Chapter 32: Research Investment
Chapter 32: Research Investment
There's so much delicious food in the world, but galbi was truly special.
I’d wanted to try it since I was a kid but never could. It wasn't until I started college that I finally got to taste it.
“Eat up.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Oh Myeong-woo, back from visiting his parents in the countryside, brought over some galbi-jjim they had made to my semi-basement apartment.
Eating the sweet braised ribs, I felt the happiness of life, the simple joy of being alive.
Suwon king galbi.
The unmarinated ribs are delicious, and so are the marinated ones.
‘Galbi is always the right choice.’
After eating my fill, I couldn't fight off the food coma.
I slept soundly in Lee Jong-yeop’s car and then opened my eyes.
“Ugh, yawn.”
Stretching in the parked car, I was startled to see Jo Soo-ah still in the back seat.
She smiled bashfully and said,
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah. I slept a little too deeply. Where's Jong-yeop?”
“He said he had something to report to the company and went in by himself.”
“I see.”
I looked at my watch; it was already approaching 5:30.
Time to start thinking about heading home.
Professor Paul from Johns Hopkins University was scheduled to arrive at seven, and I was supposed to pick him up from the airport.
Making a professor who came all the way from the U.S. wait would be incredibly rude.
“Soo-ah. I have somewhere I need to be. I don't think I'll have time to go up to the office. Could you call Team Leader An and tell him I'm leaving for the day from here?”
“Yes!”
Leaving for the day from the company parking lot because I was short on time. It sounded a bit strange, but I was in a situation where every ten minutes counted.
I walked straight to my parked Ferrari, and Jo Soo-ah followed, saying,
“Assistant Manager Kim.”
“Yes?”
“Can I come with you?”
“Hmm.”
“If it’s not a place I should be, or if it would be inconvenient for you, then never mind.”
I had decided to distance myself from Jo Soo-ah. But that didn't mean I intended to shut her out completely.
“I think it’ll be fine for you to come.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s not a formal meeting or anything.”
It was a situation any pharmaceutical company employee would be familiar with: meeting two doctors.
Though, one was a professor from Johns Hopkins University, and the other was a research doctor developing artificial intelligence.
Since Professor Paul would need the back seat, we went to Jo Soo-ah's car, and I offered to drive.
She called Team Leader An.
“Team Leader.”
“Yes, Soo-ah. Did your fieldwork go well?”
Since she was on the phone right next to me, I could hear Team Leader An's voice clearly.
“Yes. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Is it okay if Assistant Manager Kim and I head home now?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
I expected the call to last two or three minutes with explanations. But it ended with a simple report.
I thought Team Leader An really valued me.
But if I was just a pork shoulder, Jo Soo-ah seemed to be the Suwon king galbi.
* * *
Professor Paul was a tall man, over 190 centimeters.
I had arranged to meet at a Japanese restaurant in Gangnam, where he, Jo Soo-ah, and I met with Lee Ho-yeon.
“Good to see you, my friend.”
“Paul. It’s been a while.”
The two exchanged a light greeting with a handshake before sitting down.
“This is Jo Soo-ah. She's a colleague of mine.”
“Ah. Yes.”
At the airport, Jo Soo-ah had seemed a bit dazed.
After all, she’d just unexpectedly met a doctor from Johns Hopkins University Hospital and had a conversation in English.
But ever since I mentioned investing in something related to artificial intelligence, her eyes seemed to sparkle with curiosity.
The way she looked at me was somehow very bright.
“I’d like you to take a look at this and give me your opinion.”
Lee Ho-yeon paid no mind to Jo Soo-ah and immediately took out some documents.
They were materials on the progress of the AI and the results from virus and protein analysis.
Professor Paul asked,
“May I take a look?”
“Of course.”
This meeting was, after all, to decide on an investment.
Professor Paul was Professor Lee Ho-yeon’s friend, but he was here as my advisor.
He began reviewing the highly technical documents.
Even though I had heard a rough explanation of the research from Lee Ho-yeon yesterday, I didn't have a clear understanding of the AI's capabilities.
‘So the AI doesn't just create treatments out of thin air.’
It rapidly extracts data that would otherwise require extensive experimentation.
It identifies effective compounds during new drug development and quickly gathers and analyzes data during testing.
They say medicine is a science of statistics.
If AI and medical scientists work in tandem, the entire process can be shortened.
In the distant future, AI might be able to whip up personalized treatments like a magic wand.
My understanding of Lee Ho-yeon's research was different now than when I'd first heard about it yesterday.
‘This is incredible research.’
It would accelerate research and development speed by dozens of times. This was research that could fundamentally change the landscape of medical science.
“Ho-yeon. You've been developing this for a long time.”
“I worked on it in my spare time in the U.S. as well.”
“Was the support in Korea sufficient?”
“Not exactly, but it was enough to continue the research.”
After about thirty minutes, Professor Paul looked at me and said,
“This is excellent research. The progress is also at a remarkable level.”
“Really?”
“No one but Ho-yeon could have brought it this far. If you don't invest, I'll sell my house in the States and invest myself.”
Even without his words, I had already made my decision.
“I'll be investing, so you won't have to sell your house.”
* * *
After dinner, we went to visit the lab in Gwangmyeong.
“You have about twenty researchers.”
“They’re people who followed me from the U.S.”
There was a mix of nationalities, including Americans.
The reason they had come all this way was because they believed in Lee Ho-yeon's genius and leadership.
‘A man with that kind of personality is certainly trustworthy when he sets his mind to something.’
We negotiated late into the night and decided that the investment would be in exchange for a stake in Biolife, with annual funding for R&D.
Lee Ho-yeon had thoroughly explained the risks of the investment to me.
“Global pharmaceutical companies have started investing in AI. Influenza and coronaviruses aren't their main focus right now, but in four or five years, they'll be able to apply it to these infectious diseases as well.”
“I see.”
“I will only accept support for research and development for five years. After that, you won't need me anymore.”
Lee Ho-yeon explained his situation frankly, saying that if he couldn't produce meaningful results within five years, he would retire and live by the sea, just fishing.
To me, his words didn't sound like those of a defeatist.
‘I could see his determination to burn everything he had within those five years.’
It felt like a declaration of war, a pledge to risk his life on this research.
- Oh Myeong-woo: Google is also interested in applying AI to medicine.
- Kim Shin: Are they?
I briefly explained the situation to Oh Myeong-woo and received some valuable information.
- Oh Myeong-woo: You know AlphaGo, right?
- Kim Shin: Of course. Is there any Korean who doesn't?
Koreans are very interested in technological advancements and new things.
Even people who didn't normally watch Go likely tuned in for the match between Lee Sedol and AlphaGo.
When the match ended with AlphaGo's overwhelming victory, it felt like the age of AI had truly arrived.
Most office workers probably contemplated a future where AI took over their jobs.
- Oh Myeong-woo: The company that made AlphaGo has started developing medical AI.
- Kim Shin: Really?
- Oh Myeong-woo: Yeah. They started developing it under the name AlphaFold.
If A and C play certain roles in viruses, blood, or cells, the AI analyzes vast amounts of additional data to find the interactions and meanings between A and C.
It predicts, finds mutations, and repeatedly verifies.
It performs billions of analyses that humans could never do one by one.
The more data it accumulated, the more accurate the AI became.
- Kim Shin: So it's similar to self-driving technology, which improves as it accumulates data.
- Oh Myeong-woo: Right. But the AI development race is a battle against time.
AlphaGo, which had stunned the world.
While the match against Lee Sedol in March 2016 drew massive attention, teams from many countries have now created their own Go AIs.
The pace of technological development was so fast that AIs surpassing the AlphaGo of two years ago were emerging.
‘Of all companies, it had to be Google.’
An enormous rival existed.
The fortunate thing was the difference in their research fields.
Lee Ho-yeon's research, focused on influenza and coronaviruses, held significant value at this point in time.
Maybe it's a Korean thing.
Seeing how sunken the eyes of Lee Ho-yeon and his researchers were at their officetel lab in Gwangmyeong.
Watching them work, with all-nighters being the norm, only strengthened my trust.
“If you say five years, then I'll provide even more substantial support.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But if, after five years, you truly haven't produced any results... you will have to hand over all the research up to that point to me.”
Lee Ho-yeon's gaze sharpened, and for a moment, I worried I might get an uppercut. So I quickly continued.
“I will, of course, pay a fair price for the results. If you really do retire, wouldn't it be a waste of all your research? I believe it would be better to advance medical science by passing it on to another pharmaceutical company.”
I could recoup some of the investment, contribute to medical advancement, and ensure Lee Ho-yeon's research wasn't in vain.
It was a cold calculation, but my words stemmed from good intentions.
Lee Ho-yeon didn't throw an uppercut.
“Fine. Let's do that.”
I agreed to provide 10 billion won annually for five years to ensure smooth development.
Considering the R&D so far and the results that would be accumulated over five years, I saw more than enough value.
If things went south, I would have to sell the results and data to various pharmaceutical companies, but...
* * *
Director Jeong thought his long single life was over and that he would finally be happy.
‘My lonely years are over. It’s a bit late, but we can live a sweet and happy life together.’
Dating Han Chae-won, one of the top three beauties in the company.
She had a history of divorce, but considering his own age, he didn't see it as a flaw.
‘It would be nice to have kids soon. I should probably introduce her to my parents next month.’
He felt he could show his aging parents that he had found a good partner and gotten married before they passed away.
He started imagining coming home in a few years to be greeted by his wife and children.
He even calculated how he would finally be recouping all the wedding gift money he had given out over the years, albeit late.
After work, he went to an expensive restaurant with Han Chae-won.
“What’s your annual salary?”
“Huh?”
“Oh. I just figured it would be high since you’re a director.”
“That's right. My salary is quite high.”
Director Jeong’s face was filled with a smile.
He felt a surge of pride, about to reveal his astonishing salary to Han Chae-won, who was just a regular employee.
“It’s over 100 million won.”
“Your salary?”
“Yes. Because I’m a director.”
“Why is it only that much?”
Han Chae-won reacted with disbelief.
She had assumed a director would be making 200 or 300 million won a year.
“Directors don’t necessarily make that much more than regular employees.”
“Really?”
Since the organization only distributed and sold German products in the country, the directors didn't make any major management decisions.
Their roles were closer to general administration, which was another reason.
“Ah. You must get a lot in incentives, right?”
“Incentives?”
The 100 million won figure included all the various bonuses a director received. And he was very grateful for it.
‘Chae-won is young and doesn't know much about the real world. Just surviving in a company is an accomplishment in itself.’
He had a lot he wanted to say, but he swallowed his words.
“Where do you live?”
“In Wangsimni…”
“An apartment?”
“Yeah. It just went through redevelopment.”
The small villa he owned was rebuilt, and he got a decent-sized apartment in return.
He wanted to talk at length about his thrilling real estate investment success that took ten years to come to fruition.
“So not Gangnam or Songpa.”
“...”
“What about your parents?”
“My parents?”
“Yes. If we’re going to build a family together, we should know about each other's families, shouldn't we?”
“My father was a university professor. Though it's been a long time since he retired.”
“Oh, really? A university professor, that's amazing. I really respected my professors in college. Where do your parents live?”
“They live in Songpa.”
Director Jeong saw Han Chae-won’s expression brighten.