Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho received a phone call from Manager Hwang from YS Tech.

“I talked to the president. He said he would be available any time in the afternoon tomorrow.”

“Okay. I will then come by around 3 pm.”

The next day, Gun-Ho started getting ready for the short trip to Asan City to meet with the president of YS Tech, by filling up the tank of his car.

“I told them I would come by around 3 pm, so I guess I’d better have lunch before leaving to Asan City. Which restaurant do I want to go for lunch today? Hmm, let’s just eat at home.”

Gun-Ho went back to his home. The feeling of loneliness filled the air in his home.

“I bought this spacious condo at the auction as one of my investments. Come to think of it, it is indeed too big for one person to live. Sometimes, I feel scared at night while staying in this 50 pyung large space by myself.”

Gun-Ho pulled out some food from the refrigerator such as kimchi, salted fermented oyster, balloon flower root salad, and dried seaweed. The balloon flower root salad was prepared and stored in the refrigerator by the housekeeper who came to Gun-Ho’s home to clean the condo and to prepare food for him two or three times per week. Gun-Ho also put some left-over deep fried chicken in the microwave.

“Maybe I should start a family. But I am so dumb in that field. I have never dated a girl before; I was too busy making money. What should I do? It won’t be easy for me to start dating a girl at this age. In addition, all the good and decent girls must be already taken.”

Gun-Ho had a cup of coffee after his meal.

The only room Gun-Ho was using in this large condo was the master bedroom. In the master bedroom, there were a bed, a desk, and a bookshelf. All sorts of books about management were placed in the bookshelf. Gun-Ho was once thinking of having a dog out of loneliness and then he decided not to because he realized that he would have to take care of the dog and he was not sure if he could live with all those hairs that a dog would shed.

After brushing his teeth, Gun-Ho headed to Asan City. He drove on the expressway singing Bohemian Rhapsody. He was enjoying the moment.

Gun-Ho entered Dunpo Town in Asan City after getting out of the North Cheonan IC and passing Seonghwan Town. He was passing by the Asan Techno Valley when he decided that,

“I will someday have a huge factory just like one of those in this Techno Valley. I will have an enormous manufacturing factory without fail!”

Gun-Ho could see the YS Tech factory building when he entered into the Shinbong town in Dunpo.

“I’m back here again, and it makes me so emotional.”

Gun-Ho’s Land Rover slowly entered into the factory yard.

Gun-Ho could see that there were not many factory workers in the factory. There were some workers in uniform but he couldn’t recognize any of them.

“It’s hard to find a worker who would work for a long time in a small or mid-size company. This company has a high turnover rate and I don’t see anyone who I can recognize.”

Gun-Ho walked up to the second floor and opened the office door.

“Manager Hwang, I’m here.”

“Oh! You came!”

“Is it Mr. Gun-Ho Goo?”

There was another manager in the sales department that recognized Gun-Ho and extended his hand for a handshake. There was a new lady who was sitting at the desk that was used to be used by Manager Kim in the accounting department.

Manager Hwang was about to go to the president’s office to let him know that Gun-Ho was here when Gun-Ho grabbed his arm.

“I will go to see the president by myself.”

Gun-Ho knocked on the president’s office before he entered the office. The president was looking at his smartphone.

“Sir, I’m Gun-Ho Goo.”

“Oh, Mr. Gun-Ho Goo!”

The president stood up.

Gun-Ho knelt down on the floor and said,

“Sir, let me make a deep bow to you.”

“No, Mr. Goo. What are you doing? Get up.”

“I’ve never forgotten the generosity you had shown me.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t really done anything for you!”

“That’s not true. You forgave me when I put my hand on the company money. How would I forget that?”

“Don’t say that. You didn’t even cause any financial loss to the company. I rather feel sorry that I let you go at that time just because you touched the company money. I was too harsh on you. Come and have a seat with me.”

The president walked towards the conference table and sit there. Gun-Ho sat at the other side of the table so he could see and talk to the president face-to-face.

Gun-Ho looked at President Young-Sik Park closely. He seemed to lose more hair and gained a lot of wrinkles around his eyes. He was certainly a good looking man like a movie star, but he couldn’t seem to help with aging.

“You seem to be doing very well, Mr. Gun-Ho Goo. What do you do these days for a living?”

“I do a rental property business. I do have OneRoomTels.”

“Hmm, a OneRoomTel business must cost a lot to start. You must have saved a lot of money.”

“I did make some money in China.”

“What did you do in China?”

“I ran a restaurant there, and I made some money by selling a condo I had bought there.”

“I see. That’s nice.”

Gun-Ho didn’t mention about stocks, the real property he purchased at the auction, and the investment in the joint venture with China.

“I was told that you know someone in the hard money business.”

“I think it wouldn’t be easy to borrow money from them. They usually require strong collateral to lend money.”

“I thought so.”

“So, I was thinking that since I have money saved up to acquire another OneRoomTel, you could borrow that money from me.”

“From you? Personally? I see that you are trying to help me, but I don’t have any property I can offer you as collateral. All the properties I have are already being used by a non-bank financial institution to borrow money.”

“I am aware of the situation. The money I would lend you wouldn’t solve the problem you have.”

“Then why do you want to lend me the money?”

“I just want to be of help to you since you had been generous to me.”

“You are silly.”

Gun-Ho pulled out an envelope from his pocket.

“What is this?”

“It’s 200 million won.”

“Are you serious about this? This is the amount with which you could purchase a condo in Asan City.”

“I know that.”

“Hmm.”

The president closed his eyes for a moment and then said,

“All the real properties are already secured with other loans so I won’t be able to use it as collateral for the money you are lending me. Instead, I will write a statement that I would transfer all the equipment in the factory to you for the money. They are old equipment but they are still worth the amount you are lending me.”

“Well, if that’s what you want, I am fine with it.”

“I can’t pay you high interest for the loan though. I will give you 7%.”

“Do what you want to do, sir.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gun-Ho Goo. You are saving me big time.”

The president grabbed Gun-Ho’s hands.

“I have a question to ask you, sir.”

“Okay.”

“Will Mulpasaneop start the court receivership?”

“They actually want to start it but they need money to apply for it. I heard the Small and Medium Business Promotion Center is helping them to start the court receivership now.”

“Since there is no court in Asan City, the court of Cheonan District Court will handle the court receivership?”

“No, the court receivership can only be handled by a higher court, so Daejeon District Court will take the case, I suppose.”

“Oh, I see.”

“What happened to the Mulpasaneop, by the way? I heard the president’s son excessively invested in the company in China.”

“His son invested about 10 billion won in the factory located in Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province.”

“Huh? Did you say Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province?”

Suzhou City was very close to Kunshan City where Gun-Ho’s joint venture was located. Suzhou City was a huge city compared to Kunshan City.

“That’s right. His son spent way too much money in that factory and caused Mulpasaneop’s financial crisis. Besides, that factory didn’t do well; it couldn’t sell enough products and it produced so many defective products. That made the situation even worse. It eventually resulted in family discord between the president and his son.”

Gun-Ho decided to keep an eye on Mulpasaneop quietly.