Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 263
Chapter 93. distribution
Lee Young-bak was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941.
About his childhood, who came to Korea after liberation in 1945 and the establishment of the government, he was born into an extremely poor family. There was consensus on several points.
That is, in the life of Lee Young-bak, the so-called wealth and honor (富貴榮華), specifically, longing for wealth (富) in a good way, or an obsession in a bad way, was formed at this time.
-I am a person who went to college with the help of market merchants wearing a straw hat because I had nothing to wear in the winter after going out of school at night. No one knows how terrifying poverty is.
As many young Koreans at the time did after entering university, and as did those who later became politicians, Lee Young-bak, who was briefly involved in the movement, soon won the order to develop the Gyeongbu Expressway at the time, and was a representative company in Korea and a powerhouse in the industry. of modern construction.
And although there is a lot to be said about Lee Young-bak’s actions and abilities at that time, what is certain is that he worked fiercely in the modern construction industry, which was the symbol and symbol of Korea’s high growth period, and as a reward, he was promoted to success with high-speed promotions. .
He joined Hyundai Construction at the age of 24, and moved at the age of 30, the president at the age of 37, and the chairman of Hyundai Construction at the age of 48.
One day, an incident occurred that shocked Lee Young-bak, who was writing an overwhelming career in the modern group of Jung Moon-young, a myth in the Korean business world.
That was the Gulf War that broke out in 1991.
In fact, this war shocked not only Lee Young-bak, but most people around the world, but the shock was different for Young-bak Lee, president of Modern Construction, who was worried about whether he would be able to get the construction payment pushed back from the Iraqi government due to the unstable situation in the Middle East at the time. came to mean
-9 o’clock news. It has been half a year since the Iraqi Republican Guards officially declared surrender, and Modern Construction has won orders for oil fields, hospitals, and government offices in Iraq and Kuwait.
– Among the reasons why Modern Construction, a relatively latecomer, was selected as the operator, beating out Japanese and German companies, which were early potential candidates, was Hyundai Construction’s experience and construction ability in the Middle East. Experts analyze that the political considerations of the US and Kuwait authorities toward Korea, especially the US side’s peace gesture, played a major role.
-After the end of the Cold War, as the atmosphere of George Herbert Walker’s first visit to Pyongyang by current US President George Herbert Walker is heightening, some experts believe that the mental state of the elderly Chairman Moon-young Chung, impulsive decisions of Chairman Chung, and management skepticism caused by strong unions are the reasons for Korea’s skepticism. Expressing concerns that an unprecedented situation may arise in which the modern group, which has formed the foundation, moves its corporate base to the North, also the mysterious new North Korean leader, Kim Jeong-hwan, who is still shrouded in veil, has contributed to the dramatic improvement of relations between the United States and North Korea through this participation in the war. I would have made a decision about… … .
If we analyze the basis of the shock that the then Chairman Young-bak Lee received at that time and that changed his life forever since then, it could be divided into several categories.
First of all, he was in awe of the foresight of the late Chairman Moon-Young Jung, who had been his distant boss and a role model he wanted to reach someday in his heart.
When Chairman Chung Mun-young, who had failed to suffer from the demands of South Korean politics for political funds and a tax audit, went to Pyongyang, North Korea, to open up a new business, Lee Young-bak’s thoughts were similar to those of others.
The thought was, of course, ‘Is that going to happen?’
-I think the president is making a mistake in this case, no, how the heck do you trust the rednecks and do business? They say they drive a lot of apartment buildings, let them run an oil field business in the Middle East, but how can you trust them… … Tttttttt… … Now, should I slowly leave this modernity and start my own business?
Of course, these first disrespectful thoughts that Chairman Wang finally had dementia were shattered when the arrogance of the Workers’ Party and its special envoy Jang Song-thaek became a reality as modern construction took over the amount of Kuwait reconstruction projects allocated to North Korea.
The former president of the Wang, Mun-yeong Jeong, has not yet aged or his judgment has diminished.
And the second shock was the transformation of the North Korean regime.
– President Lee, isn’t it unusual to go back to work these days? The president also spends more time in Pyongyang than in Seoul… … What do you think this means?
– Vice-Chairman Jung, the words… … .
– North Korea is going to reform and open up soon. This country, where Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il lived as a closed kingdom for 40 years, will now capitalize and open its doors to businesses. Our modernity will be at the forefront of that.
– Well, is that really true?
– Well, I don’t know if unification by absorption will happen as soon as the Blue House is fluttering these days, but one thing is certain. it’s going to be money There is no way that many North Koreans will continue to live in thatched houses in the future, and 100,000 dong of modern apartments in Apgujeong will be built in the future? There is no bonanza for construction companies like us. Now, our modernity has contributed to the modernization of the motherland in both the South and the North, haha… … .
At that time, Lee Young-bak, who heard those words, did not even hear about the modernization of the country.
And after spending days and nights thinking about it, Lee Young-bak made the decision of a lifetime.
To follow in the footsteps of the respected Jeong Moon-young, to leave modern construction, which was no different than a house for over 20 years, and set up his own business.
But not in my hometown South Korea, no, not in South Korea, but in this unfamiliar North Korea.
And in 1992, after Lee Young-bak left modern construction and moved to Pyongyang from Seoul, Korea, he submitted an application for membership to the Workers’ Party of Korea.
According to one theory, he was one of the first ten South Koreans to become members of the Workers’ Party of Korea after the establishment of the Kim Jung-hwan regime.
-Oh, this is Modern Construction, President Young-bak Lee. No. I haven’t heard much from you in modern times, so what are you doing?
– Oh, Director Park! You haven’t heard the news yet. I left the modern era and left the company… … So, I set up a business. Das Heavy Industries… … I hope to go along well.
Considering the fact that even if he remained in the modern era, he could live without envying the voice of the chairman, and that many entrepreneurs at the time were skeptical of the possibility of the North Korean market unlike Jung Moon-young, it was a risky decision, but in the end it was a very wise decision.
DAS Heavy Industries Group, a start-up company founded by Lee Young-bak, who even joined the Workers’ Party of Korea, who was nothing like Bae Su-jin, grew very rapidly in the 1990s along with the rapid growth of North Korea in the 1990s.
There was also Lee Young-bak’s aggressiveness like a bulldozer, but one of the most decisive reasons was the so-called ‘name value’ that he carried from modern construction to the venue.
– I was from that modern construction company. You all know the modern construction and modern groups, right? From sewing machines to cars! If you entrust this construction to Das, we will surely do it from head to toe!
Of course, more companies like Seongsam entered North Korea in the future, but the brand called Hyundai, which preempted the market and the North Korean people, had the power to make even Lee Young-bak, independent from modern construction, and Das Heavy Industries, see the halo effect. .
Lee Young-bak himself, while promoting himself by saying that he was Jung Moon-young’s ‘right arm’, sold his name several times, which has now become famous among the North Korean people as a ‘national capitalist’ and ‘a new type of party worker’.
In addition, in North Korea, where there were few private manufacturing companies capable of producing a single precision mold properly in the early days of the introduction of the market economy system, which was almost a communist country, Lee Young-bak himself accumulated the connections with the party executives during his time as chairman of the modern construction company, as well as the eloquence and resourcefulness. Orders poured in regardless.
In the first place, the indigenous North Korean entrepreneurs who have just learned capitalist business management in the first place will be able to overcome Lee Young-bak, who has been rolling out of the Korean construction site, which has been a modern-day pompom war for half his life, full of trickery, money back, hospitality, political collusion, illegality, expediency, and evasion in a bidding competition. it was futile
Moreover, unlike Korea, where wages are gradually rising and the labor movement is intense, North Korea at this time did not ask any questions to businessmen if they made achievements. For all Lee Young-bak, doing business in North Korea was just swimming on the ground.
And in 1998, when the North-South Grand Agreement was reached, Lee Young-bak called for joy in his heart that his adventure had been successful.
It was right to judge that new entrepreneurs like him would have more opportunities to start pioneering in North Korea, where the market economy system has yet to take root than in South Korea, where hereditary chaebols such as modernity and Seongsam have already firmly established their vested interests.
A person must know how to watch the tides well, and it is the world’s logic that a servant can become the chief of the queen if he picks a winning horse and rides it.
After all, Chairman Wang Moon-young, what does modernity mean?
Lee Young-bak had no doubts that if he suffered only for 20 years, he would be able to achieve a solid economic dynasty and family living in North Korea even if 100 years pass from generation to generation, such as brothers, sisters, sons, grandchildren, and so on, just like Chairman Jung Moon-young and the modern family. .
However, through this process, Das Heavy Industries Group has rapidly grown into one of North Korea’s leading heavy industry conglomerates in 2009.
In some ways, I have longed for it to the extent that it is like leaving my country and hometown to jump into these projects, but unfortunately, despite the years of the past 17 years, it was a project that Lee Young-bak could not yet come up with.
In order to enter the realm, it is necessary to establish a connection with the core power before the origin of the North or the South. situation was.
Then one day, the person at the top of his ‘one million dollar phone book’ list, the chairman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jang Seong-taek, called Young-bak Lee’s office.
In response to Lee Young-bak’s respectful greetings, Jang Seong-taek delivered disastrous and unbelievable news.
– Comrade Lee, please come with me to the clerk’s office soon. A comrade has come to be of use to the supreme dignity of this republic.
* * *
“Sit down. Since each other’s construction is exhausting, let’s get right to the point. I’m sure you already know why I called this president here to the secretary’s office.”
“of course. Did you not know that some time ago, there were voices of concern within the party about the recent financial crisis from China? I also suspect that the general secretary will be very concerned about this issue.”
‘As rumored. It’s almost oily.’
Read at noblemtl.com
No matter how different the positions were, Jung-hwan poked his tongue out at Lee Young-bak, who treated Jeong-hwan, who was 15 or six years younger than him, almost as if he was an elder.I knew he was a good person, but when I saw it in front of my eyes, I felt like I was floating a bit more.
But now was the time when Jung-hwan needed Lee Young-bak’s mastery and affinity that seemed to jump over a hole.
And, of course, if there is a profit, they push hard like a bulldozer.
“It’s good that the story is fast. Currently, the party government is trying to overcome these domestic and international crises and make a major economic transformation in order to rethink the competitiveness of the republic as a whole. Then, Mr. Lee, let me tell you the main point.”
When Jung-hwan broke his luck, Lee Young-bak gulped his saliva with his eyes shining like a soccer player in front of the goal.
Finally, the door of opportunity is opening to you.
“Did you know that several large national projects are being discussed within the Party Organizational Leadership Department to stimulate the republic’s economy, create jobs, and innovate infrastructure?”
“I hear you know. Commonly referred to as the 4 major development tasks… … .”
“Then, how much do you know about the West Pyongyang Station complex development project?”
“In line with the opening of the high-speed rail KRX next year, we will sweep out all the outdated and inefficient shacks and unauthorized buildings that are not suitable for the 21st century on the site of the present West Pyongyang Station, and replace high-tech companies such as IT and drones with the new Union Building as a representative, Carnegie Mallon of the United States. I heard that you are creating a cluster that can create high added value, such as the university’s Pyongyang campus.”
“You know, the size of the business is 37 trillion won, and there are only 5 buildings over 60 floors. When this project is over, Pyongyang’s skyline will change dramatically, once again. And from here on, it’s purely a home… … .“
As if Lee Young-bak had known each other for a long time, Jeong-hwan nodded his head as if he knew it.
It was clear that he had already put a straw in the party and listened to news of this development.
On the other hand, Lee Young-bak also listened to Jung-hwan’s next words, who drew the line ‘home’ as if his life was at stake in a sweat.
Even elementary school students could see that words are assumptions, and that they are, in effect, nothing more than a visit to a doctor or a proposal.
Unsurprisingly, Jung-hwan’s next words were the words that Lee Young-bak had been waiting for.
“Organizational leadership workers, redevelopment experts, and external consultants say that if a project of this size is carried out, the total project period should be at least 8 years, starting with the land compensation issue. If President Young-bak Lee takes the initiative and proceeds with this project, how long do you expect it to take?”
At the words of Jeonghwan throwing the bait, Lee Young-bak did not breathe and immediately bowed his head and said.
“If you give me five years, that’s enough.”