Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho’s companies were doing well. They were all generating revenues without loss. GH Mobile was the only one that hadn’t generated profits though because it had a debt to pay off. But still, Gun-Ho was the big player in Gangnam District in the public’s eyes; he owned a tall building which was a 20 story building including the rooftop. The building was situated in the center of the Gangnam District.

Moreover, Gun-Ho had 170 billion won in his stock account that was growing on a daily basis. No one knew about Gun-Ho’s money in that account though. Gun-Ho was making more than 4 billion won yearly using that money. Typically, the funds were invested in a safe program provided by the stock brokerage company. In addition, Gun-Ho was receiving his monthly salary of 35 million won in total from his four companies. Gun-Ho didn’t even spend much of this money since he usually used his company’s business credit card. That didn’t mean Gun-Ho spent money without care though.

Gun-Ho had also invested in several companies, but since many of them were startup companies, he hadn’t received any dividends yet from them. Once these companies started distributing dividends, Gun-Ho’s income would increase even more.

Two of the four companies that Gun-Ho owned were big enough to register with KOSDAQ, which were GH Mobile and Dyeon Korea. Once these two companies successfully became publicly traded companies, Gun-Ho’s wealth would grow dramatically.

Gun-Ho was in his office in Jiksan Town when he received a call from Mr. Adam Castler.

“How are you, boss. Please hold one second. I will put you on speakerphone so the interpreter can hear our conversation and interpret for us.”

The interpreter—Mr. Lee—was there and said,

“The vice president—Mr. Adam Castler—wants to leave for Incheon International Airport now. The audit team from Dyeon America is arriving soon.”

“Really? Sure.”

“Okay, sir. But I’m not going with Mr. Adam Castler this time.”

“Why not? Oh, the car doesn’t have enough space?”

“If I go with him, three people will have to sit in the rear seat.”

“Do you think he can handle it by himself? Do you think he won’t get lost on the way?”

“Vice President Adam Castler has been in Korea for several months already. I think he will be okay.”

In the afternoon, Gun-Ho headed to Dyeon Korea. Director Yoon brought twelve new employees to Gun-Ho’s office. The employees with work experience seemed to be about the same age as Gun-Ho while the others looked like they were in their early 30s or late 20s.

“So these people are the official first new hires of Dyeon Korea.”

“That’s right, sir.”

It was the second day of work for these new hires. They were already assigned to a department and started working. Gun-Ho gave a short speech to them to encourage them to work hard before letting them go back to their work.

“How many employees do we have now?”

“It’s 25 workers, sir.”

“Did we hire another security guard for the night shift?”

“We didn’t yet.”

“Why don’t you hire one more person for the day shift as well? We handle a significant amount of raw materials here. When someone needs to take materials out of the facility, they will have to submit the sign-out form to the security office before they pass the gate.”

“Understood, sir.”

“You know what? Let’s not directly hire security guards as our employees, but ask a staffing company to send someone here. For a position with a high turnover rate such as a security guard, we’d better use a labor service company’s service.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, you know what? I will ask the security staff company which dispatched my chauffeur here.”

Gun-Ho made a call to Tae-Young Im right away.

“Tae-Young?”

“Yes, big brother. This is Tae-Young.”

“We are looking for two security guards for the day shift and the night shift to work in my factory in Asan City. There is no age restriction. People in their 60s are fine too. Can you find someone for me?”

“Of course, big brother. I’m on it.”

Director Kim came back to the office after visiting a client site.

“Mr. Adam Castler left for the airport. The audit team seemed to have arrived.”

“I’ve been already informed about it, sir. I need to talk to you about getting freight trucks. We can’t handle the shipment of the raw materials to our clients any longer. There are just too many of them to handle by shipment. We will need to buy two freight trucks and hire two truck drivers.”

“Workers like drivers, security guards, cleaning crew, and restaurant workers can easily be provided by a staffing company. Maybe we should do that.”

“You are right. If we directly hire miscellaneous workers as our employees, they could create a lot of noise. They might demand a better work environment or higher salary, and it’s hard to manage them as well. If we think of raising their wages every year and using our resources to manage them, it’s more desirable to use a labor service company.”

“I know one staffing company. I will make a request to them.”

“Okay, sir. I will leave that to you then.”

After Director Kim left Gun-Ho’s office, Gun-Ho made a call to Jae-Sik Moon immediately.

“What’s up?”

“How is your editing work going?”

“It’s going fine. Since I have to read a lot, my eyes hurt a bit, but everything is good here.”

“Hey, are you interested in running a transportation company?”

“Running a transportation company? What are you talking about?”

“I’m thinking about forming GH transportation company. I will be in my office in Sinsa Town for work tomorrow. Come to my office. Meet me there tomorrow. You can see your wife at work too.”

“I don’t know what to say. I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Well, just come by my office in Sinsa Town tomorrow. Morning time is good. I will talk to you about it.”

“Okay. I will be there.”

In the afternoon, Mr. Adam Castler came back from the airport. He was with two Americans.

Mr. Adam Castler introduced these two Americans to Gun-Ho and the executive officers. One of the Americans said through the interpreter—Mr. Lee,

“The scope of our audit is limited to verifying the status of the machines that had been sent by us as part of our investment-in-kind and Mr. Adam Castler’s work. We are not here to audit any part of the Korean coventurer’s work. So please don’t mind us and focus on your work.”

“Hmm, really?”

“We just need a place to work. I saw a small meeting room on the way here. If it’s okay, we’d like to use that room for the next two days.”

“Sure. No problem. If you need anything else, please feel free to talk to Director Yoon here. He will help you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The next day, Gun-Ho headed to his building in Sinsa Town. Jae-Sik came to see him.

“Please have a seat. You want some coffee?”

Gun-Ho asked the secretary—Ms. Yeon-Soo Oh—to bring two cups of coffee.

“Have you walked up to the rooftop?”

“Not yet. I will go there later.”

“How do you like your job as a chief editor in GH Media?”

“Whether I like it or not is not important to me. That’s the only job I have that pays my bills.”

“You said you drove a taxi before.”

“You don’t make enough money by driving a taxi. You have to give a certain amount of money to the company, which is a lot. So, you have to drive from early morning till late at night. Old people drive a taxi because they can’t find any other job, but I don’t recommend it to young people.”