The Son-in-Law Resembles Him More Than His Sons
Another storm was already gathering over the Restructuring Headquarters, even as the last one had only just blown through.
“Not there—here. This one looks better.”
“No. Taepyeong Machinery is drowning in non-performing loans.”
“Aren’t non-performing loans meaningless right now? If we apply for debt restructuring with the creditors, they’ll approve it for certain. Taking over Taepyeong Machinery is the best option we have.”
“We’re not trying to acquire only Taepyeong Machinery. Debt restructuring might work once or twice, but we can’t keep filing for it forever. The creditors won’t keep saying yes, and even if they did, why waste a card we can only play a few times on Taepyeong? It’s not a good choice.”
“They’ll approve debt restructuring no matter how many times we ask. If they refuse, the banks go under too—so of course they’ll accept.”
Fierce debate filled the Restructuring Headquarters. Staff argued heatedly over which companies to acquire and at what price, each man convinced his own position was the right one. Slowly, every gaze in the room drifted toward the man seated at the head of the table—Kim Seong-ho. When opinions split like this, his decision was the only one that mattered.
Seong-ho had been quietly reviewing the reports his staff had sorted for him. Sensing their eyes on him, he spoke without lifting his gaze from the papers.
“Taepyeong Machinery is fine. But we already own Ilhyeon Machinery. So tell me—what advantage do we actually gain by acquiring Taepyeong?”
The employee who had been pushing hardest for the acquisition fell silent.
Still looking down at the report, Seong-ho asked another question.
“Then let’s hear from the side that says we shouldn’t acquire it. Aside from the claim that the creditors won’t restructure the debt, is there any other reason we shouldn’t take it over? What damage would the acquisition actually do to us?”
This time the man who had opposed the deal had nothing to say either. The conference room that had been roaring with argument a moment earlier fell completely still. Only then did Seong-ho raise his head and look around the table.
He studied the team leaders and higher-ranking staff one by one before speaking in a deliberate voice.
“Right now all of you are thinking about nothing but money—whether an acquisition is good or bad based solely on the price.”
He paused, picked up one of the reports, and held it aloft so everyone could see it.
“What we are doing is finding the companies that will carry the Ilhyeon Group for the next twenty years. This is not a simple question of whether something makes money today or not.”
His tone was absolute. Every head in the room dropped.
Seong-ho did not stop.
“You should be calculating the synergy between Ilhyeon Machinery and Taepyeong Machinery—exactly which weaknesses of Ilhyeon Machinery Taepyeong can cover—and then deciding whether the acquisition makes sense. What are you doing instead? Do you intend to buy every company that is currently in the red just because it’s being sold cheap?”
He flung the report. Papers fluttered through the air and scattered across the floor.
Seong-ho watched the pages drift in every direction, then turned on his staff with a sharp bark.
“Do it again. Find the companies we should acquire based on the benefits we gain after the takeover—then talk about price. If another report like this lands on my desk, you’d better be prepared.”
He rose and left the conference room, the chill of his departure lingering in the air. The attendees who had stood to see him out watched the door close behind him and let out a collective sigh.
Lee Gyeong-deuk slowly sat back down and motioned for the others to do the same.
“All right, gather round.”
As the most senior man left in the room once Seong-ho was gone, Gyeong-deuk spoke for the group.
“You all heard the Director’s orders, right? Stop obsessing over current valuations. Figure out what advantages we’ll have after the acquisition, then rewrite the reports. We’ve still got time—no need to rush. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
When the answers came in unison, Gyeong-deuk clicked his tongue and stared at the door Seong-ho had just walked through. He shook his head.
“The Director is starting to look more and more like the Chairman.”
“Is that what the Chairman is like?” Jo Byeong-jin asked carefully.
Gyeong-deuk turned from the door to answer him.
“The Chairman was even more formidable. One of his tirades could shake the entire company.” He gave a small shudder at the memory. “Our Director isn’t quite there yet, but he’s close. Closer, in fact, than the Chairman’s own sons. Our son-in-law Director resembles him more than they do.”
Byeong-jin and the others pictured both Kim Seong-ho and Lee Tak-hyeon at the same time. A quiet, speculative thought about the future of the Ilhyeon Group flickered through their minds.
Gyeong-deuk left them to their thoughts, clapped his hands, and looked around the table.
“Enough daydreaming. Get back to work and prepare everything the way the Director wants. And bring the reports to me first before you take them to him. I’ll screen them so we can avoid another scene like today’s.”
Every face in the room brightened.
“If the Deputy Director looks them over first, we can rest easy.”
“I was worried about how to approach this—thank goodness you’ll review them.”
“Thank you, Deputy Director.”
They all offered their gratitude without hesitation. Being branded by Director Kim Seong-ho as someone incapable of proper analysis was far worse than running the work past Lee Gyeong-deuk first.
Gyeong-deuk watched them agree so readily, then glanced down at the sheet of paper lying under his hand. Seong-ho had given it to him before the meeting. On it, in careful detail, were the companies that should be acquired and the exact benefits each acquisition would bring.
Director Kim has already finished organizing everything. Yet he still refuses to step forward and drive it himself…
One by one the attendees rose and left the conference room, still debating among themselves which companies were the right targets. Gyeong-deuk watched them go and thought,
If Director Kim makes every decision himself, the headquarters will keep depending on him forever. Letting the staff think and choose on their own is better for the future of this department.
When the room was empty he looked at the paper again.
Taepyeong Machinery. The value Ilhyeon Machinery will gain by absorbing its patents is virtually limitless. In addition, the land the company holds in the Pyeongtaek area is an outstanding site for Ilhyeon Electronics’ new semiconductor plant. We must secure Taepyeong Machinery at all costs.
Gyeong-deuk shook his head, picturing Kim Seong-ho—who had already laid out every plan yet still wanted the headquarters to move in the direction he desired of its own accord.
“Deputy Director.”
A staff member hurried into the conference room. Gyeong-deuk looked up from the paper.
The man came close and whispered in the empty room.
“The IMF Managing Director has entered the country in complete secrecy.”
“The IMF Managing Director? Where did this come from?”
“It came out of Ilhyeon Hotel.”
“Ilhyeon Hotel?”
Gyeong-deuk stared at the staffer with wide eyes.
Kim Seong-ho had just left the conference room when word reached him that Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon wanted to see him. He changed course from his office and headed for the Chairman’s suite.
“You sent for me, sir?”
Seong-ho bowed toward Lee Tak-hyeon, who sat behind the large desk. The Chairman gestured him forward.
“Sit here.”
Tak-hyeon watched Seong-ho settle into the chair opposite him, then spoke.
“Gyeong-eun called.”
“Did she say the IMF Managing Director has arrived?”
Tak-hyeon burst out laughing at how instantly Seong-ho had named the visitor.
“Hahaha. Yes. The IMF Managing Director slipped into the country with only a handful of aides, under a false name no less.”
He leaned back in his chair and continued at a measured pace.
“Because you told us the Managing Director might stay at Ilhyeon Hotel in secret, we learned of it before the government itself.”
“There’s nothing strange about it. You already knew our country couldn’t avoid going to the IMF, Chairman.”
“I did. But knowing something will happen and knowing exactly when it will happen are two different things. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Seong-ho only smiled and nodded.
“You’re right. The timing is what matters. That’s why I said we needed to keep watch.”
“Still, it’s curious.” Tak-hyeon laced his fingers and fixed Seong-ho with a look. “How did you know the Managing Director would stay at our hotel? He could have gone anywhere else…”
“When the IMF survey team stayed with us before, I heard Gyeong-eun handled everything perfectly. She kept every nuisance away and even made sure hotel staff stayed clear of their floor. The team left a note of thanks when they checked out.”
Tak-hyeon had heard the same story; he nodded.
“So you figured that because the survey team had a good experience, the Managing Director would choose our hotel as well?”
“Not so much a good experience as a secure one. I thought the security would bring him back.”
“Security… Well, nothing matters more than security in a matter like this.”
Tak-hyeon nodded again and studied his son-in-law.
“Were you the one who advised Gyeong-eun on that?”
“Yes. I told her it was important they leave without any inconvenience. The finer details were all her own work.”
Seong-ho made no attempt to hide the advice he had given. Tak-hyeon liked that. Far better for a man to claim what he had done than to pretend otherwise and scheme behind the scenes like a slippery eel.
“Good. Well done.”
After the praise, Tak-hyeon pulled the ashtray closer, lit a cigarette, and exhaled a long stream of smoke before asking,
“Then do you also know why I called you here?”
Seong-ho considered the question in silence, then answered in a calm voice.
“You wouldn’t have summoned me merely to tell me the Managing Director had arrived… Are you thinking of meeting him before the government of the Republic of Korea does?”
“Hahaha.”
Tak-hyeon laughed heartily, crushed out the cigarette, and rose. Seong-ho stood with him.
“Do you have any other appointments today?”
“Nothing special.”
“Good. Then come with me.”
“Are we really going to Ilhyeon Hotel?”
“Ilhyeon Hotel?” Tak-hyeon stopped mid-turn and looked back, smiling. “Hahaha. You thought we were going to meet the IMF Managing Director?”
“We’re not?”
“Why would I meet him? What would I even have to say to the man?”
“Then…”
Seong-ho followed carefully behind as Tak-hyeon strode out. Outside the door, Hwang Do-beom, who had been waiting, approached the Chairman.
“He says any time is fine.”
“Even though we’re dropping in without notice? He must be extremely busy.”
Tak-hyeon’s voice carried a note of apology. Seong-ho wondered who on earth could make Lee Tak-hyeon feel the need to apologize for a visit. Under the Korean sky he could think of no such person—until he heard Do-beom’s next words.
“He happens to have a free afternoon because he plans to visit Seoul Station this evening. He even said that if the Chairman is busy, he would come to the company himself—he wants to see you.”
“I can’t make a man in the middle of a presidential campaign come to me.”
From the exchange Seong-ho understood at once: they were going to meet Kim Dae-sang, the Mincheong Party’s presidential candidate.
Kim Dae-sang of the Mincheong Party… Yes, that would be worth the Chairman going in person.
The man was still only an opposition candidate, yet in a month he would be elected the next President of South Korea.
But the Chairman can’t know that Kim Dae-sang will win…
Seong-ho knew the election result from his previous life; Lee Tak-hyeon did not. At the moment the ruling-party candidate still led in the polls and looked certain to win. That Tak-hyeon would go to Kim Dae-sang himself under these circumstances struck Seong-ho as remarkable. And he still could not see why he was being taken along. Quietly trailing the Chairman, he turned over possible reasons in his mind.