Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho, Mr. Sakata Ikuzo and Jong-Suk Park drank a lot that night.

Gun-Ho asked for Ms. Jang—the hostess of the secret bar, Pine.

“We’d like to listen to Gayageum.”

Two young ladies in a traditional Korean dress entered the room with Gayageum. Once they started playing it, Mr. Sakata Ikuzo closed his eyes to fully enjoy the music. The ladies played two more songs before they left the room.

Gun-Ho said while filling in Mr. Sakata Ikuzo’s glass.

“Mr. Sakata Ikuzo, you have been a great help to our company. I truly appreciate it. The new product passed S Group’s test, and we have already submitted our estimated product cost to them. We are expecting to receive the first product order from them soon.”

“Manager Jong-Suk Park helped me a lot in developing the product.”

“Since you are retired, I believe you don’t have work that you need to start right away after you finish this job with us, do you? What about you work with us for six more months?”

“Are you offering to extend my contract for the next six months?”

“Yes. Manager Park here has a lot to learn from you. I am hoping that you could teach and guide him.”

“Manager Park is a very smart man, and he picks up things very quickly in the industrial field. He seems to be able to make anything he wants. While he is excellent in making things by tightening a screw and welding and so on, he still needs more practice in mixing chemicals and carving moulds.”

“That’s why I am asking you to stay with us for six more months. We would love to have you here with us for an extended period of time.”

“I will give the product recipe to Manager Park one by one starting tomorrow. Please share the recipe between you and Manager Park and do not disclose it to anyone else.”

“Don’t the engineers in the company have to know the recipe?”

“Not really. Competitor companies will always try to find out the recipe.”

“What if we file a patent for your product recipe?”

“I am not sure if it is eligible for patent protection, and I don’t think it is necessary to patent it. Moreover, I don’t know how to do the paperwork to apply for a patent, and I don’t think I can prepare all those necessary documents to explain and support the theory of the product to get it patented. What I have is my skills to make the mould and recipe, with my two hands, and I don’t think those are patentable. It’s like Kimchi. You use the same ingredients for Kimchi, but every family has different taste of Kimchi in their home.”

“I see.”

“If you need a patented product, you can talk to my brother. He is a Nobel-prize doctor at Tokyo University.”

“Mr. Sakata Ikuzo, you are an engineer, but I am a businessman. I don’t need an excellent patented item. What I need is a patented item that will bring me profit.”

“Of course.”

“Well, we can talk more about patent later. For now, can you teach Manager Park your skills and knowledge so he could produce our new product—AM083 Assembly—when you are not here.”

“Okay, I will do that. Someone has to do it once I am not with the company, anyway.”

“I have one more favor to ask you, Mr. Sakata Ikuzo. As you know, we need to attach an aluminum ring to the new product. I’m going to ask another company to do the job. The company’s name is YS Tech. I will ask them to send several skilled workers to our factory for training. Can you teach them?”

“Okay. I will do that.”

“Let me fill in your glass, sir.”

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo seemed to be drunk; he was talking gibberish. When the Gayageum was being played again, he performed Japanese dance along with fast-tempo Gayageum music.

Jong-Suk drank a lot that evening as well. He took every single glass of liquor that a pretty lady in a traditional Korean dress who was sitting next to him handed to him. Jong-Suk couldn’t even stand up by himself. Gun-Ho called a paid designated driver and took Jong-Suk and Mr. Sakata Ikuzo to his TowerPalace condo.

When they arrived at Gun-Ho’s condo in Gangnam, Jong-Suk woke up for a second and asked,

“Bro! Where are we?”

“We’re at my place.”

“Wow. How come is it so big?”

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo was still sleeping in another room.

The next morning, Mr. Sakata Ikuzo was frightened when he woke up.

“Where am I?”

“Good morning, Mr. Sakata Ikuzo. It’s my home.”

Gun-Ho responded with a bright smile.

“Oh, this is so big.”

Most Japanese people lived in a small home, usually about 20 pyung large. It seemed that Mr. Sakata Ikuzo hadn’t seen a home this big before.

“I’ve never been to a large home like this before. The view is magnificent. This must be a very high floor.”

Jong-Suk asked while looking out the window.

“Bro, how much is this condo?”

“Hey, stop talking about the home, and let’s go out to have a hangover soup. I know a good place; they specialize in a blowfish hangover soup.”

“Blowfish? I like Korean sausage hangover soup better.”

“We can’t just go and eat something we like. We need to think about our guest. He is Japanese; he must like fish.”

“Oh, you are right. Let’s go to that blowfish hangover soup place.”

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo seemed to like blowfish hangover soup.

He thanked Gun-Ho several times for allowing him to experience delicious Korean food.

“Thank you, Shacho-san (president). Because of you, I had a great time in a secret bar and spent a night at your house; I had a very good sleep there. And today, I am having tasty Bokuoguku (blowfish soup).”

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo seemed to be emotional.

Once they returned to Asan City, Mr. Sakata Ikuzo started teaching Jong-Suk passionately.

“Raise the temperature and wrap the extruder’s head with three layers of nets. Let the cooling water flow until it goes about 1 meter before placing the product there…”

Jong-Suk learned enthusiastically. The products on the first day came out distorted. However, from the third day, since Jong-Suk started learning from Mr. Sakata Ikuzo, the products came out really pretty.

“They look good.”

Mr. Sakata Ikuzo nodded his head, showing that he was satisfied with the outcome.

On the fifth day, the S Group personnel arrived at Gun-Ho’s factory to conduct due diligence. They were young researchers of S Group, about the same age as Gun-Ho or Jong-Suk.

“Please give us the test report of the raw materials.”

Jong-Suk handed Dyeon America’s test report to them. It indicated hardness, tensile strength, and so on. They took out Dyeon America’s product themselves and took a picture, and then they performed a quick test like burning it with a lighter.

Jong-Suk demonstrated the product manufacturing in front of them. Once Jong-Suk turned on the switch to raise the temperature, the machine started spouting the cooling water with a loud noise. Vivid-colored products started coming out. The products moved about 1 meter before they got into the cooling water. Steam rose from the products with a sound.

“Wow. They are so pretty.”

The researchers from S Group took pictures of it.

“What raw materials did you use for the mixture that goes into the hopper?”

Gun-Ho who was standing next to Jong-Suk answered the question,

“I’m sorry. We can’t disclose it. It’s the recipe we used to manufacture this product.”