Returning to the Office of Days Past
News that the Strategic Planning Office would become the Restructuring Headquarters sent shockwaves not only through the Ilhyeon Group but through the entire business world.
The disappearance of the Strategic Planning Office—the department that charted future growth engines and set the Group’s overall direction—would have been startling enough on its own. What truly left people reeling was the revelation that it was being transformed into the body that would carry out Group-wide restructuring.
Restructuring at the level of a single company was nothing new. The Ilhyeon Group itself had already demonstrated the necessity of such measures by overhauling Ilhyeon Watches and Ilhyeon Hotel. A full-scale restructuring conducted at the conglomerate level, however, was unprecedented in the history of Korean business. And the fact that the first to attempt it was none other than Ilhyeon Group—the foremost conglomerate in the country—left no one able to conceal their astonishment.
“Is the company in that much trouble?”
Ilhyeon headquarters employees gathered in twos and threes in the smoking area, lighting cigarettes and trading theories.
“They wouldn’t be doing a restructuring if things weren’t bad.”
“Whew… If even we’re doing this, the market really must be in bad shape.”
“Or maybe they’re moving first because they can already see the trouble coming.”
“Moving first?”
“Yeah.”
The man who had spoken glanced at the stares of his colleagues and continued.
“If you wait until things have already gone bad, you’re too late. Think back to Ilhyeon Hotel. Remember how hard it was then?”
“True. The restructuring at the hotel started when the company was on the verge of shutting its doors. The staff suffered, and plenty of people were cut with nothing to show for it.”
“That’s why they might be moving early—so the hit on the employees is lighter.”
Everyone present nodded.
“Yeah, better to act before it gets ugly. But has anyone heard who’s coming in as head of the Restructuring Headquarters?”
The moment the question was asked, every gaze in the circle snapped to the speaker.
“You still don’t know?”
“Obviously Director Kim Seong-ho.”
“Director Kim Seong-ho?”
The employee who heard the name tilted his head.
“Kim Seong-ho… the one who handled the restructurings at Ilhyeon Watches and Ilhyeon Hotel?”
The man who had spoken the name nodded.
“Who else could sit as head of Restructuring Headquarters? In our Group—no, in the whole country—he’s the top expert on the subject.”
“You’ve got a point.”
While everyone was still nodding in agreement, several black cars rolled through the main gate at once. The smokers turned to watch.
“Isn’t that Chief Hwang?”
They recognized the man stepping out of the lead vehicle.
“Yeah—Chief of Staff Hwang Do-beom.”
Others confirmed the face and chimed in, then scanned the rest of the convoy.
“No sign of the Chairman.”
“Did Chief Hwang come alone?”
“No—look behind him.”
From the car that followed Hwang Do-beom’s, a young man emerged. People immediately began to cluster around him. Chief Hwang conversed with the younger man as they entered the headquarters through the front doors; a trail of aides hurried after them.
“Is that… Director Kim Seong-ho?”
“I saw him once from a distance, back when word leaked that he was marrying the youngest Miss. Looks like him.”
“What’s he doing at headquarters?”
“What else? The restructuring.”
“They’re starting already?”
“The notice has already gone out. Why waste time? Strike while the iron’s hot—they’ll start right away.”
The smokers fell silent, drawing on their cigarettes. The blade of restructuring had been drawn far sooner than expected, and darkness settled over their faces.
“I’m sure you’ve all seen the company notice, so you already know. Effective immediately, the Ilhyeon Group Strategic Planning Office is officially renamed the Restructuring Headquarters.”
Chief of Staff Hwang Do-beom had gathered the former Strategic Planning Office staff in one place.
“It isn’t merely a change of name. The unit has been elevated to headquarters level, and the work it performs will be completely different from before. Because the Restructuring Headquarters sits under the Chairman’s direct secretariat, it is free of interference from any other part of the Group. All reports will reach the Chairman through me.”
Hwang surveyed the startled faces of the staff, then motioned for Kim Seong-ho to step forward.
“I believe most of you already know who this is. Director Kim Seong-ho once worked alongside you as a colleague. He will now serve as Head of the newly reorganized Restructuring Headquarters.”
At the announcement the room stirred. Eyes turned instinctively toward Managing Director Lee Gyeong-deuk, who until moments ago had been head of the Strategic Planning Office.
Lee Gyeong-deuk had risen from Director to Managing Director when he took charge of the office. Now, not only had the office been transformed into a headquarters overnight, but his former subordinate Kim Seong-ho was being installed as its chief. The fact that Seong-ho was Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon’s son-in-law—and therefore stood on the golden line—made the appointment itself understandable. The real problem was that a man of lower rank was now sitting above him. Lee was a Managing Director; Seong-ho was still only a Director. The hierarchy had been turned upside down.
“Hahaha. Of course I know Director Kim. We worked together, after all.”
Managing Director Lee Gyeong-deuk extended his hand toward Seong-ho.
“I’ll be counting on you. When it comes to restructuring you’re the expert—teach me a great deal.”
Seong-ho smiled warmly and clasped the offered hand.
“The pleasure is mine, Managing Director.”
The handshake looked cordial, yet everyone present sensed the undercurrent. Hwang Do-beom pretended not to notice and left the room.
Once Hwang was gone, Seong-ho addressed the assembled staff of the Restructuring Headquarters.
“There will be many changes ahead—within our headquarters and across the Group. A wind of change is about to blow. Never forget that you stand at the very front of that wind and that you are the ones who must lead Ilhyeon Group forward.”
After the brief inaugural remarks he issued their first orders.
“Your immediate task is to compile the current status of every Ilhyeon affiliate. Start with the basic financial statements—sales, operating profit—and go all the way down to how many chairs each company has and how many pens it uses. When that is finished, approach the market shifts surrounding each business from the bottom up. That is all for today. Detailed instructions will follow separately.”
Seong-ho finished and looked at Lee Gyeong-deuk. The Managing Director offered an awkward smile under that gaze.
“If we’re finished talking, I’ll show you to your office. Follow me.”
Lee volunteered to guide him and walked ahead; Seong-ho followed. The headquarters staff scattered to their desks, and Kim Seong-ho’s first day back began.
“You can use this one.”
Seong-ho examined the office inside and out, then turned to Lee with a puzzled expression.
“Isn’t this your office, Managing Director?”
“It was, until recently.”
A flicker of bitterness crossed Lee’s face, then vanished. He smiled again.
“Now that you’re Head of our Planning Office—no, Headquarters—you should take this room. Come in.”
Lee waved him inside, closed the door himself, and sat first on the reception sofa.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tidy things up and submit my resignation soon.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Seong-ho took the empty seat and regarded him with genuine incomprehension. Lee studied him for a moment, trying to decide whether Seong-ho was sincere or merely toying with him. Realizing that knowing the answer would change nothing, he let the bitter smile return.
“You’re here, so I have to leave.”
He forced a brighter smile onto his face.
“I already understand everything. You don’t have to pretend otherwise. It only makes me feel… worse.”
He had almost said “miserable,” but softened the word as much as he could. Complaining to Seong-ho would change nothing.
Seong-ho’s thoughts, however, ran differently.
“Leave? Is there a reason you feel you must resign?”
Lee stared at him as though he were an alien. Even after such careful phrasing, Seong-ho still seemed not to grasp it. So Lee spoke plainly.
“I am a Managing Director. You are a Director. When a company wants to push someone out, this is exactly what it does—it plants a junior of lower rank above him.”
Saying the situation aloud only deepened the gloom on his face.
“Enough. My face isn’t thick enough to sit here pretending I don’t know. That’s why I said I’ll leave cleanly. Just take it as that.”
“If that’s the only reason, you don’t need to leave.”
“What?”
Lee looked at him in confusion. Seong-ho answered in a voice neither hurried nor slow.
“I think you’ve misunderstood, Managing Director. I didn’t come here to force you out. My last rank before I left the company was Director, so I simply returned as a Director. A headquarters-level unit places its Head among the presidential ranks, and the Deputy Head is treated as a Vice President. You, Managing Director, will actually be promoted.”
“Vice President? I’m being promoted to Vice President? Is that true?”
“Of course.”
Seong-ho smiled back at the suddenly radiant face.
“I want to work with you, Managing Director. Are you saying you don’t want to work with me?”
“No—no, of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
Lee raised both hands in vigorous denial, a full bloom of laughter spreading across his face.
“Really? I’m being promoted to Vice President?”
“Because this is now the Restructuring Headquarters. And one more person will be brought in as a Deputy Head. Please understand—once we became a headquarters, expanding the staff was essential.”
“Oh, of course I understand. What’s there not to understand?”
Not a trace of bitterness remained on Lee’s face.
“Managing Director, whatever instructions I give, I hope you will stand on my side.”
“Naturally. If I’m not on the Head’s side, whose side would I be on? Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’m with the Head.”
Lee thumped his chest and declared it loudly. Seong-ho smiled and extended his hand; Lee clasped it with both of his and repeated several times that he looked forward to working together.
And so Kim Seong-ho returned to the Ilhyeon Group.
Kim Seong-ho sat in the conference room and surveyed the team leaders of the former Strategic Planning Office—now the Restructuring Headquarters. They watched their new Head with tense faces.
“I’ve called you together today for one request.”
At those words the team leaders grew even more tense; they could not guess what was coming. Seong-ho swept his gaze across them once, then spoke.
“I assume everyone here knows about the restructurings I carried out at Ilhyeon Watches and Ilhyeon Hotel.”
They nodded and fixed their full attention on him. Feeling their eyes, Seong-ho continued.
“You all know the stories, but let me briefly outline the difference between the two. The restructuring of Ilhyeon Watches was soft. We simply redirected the business using resources we already possessed.”
The team leaders recalled the period and nodded.
“Ilhyeon Hotel was harder. Staff were let go, suppliers were changed—far more sweeping than anything done at the watch company. And in the process, the executives who had been running the place so loosely were cleaned out as well.”
Seong-ho paused and looked at the team leaders. They swallowed dryly. The next words, they felt with absolute certainty, would matter a great deal. And just as they expected, what came from Kim Seong-ho’s mouth was enough to make them freeze in their seats.