Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 205

205. 58th. Because I Can Handle It (5)

The next morning.

After finishing breakfast at the main house in Samcheong-dong, I went up to the study with Grandfather and Lee Myung-jin. While drinking the tea brought by the servant, I told Grandfather and Lee Myung-jin about what happened at the Blue House [the presidential residence] yesterday.

“What? The President wants us to go to Pyongyang?”

“Is that… is that true, Sung-min?”

I nodded, watching Grandfather’s wide eyes and Lee Myung-jin’s stammering.

“Yes. Our group has put a lot of effort into creating the Gaeseong Industrial Complex [a special economic zone in North Korea], but since we’ll be spinning off the affiliates at the end of the year, he said we should each create North Korea communication channels.”

Grandfather chuckled as he listened to me explain the President’s invitation to the inter-Korean summit.

“Hahaha, that man seems to be protecting our group too much. What does Sung-moon’s father think?”

“The initial investment alone is $1.5 billion, and Sung-min’s American friends have paid $500 million as insurance. We can’t put the burden of post-management solely on the Myung family. As the President said, we need to establish connections with those people too, Father.”

I nodded at Lee Myung-jin’s answer.

“I think so too, Uncle. I think it would be a good idea to slowly open the door and expand the market by showing the North Koreans the taste of money, haha.”

Considering the money that Standard Capital will make in the future, raising North Korea to the level of a middle-income country is nothing. If the problem of making a living is solved, the consciousness level of the North Korean people will also increase, and the system change will become natural.

Grandfather looked at us with a satisfied expression as Lee Myung-jin and I expressed our approval.

“Okay. Let’s go, thinking that three generations of our family are going on a Pyongyang tour, haha.”

***

That afternoon.

“Is it true?”

“Yes, Chairman. Haedong Group will be sending Chairman Lee Dae-soo, Vice Chairman Lee Myung-jin, and Director Lee Sung-min together.”

Jang Ho-gun, who was at Sung-uiwon [likely a high-end social club or gathering place], couldn’t believe the report Lee Soo-han had brought. Three members of the Haedong Group’s owner family are going to the inter-Korean summit?

More than anything, it was more shocking that his eldest son-in-law, Lee Sung-min, was going to Pyongyang. Doesn’t this mean that he has risen to the same position as himself, attending this meeting as an economic delegation? It was a bonus to have connections with other group chairmen and high-ranking officials in the political world.

“Haedong Group is doing too well.”

A deep sense of defeat settled on Jang Ho-gun’s face.

Hasn’t Haedong Group surpassed Shinseong Group in management succession and competition between children? More than anything…

“I never thought Lee would have been to North Korea. I thought my in-law had appointed Lee as a group strategy consultant to give him a title…”

Jang Ho-gun thought that Lee Dae-soo was trying to develop Lee Sung-min quickly by borrowing an external recruitment format.

But if he had been to North Korea, it was no ordinary matter. Considering the people he went with, doesn’t that mean that his ability has been proven enough to exert more than ordinary influence on group management or to be delegated full authority?

“At this rate, Lee will put Ha-yeon forward and…”

Jang Ho-gun shook his head violently as he tried to utter the worst-case scenario unconsciously. Isn’t there a saying that words become seeds [a Korean proverb meaning that speaking of bad things can make them happen]?

“I think we should watch a little longer, Chairman. I don’t think it’s too late to go to Pyongyang and make a decision.”

Jang Ho-gun composed himself at Lee Soo-han’s cautious argument.

“I guess so.”

Nevertheless, the anxiety that had arisen in one corner of Jang Ho-gun’s mind was not subdued.

###

After finishing work and returning home, Jang Ho-gun was having dinner with his family.

“Lee Sung-min is going to Pyongyang?”

“Not only Lee, but Lee’s grandfather and uncle are also going together.”

While Jang Min-jae, Jang Soo-yeon, and Park Nam-joon were gaping, Jang Yong-jae opened his mouth.

“That doesn’t make sense, Father! It doesn’t make sense for three people from one group to go, but for Lee, who is only in his 30s, to go… !”

“A few days ago, Lee took Park Tae-jin to Pyongyang. Taehyun Group’s Myung Sun-woo, Triumph’s Henry Royce! Even the president and vice president of Chase Manhattan Bank!”

Jang Yong-jae’s eyes widened at Jang Ho-gun’s urging.

“Yes?”

“The fact that he went to the North with those people means that Lee’s position within Haedong Group and Standard Capital is solid. Don’t you know how careful the Samcheong-dong in-laws are in the business world? What about the Haedong Group’s vice presidents?”

Even though they were playboys, they knew how careful the Haedong Group’s executives, including Lee Dae-soo, were, and that Haedong Group had been running fast for the past few years thanks to that caution.

“While you guys were whining like Lee to inherit stocks and create I-Shinseong to merge with Shinseong Corporation, Lee was steadily building his position inside and outside the group. It’s not all about holding stocks!”

Even if you hold stocks, it is the executives and employees from the bottom who actually run the company. Jang Ho-gun was frustrated with his children who didn’t know that they had to gain the trust of the executives and employees to become a true owner.

In the end, Jang Ho-gun left the rice he was eating and went up to the study. Jang Ho-gun opened the window, took out a cigarette from the drawer, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

“Hoo… damn it.”

That cigarette was the one he had left when he started quitting smoking after giving birth to Jang Ha-yeon. Jang Ho-gun took a puff of the lit cigarette and exhaled smoke.

“It’s my fault too… but you’re stupid.”

The reason he was smoking a cigarette he had endured for over 30 years was because of those incompetent children left in the restaurant, the children who asked for stocks first and created I-Shinseong, the worst disaster in Shinseong Group’s history.

Haedong Group’s governance structure is something that no other chaebol [a South Korean business conglomerate] in Korea can imitate. Whenever an opportunity arose, he magically increased the money of Haedong Corporation, Haedong Group’s holding company, to grow Haedong Group.

Jang Ho-gun was frustrated with his children who took advantage of the IT craze to inflate I-Shinseong and merge it with Shinseong Corporation, trying to imitate Haedong Corporation. It was himself who accepted his children’s demands.

On the other hand, Lee Sung-min and Jang Ha-yeon are growing their rice bowls [Korean idiom for building their own wealth and power] and filling them on their own.

As he gets older, he has more thoughts, but when he sees them looking for opportunities outside and seizing those opportunities to grow, he feels a sense of self-disgust for trying to hand over the company to those incompetent children below.

“I’d rather Lee or Ha-yeon…”

Jang Ho-gun, who was just smoking silently, rubbed the cigarette butt that was left at the end in the ashtray and waved his hand.

“Hoo…”

Jang Ho-gun sighed, put the cigarette back in his mouth, and lit it. The cigarette smoke coming out of Jang Ho-gun’s mouth with a heavy expression did not seem to rise up.

***

A few days later.

I attended the inter-Korean summit and boarded a plane to Pyongyang with my grandfather and Lee Myung-jin. Oh Hyun-moo was the first to come to us when we entered the plane.

“I didn’t know I would be going to Pyongyang with my in-law, haha.”

“It’s only natural for someone who does business in Korea to cooperate with state affairs, isn’t it? Next year, Sung-moon’s father and Sung-min will be taking care of the group, so I came with them so that they wouldn’t be caught out by the North Koreans, haha.”

“I see. My in-law will have a hard time starting next year, haha.”

Lee Myung-jin also laughed as he exchanged conversations with his grandfather, not comforting Oh Hyun-moo.

“I have many shortcomings as a group chairman, In-law. I look forward to your kind cooperation from next year, no, from now on, haha.”

“What do you mean by asking for help? Aren’t we in-laws, haha.”

Oh Hyun-moo, who was laughing while looking at Lee Myung-jin, smiled at me.

“It feels like it was just yesterday that our Sung-min was a student, but now he’s grown up enough to go to Pyongyang with us, haha.”

“No, Uncle. Even if we spin off the affiliates next year, it will be my uncle in Seoul who will oversee the Haedong Group, haha.”

“Uncle… are you talking about Vice Chairman Go?”

I nodded at Oh Hyun-moo’s question, who was watching me.

“Yes. It’s not right for me to have the title of chairman at my age, and I’m enjoying the consultant work I’m doing now. It won’t be too late to receive the chairman’s nameplate when my uncle retires, haha.”

In addition to Oh Hyun-moo, prominent businessmen and politicians, including Myung Sun-woo and Myung Sun-goo, and ministerial-level officials also came to us and had a conversation about the spin-off of Haedong Group at the end of the year and the grandfather’s envy of retiring with a light heart. Except for one person.

‘I wonder if my father-in-law will come.’

As the chairman of Shinseong Group, which has maintained its position as the No. 1 in the business world, he would never come even if he died soon because of his pride. I thought it would be better not to care.

***

After arriving in Pyongyang, we unpacked our luggage, relieved our fatigue, and headed to the banquet hall. Starting with the toasts of President Kim and Kim Jong-il, the delegations from both North and South Korea had a comfortable atmosphere, chatting in groups of three or five and drinking champagne.

“Why doesn’t it seem like I have anyone to hang out with?”

Grandfather chuckled as he looked at me drinking with a smack of my lips.

“What can you do? You’re the youngest guy here, and you’re about the same age as your uncle, hehe.”

As Grandfather said, there was no one who had the same face value as me. Kim Jong-il approached me as I took a light breath and drank.

“Oh, Comrade Lee is here too?”

“Comrade Chairman?”

Kim Jong-il, who was laughing as he looked at my widened eyes, looked up at my grandfather, who was next to me.

“Is the person next to Comrade Lee, Comrade Lee Senior?”

“Yes, Chairman. It is an honor to meet you.”

Kim Jong-il smiled at Grandfather’s polite greeting.

“Comrade Lee Senior must be very happy to have a grandson like Comrade Lee. Considering the guts Comrade Lee showed in front of me, I’m worried that not all young people in the South will be like Comrade Lee, haha.”

Grandfather gave a sheepish smile at Kim Jong-il’s joke.

“This guy couldn’t control his temper and showed off his recklessness to the Chairman. I would appreciate it if you could be generous, haha.”

Kim Jong-il looked at his grandfather and chuckled, waving his hand.

“No. The country won’t grow unless there are many young people as energetic as Comrade Lee, right? I heard that you will be retiring from the front lines next year, but if you see Comrade Lee growing up, you won’t have time to be lonely, haha.”

It seems that North Korea also has quite a bit of information. They already noticed our group’s generational change.

###

Meanwhile, Jang Ho-gun was drinking with other group chairmen, but he was watching Lee Sung-min talking to Kim Jong-il.

‘I can’t believe it…’

Jang Ho-gun was amazed by the sight of his son-in-law treating the eccentric and picky Kim Jong-il without hesitation. Besides…

“Are you going to build an electronics factory at your company?”

“Yes, Comrade Chairman. There are two big things that Haedong Electronics will be doing soon, and one of them is planning to assemble and produce at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. One will be produced at a domestic factory.”

Haedong Electronics is the company that the son-in-law over there took over Taehyun Electronics’ mobile phone business division, computer business division, and non-memory semiconductor business division and changed the name.

They are acquiring the newly established non-memory semiconductor development company ‘Silicon Works’, ‘Aram Semiconductor’, which went bankrupt after building a semiconductor factory, and ‘Digital Cast’, which developed the world’s first MP3 player, to build a scale, establish a research institute, and develop new products…

‘I don’t know what they’re going to make in Korea.’

Jang Ho-gun couldn’t figure out what his son-in-law was going to make at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. One of the ‘two big things’ is likely to be an MP3 player, as they acquired Digital Cast, but the other one has not been revealed, right?

Kim Jong-il’s gaze flew to Jang Ho-gun, who was drinking champagne. Jang Ho-gun awkwardly exchanged eye contact with Kim Jong-il and wet his lips with alcohol.

‘I have to prepare as things go.’

Jang Ho-gun, who took the champagne glass away from his lips, watched Lee Sung-min with a firm expression. He seemed to have made some kind of decision.

###

“Is Shinseong Group’s Jang Ho-gun over there Comrade Lee’s father-in-law?”

I gave a sheepish smile at Kim Jong-il’s question, who had taken his eyes off Jang Ho-gun.

“Yes, Comrade Chairman. In addition, GK Group Chairman Oh Hyun-moo is my maternal uncle. Taehyun Motors Chairman Myung Sun-goo is a close friend of my deceased father, so I call him uncle.”

As I told him about my connections in Korea as a taste, an exclamation flowed from Kim Jong-il’s mouth.

“Oh, our Comrade Lee’s connections are very solid. If you take over Comrade Lee Senior next year, you’ll be fine for 30 years, haha.”

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of becoming the chairman of Haedong Group, Comrade Chairman.”

Kim Jong-il’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer.

“What are you talking about? Isn’t it natural to become the chairman if you inherit the company?”

“I’m still young and lack experience. Until I gain experience like Comrade Chairman, I have decided to separate ownership and management at an appropriate level.”

Kim Jong-il chuckled as he looked at me smiling casually.

“Comrade Lee, who only said harsh words, is saying sweet words, haha. But… it seems that managing a company is quite troublesome?”

I gave Kim Jong-il, who had an incomprehensible expression, a sheepish smile.

“Companies cannot have the same status as countries, but companies also pursue perpetuity like countries. So even if I am the largest shareholder, I have to protect what I have to protect. I can’t take care of everything in the group’s affiliates alone.”

The current Korean chaebols are exceeding the size that owner chairmen can take care of everything. Aren’t the owners focusing on management succession as the center of the group’s governance structure while grasping the big picture of the group’s business?

A groan flowed from Kim Jong-il’s mouth after hearing my answer.

“Hmm… it’s a reasonable statement at first glance, but it seems difficult for our republic to do as Comrade Lee said.”

Succession is more complicated here because they are trying to hand over a country, not a company. I gave a sheepish smile as I looked at Kim Jong-il’s complicated expression.

“No, Comrade Chairman. Doesn’t everyone have clothes that fit them [a Korean idiom meaning everyone has their own way of doing things]? All of today’s meeting was created by Comrade Chairman’s decision, so I think the Republic needs strong leadership, haha.”

I was so busy flattering Kim Jong-il to soothe his temper that I didn’t even mean it. Damn it.

***

After returning from Pyongyang, we started building factories in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex as agreed with North Korea.

We decided to build automobile factories and semiconductor factories on a site of up to 10 million pyeong [a Korean unit of area, approximately 3.3 square meters] or more, and Haedong Construction, Taehyun Construction, and GK Construction were in charge of all construction work, including civil engineering and communication line installation. Thanks to this, the stock prices of the three companies were renewing their all-time highs day by day.

Meanwhile, I, Park Tae-jin, and Seon Hae-cheol went to California to meet Apple’s Jobs and Tim Cook. It was to receive the consignment production [outsourced manufacturing] of iMac in exchange for equity investment and delegation of voting rights.

As a result of the negotiations, if the sales volume of iMac is expected to increase, it was decided to leave the existing consignment production volume of GK Electronics untouched and entrust all additional production volume to Haedong Electronics’ Gaeseong factory once it is built.

In addition, as promised to Sergey and Larry, we created ‘AdSense’, an advertising strategy that would become Google’s cash cow, and persuaded Eric Schmidt to recruit him as Google’s CEO based on it.

In addition, while taking care of business and family affairs in both Korea and the United States, such as the birth of Jang Ha-yeon’s second child and first daughter, Hyun-ah, it was already December 30th.

The last working day of this year, and…

The time has come for me, for us, to open a new chapter in the history of Haedong Group that we can handle.