80. I envy you.
“As for what General Kim Hong-il was like—.”
Without further ado, I briefly told Cho Chul-bong what I knew about the life of the eternal Captain Korea, an independence fighter under the Japanese, a war hero in the Korean War, and an anti-dictatorship activist after his retirement.
“…He’s like this. Do you recognize him? Captain Cho?”
“No. How come I don’t know about such a great hero?”
“…”
How can you ask me that, man?
Despite my incredulity, Team Leader Cho continued with an incredulous look on his face.
“No, I’m just saying, how come I don’t know such a great person? I mean, I went to a good university, I’ve lived a hard life, I’m at least average for my age, and if I don’t know about it, it’s not widely known in general. It’s not like I’m some kind of asshole.”
“Joe, don’t feel too bad, it’s usually the case that people don’t know, which is why I’m building his memorial to spread the word.”
“How on earth did this come about?”
“Hmm, it’s entirely my own idea, so it just flows.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“It seems to me that among those who fought for independence, those who were politically active in the anti-dictatorship struggle after liberation tended to be neglected. General Kim Hong-il was highly respected by the main forces of May 16, the 8th Army, but when they broke their promise to transfer civilian power, he was immediately at odds with them, and someone like Dr. Kim Chang-sook of Simsan was also involved in anti-dictatorship struggles.”
“Dr. Kim Chang-sook?”
“…”
Who’s to blame?
If you ask the general public who Kim Chang-sook is, most people under the age of 40 will have no idea, and those over 40 will think of the talent Kim Chang-sook.
It’s amazing.
“You’re not Mrs. Kim Chang-sook.”
“Yeah—.”
“Anyway, I think that’s kind of the characteristic of a lot of those people, that they didn’t look good to one of the successive regimes after the liberation, and of course they didn’t want to be seen.”
“I see, that’s something I’ve been firmly chastised for today, so I’m going to make sure this one is a success!”
“hahahaha, that’s right.”
“So you’re saying that we don’t have to use all of Song Hyun-dong’s land, right?”
“Yes, that’s right, just half of it should be enough, right?”
“Then let’s do it like this.”
“Huh? How?”
“By doing business with the city and Sasung.”
“Hmm? Seoul and Sasung?”
What do you mean?
Do business with the city and Saseong?
“The Seoul Metropolitan Government is thinking of turning the Songhyeon-dong site into a cultural park. As I said before, the huge cost of purchasing the land was a burden, so they kept pressuring Corian.”
“Hmm, what about Sasung?”
“The same goes for Sasung. Didn’t I tell you that the reason we bought that land a long time ago was to build an art museum?”
“It was, wasn’t it?”
“That reason is even more necessary now. Because the reason we wanted to build the museum was for the collection of the chairman who is now lying there.”
“Chairman Sasung Lee has so many collections?”
“Mr. Sasung’s love of cultural property and art is well known. From what I’ve heard, the chairman’s collection is over 20,000 pieces.”
“Wow, 20,000 pieces?”
That’s a lot.
“Yes, that’s why we needed a museum, and now we need it even more.”
“Why?”
“Sasung is thinking of donating the cultural property and artwork to the country, and by doing so, they hope to ride out the current bad publicity.”
“Ah—.”
“They’re things the vice chairman doesn’t need anyway. And the chairman has no chance of recovering.”
“I see—.”
“That’s why I’m proposing to use the Songhyeon-dong site with Seoul Metropolitan Government and Sasung Castle. If you put in a memorial to the independence fighters and an art museum displaying the chairman’s collection, it’s like blowing your nose without touching it. It would complete the cultural park we were thinking of in the first place.”
“Huh?”
“And it’s a good deal for Sasung too, since he’ll get the perfect site for the museum, which would cost a fortune to build with only Sasung’s money.”
“You’re right!”
“So are we. If we were to develop the whole thing ourselves, it would cost more money than necessary. If you add up the land and construction costs, it would cost a trillion won, and that’s not reasonable, no matter how much money the chairman has.”
Team Leader Cho, this guy is amazing.
I knew he was competent, but I needed to see him again.
“What should we do?”
“What do you want me to do? Of course, you should do what Team Leader Cho says.”
“hahahaha, thanks.”
“I thank you, but what do you think I should do, contact this vice president myself?”
“I think that’s a good idea, things go much easier when the final decision maker is in person. Besides, even though they’re not close, Vice Chairman Lee knows Yang-tae Joo, so it’ll be easier to buy the Songhyeon-dong site.”
“Okay, I’ll call him.”
I told him I’d see him often, but I didn’t expect him to ask me to see him so soon.
I immediately contacted Vice Chairman Lee Jung-ryong, who was happy to see me and asked me to come to the company immediately.
“Mr. Chairman, I’ll tell you the results as soon as I get them.”
“hehehe! Thank you for this.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Chairman. If there’s anything like this in the future, please don’t hesitate to tell me right away.”
“I see. By the way—.”
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
“That friend of mine—.”
“Who? Chulbong Cho, the team leader?”
“Yeah, he’s got a big name, but he’s pretty competent.”
“hahahahaha! Isn’t that right?”
“So, speaking of which, do you think we can borrow him?”
“Hmph—.”
From nob le mt l. co m
Jang Young-dong’s eyes must have caught Cho Chul-bong’s.
“Then let’s do it this way, that fellow’s specialty is originally asset management. When you need real estate, such as building a ladder center, just tell me, and I’ll have him actively help you.”
“hahahahaha, thanks.”
“You’re welcome, and I’ll be in touch.”
“Sure.”
After leaving the chairman’s room, I headed straight to Seocho-dong to discuss more details with Team Leader Cho Cheol-bong and Vice Chairman Lee Jung-ryong.
“hahahahaha! I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
“hahahahaha! That’s right.”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“Well, that’s the thing. I’m here to discuss the Songhyeon-dong property that Korean Air has.”
“What? Songhyeon-dong?”
“If this is the story of how it started—.”
I explained in detail to Vice Chairman Lee Jung-ryong what had happened today.
“Heh! You’re so great! What, you care about the independence fighters now?”
“No, it pisses me off, doesn’t it? That people I look up to are treated like that? I know it’s wrong, and I have the power to right that wrong, but it’s not like I’m going to stand by and let it happen.”
“But it’s going to take a lot of money, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s just money that our money management team in the U.S. would have to work with for a while. It’s not a lot of money to me.”
“Boo, I’m jealous, you have such deep pockets—.”
After all, the world is a long way off.
I didn’t expect the owner of a private castle to be envied for having so much money.
“Well, what do you think?”
“It’s a very interesting proposal, but how much space is Mr. Kang using?”
“He says it’s almost 12,000 square meters, so I’m guessing it’s half of that, but it’s about 5,000 square meters in terms of building area.”
“So we’re talking about 2,500 square meters?”
“Yeah, actually, everything is calculated efficiently as a common use, so if you take into account the floor area ratio, the parking garage that you have to share, etc., it’s actually more than 5,000 square feet, which is what we’re doing.”
Since it is a type 1 general residential area, the floor area ratio should be less than 200%, but it can be mitigated to some extent by considering the public interest.
Seoul, the local government that determines the floor area ratio, will also be involved.
Then, 2,500 pyeong or 5,000 pyeong is a very large building in terms of building area, which is usually thought of as floor space.
It will actually be more than twice as effective as if it were a separate business.
“And the cost?”
“Here’s the way I look at it. We’ll pay for 50% of the land purchase, and the rest will be split 50/50 between the private sector and the city, and we’ll each pay for the construction costs, and of course we’ll pay for the common areas in proportion.”
“Ho-oh, that sounds good, right?”
“It would probably cost half as much as if we went it alone. Besides, we have a memorial to the independence fighters, Sasung is an art museum, and Seoul City is a park, so the synergy would be huge.”
“Yeah, and we have Gyeongbokgung Palace and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art nearby!”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, hahahahaha!”
“hahahahaha! Great! We have nothing to lose, let’s do it.”
“Good call! hahahahaha!”
Only a fool would turn down an offer like this.
It’s a win-win project.
“Well, we’ll take care of the city of Seoul, so why don’t you take care of Corian?”
“What? Me?”
“Why? I thought you were acquainted with Mr. Joo Yang-tae, the president of Korian, or is it the chairman now?”
“That’s just—. hahahaha, okay, I’ll take care of that.”
Hmm? He doesn’t seem too keen on the idea.
“You’re not familiar with Chairman Zhu Yangtai, are you?”
“I know Yang Tae, but we’re not that close, and I don’t want to be.”
“What?”
“Hmmm, to be honest, it’s a bit like this floor. All of the 2-year-olds are pretty much on a first-name basis, which is to be expected since they see each other so often as children.”
“I suppose so.”
“But even in the business world, the groups they hang out with are a little different. It’s very much influenced by their group ranking.”
“Ah, so, for example, the top five chaebols hang out with the top five chaebols?”
“Not necessarily, but generally. It’s usually the core of the top five, and then the top ten hang out together. It’s not intentional, but it’s weird.”
“So doesn’t that mean that Koreans are at a level where they can hang out too?”
“It’s not about ranking, it’s about family atmosphere, for example, I’m very close to Jang Woo-sung, the vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, so it’s the same group level, it’s the same family atmosphere. It’s the same with the Eunsung Group. I’m very close to Ms. Koo Jung-mo of Eunsung, even though there’s quite an age gap between us.”
“Aha!”
This is kind of interesting, isn’t it?
The backstory of the chaebol family.
“I’m also best friends with the eldest son of the Hwana Group, famous for their gunpowder. He’s a proper kid, he doesn’t get into trouble. On the other hand, I rarely hang out with people like Roche. The atmosphere is so Japanese over there.”
“Oh—.”
“I guess what I’m saying is that it’s not necessarily a ranking thing, because I personally get along with kids from families that are over 30, but with Koreans, it’s different.”
“Like what?”
“I’m just saying that the people are different.”
“How do you mean?”
“…”
This is the funny thing about persistence.
“Humph, well, honestly, 2-year-olds can be a little spoiled, but that family is a little… well, spoiled, I guess you could say.”
“Aha!”
“That’s why I avoid them as much as possible, as well as my other friends. We can’t really talk to them, and they get into a lot of trouble, so we don’t want to be around them.”
“hahahaha, I know what you mean.”
It seems that all people have similar eyes.
Whether they were rich or poor.