202. Sampoong Department Store (2)
[Redeemed Hwan Kim, Chairman of Sampoong Group]
[Restriction. Hwan Kim, Chairman of Sampoong Group. who is he?]
[The corruption of the Sampoong Group is revealed. A beneficiary of the corruption of the military regime?]
a few days later
All the influential newspapers and TV news in Korea reported similar news at once.
intermittently
[Dissolution of the first conglomerate in history. Do you want to set an example for the civil government?]
I saw a few articles called, but it was a story that was very far from the reality.
“Thanks to the help of the government, things have come this far… No one even expected it.”
“People end up seeing what they want to see.”
Miru nodded.
“Then, Chairman. What will the future look like?”
“Well, it’s simple. Now that company will not be able to afford the fine, and it will be returned to the state and put up for auction.”
“Auction? Does that mean that other businesses and individuals can also bid?”
“haha. It is. However, after the bid is made, the government will evaluate it.”
“okay. Of course, we will get a high score on the evaluation score.”
“Exactly that.”
Miru nodded.
It seemed that he had figured out how things were going back to some extent.
Seeing Miru like that, Hoyeong smiled and said,
“And, as promised, the department store will be handed over to Myeongseong Mulsan.”
“Is that so? Then why did you do this…”
“Department stores are, to be honest, a nuisance. It’s not like there’s a lot of sales coming out… Above all, the state of the building at Sampoong Department Store is dangerous beyond words. It wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed right away.”
The first thing Hoyoung heard from Kijunyeop in detail was, of course, about the current state of the building.
Ho-yeong asked him to investigate and bring the current reality, which was neither exaggerated nor reduced, and Ki Ki-yeop faithfully followed Ho-young’s instructions.
Hoyoung remembered what he had said.
‘I advised Chairman Kim Hwan to suspend business for a week, but… In fact, as far as I know, it is absolutely impossible to recover safely with simple repairs. It would be the safest way to tear down the building and put it back up again.’
Jo Jung-sik doesn’t have the sparkling sense like Jo Nam-sik, but he had his own strengths.
It was thorough and meticulous preparation.
Since Jo Jung-sik had a prudent personality enough to knock on a stone bridge and walk past him, he was, of course, a thorough person when it came to safety.
“Hmm… Chairman Cho Jung-sik seems clear that he will not try to repair the department store he has acquired in this way. By the way, may I ask what is the reason you had to borrow the power of fame and the government to have the three winds? Of course, it’s great that you prevented an accident that could lead to death…”
Hoyeong smiled at Miru.
“Why? Of course it is.”
“Is that so?”
“Sampoong Department Store was actually a facade. What I was aiming for was the body.”
“The body?”
“yes. Even so, I was thinking of setting up a construction company. But in this way, there will be no need to establish a new one.”
“okay. I see what you mean.”
Miru nodded, but admired inwardly.
I already knew that Hoyoung wanted to enter the construction field.
But I’m going to do it like this
“Then all that remains is to wait.”
“I will take care of the overall process.”
“no. There is no need for the manager to suffer this time.”
“Then do you have someone else to entrust?”
“yes. I’m going to take over the process with Manager Jeong Jin-hwan.”
“ah! You mean Manager Jeong who came back from America.”
Hoyoung nodded.
It’s already been 1 year and 6 months since Jung Jin-hwan left to do business in the US.
As expected by Hoyoung, he performed very well.
Of course, it was thanks to the news of the alliance between Microsoft and H&H that made the IT market around the world buzz, but Jung Jin-hwan’s performance contributed greatly to promptly switching many companies that used Windows to Cronos.
“Can I tell you a funny story?”
“yes.”
“Chief Jinhwan Jeong. I sent them out for two years to run the business, and they traveled all around the United States for about a year and almost traveled for six months.”
“yes?”
“ha ha ha. That’s really her.”
Miru noticed that Hoyeong’s eyes were a little wet in thought.
But he didn’t show it that way.
“Anyway, that’s what you should know. I need to call her to Korea and do some work for her. You don’t have to worry about practice.”
“yes. All right.”
As Hoyoung talked, her eyes had returned to normal.
.
.
.
A month or so has passed.
In the meantime, Kim Hwan of the Sampoong Construction Group and other key members of the group were all taken to prison.
And the Sampoong Construction Group was also dismantled piece by piece.
Hoyeong was driving Miru’s car and was in front of Sampoong Department Store… no, Sampoong Department Store.
The department store building was currently under construction.
Hoyeong, who had been watching the construction closely for a long time, opened her mouth while looking at Miru.
“The construction is progressing faster than I thought. It’s not going to be a skit this time either, right?”
But the answer came from somewhere other than Miru.
“Could it be? How much did I spend to restore this building?”
“ah. Chairman Cho Jung-sik. Long time no see. How are you here?”
Jo Jeong-sik, wearing black sunglasses, got out of the car and answered Ho-yeong.
“I heard that the president was at the site and came out. Don’t you know that this place is only about 10 minutes by car from Banpo, where our group headquarters is located?”
“haha. That’s right. It was just out of curiosity, so I deliberately didn’t contact you, but in the end, I was called out.”
“no. Even so, I also come and see it once every few days. It is a place in such bad condition that our construction engineers say that it was really lucky that the building did not collapse right away.”
When the leadership of the Sampoong Group was arrested, the operation of the department store was naturally stopped, and right after the Myungsung Group took over the department store, Jo Jung-sik, following Ho-young’s advice, sent only a minimum number of people into the department store to check the condition of the building.
And the results of the inspection were literally disastrous.
Aside from the fact that the site of the Sampoong Department Store was a residential site, not a commercial one, it was changed to a 5-story building by raising one more floor without permission to the structure designed for 4 floors, and even during construction, the thickness of the columns was reduced by half to siphon off material costs. Abandoned and used instead of a girder to support the building, the thickness of the plate that was supposed to be used in the design was made only two-thirds of the thickness.
It was thanks to the ridiculous construction, site change, construction permits, etc.
It could have been more fortunate if the construction had been done like this.
The biggest problem was the air conditioner cooling tower.
There were three air conditioner cooling towers on the roof of Sampoong Department Store, and the cooling towers and cooling water weighed as much as 90 tons.
This weight far exceeded the load the roof could withstand by four times, and even when the cooling tower had to be moved, it did not use a crane, but installed rollers on the floor to push it away, putting a tremendous burden on the roof and support.
Due to these reasons, the department store building was already in ruins, and cracks were often found in the pillars and ceiling.
“Experts say the building needs to be completely demolished and put back up. Did you just decide to do some renovations?”
“Actually, the experts are right. If the original building is not rebuilt, the risk of building collapse cannot be eliminated in the first place.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Hoyeong looked at Jo Jungsik for a moment with puzzled eyes, then smiled.
“Since you heard that it was the way it was, there must have been another way?”
“haha. I tried to surprise the president for a while, but it’s no use.”
Instead of answering, Hoyoung shrugged and smiled.
Jo Jung-sik also laughed at Ho-young for a moment before continuing.
“This time, Myungsung Construction recruited a large number of foreign engineers this time. Among them are technicians from Germany. If the repair work is carried out in the way the engineer suggested, we will be able to rebuild the building safely enough.”
“Ohhh… You have such a skill? Is that the way the other techs agreed?”
“of course. There is one fatal flaw.”
“A downside?”
Jo Jung-sik pretended to let out a deep sigh before speaking.
“In fact, it is more expensive than building a new one. Of course, the material that adds the pillars and ceiling and fills the gaps as if they were originally one is not produced in Korea, but the price is too expensive. Compared to the same weight of concrete, there is a difference of ten times.”
However, Jo Jeong-sik’s expression did not look so dark.
In fact, no matter how much money it cost, it wasn’t that the reputation of Korea’s best conglomerate group couldn’t handle it until recently.
Besides, these new technologies are very difficult to test in practice, and Sampoong Department Store was a really good test subject.
In the future, it was clear that this technology would become a valuable asset in reputation building.
“It’s a great skill. Even so, I have one more favor to ask of you.”
“What else are you asking for? I’m already full just by taking over this department store.”
“haha. It’s not that different. Didn’t I take Sampoong Construction this time?”
“Yes.”
Jo Jung-sik had already heard Ho-yeong’s explanation, so it was a matter to nod and move on.
“However, I also did a survey on Sampoong Construction, and it wasn’t very positive.”
“Anyway, it’s a company that hasn’t been run normally for a long time.”
“yes. So, I would like to ask for some technology transfer so that our construction company can play its proper role in reputation building.”
“Technology transfer?”
For a moment, Jo Jung-sik couldn’t grasp Ho-yeong’s exact intentions.
But it was too soon to make a decision.
Judging from the appearances Hoyoung has shown so far, Hoyoung does not prefer a one-sided relationship.
If you give up what you have to give first, something corresponding to, or even greater than, always comes back.
“All right. If you tell us what you need, we will take action so that we can proceed immediately.”
“Aren’t you worried?”
“haha. It’s the chairman’s company anyway, so what would I do if I thought about it?”
Hoyeong laughed at Jo Jung-sik’s answer.
Now Jo Jung-sik was one of Ho-yeong’s most loyal subordinates, but he looked like he could nod his head and move on.
“Thank you for saying that. Chairman Cho, do you know why I want to acquire a construction company and raise my technology as quickly as possible?”
“I do not know.”
Hoyeong said with a grin.
“If you help me until the technology transfer is completely finished and my construction company is normalized, I will ensure that Myungsung Construction can be with me in the projects I will participate in in the future.”
“A project?”
Hoyoung nodded.
The reason why he dares to acquire a construction company and strives for technological development.
It was because of this project.
“It is a project to build a new airport in Yeongjong Island… that is, Incheon International Airport.”