Chapter 119
Chapter 119
119.
The enemy's beacon rises (1)
【MH Electronics' new product, design theft from other companies? LAOJIA, China's largest electronics company, recently announced that the design and numerous technologies of MH Electronics' latest notebook and mobile phone were stolen.】
【A South Korean conglomerate stole Chinese product designs? Regarding LAOJIA's announcement, which began with Chinese reports, MH Group has only responded that it will make an official announcement after confirming the exact facts...】
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The sudden unpleasant news shook MH Group, leaving MH Electronics behind.
In response, Myung Joong-hwan directly summoned Myung In-chul, the president of MH Electronics, and everyone involved in the design and technology of the new product to the MH Group headquarters.
The headquarters' conference room was filled with these people, and a heavy atmosphere flowed.
"Why is everyone silent? Do you have nothing to say regarding the design and technology patents? Or are you saying you really stole them!"
Frankly, what could they say to the chairman in this situation? Myung Joong-hwan's scolding continued, but no one could easily step forward.
Of course, the initial report had been submitted, but there was no accurate solution. So, Myung Joong-hwan had no choice but to be even more angry.
Then, Myung In-chul, who had been silent, cautiously stepped forward.
"...Chairman. As I mentioned, we have not yet been able to locate the responsible designer and researcher."
The situation had only broken out less than a day ago. Time was tight, but the urgency was real, so Myung Joong-hwan was frustrated.
"The design team leader took a week of long-term leave a week ago, and the research manager disappeared two weeks ago?! Right before the new product launch. Isn't that openly planning to cause trouble!"
The timing was too perfect. In that situation, MH Electronics had even lost its immediate means of response.
"We will try to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible."
"What countermeasure are you talking about in this situation?"
"......"
Even the official announcement was a problem right now. If the fact that the new product managers had disappeared leaked out, the suspicion would surely turn into certainty.
Silence lingered in the conference room for a while.
Then, with a sigh, Myung In-chul glanced at Myung Joong-hwan and the people inside. In fact, he knew about this situation in advance.
It was all the work of Kwak Chi-young of the TSF Korean branch.
However, he did not know the detailed parts of the plan. So, he only found out about the disappearance of the managers after checking carefully.
'Just how far... does the reach I don't know about extend...'
Myung In-chul gritted his teeth, knowing that TSF had secured people in MH Electronics.
Meanwhile, the conference room door was knocked on, and Im Hee-yeon entered.
"Chairman. The whereabouts of design team leader Go Seok-ju and technology research manager An Dong-won have been found. Both of them left the country immediately after taking long-term leave."
As soon as Im Hee-yeon heard the news, she moved under Myung Joong-hwan's instructions.
At that report, a sigh escaped from Myung Joong-hwan's mouth.
"Where did they go?"
"Go Seok-ju went to Switzerland, and An Dong-won went to Russia. We have contacted them and sent people there."
This meant that she had moved the special security team members under her command. As they used to be part of the Strategic Planning Headquarters, which secretly moved within the group for audit duties, their tracking skills were excellent.
"How long will it take?"
"It won't be easy because there is a gap of a week to two weeks."
"Haa..."
The two seemed to have deliberately hidden themselves. As Myung Joong-hwan's sigh escaped once again, the atmosphere in the conference room became even heavier.
"I think it would be a good idea to request an investigation into industrial technology leakage through the National Intelligence Service's connections."
At the same time, Myung In-chul flared up and stood up.
"Im Hee-yeon! Are you saying you're going to make MH Electronics' affairs public?!"
"I'm thinking of conducting the investigation secretly. If not, is there any other way right now? The people who leaked the design and technology have fled overseas, and it's unclear whether we can even catch them."
"But the problem is whether that secret can be kept! It's also a matter of determining responsibility!"
"Then should we just stand still and do something only after LAOJIA sues us and we lose?"
"So, I'm saying I'm going to find a way..."
Thump—
Myung Joong-hwan slammed the conference room table with his fist. At the same time, Myung In-chul, who could not finish his sentence, had no choice but to shut his mouth.
"Im Hee-yeon's words... does that mean that's the only way right now?"
"Aside from the design, I think the National Intelligence Service will contact us, already recognizing the seriousness of the problem with the technology patent part."
The technology patent infringement announced by LAOJIA in China was the 30,000mA Slim Battery developed by MH Electronics this time. Of course, there is no big problem because any company can develop and release it based on capacity and size alone.
The key is the MHD323B Chip that maximizes battery retention.
Normally, if 20,000mA lasts about 24 hours, the MHD323B Chip developed by MH Electronics increases battery usage by up to 48 hours.
As it is a next-generation technology in the battery sector, the National Intelligence Service could not help but pay close attention to it, as Im Hee-yeon said.
"Haa... Still, we have the technology patent, so wouldn't that allow us to defend ourselves in the first place?"
As the MHD323B Chip technology was very important, MH Electronics proceeded with patent applications at the same time as development.
As Myung Joong-hwan also paid attention to the project, he clearly remembered that part.
However, Myung In-chul's expression was not good. Myung Joong-hwan's brow furrowed more and more as he saw it from the side, and his mouth opened.
"...Don't tell me, there's a problem with that too?"
"...An Dong-won was also in charge of the patent. I checked just in case, and it turned out that the patent documents we received were forged."
Thud—
In the end, Myung Joong-hwan picked up the bottled water in front of him and threw it at Myung In-chul.
The bottled water hit Myung In-chul's head accurately and fell to the floor. The atmosphere became heavy and even turned savage.
"Didn't you even check online or by phone?"
"That's..."
Myung In-chul also called his subordinates at MH Electronics headquarters earlier and questioned them about the same thing. It was something that had happened because everyone had left the work to An Dong-won, who was in charge, and had not checked properly.
Of course, there was also the fact that An Dong-won had been trusted unconditionally because he had been highly trusted in the company.
Myung Joong-hwan sighed even more deeply at Myung In-chul's actions, who could not continue his words properly.
"How could no one know that one employee was doing such a thing? Are all the people gathered here idiots? President Myung In-chul! What are you doing in that position?"
"...I have no excuse."
Myung In-chul did not think that TSF would go that far. In his honest feelings, he wanted to grab Kwak Chi-young by the collar and shake him right away, but he had no choice but to endure it because he was already in a situation where he could not back out.
"So, if the documents are forged, does that mean you didn't even submit them for patent examination?"
"I think that's probably the case."
The period required for patent application examination alone is about 1 year and 6 months. Because it takes so long, MH Electronics had barely submitted the examination application in time for the new product launch.
But hearing that even that was in vain, Myung Joong-hwan felt the back of his neck getting hot.
"Do you think it makes sense that no one knew that a researcher named An Dong-woon or An Dong-won was doing such a thing? Are their heads full of nothing but rocks?"
"We also checked with the Patent Office during the process. But it seems that there was someone there who was also bought off, whether it was An Dong-won's trick or not."
"So, what happened to that employee?"
"He was already... gone."
It could not be denied that everything was planned to stab MH Electronics in the back.
"So, the only way right now is to catch those guys?"
Myung Joong-hwan asked, turning his gaze to Im Hee-yeon.
"Frankly, in the current situation, there is a high probability that China has already received a patent application for our technology or is in the process of examining it. Both cases will inevitably be a fatal blow to our MH Group."
The design problem could be fought somehow, but the technology patent was on a different level. If they were pushed back by LAOJIA, the launch of new products would be disrupted, and at the same time, it was obvious that MH Electronics' image and financial damage would be enormous.
Even now, the stock price is falling due to the reports released through LAOJIA, so countermeasures were needed in some way.
"Im Hee-yeon."
"Yes, Chairman."
"I will entrust everything about this matter to Im Hee-yeon. Find those two guys no matter what. Even if we fail, we must put those who are responsible in front of us."
It would be good if the problem was solved, but the possibility was slim.
So, Im Hee-yeon paused for a moment and opened her mouth.
"...I understand."
"And President Myung In-chul."
"......"
Myung In-chul quietly turned his gaze to Myung Joong-hwan without answering.
In the even quieter atmosphere, Myung Joong-hwan stared intently at him.
"President Myung In-chul is dismissed from the positions of president of both MH Electronics and MH Construction as of this moment. Focus on headquarters work for the time being."
"Ah, Father!"
"This is a company! Can't you call me properly!"
"Chairman! This is something that happened because of my mistake. So, you must allow me to take responsibility."
Myung Joong-hwan's face was so distorted that it was reminiscent of Asura.
"Responsibility? Are you talking about responsibility in this situation! I'm holding back from wanting to cut off the heads of all the guys in this room right now!"
"I understand that Im Hee-yeon is leading the way. But if I'm not here now, how will other things work?"
"You can leave it to the vice presidents for a while. And don't be mistaken that the company won't work without you."
The meeting ended like that.
Gu Sang-ho and Im Hee-yeon, the secretary and bodyguard, followed Myung Joong-hwan, who got up from his seat, and went up to the chairman's office together.
Myung Joong-hwan sat down on the sofa as if collapsing and sighed even more than before.
"Call Shinwoo."
"...Shinwoo? What's wrong?"
"I have something to ask, so call him."
Im Hee-yeon, who was worried for a moment, immediately made a call.
Soon after, Shinwoo entered with a knock.
"You called?"
"Sit down for now. You too, Hee-yeon."
Im Hee-yeon, who had been restless, sat down next to Myung Joong-hwan with Shinwoo, who walked over calmly.
"I saw the article in the morning. There was an incident at the film set that MH Future Security was investing in?"
Perhaps because he could no longer hear Shinwoo's news through the bodyguards, he belatedly confirmed it through the article.
"It was a small matter."
"I heard that you saved the leading actress by throwing yourself? And you even caught the culprit."
The incident, which was resolved quickly, surprised Myung Joong-hwan once again.
Of course, Im Hee-yeon, who was sitting next to him, was the same. However, she was too busy with MH Electronics' affairs from the morning to ask.
"It was thanks to the fact that those guys were sloppy. But what's wrong? I don't think you called me about that."
When Shinwoo withdrew the words that seemed to have been thrown out of courtesy and asked about the main point, Myung Joong-hwan's mouth twisted subtly.
"I think you know the situation."
"Are you talking about MH Electronics?"
The message Jang Man-soo sent in the morning was about that.
The announcement by LAOJIA in China targeting MH Electronics for design theft and technology patent infringement. LEUCO caught the official letter that LAOJIA had sent to MH Group in advance and sent an alert.
"That's right. The situation is quite dire."
"In what way?"
"Hee-yeon, explain it."
Shinwoo heard about the current situation that had been exchanged in the conference room through Im Hee-yeon. He let out a slight groan because it was a very serious story.
"It's definitely not good. If the patent has even been transferred to China, it's obvious that we'll lose even if we sue... To offset that even a little, we'll need people named An Dong-won and Go Seok-ju. But we won't be able to prevent MH Electronics from suffering greatly."
"That's accurate. So, I want to hear your opinion. Is there any other way in this situation?"
Until now, Shinwoo had created solutions for any problem and showed them as results. Of course, there is no solution to the current situation no matter how much he thinks about it, but he asked with the feeling of grabbing at straws.
"If you think about it easily, the best solution would be to create something better than what you have already developed."
"If that were possible, we wouldn't be racking our brains like this."
Technology development is not something that can be completed in a day or two.
The MHD323B Chip was also the best result created by MH Electronics researchers through countless trials and errors over several years.
For a moment, Myung Joong-hwan let out a hollow laugh.
Then, Shinwoo smiled at Myung Joong-hwan.