Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho was talking with Mr. Vice President Adam Castler.

“And, we will have an end-year promotion in December. We—Korean partners—will select someone to replace your current position—vice president.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I’ve been thinking about this, and I want to find someone within the company rather than bringing someone from outside. I’m thinking about promoting Director Kim to the vice president position. What do you think?”

“I don’t take any part in matters that are supposed to be handled by Korean partners only, and selecting someone for the next vice president is one of those matters. Whoever is selected by Lymondell Dyeon, that person will be the next president, and a vice president will be appointed by the Korean partners. However, if Mr. Director Kim is appointed to the vice president position, I would personally be very happy. I’ve been working with him, and I do like to work with him. I prefer to work with someone who I know rather than someone who I need time to get to know.”

“There is one more thing that I want to let you know, Mr. Adam Castler. I’m going to bring a new person from outside, and he will be appointed to a senior director position.”

“Huh? A new senior director, sir?”

“The next president and vice president will have to focus their work on managing Dyeon Korea’s entire business. We need someone who can solely contribute his time in developing our new markets, especially international markets. So, I decided to put someone in a senior director position, who had studied in the U.S.”

“Studied in the U.S.? Well, I like him already. As I mentioned before, sir, I take no part in promoting or terminating someone below a vice president position. If that’s what you decided, I will accept it as it is.”

“Once the new person joins us, I’m certain that you will feel easier to work with him since he speaks English fluently.”

“Haha. Well, if I get to stay here, then yes, it will be great. But, we are not sure yet about where I would be placed in—I might stay here or have to go back to the U.S.”

“I want to remind you that you can’t tell anyone about what we just discussed today. This is not official yet.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Mr. Manager Myeong-Joon Chae, you are well aware that you can’t disclose things that you learned during your interpretation work, to anyone. You understand that, right?”

“Of course, sir.”

Once Mr. Adam Castler left the office, Gun-Ho called for Secretary Seon-Hye Yee.

“Please tell Director Yoon to come to my office if the interview is completed, and he is available accordingly.”

“Yes, sir.”

After a moment, Director Yoon came into Gun-Ho’s office.

“Please have a seat.”

Director Yoon was gazing at Gun-Ho’s face, wondering what this was about, as he took a seat on the sofa.

“Are we done with interviewing people today?”

“Yes, sir. We selected 30 productions workers. They will start working with us next Monday.”

“Good job. The reason why I wanted to talk with you today is about changes in executive officer positions.”

“Changes, sir?”

“I think you should know this before it becomes official. As you know, our American partner will select their person for our next president, while we select our person for our next vice president position. I think Director Kim should take the vice president position.”

“Of course, sir. He is the highest-ranked executive officer now after the vice president.”

“Also, we will need an executive officer in the production department. I’m intending to promote Manager Hee-Yeol Yoo to a director in that department.”

“Well, that’s what we all have expected all along, sir.”

“I guess we will have to talk about your promotion next time, Mr. Director Yoon.”

“I totally understand that, sir. My area of expertise lies with construction, but since we don’t currently have any construction going on within the company, I’ve been doing management work. I’m just grateful that I can still work here in Dyeon Korea.”

“One last thing that I need to let you know is that we will have someone from outside, who will be placed as a senior director. He will be handling our market development overseas.”

“A new senior director, sir?”

Director Yoon took the news seriously. His face hardened a bit since a new person from outside will join the company with a position higher than himself.

“You and this new person will be working in a different department. You won’t see him very often. Even the approval path will be different.”

“Well, if the approval path is different, then I don’t mind at all, sir.”

“Thank you for understanding it.”

“Where did the new senior director used to work before joining us?”

“He graduated college in the U.S., and he used to work in an investment bank. I believe that he is about the same age as you, Mr. Director Yoon.”

“I see.”

“The new senior director will join us starting next week, but our official end-year promotion will be held next month in December. So, I want you to keep this between you and me until then.”

“Understood, sir.”

“As to the promotions for other mid or low level management personnel, I want you to make a list with adequate candidates.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gun-Ho then asked for the internal auditor. He would be the last person who Gun-Ho wanted to talk about the promotion news.

“We need to announce that we will be holding a tentative board meeting.”

“Huh? You mean that we need to let the Korea Stock Exchange know about the meeting?”

“Right. Please take a note about it.”

As Gun-Ho, who was in his late 30s, asked the internal auditor, who was in his late 50s, to take a note, the internal auditor took out a pen and a paper.

“The main issues that will be discussed during this tentative board meeting will be about having a new senior director and also setting a limit for the amount of pay for executive officers.”

When he heard the word—a new senior director—from Gun-Ho, the internal auditor looked tensed up. He looked at Gun-Ho’s face.

“For the new senior director, I will appoint a person named Hyeong-Woo Lee. I have his resume here. You will find all the necessary information about him there.”

“Oh, we are bringing a new senior director from outside, I see.”

“Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee will join us next week. He will be handling our expansion of international markets. I’ve already informed Mr. Vice President Adam Castler, Director Kim, and Director Yoon about this.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, I want to talk about the internal auditor position.”

“Huh, sir? Are we expecting to have one more person from outside as well?”

The internal auditor’s eyes widened in surprise.

“No, no. We are not bringing any new person for the position. As we became a public company, we were supposed to add our internal auditor as one of our board of directors, but we haven’t done it yet. So, I want to point it out during our next board meeting to make it official. We will add you, Mr. Internal Auditor, as one of our board of directors.”

“Huh, sir, me?”

“Yes. The term for our new senior director and you—Mr. Internal Director—is two years.”

“T-two years, sir? Thank… thank you, sir.”

“The limit of the pay for our executive officers can be set according to the current pay of Director Kim and yours. After the tentative board meeting is over, please register these two additional officers to our board of directors.”

“Umm, sir, Mr. Director Kim is not currently registered as a board member, either.”

“We will take care of others later when we do our end-year promotion.”

“Understood, sir.”

“After you make the registration, please bring me a copy of the company’s registration reflecting the change.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the internal auditor was confirmed with his term extension by Gun-Ho, he looked excited. He walked out of Gun-Ho’s office with a happy smile on his face.

Gun-Ho stayed sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed. He then enjoyed his jujube tea.

‘Alright. I guess we are now ready to bring Mr. Hyeong-Woo Lee as our new senior director. He can come to work starting next Monday. The former Minister Jin-Woo Lee will become the leader of his political party, and he will need to show his intention to run for President after that. That will increase Dyeon Korea’s stock price as it will be most likely affected by politics soon.’