Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 60

60. 19th. United We Stand (1)

After seeing the two men off, Ko Seung-ju remained alone in his room, downing a shot of ginseng liquor. The nauseating feeling, like swallowing dirty water while dealing with politicians, finally seemed to wash away.

He let out a light breath and picked up the phone.

“Yes, Chairman. I’ve taken care of the ruling party guys.”

[You’ve worked hard dealing with them.]

“Not at all, Chairman. This is just the beginning; what’s so hard about it? I’m still going strong, haha.”

[You have a knack for making an old man feel unwanted, huh, hoho.]

Ko Seung-ju and Lee Dae-soo chuckled.

The Hae-dong Group, including the two men, wasn’t just providing political funds to the ruling party.

They needed to give 15 billion won to the leading opposition party based in Jeolla Province and 10 billion won to the second opposition party, the dominant force in Chungcheong Province, to complete the political donations at the party level. In addition, they had to grease the palms of officials in every city where Hae-dong Group had department stores, factories, and container terminals to finalize all the work.

The reason politicians could freely accept Hae-dong Group’s money without hesitation was that it had always been untraceable, even by the prosecution and the National Tax Service. How could they trace cash circulating in the Myeongdong [a major shopping district in Seoul known for its private lending market] private loan market?

Both men chuckled, believing that Hae-dong Group’s business expansion would be secure regardless of the election outcome.

***

A few days later.

Having dealt with the political funds issue, Ko Seung-ju visited Lee Myung-jin’s office in the morning to carry out Lee Dae-soo’s instructions.

“What brings you here, Hyung-nim [older brother or respected male acquaintance]…?”

Lee Myung-jin, who was sitting at his desk signing a document, looked up, and Ko Seung-ju smirked.

“It’s not like I’m not allowed to come here. Can’t I get a cup of coffee? Haha.”

“Yes… Please bring us two coffees here.”

Lee Myung-jin took his hand off the intercom button and sat down, still looking at Ko Seung-ju with a puzzled expression.

Ko Seung-ju usually spent his entire day locked in the secretary’s office, coordinating the work of group affiliates or meeting with political figures, dividing his time into 10-minute increments. Lee Myung-jin didn’t believe he would come to the office in the morning just for a cup of coffee.

In a tense peace, the two men drank the coffee that the employee brought, wearing faint smiles.

“As of yesterday, all political fund deliveries are complete. After the election, put in a bid for the subway line 2 construction, haha.”

“Thank you, Hyung-nim. I should have helped you…”

Lee Myung-jin put down his coffee and bowed his head to Ko Seung-ju. He always felt indebted to the man, who was like an older brother he relied on as much as his deceased brother, for always doing the dirty work on behalf of his father or himself.

Ko Seung-ju smiled at him as he raised his head.

“You calculated and designed everything, including the Gangnam Terminal and the subway construction. You have to make a profit from that. It’s not like we can’t work in Gyeongsang Province forever.”

“That’s true. Aside from the Busan Seomyeon branch and the Incheon and Busan logistics warehouses, we’ve never done any external construction… Still, thank you so much, Hyung-nim.”

Ko Seung-ju gently looked at Lee Myung-jin, who bowed to him once again.

From a cold perspective, they were in a relationship between owner and employee, but seeing him treat him like an older brother sometimes made him feel like he was the eldest son of this family. Perhaps thinking it was presumptuous of himself, Ko Seung-ju put down his cup and cleared his throat.

“Myung-jin.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

Ko Seung-ju’s expression hardened as he opened his mouth.

“We’re going to change the group’s governance structure starting at the end of the year.”

“…Yes?”

“That’s the Chairman’s instruction. He said to exchange your shares in the Merchant Bank with Sung-min’s shares in the Heavy Industries affiliate, and to separate the Heavy Industries affiliate shares in the Trading Company into a holding company.”

After hearing about the adjustments to the shareholding ratios of Hae-dong Trading, the Heavy Industries affiliate holding company, and Hae-dong Merchant Bank, Lee Myung-jin’s face hardened.

“Please stop the governance restructuring, Hyung-nim.”

“It’s time for you to become independent. The Chairman has given you and Sung-min a chance to fend for yourselves, so why are you refusing? It’s not like you’re just handing over the shares when you separate the holding company.”

Ko Seung-ju wanted Lee Myung-jin to be a little more courageous and stand on his own. He was overshadowed by Lee Myung-woo, but wasn’t Lee Myung-jin a worthy successor to Hae-dong? He couldn’t understand why he was declining, even though he was giving him plenty of capital to become independent and wasn’t completely separating him.

Lee Myung-jin met Ko Seung-ju’s gaze, which was full of pity and bewilderment, and asked in a calm voice.

“Hyung-nim, do you remember the story of the Scythian king that Father told us since we were young?”

“That it’s easy to break one arrow, but hard to break a bundle of arrows?”

“That’s right, Hyung-nim. Hae-dong has certainly made a lot of money this time, but we still have a long way to go. At times like this, we should be united around the Trading Company, but instead, we’re splitting up the company?”

Unlike Lee Myung-jin, Ko Seung-ju spoke in a subdued voice.

“But we’re not the crew-cut students from those days anymore, Myung-jin. Tell me your opinion as a manager. The Chairman is the one who leads the country’s economy, even before your father’s time.”

As Ko Seung-ju said, Lee Myung-jin had always seen Lee Dae-soo as a ‘respected father’ and a leading figure in the Korean economy. To persuade such a Lee Dae-soo, he needed solid evidence as a manager, rather than the old story from those days.

“Please wait a moment. I have something to show you.”

Lee Myung-jin got up from his seat and opened the safe hidden behind the closet. He took out a file from inside and handed it to Ko Seung-ju.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a document jointly created by the four planning departments of the Heavy Industries affiliates. I’d like you to read it and then talk.”

Feeling an unfamiliar chill from the title ‘Future Performance Outlook for the Heavy Industries Sector,’ Ko Seung-ju opened the file with a hardened expression.

“The situation isn’t good.”

Lee Myung-jin gave a bitter smile to Ko Seung-ju, who was making a groaning sound while looking at the document.

“I know that I have to break away from Father’s arms someday. I have that desire too. But the outlook isn’t good.”

Lee Myung-jin drank the lukewarm coffee. Perhaps it was because of the sour taste rising from the cold coffee that Lee Myung-jin frowned.

“Overseas construction performance is good, but recently, due to the drop in the value of the yen, the steel and heavy industries planning departments are viewing the sales prospects of steel and heavy industries negatively.”

“I guess so. Both are competing with Japan. The secretariat also checked the exchange rate and pointed it out, but if the planning departments of both companies see it that way, there’s nothing more to see.”

Hae-dong Steel, which handles steel materials, the rice of industry.

Hae-dong Heavy Industries, which makes various machine tools such as molds and milling machines.

The fact that the performance of the two companies was not good meant that there was something wrong with exports. In other words, it meant that a red light was on for economic growth. The document Ko Seung-ju was looking at was showing that signal without hiding anything.

“Even domestically, the collection of payments from the two companies is starting to falter little by little. In particular, it’s becoming difficult to discount the promissory notes received from the Ado Group at the bank, even discreetly. I have a bad feeling, Hyung-nim.”

The fact that the outlook for the affiliates he led was negative was something he would be held accountable for as a manager. The Ado Group’s insolvency issue, one of the causes, was a top secret, so Ko Seung-ju only nodded. But…

‘If I gauge the entire Korean economy with the document Myung-jin gave me, the situation isn’t good. I think we need to revise the governance restructuring plan. In the worst case, we may have to scrap it…’

Even as Ko Seung-ju’s mind was working diligently, Lee Myung-jin was telling his inner thoughts without embellishment.

“Honestly, even Choi Won-cheol of Donghwa Group is handing out business cards with the title of Chairman, so it’s not like I don’t want to do it. But a company isn’t run on pride alone, is it? What about the company’s employees and their families?”

What Lee Myung-jin was saying now was not hypocrisy. Irresponsible inclusion was not acceptable, but he agreed with his father’s teaching that once you take responsibility, you have to go as far as you can together.

It was because of such Lee Myung-jin that he was refusing the governance restructuring in order to protect the lives of his family, the group, and the employees and their families. If the group’s affiliates were tightly bound around Hae-dong Trading, there would be no chance of them breaking.

“If you’re going to change the governance structure, please just liquidate Hae-dong Merchant Bank. The Merchant Bank has a small number of employees, and the group is pushing deposits into it, so wouldn’t it be able to overcome one hurdle?”

Ko Seung-ju’s eyes narrowed at the words that he was refusing to separate while telling him to separate Lee Sung-min.

“Are you trying to push Sung-min out of the group by changing the governance structure like that?”

If the governance structure is reorganized, a stock swap is inevitable. If only Hae-dong Merchant Bank is liquidated as Lee Myung-jin said, Lee Sung-min’s shares in Hae-dong Trading or other affiliates will flow to Lee Myung-jin.

That would make Lee Myung-jin more advantageous in the future management succession. Ko Seung-ju, who couldn’t be unaware of this, didn’t look kindly on Lee Myung-jin.

As soon as Lee Myung-jin received Ko Seung-ju’s glaring eyes, he hurriedly raised both hands and shook them.

“I know that Hae-dong Trading isn’t my share, Hyung-nim! It was the company that the deceased Hyung [older brother] was supposed to inherit, so shouldn’t it be left as Sung-min’s share? Hyung-nim notarized the promise that Hyung and I made before going to Iraq, didn’t you?”

Seeing Lee Myung-jin’s expression of being wronged, Ko Seung-ju released the strength in his eyes. Wasn’t he the notary for the promise that Lee Myung-jin and Lee Myung-woo made at the Iraqi oil pipeline construction site during the war with Iran to take responsibility for the remaining families if something happened to either of them?

“Sung-min is also the eldest grandson of our family, but I also know that he’s the smartest. Hae-dong Trading is Sung-min’s company, Hyung-nim.”

“Are you really not greedy?”

At Ko Seung-ju’s question, Lee Myung-jin nodded with a firm expression.

“It’s not too late to separate after overcoming the upcoming crisis. At that time, if you just give me the capital to become independent, I’ll be satisfied with that. And.”

Perhaps because he was talking too much today, Lee Myung-jin moistened his parched lips with coffee and continued.

“I know myself well, Hyung-nim. I’m also lacking, and all my children are trying to dig into technology. You know my kids, Hyung-nim, you’ve seen them, right?”

“I know. Sung-ah caused you a headache because she was making a fuss about going to engineering school, right?”

Was there any need to say it? As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water, and Lee Myung-jin’s children, both sons and daughters, were all preparing to aim for the engineering college at Seoul National University. Knowing that fact, Ko Seung-ju only wore an awkward smile.

“So, I don’t have the confidence or the aptitude to make money with money like Trading or Merchant Bank, let alone make and sell things. I’d be too ashamed to face Father and Hyung if something went wrong.”

There is nothing more shameful for an entrepreneur than ruining a family business inherited from generation to generation. Lee Myung-jin, whose belief was that thought, had no intention of taking over Hae-dong Trading and Hae-dong Merchant Bank.

“Above all, Sung-min has a good natural talent and is also learning how to handle money in New York. If he’s already at that level, I think he’ll be able to take over the Merchant Bank and Trading Company someday.”

Lee Myung-jin was also aware that Standard had participated in this yen-carry trade speculation because he was a member of the group’s top management.

Therefore, he was speaking with confidence because he guessed that Lee Sung-min was involved to some extent in this betting, and that his position within Standard Capital would be quite significant.

Ko Seung-ju also knew more about Lee Sung-min than Lee Myung-jin, but he pretended not to know and continued the question.

“What about the Myeongdong private loan organization?”

“Trading and Merchant Bank are already burdensome, so how can I manage those worn-out money lenders? Besides, that money, as Hyung-nim knows, is the root that supports this country’s economy in the shadows. It’s enough to just get emergency funds when money is occasionally tight.”

At Lee Myung-jin’s firm refusal, Ko Seung-ju nodded and got up from his seat. Of course, he was holding the file that Lee Myung-jin had handed him.

“I understand.”

With those words, Ko Seung-ju left Lee Myung-jin’s room and became curious about how the remaining successor of Hae-dong would accept Lee Dae-soo’s instructions.

***

Sitting on a garden chair at home and enjoying a rare moment of leisure, I received a phone call from Park Tae-jin and my heart sank.

“Share reorganization? Yes. Uncle said… I see. I understand, Uncle. …I don’t think I can tell you right now. Yes.”

This was a bolt from the blue. It was called governance restructuring, but wasn’t it half a separation of affiliates? It was a great relief that Lee Myung-jin had strongly opposed it.

Like the story of the Scythian king that my deceased father told me, one arrow is easily broken, but a bundle of arrows is not easily broken.

I also believe that the strong solidarity of our family and the firm governance structure of our group are our greatest weapons, so it was not yet time to divide the bundle of arrows.

As I put the phone down on the table, Park Tae-jin looked at me with a worried gaze.

“What’s wrong, Young Master?”

“Grandfather is going to reorganize the governance structure.”

I told Park Tae-jin everything I had heard from Ko Seung-ju from beginning to end. As the story ended, a shadow fell on Park Tae-jin’s face as well.

“Are you worried about what you said in front of Lord Royce?”

“Other guys would say I’m crazy, but I think he’ll come. I have to stop Grandfather…”

To overcome the coming waves, we must prevent the governance restructuring.

The money that will be spent in the process of reorganizing the governance structure won’t be that much, but if it’s two years later, I know that even that money will be missed.

Rather, we should gather all the shares of the heavy industry affiliates that our family members have into Hae-dong Trading to increase assets even on paper. But governance restructuring…

Sighing, I raised my head and looked at Park Tae-jin.

“To change Grandfather’s mind, we should start with Uncle, right?”

“That’s right. He always discusses matters related to group fund management and governance structure with the Chief of Staff.”

As expected. There was no way unless we persuaded Ko Seung-ju first.

“It’s better not to talk about Standard Capital, right?”

“We must strictly distinguish between public and private matters, Young Master. Hae-dong Group is a family asset, but isn’t Standard Capital Young Master’s asset? It may be the last lifeline, so you must be careful.”

Nodding at Park Tae-jin’s firm veto, I went inside the house, drank a cup of cold water, and cooled my heated head. Sitting on the sofa and drumming my fingernails on the armrest, I slammed the armrest down.

“I’ll have to lie one more time.”

What wouldn’t I do to protect the bundle of arrows? If I could keep the bundle of arrows tied together by lying with my glib tongue, I would lie any number of times.