Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Wednesday came around.

Gun-Ho went to Palace Hotel that was located next to Gangnam Express Bus Terminal, where Amiel was staying for his visit to Korea. Attorney Young-Jin Kim was already in the hotel lobby when Gun-Ho arrived at the hotel.

“We don’t have to take two cars. I will drive.”

“Sounds good.”

“Where is Amiel?”

“He will come down soon.”

“What was the company name in Pyeongtaek City, where we are heading to?”

“It’s Egnopak. Have you heard of it?”

“I have. It’s quite a big company and a KOSDAQ registered firm.”

“They have 3,000 employees.”

“Yeah, that’s about right.”

Amiel came down to the first floor through an elevator and lifted his arm when he saw Gun-Ho waiting for him in the lobby.

“Oh, Mr. Gun-Ho Goo, how are you?!”

Gun-Ho took President Amiel and Attorney Young-Jin Kim in his Land Rover and drove to Egnopak Corporation that was situated in Jinwi Town in Pyeongtaek City.

A guard stopped Gun-Ho’s car at the main gate.

“We are here to meet the president.”

“May I tell him who’s here to see him?”

“Please tell him that the president of Japan location of Lymondell Dyeon is here.”

The guard quickly made a call to somewhere before he came back to Gun-Ho’s party.

“You can proceed. Please park over there and go to the second floor through the main entrance.”

Their large factory was very well organized and extremely clean. The workers seemed to be neat and well disciplined. The front yard of the factory was nicely landscaped with trees such as pine trees and juniper trees.

“I want to have a factory like this! A factory that has over 3,000 employees with the sales revenue of one trillion won.”

Gun-Ho bit his lips as he firmly made up his mind.

After Gun-Ho parked his car, the three men walked towards the main entrance. There was a man who looked like in his 50s waiting for Gun-Ho’s party.

“Welcome to Egnopak. I am the director of the sales department here. You must be President Amiel. We received a call that you would be here. Please come with me; I will show you to the president’s office.”

At the entrance, several complete automobile parts were displayed under a spotlight. They were professionally displayed for showcasing.

The sales director led Gun-Ho’s party to the second floor. The president’s office was spacious. It was carpeted green, and a young lady who looked like in her 20s was sitting at a desk. She was wearing a suit. She must be a secretary. When she saw Gun-Ho’s party entering the office, she stood up.

“Are you Mr. Amiel by any chance?”

The secretary asked; her English sounded perfect.

“Yes, I am.”

The secretary brought Gun-Ho’s party to another office inside a large office where they were standing.

The office was large. The president was sitting at a conference table that was situated in the middle of the office. He stood up when he saw Gun-Ho’s party entering the office. The president was an overweight man in his 60s; he looked like a toad.

“Welcome, President Amiel.”

Amiel pleasantly extended his hand to the president for a handshake.

“Let’s all have a seat.”

Once everyone was seated, the president took out his business card from a Korean traditional mother-of-pearl mini storage box and handed one to each of Gun-Ho’s party. President Amiel gave his business card to the president and so did Attorney Kim. The president looked at Attorney Kim’s business card closely with his reading glasses.

“Oh, you are an attorney from Kim&Jeong. But we don’t need any legal consultation yet since we haven’t started anything.”

The president said to Attorney Kim while smiling. He had a large round face like a wheel of a vehicle with small eyes.

“I am here to interpret for President Amiel.”

Gun-Ho pulled out his business card as well, but he hesitated to give it to the president; he felt somewhat embarrassed to hand it to him. However, he was here and felt compelled to give it to him. The president once again wore his reading glasses to look at Gun-Ho’s business card.

“President of GH Development?”

“Yes, I am.”

“What does GH stand for?”

Gun-Ho didn’t know what to say. He felt embarrassed to tell him that GH was his initials. When the president noticed that Gun-Ho was hesitating to respond, he laughed and said,

“They must be your name initials. Many people use their initials for their company names these days. Is it a real estate development company?”

“I mostly do rental property business rather than developing.”

The president didn’t wait until Gun-Ho finished his sentence, but he started talking to Amiel.

“I was amazed when I went to the U.S. last month to see Lymondell Dyeon. I was very impressed by their research center and equipment. It was indeed a global enterprise.”

Attorney Kim interpreted for Amiel as the president was talking. Once Amiel understood what the president said, he smiled broadly.

“I had a chance to glance at Egnopak on the way here. I was impressed as well. The factory seemed to be extremely clean.”

Attorney Kim interpreted what Amiel just said.

“Our factory complies with 3 Right 5 S. I guess the workers were doing well since you found our factory extremely clean.”

Attorney Kim whispered to Gun-Ho,

“President Goo, what is 3 Right 5 S?”

“It’s a clean-up activity to enhance productivity efficiently in a factory. 3 Right stands for Right Goods, Right Quantity, and Right Place and 5 S stands for Sorting, Straightening, Shining, Standardizing, and Sustaining. I used to do it when I worked at a factory.”

“Really? I see.”

The female secretary brought tea and placed a cup of tea in front of each person in the office. Gun-Ho could smell the scent of tea.

“Let’s have some tea. Why don’t you join us, Ms. Oh?”

The secretary hesitated a bit before she sat at the edge of the table.

“Ms. Oh went to high school and college in the U.S. She speaks English very well. She will be helpful in communicating with President Amiel.”

“Oh, really?”

Attorney Kim gave his business card to Ms. Oh. She looked at Attorney Kim’s business card. Gun-Ho didn’t give his to her.

After having a few sips of tea, the president continued to talk.

“It won’t be easy for the joint venture of Lymondell Dyeon with Japan to get into the Chinese market. There is an emotional issue between Japan and China due to their history, and also labor cost in Japan is too high. However, if you can have a joint venture with Korea, then it will be much easier to enter the Chinese market. Ms. Oh, why don’t you interpret for President Amiel?”

The secretary fluently interpreted what the president just said with her pleasant voice. Amiel and Attorney Kim seemed to be impressed.

“She spoke just like a native American.”

Attorney Kim said in amazement.

Amiel said,

“We acknowledged the advanced technology of Egnopak. The reason we don’t do joint venture with China is because of their technology that is behind Japan and Korea. Moreover, it’s hard to find good quality compound pigment in a market in China.”

This time, Attorney Kim interpreted for the president.

The president continued to talk. He seemed to be very experienced in this sort of discussion.

“We will prepare the land to build a factory and an extruder for compounds machine. All Lymondell Dyeon needs to bring in is their technology. We will also handle the marketing for the Chinese market; we already have our branch office in China. So, I want to suggest,”

The president dragged his chair towards Amiel and said in a low tone,

“Let’s make it 51:49. We are 51 and Lymondell Dyeon takes 49. We need this to maintain our management control. Also, we want the technology transfer at the end of the joint venture.”

Amiel was listening intently to what the president said, and then he smiled and said,

“I understood what you said. However, I am not in a position to discuss the joint venture’s terms. I will talk with the headquarters. It has been a very productive meeting, sir.”