An Offer You Can't Refuse
Let me tell you about the time I met the Chairman in South America.
The day the Korean business delegation arrived, nothing of substance happened. We sat down over coffee, got a look at one another's faces, and traded a few easy remarks. That was the whole of it.
Even so, I didn't let my guard down. The investment itself was locked in — the scale of it was not. How much conviction I could plant in them here would decide how deep they reached into their pockets. And this wasn't just any room. The chairman of Hyunhwa himself was sitting in it.
So I did everything I could to leave them with the best possible impression, and the next day I even tagged along on the site inspections. Words are a slippery thing — the difference between one syllable and the next can change everything — and I wanted us speaking Korean, with no interpreter cushioning the exchange.
At this rate I'm basically a salesman.
At any rate, the first place we arrived was a vast stretch of flatland, a twenty-minute drive from Port Libertad. It had originally been little better than wasteland, but they'd cleared the scrub and finished the grading to lure in Korean companies — something resembling an industrial park.
"This is the place."
"As you can see, access to the port, the airport, and Libertad itself is excellent. You won't find a better site for a factory."
President Choi of Taeyang Apparel, who was looking to relocate his factories, adjusted his glasses, surveyed the surroundings, and spoke.
"The land is certainly wide and fine. Operating a factory here, however, may present a few problems."
A fastidious answer. He wasn't going to be an easy sell.
"The condition of the roads is poor... and when it comes to constructing a new plant... on the way in, I noticed the power situation..."
In a carefully offhand tone, he needled at the gaps in our infrastructure. I'd seen this coming. I laid out what I'd prepared.
"In exchange, I'll give you benefits substantial enough to offset the infrastructure you don't have."
"Benefits, you say. What sort of benefits?"
"For a start, for as long as the factory is in operation, we'll lease you this site free of charge for thirty years. In practical terms, the cost of securing the land drops to zero."
President Choi's eyebrows twitched.
"There's a road expansion in the works, and the real concern seems to be power... We're currently expanding the capacity of the Libertad thermal power plant, and we'll build a dedicated transmission line for the industrial park to guarantee first-priority supply. On top of that, I'll put a clause in the contract: any losses caused by a blackout, the government covers."
He said nothing.
"And last of all..."
I threw the final punch at a man who was blinking at me in open surprise.
"San Marcos has a corporate tax rate of just ten percent. I can't say what it might become down the road, but if Taeyang Apparel invests, I can give you a written pledge that the rate stays frozen for ten years."
"...Those are very fine terms. I'll take this back to headquarters and discuss it in a positive light."
He didn't snap at the bait. He kept running the numbers to the end. A professional was a professional.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
The second inspection site was a stretch of rugged mountain country along the Central Mountain Range. It was only two hours from the industrial park, but there was no proper road, and we barely made it in a rattling SUV.
President Park of Chosun Zinc climbed out and pressed the dirt with his shoe.
"This is the area where the geological survey was conducted."
"There's nothing here."
"That's only how it looks. From what we've determined, a vein of nickel and cobalt runs the length of this range. The reserves are considerable."
"Oh? Is that so? Well, if Chosun Zinc surveyed it, that's worth trusting."
"The problem, as before, is transport."
President Park pointed at the brutal ridgelines.
"Hauling ore from a mountain valley like this all the way to the port, the logistics costs could swallow the profits whole. The late Prime Minister had said he'd put together a solution for this..."
He looked at me as if to ask how, exactly, I planned to fix it.
"You don't need to worry about that. A four-lane industrial road from here down to the southern port is scheduled to break ground. We're looking at completion in a year."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. The design work is already finished. We break ground next month. The high-voltage grid the mine will need will be laid along with the road."
President Park's expression softened considerably.
"As soon as I return to headquarters, I'll send the legal team and a due diligence team."
It had gone well. Both companies had reacted positively. Tangible results wouldn't be far behind.
And yet...
Why did this old man even come?
I stole glances at Jung Soo-man, who had followed us through the entire inspection without saying a single word. At the factory site, at the mine — he just stood with his hands clasped behind his back, admiring the scenery or staring straight at me. Not a single business demand out of him.
The chairman of a conglomerate, at his age, getting on a plane and flying to the other side of the world just to sightsee in silence?
It made no sense.
He's got something up his sleeve. He has to.
The reason Chairman Chung had come to San Marcos, I would hear that evening at the banquet.
"You've had a long day. I hope the food agrees with you."
"Heh-heh. I never thought I'd see japchae and braised short ribs on the far side of the earth. And it tastes excellent, too."
The meal went on in a warm, easy atmosphere. President Choi and Park were absorbed in detailed working-level talks with Isabella and the other Senior Presidential Secretaries.
"Chairman, have you eaten well?"
"Very well, thank you."
"For a man who's eaten well, your plate is awfully clean... If it isn't to your taste, I'll have something else brought out."
"Heh-heh. When a man grows old, his appetite shrinks. Another glass of wine will suffice."
"Please, speak comfortably, Chairman. I'm young enough to be your grandnephew."
"You are a man who bears millions of citizens upon his shoulders. One does not address such a man casually."
Chairman Chung answered with a deep chuckle. Prodding any further looked about as useful as driving a needle into stone, so I decided to come to the point.
"Chairman... might I ask why you came all this way?"
He didn't fly out here to play tourist.
"President Choi and President Park both have clear purposes. But you, Chairman, didn't say a word all day. You didn't look like a man who wanted for anything. And more than that..."
Chairman Jung Soo-man turned his wineglass slowly in his fingers. The red liquid spiraled inside the bowl.
"If you were here to invest, wouldn't it make more sense for one of your affiliate presidents to come, rather than the chairman himself?"
That was the heart of it. If the goal had been to invest in San Marcos, the right person to send was an affiliate chief with a team of working-level staff — not a chairman well past eighty. Of course, Chairman Chung hadn't come entirely alone, but the people with him were closer to a secretarial entourage than a deal team.
A brief exchange of looks, and then Chairman Chung opened his mouth.
"Have you ever heard the saying that a merchant looks at the goods, a businessman looks at the market, and a great merchant looks at the man?"
"...I believe I have."
"I spent the entire day watching Your Excellency."
"Watching me?"
He leaned in toward me.
"I did not come here to invest in a country called San Marcos. I came to see whether Your Excellency is a man worth investing in. Hyunhwa may have no shortage of talent, but no one in the group has a better eye for people than I do. So I had to come myself."
What is he talking about now?
"You're saying you want to invest... in me?"
"That is correct."
For a moment, I was too stunned to be outraged. Offering to "invest" in a public official was just a polite way of saying you'd like to hand him a bribe. And he was saying it to me — the man whose job it was to crack down on that exact thing.
"...Chairman, I think you have the wrong idea. I'm not someone you invest in. And I'm not someone who should be taking investments, either."
"You misunderstand me. I don't mean a bribe. I mean filling what Your Excellency needs."
"And how would you know what I need?"
"The development of San Marcos, is it not?"
"That's only natural for a politician—"
"It is not natural at all. If every politician thought that way, why would there be corruption? Why would there be embezzlement?"
I had no answer for that.
"Your Excellency genuinely wants San Marcos to develop. Am I wrong?"
"...You're not."
Because that's the only way I get to retire and live out a quiet FIRE life at my leisure.
The question felt as if he'd reached straight into my chest and looked around. I had no choice but to nod.
Having heard my answer, Chairman Chung took a sip of wine and said something out of nowhere.
"How does Your Excellency believe the Miracle on the Han River came about?"
"Well. The blood, sweat, and effort of the people, I suppose."
A textbook answer.
"Correct. They clawed their way out of a filthy, crushing poverty by sheer effort."
He drank again.
"Then how do you believe that effort succeeded? Effort alone does not make a thing succeed, does it?"
"W...ell?"
"Because the captain with his hands on the wheel made the right choices."
"The captain?"
"Yes. The captain who took the helm of that enormous ship called a nation, and drove it forward without so much as a blink, even when the storm was tearing the deck apart. When I was young, Korea had a captain like that."
A strange fervor had entered Chairman Chung's voice.
"If he spread a map and said, put a highway through here, mountains split and the road appeared. If he ordered a shipyard built, factories rose out of the mudflats. Environmental impact assessments? Public hearings? The opposition party? There was no such thing in those days. Everyone simply moved as one, of one mind and one will, for the development of the nation."
"Hold on."
That's a military dictatorship.
"And in the midst of all that, countless companies were born and countless companies died. Some called it too harsh. I never agreed. When the nation grows, companies grow, and the people live well."
"That's..."
Easy to say when Hyunhwa was one of the biggest beneficiaries... I didn't have the guts to finish the sentence. I kept my mouth shut, and Chairman Chung looked me straight in the eye.
"I saw his shadow in Your Excellency."
I said nothing.
"The resolve to purge the opposition and put criminals to forced labor. The drive that doesn't so much as glance at parliament or public opinion. Is that not exactly the same man?"
A misunderstanding. And a dangerously wrong one.
"Chairman, I think you have the wrong idea. I am not a dictator. These are emergency circumstances, so my authority is a little stronger than usual — that's all. Once the country is stable, I intend to follow democratic procedure."
"Heh-heh. Democratic procedure."
"And I have no intention of staying long. Ten years. Just ten years to lay the foundation, then I retire and spend my days fishing."
I meant every word. Chairman Chung heard me out, chuckled, and paid it no mind at all.
"That, too, is the same. When he first took power, he promised a transfer to civilian government."
"No, I really—"
"But he never laid down his power, not until the day he died. No — he could not lay it down. For the sake of the nation."
"...And then he got shot and went to heaven, didn't he?"
"That isn't particularly important."
"I'm sorry?"
Then what is?
They say people get stubborn with age...
Talking any further would be like preaching to a brick wall. I eased back a step. Looking at Chairman Chung — who, for reasons I couldn't quite name, struck me as the sort of man who'd enjoy a good mass rally — I made up my mind.
I need to stay away from this.
No matter how badly we needed the money, I did not want to join hands with a man this extreme. You never knew what he'd say later, and in my experience, when something went wrong, people like him had a habit of seeing it from only one angle.
"I'm sorry, but the investment—"
I was on the verge of turning Chairman Chung down.
I stared at him, speechless.
He had just made an offer I could not refuse.