Pyungjin Industry (3)
Heo Min-woong called Vice President Park Yong-jin right away and asked him about it.
Fortunately, the answer came back that he would meet us, so I met Heo Min-woong first in the hotel coffee shop and talked things over with him.
After hearing me out, Heo Min-woong said, “So what’s the plan? You trying to turn Pyungjin Industrial into a chaebol?”
“That’d be hard. Still, I’m thinking of growing it at least into a first-tier vendor so nobody can call it a tiny nobody company.”
Heo Min-woong cleared his throat for no reason. “Ahem. Then why not just buy a decent first-tier vendor? You’ve got money.”
“That crossed my mind, too.”
“But?”
“I think it’d be better to build Pyungjin Industrial up and do it that way.”
First, acquiring a first-tier vendor would take a very serious amount of money. And just like a game isn’t much fun if you start with a max-leveled character, there was no real joy in beginning from the top.
If my father could build the company himself, using his own strength, he’d feel a much greater sense of accomplishment.
Heo Min-woong tilted his head. “Isn’t your current industry pretty uncompetitive? All you really have to offer is decent quality and a cheap delivery price. How long do you think that’s going to last? You know how companies are these days—China’s gotten too expensive, so they’re moving into Southeast Asia and India.”
“That’s exactly why we need to build technological competitiveness.”
Society was undergoing a rapid digital transformation, but manufacturing was still a vital industry. If you built the technology well enough, it could keep growing for a long time to come.
“How?”
“By growing it into a parts supplier for the wind power industry.”
Green energy was the global trend. From here on out, investment would pour into that sector, and government support would concentrate there as well.
Unlike solar power, which had already found a certain foothold, wind power was still only getting started.
Right now, Hwaan Group was in the middle of acquiring HJW Energy.
It was an ambitious plan to tie Hwaan Energy, Hwaan Solution, and HJW Energy together and prepare for the coming hydrogen era.
If you wanted to grow an industry that hadn’t existed before, you had to grow the related companies alongside it.
Once Hwaan Group finished acquiring HJW Energy, there would be massive equipment investment, and subcontractors would reap the benefits of that as well.
So we had to prepare now to get inside before all that happened.
Heo Min-woong grinned. “Oh? So in the end, you just want to open up business with our group. You want us to funnel work to your old man’s company?”
I shook my head. “I’m not asking for special treatment. I just want to be treated fairly.”
Heo Min-woong looked at me like I’d said something absurd. “No, but if everyone else is being treated unfairly and only your company gets treated fairly, how is that not special treatment?”
“……”
Fair enough.
Even landing a small supply contract meant blood ties, school ties, and regional ties would all be brought to bear, along with entertainment and backroom lobbying.
In a sense, the very fact that I was sitting here with the chairman’s son already counted as a privilege.
“So if you don’t want people calling it favoritism, then you need to grow the business and develop the technology. That’s why you need a manager with both skill and connections.”
“Then Vice President Park Yong-jin is the perfect man for it.”
I’d already received the materials on him.
Just as I’d been told, he had joined Hwaan Heavy Industries as an ordinary employee and started from the bottom.
His job had been supply chain management.
For a big company, subcontractors delivered thousands, even tens of thousands of parts. If even one of them had a problem, delivery of the finished product would be delayed.
That made the role of managing the supply chain so that no gaps appeared absolutely critical.
Park Yong-jin had reportedly rushed to factories day and night whenever there was even a chance that a delivery deadline might be missed, eating and sleeping there while solving the problem himself.
And because of that hard work, he had risen all the way to vice president at Hwaan Solution.
Even just from the file, I liked him.
“A man like that got cut less than two years after becoming vice president, all because of you.”
“Why is that because of me?”
“Then whose fault is it?”
“If you really want to split hairs, isn’t it your fault, Vice President Heo?”
“Why would it be my fault?”
“If you’d told Hwaan Solution the truth just a little earlier, he wouldn’t have been fired.”
“……”
In any case, because of the Thomas Motors disaster, Hwaan Solution had taken a massive hit.
Beyond the losses themselves, even its future growth prospects had become uncertain, the stock price had collapsed, and shareholder anger had poured in.
Once an incident this severe blew up, it wasn’t something you could just brush aside. Somebody had to take responsibility.
But Vice President Heo Min-hong couldn’t resign. So a few executives had been forced out instead.
One of them seemed to be Vice President Park Yong-jin.
In a way, he had been poised to begin the second act of his life, only to be knocked flat without warning. He’d ended up taking the blame for something that wasn’t even his fault, so he must have been boiling with resentment inside.
“By the way, do you know him well?”
“Not really. Our companies are different, so we weren’t close—just the kind of people who exchanged greetings when we passed each other. Still, he seems to have a good reputation among the people around him.”
While we were talking, a man in his early fifties approached our table. He was of average height, skinny, and wore horn-rimmed glasses.
He was slight in build, but he gave off the feeling that there was quite a bit of backbone under that frame.
Then again, he was a man who had entered as a regular employee and climbed all the way to vice president at a conglomerate. He must have been through every kind of trial imaginable.
Heo Min-woong stood and greeted him first. “It’s been a while, Vice President Park.”
The man replied curtly, “I’m not vice president anymore.”
“Have you been well?”
“Would there really be anything worth asking about?”
“Ah! This is a younger brother I know.”
I greeted him. “Hello.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t bother asking my name, probably because he just took me for someone Heo Min-woong was friendly with.
When the greetings were done, Park Yong-jin sat down.
“You must be resting at home these days.”
“That’s right.”
From his expression and tone, he didn’t sound particularly pleased. It seemed he had no intention of flattering us just because one of us was the chairman’s son.
I liked that even more.
“So what was it you wanted to see me about?”
Heo Min-woong got straight to the point. “I heard someone I know is looking for a person to take over management of their company. And you were the first person I thought of.”
“What kind of company is it?”
He probably wondered what kind of place it was that would have the chairman’s son making a direct introduction.
“It’s this company.”
Heo Min-woong handed over the materials he had brought.
After skimming through them for a moment, Park Yong-jin soon frowned slightly.
“Why are you recommending this company?”
Heo Min-woong rested a hand on my shoulder and said, “Because this friend’s father runs it.”
Park Yong-jin looked at me, and I nodded.
“That’s right. My father likes working, but he doesn’t really have much talent for business.”
He let out a dry laugh. “So what you’re saying is that you want me to go work at a company connected to the vice president here?”
“Pretty much.”
“No. Do I look like a man without any pride? I’ll just keep resting at home.”
He already had money set aside, so he could live off that for a while if he wanted. There was no need for him to suffer by joining a small company with only twenty employees.
“Even so, don’t you want to work?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have come here.”
“……”
Chairman’s son or vice president—it didn’t matter. Once you left the company, you were just another person. And yet he had still shown up the moment we called, which meant he still had some desire to work again.
Everyone wanted different things in life.
Some people wanted to make money and retire as soon as possible, while others wanted to keep working no matter how much money they earned.
He had been born with nothing and built himself up through sheer grit.
Once someone has tasted success through work, it’s not easy to forget what that taste was like.
He probably had an itch in his body that only work could scratch.
But after reaching vice president at a major conglomerate, joining a shabby little company wouldn’t satisfy him, and starting his own business would feel beyond reach.
Heo Min-woong laughed and said, “Come on, don’t be like that. Think about it again. It’s small, sure, but this company has real potential.”
“What kind of potential are you talking about?”
At that question, Heo Min-woong patted my shoulder again. “He is the potential.”
“Pardon?”
“Once you hear his name, you’ll see things differently.”
At that, Park Yong-jin looked at me.
Only then did I introduce myself.
“My name is Han Miru.”
“Han Miru...?”
He visibly startled.
“Don’t tell me you’re with Continue Capital?”
“That’s right.”
“Ha...”
For him to recognize it instantly, my name must have become fairly well known.
“You’re the one who took Hanjeong Group’s management rights at the shareholders’ meeting.”
“That was the shareholders’ decision.”
He looked back and forth between me and Heo Min-woong. “So you’d already known each other since before the Thomas Motors incident. That’s why you were working together.”
Technically, we had only met around that time, but that wasn’t important.
I brought the conversation back to the main point. “Vice President Heo told me a great deal about you. He said you know the practical side of the business inside and out, and that your network is broad. That’s why I want you at Pyungjin Industrial.”
Right now it was just a small subcontractor with a single factory, not even in the same league as a first-tier vendor. But with Continue Capital and Hwaan Energy behind it, the story would be different.
Park Yong-jin seemed to be thinking it over.
“May I think about it for a bit?”
When someone said that, it meant they were already leaning one way or another. If he’d had no interest at all, he would have rejected it outright.
Instead of giving him time, I pressed forward immediately. “No. I’d like you to decide here and now.”
“Right now?”
“You don’t think I’m making this offer only to you, do you?”
“……”
What subcontractors struggle with most are two things.
First, securing investment capital. Second, securing clients. But this offer solved both problems at once.
“Plenty of people would jump at these terms. The reason I’m offering them to you first is because Vice President Heo strongly recommended you.”
“Ahem.”
Apparently embarrassed, he coughed awkwardly.
“I intend to turn Pyungjin Industrial into a first-rate company that can stand tall even when dealing with major conglomerates. For that, ambition matters just as much as skill. So if you’re still torn, you can refuse. What will it be?”
Vice President Park Yong-jin looked at me and asked, “What are the terms?”
“Since this is a small company, I can’t pay the kind of salary you were earning at Hwaan Solution. Instead, I’ll give you 30 percent of Pyungjin Industrial’s shares. As the company grows, you’ll share in the profits.”
Heo Min-woong added a line of his own. “If you say yes, I’ll back you with everything I’ve got, too.”
In Korea, the power of a chaebol was formidable.
With just one word from Heo Min-woong, the companies involved would all scramble to help.
The stage was already set. All that was left was to work hard.
Apparently deciding there was no more point in hesitating, Vice President Park nodded.
“If you put it that way, there’s no reason to keep thinking about it. I’ll do it gladly.”
I smiled. “Good decision.”
I was glad the conversation had ended well.
Just as I was letting out a quiet breath, my father called me.
Miru. We’ve got a problem.
“What is it?”
Cheol-woo showed up with your brother-in-law. He’s yelling that he’s canceling every order we placed right now. What do we do?
I’d already expected something like this, so I wasn’t surprised.
“Don’t engage him. Stay there. I’m on my way right now.”
I turned to the two of them. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need to get going first.”
Heo Min-woong asked me, “Where to?”
“Pyungjin Industrial. The guy who was running a business with my father stole company money, so I kicked him out, and now he’s brought the client’s owner with him and is making a scene.”
At that, Heo Min-woong shot to his feet. “What? Then I’m coming too.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Something that big happened, of course I should go help! Are we not brothers?”
“……”
Since when were we brothers?
He could act like a screw-loose idiot sometimes, but he was still the second son of the Hwaan Group chairman and vice president of Hwaan Energy.
It did seem like he’d be useful if he came along.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
—