead. So he knows nothing about him.

“How much information do you want?”

“As much as possible.”

“If you pay me back with the kisses I’m owed, I’m willing to provide it… Ouch! It’s illegal to hit the driver, Detective.”

“We’re on our way now. Consider it an advance and tell me quickly.”

Jeong Iyeon, who had been playfully joking, pouted her lips and began to tell all the information she knew.

“He’s a typical businessman, I guess.”

“A typical businessman?”

“It’s Daeguk Group. He’s a guy who received strict successor education. Chairman Hong Chang-sik is a very old-fashioned person.”

“Hong Chang-sik? Ah, that person must still be alive.”

“Why do you keep killing perfectly fine people?”

“I was mistaken. But old-fashioned?”

“Yes, he’s a very old-fashioned type of president… no, chairman.”

A successor enjoying himself somewhere?

Hong Chang-sik is someone who can’t tolerate that.

In fact, it’s not a new problem for the successors of large corporations to cause accidents. The position of a large corporation’s successor is a powerful shield.

However, Hong Chang-sik hates such problems, so he thoroughly managed Hong Geun-jong.

“The most boring guy among the successors. That’s the general opinion.”

“The most boring guy?”

“He drinks but doesn’t get drunk, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t go to clubs, doesn’t hang out with other successors… He feels like a workaholic?”

“Ah, I know what type you mean. Someone who sees playing as a sin.”

“That’s right.”

There are people like that.

These people basically don’t cause problems.

‘But at the same time, they cause problems in other ways.’

A person who is dedicated to only one company. He has a good image as a representative who runs the company, but at the same time, he lives only for the company.

“His evaluation among employees wouldn’t be very good.”

“That’s right. I heard he treats people harshly. How did you know? You said you didn’t know him?”

“It’s simple if you think about where the weighting is in doing work.”

He works for the company. That means he’s a person who can squeeze people without blood or tears for the sake of the company. He may be a good person to shareholders, but he’s a very bad type from the perspective of workers or subordinates.

“He’s famous. There’s a saying that King Sejong [a highly respected Korean king known for his dedication to the country] was that type.”

If you see the country as a company, you can definitely see him as that type. He mercilessly exploited the people below him.

“Oh, does personality come out like that? That’s amazing. Anyway, that’s right. He doesn’t have a very good image among his subordinates. He was once in danger due to cost reduction issues.”

“Cost reduction? I know what you mean.”

One of the most common mistakes people who take care of the company make is maximizing profits through cost reduction. The problem is that if performance deteriorates in the process, sales will plummet.

“I think he got caught playing around with cost reduction secretly from the Ministry of National Defense and paid a fine of about 3 billion won [approximately $2.3 million USD].”

“That’s a lot.”

“It’s military supplies.”

“I see, you said it was military supplies.”

Military supplies must be used in extreme situations, so performance requirements are extremely demanding. Of course, even if you want to replace one part, you have to get new approval from the government and get re-approved for use.

If he got caught trying to reduce costs by secretly grinding that, the government would have no choice but to take it seriously.

“What was it?”

“I think it was something about upgrading a missile.”

“Daeguk Group is a big player in the defense industry, but if it’s a missile, it must be the Sirius missile incident.”

“Sirius missile?”

“Yes, it’s an old missile.”

The Sirius missile is the last missile donated by the United States and is an old missile with a range of less than 150 kilometers [approximately 93 miles]. However, at the time, Korea’s missile force itself was almost non-existent, so even this missile was a blessing.

“Korea received it from the United States and upgraded it several times. It’s still in operation.”

“Huh? Does the United States allow upgrades? I heard they don’t even allow you to take a look at that stuff in the United States?”

“Ah, because it’s too old. It won’t help the modern missile system at all to take a look at it. The missiles Korea is making now are hundreds of times better than that.”

Korea received it in the 1970s, but in the United States, it had already been classified as obsolete equipment since the 1960s.

“That was probably a vacuum tube missile.”

“Eek? Vacuum tube? The vacuum tube I learned about in textbooks? The one that goes into a computer called ENIAC [one of the earliest electronic general-purpose computers]?”

“Yes, of course, the size of the vacuum tube used in the missile is much smaller. It’s so old that the United States gave it as a favor.”

Since they know that there is almost no technology to be gained by opening it, it is one of the few weapons for which Korea has approved maintenance and modification.

Even now, it’s a missile that has been retired and disappeared from the front lines.

“That’s probably it.”

“I understand.”

In the first place, the Sirius missile is too old. Even if you try to modify it, it’s still an old version, so there are clear limitations, and the parts themselves are impossible to obtain.

Missile modification is not like computer upgrades, where you just bring new parts and plug them in. Of course, there are all kinds of compatibility issues, so you have to carefully check the compatibility.

The computers used to launch satellites still use 386 or 486 generation CPUs. If you replace it with the latest CPU, there are more than a few things to fix, and the more precise the parts, the weaker the durability, so even if you manage to replace it, there will be problems.

“Even if you modify it, it won’t be easy to get parts.”

In the end, you have to produce the parts needed for modification yourself, which will cost more money than you think. The United States may have allowed the modification, but they didn’t give you the manufacturing equipment.

“So, he must have secretly replaced it with off-the-shelf products.”

When it comes to computers, it’s much cheaper to plug in a cheap i3 chip than to get a 386 and plug in a chip now.

“You mean off-the-shelf products are cheaper than in-house production.”

“Yes. In fact, you can’t say that the military only requires good performance. The military is paying a lot of attention to not only performance but also management. If the management cost is high, they will retire it even if the performance is good. Even the F22 Raptor [a US stealth fighter jet], which the United States boasts about, is being discussed to be retired due to the burden of management costs, not the lack of performance.”

For example, even in the case of sleeping bags, when people outside see a light, strong, and good down sleeping bag, they ask why they buy an old cotton sleeping bag for a lot of money.

“Of course, I can’t say that the generals didn’t eat it up [take bribes], but at the same time, there is a minimum level of performance that the government wants. Usually, management issues are the top priority.”

Down sleeping bags are definitely warm and light. But it’s hard to manage. In the first place, down sleeping bags are not made to be used for a long time outside.

At most, it’s about a week, and even in the worst case, it’s rare to use it for more than a month.

“Those items are not for military use.”

In the worst case, you have to use it for several years, and even if you are in battle, you don’t have time to dry the down sleeping bag.

“Especially down sleeping bags, if the fluff dies, the insulation effect drops to the worst.”

On the other hand, even if the cotton sleeping bag dies, the insulation effect does not disappear like a down sleeping bag.

“Hehe, there was such a thing? I didn’t know.”

“Military supplies have more to think about than you think.”

Anyway, if you replace such items with off-the-shelf products because of money, it may not be launched in the event of a war, or in the worst case, it may explode on the spot and kill everyone.

Of course, you have to check it and do a launch test, but it was a waste, so it seems like they secretly replaced it with off-the-shelf products.

“Anyway, that’s the kind of person he is.”

“I roughly understand.”

He’s not a good person. He definitely has greed.

‘For such a person to ask to see me…’

The purpose is probably obvious.

***

“I’m Park Dojun.”

“I’m Hong Geun-jong.”

Park Dojun clicked his tongue while looking at the man in his mid-40s looking at him.

‘Is this what you call a typical rich man?’

Even though it’s the first time they’ve met, he’s speaking informally. Even though he’s the one who invited him.