Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

“The reason I talked with the president here is to ask him to hire me as an employee. I wanted to start my investigation early in collecting information to know the exact situation of the company, like how much debt it really has.”

“Hmm. So you are interested in acquiring this company.”

“That’s right. I believe you probably want to sell the company to a third party as early as you can. That’s what the court promotes too, right? If the company is sold even before the court receivership actually starts, you might get an incentive too, I believe.”

“That’s not a bad idea. What concerns me is that you need to take a position with a real task. We actually have a vacancy in a position that handles lawsuit related work. The person who used to work in the position quit the job; he said the work was too hard for him. Why don’t you take the position and do your own investigation about the company and its debt while handling the company’s lawsuit?”

“That’s fine with me. I am willing to take any work that you give to me. I hope I could take though a position to a level as a managing director.”

“That’s not possible. In order to hire a person at a director level, we will need approval from the court.”

“I see. Then, let’s do this. Let’s tell people within the company that the company hired a new managing director, and tell the court that the company hired a manager who would handle the lawsuit related work.”

“Hmm.”

The officer seemed to take some time to think about it, and said,

“Did the president agree to it? I mean about hiring you, President Gun-Ho Goo.”

“Yes, he said okay.”

“Well, let’s do that then since the president agreed to it. Let me first talk with the president, and I will contact you.”

Gun-Ho lent 200 million won to the Mulpasaneop’s president and secured the loan with his condo in Bangbae Town. The president seemed to be satisfied when he received the money.

“My sister will be very happy. Thank you.”

Gun-Ho came back to Seoul and had waited until he heard something from Mulpasaneop.

“Once I get into the company, I will have to handle their lawsuit job, but I have no idea what the work is about. What should I do? Oh, the officer manager—Se-Gil Lee from a law firm. I think I can ask him about the work.”

The reason why Gun-Ho wanted to get into the Mulpasaneop as an employee was to grasp the actual state and condition of the company such as their actual current assets and debts; that way, he would be able to smoothly acquire the company without making a mistake when it came to the time for the M&A. Also, Gun-Ho wanted to make himself busy working at Mulpasaneop, so he could suppress his urge to sell his Kumho Chemical stock.

“I will be too busy to think about selling the Kumho Chemical stock. Let the stock sit there for quite a while, maybe until the coming winter.”

Gun-Ho received a call from the court officer at Mulpasaneop.

“You can start your work here next Monday. As I previously promised, we will report to the court that we hired you as a manager who would hand the company’s lawsuit related work. However, inside the company, we will announce that we hired a managing director, but that has to be done by the president, not me. Since I am the appointed officer by the court, I can’t do it.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“Since the company is officially hiring you, you will have to bring some papers like your resume, your resident registration, and your highest school diploma.”

“No problem. I will do that.”

“And the duration of the employment will be 6 months.”

“That sounds good. I believe everything will be done by then.”

Gun-Ho urgently called for Manager Kang and Ms. Ji-Young Jeong.

“I won’t be in the office from tomorrow. I will be working as a managing director at a manufacturing company in Asan City.”

“Huh? What about our company then?”

Gun-Ho’s two employees’ eyes widened.

“I could take the position in Asan City and work there for a while because I know you two will be in this office. You just keep working as you have done, and let me know when there is an important thing you think you need to report to me.”

“What is going on, sir?”

“The company in Asan City is Mulpasaneop. They manufacture automobile parts. I actually want to make an M&A of that company, so I want to be inside the company in advance to find out more about the company.”

“Are you acquiring a company? How big is that company? If it is a manufacturing company, their employees should be at least more than ten people.”

“Their current employees are actually 250.”

“250 people?”

Manager Kang and Ji-Young looked at each other in surprise.

Gun-Ho at first thought of finding a place to stay within the Asan City, and then he decided to lease a condo close to Cheonan-Asan Station for KTX (Korea Train Express); it was a 25 pyung condo.

“This is a newly constructed condo; it looks good. Since the KTX station is right there, it will take me only 30 minutes to go to Seoul, which is nice.”

Gun-Ho went to Mulpasaneop to work on the following Monday.

There were 48 workers from the management department who were gathered for the morning meeting. Since it was a manufacturing company, the number of workers in the production was way higher than the number of the workers in the management. The president introduced Gun-Ho to the workers from the management.

“This is Gun-Ho Goo. He joined us today and he will be working as a managing director of our company. He will handle mostly lawsuit related jobs.”

Gun-Ho came forward and gave a 90-degree bow to the workers. The workers clapped with a blank face. The president continued to talk,

“Managing Director Gun-Ho Goo graduated from Zhejiang University in China majoring in accounting, and he worked as the president of GH Development Company. Please welcome him as our team.”

Gun-Ho bowed to the workers again.

Gun-Ho asked the accounting manager to give him the lawsuit files. There were 54 ongoing lawsuits. Gun-Ho quickly looked through the files.

“16 of them are about unpaid wages, and the rest of them are from creditors for unpaid loans.”

Gun-Ho made a call to the office manager—Se-Gil Lee.

“Oh, President Gun-Ho Goo? I am back to my office in Seocho Town. Why don’t we have lunch together today? I can get to the Gangnam station in 15 minutes on my slow foot.”

“I am actually in Asan City today. I took a temporary position in a company that I want to make an M&A of.”

“Oh, really?”

“If you have time today, can we meet at Seoul Station instead? I will buy you a tasty lunch. I have something to consult you about.”

“That sounds good. I don’t have any other schedule today anyway.”

Gun-Ho put all the Mulpasaneop’s lawsuit files into a briefcase and took a KTX train heading to Seoul. Once Gun-Ho arrived at the Seoul Station, he met with the office manager at the Café Pascucci that was located inside the train station.

“What are these?”

“These are lawsuit documents.”

Gun-Ho put all the documents on the table and showed it to the office manager—Se-Gil Lee.