Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 177

177. 50th. The Inevitable Big Deal (3)

Lee Sung-min left the office with Seon Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin.

At the same time, Oh Hyun-moo, Hae Soo-chan, and Oh Hyun-joon were gathered in the office at GK Group headquarters.

“It’s like a ghost story. How did they know we were cornered…?”

Oh Hyun-joon was both grateful and amazed by the helping hand extended by Haedong Group and Standard Capital, and he trailed off, unable to fully express his astonishment. GK Group was under attack from Taehyun Group in semiconductors and Daejoo Group in smelters and communication equipment, after all.

“Same here. I’m already struggling to fight those Myung [a common Korean surname] bastards because of semiconductors, and Chairman Kang even drew his sword and charged at me, making me feel like I was dying, but now I can breathe.”

Hae Soo-chan’s face, which had been crumpled due to recent stress, brightened up. If Haedong Group and Standard Capital backed them up, wouldn’t they be able to withstand both Taehyun and Daejoo?

“We keep owing favors to our in-laws and Sung-min. I feel like we have to repay them at least once…”

Unlike the other two, Oh Hyun-moo’s face was uneasy.

Whether it was a favor or a grudge, he felt comfortable only when he returned it in equal measure, but this was a matter of GK Group’s reputation. As the group chairman who had to protect that reputation, Oh Hyun-moo couldn’t simply be happy.

“Instead of that, why don’t we ask about the business they wanted to partner with us on during the last meeting?”

After pondering, Oh Hyun-moo’s eyes lit up at Hae Soo-chan’s suggestion.

“Are you talking about Haedong Motors’ long-term project?”

“Yes. In my opinion, if you look at where Standard invested last time, there’s only one answer.”

“What is it?”

“Electric cars.”

“Electric cars?”

Unlike the puzzled Oh Hyun-moo, Hae Soo-chan had a look of near certainty.

“Think back to what they said then. Standard secured up to 14.99 percent of the shares in electronics, chemicals, and trading, but investing in trading was just for show. All three are the three pillars of our group’s governance structure, but if you recall what CEO Seon said about the motor technology of electronics and the battery research of chemicals at that time, there’s no answer but electric cars.”

After listening to Hae Soo-chan’s explanation, Oh Hyun-moo, who had been recalling the meeting a few months ago, let out a groan.

“That’s right. In cars, the engine will be replaced by a motor, and gasoline will be replaced by a battery. Hyun-joon, what do you think from your perspective?”

“Developing motors for vehicles is feasible if we apply washing machine motors, hyung [older brother or close male friend]. However, we have to be prepared for losses for more than 20 years for vehicle batteries.”

“Hmm…”

Oh Hyun-moo’s groan lengthened at the estimate given by Oh Hyun-joon, the most technologically savvy of the GK Group owner family’s management team.

He could take responsibility for the motor in the electric car project with Haedong Motors, but the battery business, which he had been fixated on since he saw it during his business trip to England, still had a long way to go, which weighed heavily on his mind. How could he not repay the debt?

As the three men were silently drinking tea, the intercom rang.

[Chairman, Seon Hae-cheol, CEO of Standard Capital Korea, Lee Sung-min, Director, and Park Tae-jin, Executive Director of Haedong Group’s General Strategy Division, have arrived.]

At the secretary’s voice, the three men took a breath as if they had planned it together. They seemed to want to make this meeting a give-and-take transaction, not just a one-sided receiving of help.

###

“900 billion won for GK Metals, 500 billion won for GK Telecom?”

“Yes, Chairman. Haedong Corporation will invest in GK Metals, and Standard Capital will invest in GK Telecom with Sung-min’s share of the money. If you give us 50 percent of the shares, the funds will be immediately invested.”

It was nothing to me now, but the three men just stared blankly at the investment proposal I handed them, their mouths wide open. Seon Hae-cheol, who had been drinking tea, put down his teacup and opened his mouth.

“As you all know, Director Lee is affiliated with Standard Capital but has also been serving as a strategy consultant for Haedong Group since the end of last year. Haedong Corporation’s investment in GK Metals was led by Director Lee, who persuaded the group’s top management, haha.”

“Director Lee did?”

“Yes. Throughout the end of last year and the New Year, Director Lee met with the group’s vice chairmen and presented a blueprint for the future of each sector. The vice chairmen in charge of each sector recognized Director Lee’s insight, so you can see that this investment was made possible thanks to that.”

Even with Seon Hae-cheol’s support, the three men still seemed to not trust me. I took a sip of tea and cleared my throat.

“This investment was not simply made because GK Group is my maternal family. Haedong Corporation also has business reasons to invest in GK Metals, so it was made possible, Chairman.”

“I know that Haedong Corporation is in the copper business, Director Lee. But the Kazakhstan copper business has a smelter in addition to the mine, right? All we can provide is know-how…”

Oh Hyun-moo sent a still apologetic look along with a skeptical reaction, but I said with a smile.

“Although it hasn’t been made public in the media, Haedong Corporation also has the development rights to the Cobre Panama copper mine.”

“Cobre Panama?”

“Yes. It’s a mine located only about 20 kilometers from the Pacific coast, and it can produce about 350,000 tons of copper annually for 40 years based on metal standards. By-products such as gold and silver will also be produced.”

Oh Hyun-moo, Hae Soo-chan, and Oh Hyun-joon’s mouths dropped open.

Considering that the current copper price is just over $1,700 per ton, the value of the Cobre Panama mine exceeds $24 billion, so how surprised would they be? Oh Hyun-moo’s voice was already shaking.

“D-Director Lee?”

“We will develop the mine after we get out of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] management system, but Haedong Group has no intention of building a smelter there. We will only have a concentrating facility and transfer all metal smelting to GK Metals. If you receive Haedong Corporation’s investment and keep GK Metals as a GK Group affiliate forever, that is.”

I mentioned business benefits so that my three uncles wouldn’t feel sorry, but in fact, I also wanted to make GK Metals a solid cash cow for GK Group while preventing the separation of affiliates. It’s not enough to push and pull each other up while sticking together, but if the group keeps splitting up, wouldn’t it become obsolete?

Perhaps my heart was conveyed, Oh Hyun-moo’s eyes calmed down.

“Director Lee, do you not look favorably on our group’s separation of affiliates?”

Unlike GK Group’s roundabout culture, Oh Hyun-moo threw a fastball. I was briefly startled, but I nodded with a calm expression.

“Yes. Separating affiliates because of Confucian traditions is a very inefficient measure in terms of management efficiency.”

I said as politely as possible, but separating affiliates because of the family members’ ranks and titles is really useless.

Insider trading regulations are becoming increasingly strict, but considering the preferential loan interest rates and internal support that vary depending on the size of the group, a group the size of GK Group should consolidate its center of gravity into a holding company or a parent company. Haedong Group has me, a super-large sponsor, backing it, so one separation of affiliates doesn’t matter.

After listening to my answer, Oh Hyun-moo, who had been pondering for a while, said.

“I’ll have to have a family meeting, but if Director Lee, you and Haedong Group agree, I’d like to hire you as our group’s strategy consultant. If you accept my proposal, I’ll consider the affiliate separation plan.”

“U-Uncle?”

It was something I hadn’t even thought of, so I used a habit I only used in private, but Oh Hyun-moo smiled and said to me.

“Sung-min, you and CEO Seon mentioned the Haedong Motors long-term project, no, the electric car business, so there will be a need for a bridge between Haedong, us, and Standard, right? You’re the only one who can take on that bridge, so I’m making the offer, haha.”

It was a good offer.

If Haedong Motors’ automobile business infrastructure, GK Group’s motor and battery technology, and Standard Capital’s financial power were combined, making the world’s best electric car would be a piece of cake.

I finished calculating in a short time and said to Oh Hyun-moo.

“I understand, Chairman. If the executives in our group allow it, I’ll prepare immediately.”

Adults inside the group, including my grandfather, would allow it. They are the type of people who choose to make allies rather than create unnecessary enemies.

***

After receiving an unexpected offer, I signed an investment agreement for GK Metals and GK Telecom, and then went to Haedong Group’s headquarters with Seon Hae-cheol and Park Tae-jin.

“What do you think, Director Ko?”

Ko Seung-joo, who heard Oh Hyun-moo’s proposal to recruit me as a strategy consultant, took a light breath.

“There’s nothing wrong with joining hands with GK. The only overlapping business is petrochemicals, but if the two companies unite, they can dominate the market. Everyone will like it, hehe.”

“Thank you, Director.”

“What thanks? Seeing you take care of both public and private matters, Myung-woo and your sister-in-law will also like it, haha.”

Ko Seung-joo, who was laughing heartily, took a sip of tea.

“With this, we’ve blocked all the places where Chairman Kang can come out to us.”

“Chairman Kang won’t even dream of trying to push through a big deal against GK Group unless he’s out of his mind, hyung [older brother or close male friend]. Hehe.”

As Seon Hae-cheol said with a sly smile, Daejoo Group’s Kang Oh-joong could no longer tear off pieces of my maternal family. If he tried to tear into GK Metals and GK Telecom, which had become much more solid in terms of capital, he would only break his own teeth.

“From now on, we have to start counterattacking, Director. Shouldn’t we repay as much as we’ve been hurt?”

Ko Seung-joo nodded, looking at Park Tae-jin’s firm expression.

“That’s right, Executive Director Park. In that sense, shall we exchange the information we’ve each found out first?”

At Ko Seung-joo’s suggestion, all three of us took out documents and handed them to Ko Seung-joo.

“According to what we’ve found out, Daejoo Electronics will separate its domestic sales network and merge it with Daehan Credit Distribution, and then sell the shares. That was strange, so I dug a little deeper and found something interesting.”

“Something?”

Park Tae-jin said instead to Ko Seung-joo, whose gaze at me had narrowed.

“Daehan Credit Distribution seems to be Daejoo Group’s disguised affiliate.”

“Disguised affiliate?”

“Yes. I secured the shareholder list and investigated it, and most of them were relatives of Daejoo Group’s key executives, and 15 percent of the shares were either missing or held in small pieces by people overseas. The people overseas don’t even exist.”

Everything Park Tae-jin said was a pattern that chaebols [large South Korean business conglomerates] use to secure nominee stocks. There is no definite link, but if you trace the flow of funds, the final destination will be Daejoo Group.

Ko Seung-joo’s brow furrowed at Park Tae-jin’s report.

“I knew it. It was suspicious that Daehan Credit Distribution only entrusted store construction to construction companies established by retired Daejoo Group executives…”

“But the Daehan Credit Distribution case alone cannot completely stop Daejoo Group. Kang Oh-joong is not the type to stop, given his personality. We need a sure thing, hyung.”

Ko Seung-joo also nodded at Seon Hae-cheol’s opinion that a more powerful blow was needed.

“So we’re also thoroughly investigating Daejoo Group at the group level. I looked into the investment companies that invested in Daejoo Group, and their locations are Labuan, Panama, the Cayman Islands, and the Virgin Islands.”

All the places Ko Seung-joo mentioned are tax havens. The suspicion that the $4 billion invested in Daejoo Group by investment companies established there was Kang Oh-joong’s overseas slush fund was growing stronger.

“In addition, Haedong Corporation’s European corporations are investigating Daejoo Group, and we have secured some false export data as a matter of urgency. I’ll show you the data first.”

After finishing speaking, Ko Seung-joo took out a thick yellow envelope from the safe and handed it to us. We immediately took out the photos and documents in the documents.

“Wow, look at the snow? Hyung, where did you take this?”

Seon Hae-cheol, who was exclaiming, fluttered the photo he was holding with his fingertips and asked. Ko Seung-joo gave a bitter smile, looking at the photo of the cars parked in the storage yard with ‘Warsaw’ written in the upper left corner.

“It was taken in the suburbs of Warsaw. Daejoo Motors’ Warsaw factory handed it over to Daejoo Corporation’s Warsaw corporation and said it was sold, but they piled up all the production volume there.”
The other photos were not much different from the one Seon Hae-cheol was holding.

Hundreds and thousands of cars filling the empty lot, covered in snow or dust without being sold… I feel sorry for the workers who worked hard on the factory line, but these cars were nothing more than Kang Oh-joong’s overzealous excrement.

“It’s serious.”

Ko Seung-joo said to me, who couldn’t help but laugh.

“Even if we sell it off at a discount, we can reduce the deficit. The sooner we bring down Daejoo Group, the more damage will be reduced.”

“That’s why I’m saying… it would be good to focus on digging into Daejoo Group’s London corporation.”

“London?”

Looking at Ko Seung-joo, whose eyebrows twitched, I said calmly.

“As you know, London is one of the world’s three major financial hubs along with New York and Tokyo. The movement of funds is much freer than the other two places. Considering the actual situation of Daejoo Group, which has been operating on borrowed money, the circulation of funds must be rapid, so they must have worked at the London corporation.”

“Hmm… Vice Chairman Bae also said that it’s more difficult to access the London corporation than other corporations. He said he would push ahead no matter how much it costs, so let’s wait and see.”

Ko Seung-joo and Bae Jae-hoon were both people who knew exactly when to spend money. Considering the speed at which Daejoo Group is happily increasing its debt even at this time, the value of time is much heavier than money, so we had to pour it in without hesitation.

‘There will be plenty of overseas slush funds managed by the group in Triumph… I should leave it to the adults this time.’

Ko Seung-joo said to me, who had decided to step back, as the adults could feel their pride hurt if I stepped in every time. Corporate management is not a one-man show but a team game, right?

“All that’s left is the headquarters… I’m going to go straight into the headquarters.”

“Director… are you?”

“Hyung?”

“Director?”

Ko Seung-joo, the key figure in the group, said to me, Seon Hae-cheol, and Park Tae-jin, whose eyes had widened, that he would step forward himself.

“As you know, the headquarters of any group is the castle of the chairman. Only the group’s elite gather to protect the chairman.”

“But now that castle is shaking. The soldiers and commanders guarding the castle are also wavering. We can use a little more strength and it will collapse, but why are you trying to step forward yourself?”

I couldn’t understand why Ko Seung-joo was trying to step forward himself.

Even the Daejoo Group headquarters executives we’ve dealt with so far have been as high as executive directors, so the inside of Daejoo Group is shaking, right? Ko Seung-joo could get hurt if he stepped forward unnecessarily.

Not only me, who was trying to stop him, but also Park Tae-jin and Seon Hae-cheol looked at him with incomprehensible eyes, but Ko Seung-joo’s eyes were determined.

“We have to prepare for the aftermath of bringing down Daejoo. There’s someone I need for the cleanup.”

Seeing him speak firmly, I didn’t think I could stop him.

“I understand, Director. Instead, I will join you.”

I didn’t want to cowardly stand by and watch this. As a member of Haedong Group’s top management, I wanted to share the risk, but Ko Seung-joo shook his head.

“No. I have to meet him alone. The next time you see that person is after that, Sung-min.”

The first stubborn look he showed me… There must be a reason why Ko Seung-joo would carry out his will so resolutely. After pondering for a while, I had no choice but to respect Ko Seung-joo’s will by nodding my head.