Wings of Innovation and Pillars of Philanthropy
The drone research at the Mobile Application Processor High Tech Research Institute was already highly specialized and advanced. The early team that had once thrown things together by trial and error was long gone. Now, specialized teams divided by expertise worked diligently on their respective parts. There were four main divisions: the Frame Team, which researched drone skeletons and materials; the Wireless Team, responsible for wireless control and data communications; the Attitude Fly-by-Wire Team, focused on improving flight stability; and the team developing digital cameras for drones. Each team had between ten and over thirty developers, meaning more than a hundred elite researchers were dedicated to a single drone.
“If the teams are divided so strictly, doesn’t that make inter-team communication difficult?”
“There was some concern about that, but we made transitions between teams flexible and created various channels for dialogue through weekly regular meetings and ID Talk chats. We’ve never experienced any problems caused by communication issues.”
Anton, the overall head of drone development, answered Yoo Jae-won’s question promptly. Jae-won nodded. He had only asked out of curiosity; he hadn’t received any reports indicating problems.
“Then I’ll move on to the next slide.”
Kaspersky, who had been standing idly by, resumed the presentation. It was an explanation of the MK3 model, the first to be completed after the research became this specialized. By adopting a new lightweight yet strong material and increasing battery capacity, flight time had been extended by 10 percent. The strengthened controller output achieved quicker response times and a longer control range. Combined with an attitude control program linked to four motors and the embedded system that drove it, the drone now possessed enough stability to avoid crashing even in sudden strong winds. Compared to the very simple model unveiled at the expo, the MK3 had begun to resemble the early drones Jae-won remembered.
“The CIA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are showing tremendous interest.”
The drones primarily used by the U.S. Department of Defense were large models capable of carrying missiles, but quadcopter-type drones were extremely well suited for reconnaissance. Those who had immediately recognized the strategic applications when the expo model was revealed had expressed various forms of interest in ID Group.
“They even said they would invest if possible.”
“We’re not short on money. We decline.”
“Understood!”
Yoo Jae-won rejected the offer outright. If they accepted investment, outsiders would inevitably interfere and things would go off track. Even so, their interest did not seem to be waning yet.
“They’re likely to become our biggest customers going forward, so please don’t treat them too dismissively.”
“Yes, sir!”
After finishing the status report, Kaspersky moved on to the presentation for the MK4 model currently under development.
“The areas we will focus on intensively for the MK4 model are digital cameras, flight-assist sensors, and data communications.”
Yoo Jae-won nodded. As if they had read future technological trends, the drone development team had correctly identified the most critical core functions and was already moving to implement them.
Digital cameras paired exceptionally well with drones. Aerial photography was still an expensive technique even now; at minimum, a helicopter had to be mobilized. Combining a digital camera with a drone would make aerial photography—once impossible for ordinary people—affordable for anyone. Yet what captured Jae-won’s attention even more intensely than that was the term “flight-assist sensors.”
“If a drone is operating over open plains, there’s no problem, but in areas dense with forests or buildings, the issues become significant. Flight capability varies greatly depending on the pilot’s skill with the controller. That breaks the premise you mentioned, Chairman—that anyone should be able to use it easily. So we’ve been thinking hard about whether there’s a way to preserve that ease of use. Then we found the answer in a paper by Dr. Amnon Shashua.”
Finally, the core point had arrived. Dr. Amnon Shashua was such a famous figure that there was no need to consult the Memory Palace. He was the founder of Mobileye, a company that developed various sensors for automobiles and the control systems that utilized them. Initially, they had released ultrasonic sensors for regular cars; later, they created optical sensors for autonomous vehicles. There had even been talk that without Mobileye, the commercialization of self-driving cars would have been delayed by thirty years. The company had achieved such massive innovation that Intel had acquired it for a huge sum and turned it into a subsidiary.
Dr. Amnon Shashua’s idea was simple: mount ultrasonic sensors in a car’s blind spots to prepare for dangers the driver might miss. At first, they only made a sound when something was detected in the blind spot, but as the technology advanced, the system began to intervene directly in the vehicle’s drivetrain, allowing the car itself to respond before the driver could. Ultimately, image sensors monitored the surrounding environment in real time and reflected that data in driving, laying the foundation for fully autonomous AI driving.
The drone team’s intention was similar. Drones moved at considerable speed, and the longer the flight distance, the less time a pilot had to see and respond directly. Therefore, before the pilot could manually operate the controls, they wanted the drone itself to detect danger in advance, evade it, or come to a stop to avoid risk. The ultrasonic sensors developed by Dr. Amnon Shashua would be used for this purpose.
“We were lucky. I’ve spoken with Dr. Amnon a few times at academic conferences, so as soon as I saw his name on the paper, I contacted him right away.”
“And?”
“Fortunately, he also showed great interest in our proposal and was positive about collaboration.”
Anton was decisive. He had already met with Dr. Amnon Shashua, discussed matters, and brought several options before Yoo Jae-won. While joining ID High Tech was difficult, there had been no resistance to providing his technology through licensing or investment. A windfall had landed in their lap. Jae-won had no intention of bringing the doctor into the High Tech Research Institute. By now, the man would have already made plans to start his own business. In fact, a Russian businessman who recognized the potential of the company he founded had invested millions of dollars, leaving no room for interference. When drawing up the master plan, Yoo Jae-won had considered Mobileye to some extent, but in the early stages there had seemed to be no opening to wedge himself in. He had even planned to snatch the company up later, before it went public and was sold to Intel. Thanks to the well-connected Anton, however, things had become much easier.
“Of course we’ll invest.”
There were many ways to utilize Dr. Amnon’s sensor technology, but there was no need to explain them all here. A single word—that they would invest—was enough.
The presentation continued in a warm atmosphere. Approval was given for in-house development of small digital camera technology and for developing a wireless communication method to transmit high-quality photos and video data generated by the cameras to a PC. Various other research projects were also approved, and budgets for carrying them out were firmly allocated. Yoo Jae-won’s expectations were high. The drone research alone would spawn an enormous amount of derivative technology. If it succeeded, technological revolutions would occur across multiple fields, and he hoped that day would come soon.
The year-end settlement that had begun successfully at the ID High Tech Research Institute continued the next day. And here, Yoo Jae-won encountered an unexpectedly awkward situation.
Ahem, this is Yoo Bong-man, Chairman of the ID Foundation.
Today was the ID Foundation’s turn. Yet the person beginning the presentation on the projector screen was none other than his father, Yoo Bong-man. Though Yoo Bong-man held various positions, including head of the Deokjin School Foundation and president of the Handball Association, the highest among them was undoubtedly his role as Chairman of the ID Foundation. The ID Foundation’s annual budget alone reached hundreds of billions of won. If corruption crept into such a massive foundation, it would be disastrous, so Yoo Jae-won had chosen the most trustworthy person—his father. Of course, he knew his father lacked practical experience, so he had dispatched several talented individuals from ID Group. That was why he had assumed the year-end settlement would be reported by the working-level staff, but his father had appeared in person. Caught off guard, Yoo Jae-won could not react immediately. Instead, the group executives seated beside him, including President Remington, greeted Yoo Bong-man with warm applause.
“Oh, um! Are you going to present in person, Chairman?”
Yes! Is there some kind of problem?
“Ah, no, not at all.”
At least it was fortunate that the connection was via video. The ID Foundation had not been created to make money, so the year-end settlement did not involve checking for profits. Whether funds were being spent properly was verified daily through audits by the audit office, external accounting firms, and reports from internal whistleblowers. This meeting was simply to hear reports on the various charitable activities conducted that year and plans for the future. Yoo Jae-won had come with a light heart, but his father’s sudden appearance had caused a slight earthquake in his pupils.
Then I’ll begin the report.
The budget executed in 1994 amounted to approximately 240 billion won, and they had accomplished more than any charitable organization in the world. Ninety percent came from donations by ID Group, while the remaining 10 percent consisted of voluntary contributions from people moved by the ID Foundation’s charitable work. The single largest expenditure item was support for children with intractable diseases, totaling $100 million—80 billion won. There had been some controversy due to manipulation reports and recommendations, but the project had concluded successfully. Thanks to this, public response had been extremely enthusiastic. Inquiries about continuing the support program for children with intractable diseases next year continued without pause, and private donations received this year were also concentrated on that item.
“Following the Chairman’s opinion, we’ll continue the support program for children with intractable diseases going forward.”
After all, the ID Foundation’s scale would only grow, never shrink. That was because the size of donations was proportional to the scale of ID Group, and there was no chance of ID Group shrinking. Preparations against manipulation had now been thoroughly established, so it seemed reasonable to make support for children with intractable diseases a regular budget item.
I thought you’d say that.
Next was the scholarship program. His father advanced the slide. The first thing that caught the eye on the screen was the figure 69.8 billion won—the total amount spent on scholarships in 1994. While support for medical expenses of children with intractable diseases was a global initiative, the scholarship program was limited to the United States and Korea. This was because those were the primary stages of ID Group’s activities. Through the scholarship program, they aimed to secure outstanding talent as future growth engines, so concentration on those two countries was inevitable.
That said, scholarships were not awarded solely based on grades. Since universities already operated many merit-based scholarships, the ID Foundation’s scholarships did not place heavy emphasis on academic performance. There was no weighting for scores; as long as a student maintained slightly above-average grades, it was acceptable. Thanks to this, in Korea, the number of students selected as scholarship recipients far exceeded the number chosen as beneficiaries of support for children with intractable diseases. Naturally, the program was extremely popular among university students. Moreover, rumors circulated that becoming an ID scholarship student would earn extra points when applying to ID Group, causing the program’s popularity to explode. Whether it was true or not, the basic strategy among today’s university students was to apply first and ask questions later.
This year was also when the Deokjin Foundation in the United States officially began its think tank activities.
Though called a think tank, the Deokjin Foundation’s actual activities were to support pro-Korea politicians in the United States. It had been planned with reference to the activities of Japan’s famous Sasakawa Foundation, and a large number of lobbyists had been hired to begin supporting influential politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties. In addition, support was provided for promising political talents who would grow in influence in the future. It was true that there was still a gap in scale compared to the Sasakawa Foundation, but they planned to continue supporting it steadily to expand its size significantly. Of course, pro-Japan activities in the United States had begun long ago and could not be surpassed overnight, but the situation would be far better than the extremely tilted playing field of the past.
Interestingly, the name Deokjin Foundation had caused a minor incident in the United States. Deokjin was simply the name of a village. However, when creating the logo, emphasizing the letters D and J made it look like the DJ Foundation to American eyes. The most famous Korean politician in the United States at the time was former lawmaker Kim Dae-jung, whose initials were DJ, leading to the misunderstanding that it was a support organization created by the Donggyo-dong faction. The logo was quickly revised and the matter ended as a minor incident, but if left as is, it could have caused significant repercussions.
Besides this, Yoo Bong-man continued with a relatively detailed explanation of the ID Foundation’s various activities for another twenty minutes. There were investments in malaria and AIDS treatments—necessary worldwide but lacking profitability and thus underfunded—and investments in the arts. Of course, all these moves had been carried out under Yoo Jae-won’s instructions and served as groundwork to achieve multiple benefits at once. The pharmaceutical field carried even greater risk than film investment. It was not uncommon for a new drug developed at the cost of hundreds of billions of won to fail just before launch due to unexpected side effects. But that did not apply to Yoo Jae-won. Hitting a perfect score every time was entirely possible. However, being too overt would itself become a problem, so the most natural method had been chosen—the current approach. As a bonus, these investments had also prepared a foothold for entering the pharmaceutical field whenever the time came. It might seem reckless now, but once the seeds sown this time began to sprout fresh shoots, the story would be completely different.
Lastly, there is Kim & Jung Law Firm.
The 1994 achievements of Kim & Jung Law Firm could be summed up in a single victory: the successful lawsuit on behalf of victims of forced labor and comfort women from the Japanese colonial period. However, while focusing on that lawsuit as the main case, the firm had also handled hundreds of other trials. The purpose behind establishing Kim & Jung Law Firm had been to support those lacking access to legal services, and this was the result of faithfully carrying out that mission. When ordinary citizens and small business owners faced injustice, Kim & Jung had become the first place they turned to. Currently, the firm had about twenty lawyers, and next year they planned to significantly expand the number of partner lawyers to support even more people.
The ID Foundation’s year-end settlement received a passing grade. Not because his father had presented it, but because the virtues of a nonprofit charitable organization were efficient support, preventing complaints about beneficiary selection, and thoroughly eliminating corruption—and the ID Foundation had clearly upheld these virtues.
“Yes, I’ve heard everything. You’ve all worked hard this year. Thank you.”
Haha, it’s nothing compared to what our Chairman does. I’m always watching with pride.
After exchanging mutual compliments, father and son smiled contentedly at each other, bringing the ID Foundation’s year-end settlement to a close.
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Shall we call it a day and head home?”
Once the meeting was wrapped up, Yoo Jae-won immediately called for everyone to leave. It was still morning in Seoul, but San Francisco was approaching quitting time. Starting tomorrow, year-end settlements for the group’s core businesses—from Android to ID Entertainment—would begin. Unlike the relatively relaxed settlements for nonprofit organizations, these would be scrutinized under a microscope with a scalpel. His judgment was that returning home early to rest thoroughly would be beneficial in many ways.