079 : The Great Demon King
Regardless of my mood, the car entered the Blue House. We were only given a moment to change our clothes before entering the main building.
“Come on. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
pop. pop. pop.
The President personally greeted me and hung a plaque and medal with a bouquet of flowers. Even the professional photographer and the director who makes the news film were making a fuss.
I couldn’t even hear a word of blah blah about conferring a peony field and praising a certain merit.
The fact that the president was in earnest like this meant that there were a huge number of noblemen who decided to dip their spoons into this work, including the president.
After the show, which lasted for almost an hour, until the first lecture, the president stopped everyone else, perhaps because he wanted to have a private meeting with me.
“Imja, you did a good job. It’s beyond my expectations. The U.S. government also expressed neutrality about the Korea-Japan agreement, and a lot of U.S. lawyers rushed in and scraped up all the data related to civilian damage. It must have been something you dealt with?”
“Yes that’s right.”
At my answer, the president put on a satisfied expression.
“Thanks to that, the maritime territorial waters issue has become very advantageous for us. We were able to solidify Dokdo and Marado as our territorial waters. haha.”
“As a citizen, I am very happy that I have been of help to the Republic of Korea, even if it is not enough.”
History has changed for the better, so it’s time to celebrate.
Above all, isn’t the Dokdo issue a card that Japan used to provoke us day and night?Read at noblemtl
Just erasing one of the opponent’s political cards is significant.
“If the country benefited from the Korea-Japan agreement and the vice minister, it should be repaid. Tell me. What do you want? I will listen to you.”
Like a genie on a lamp, the president asked me to make a wish.
“President, please fully reconsider the site selection for the Ulsan petrochemical complex.”
“what? A full review?”
Originally, in history, the Ulsan petrochemical complex rose from 5 won per pyeong to 600 won per pyeong, over a hundredfold.
Most of the myths of real estate speculation I heard when I was young were stories related to Ulsan.
Since it is close to Busan, it seems that it has been inflated for over ten years through the mouths of many people.
A waiter who worked at a hotel in Ulsan suddenly found it strange that high-ranking people came and went, overheard the story, and mobilized even his in-laws to buy land and become wealthy. There were all sorts of legends, such as the fact that a cabbage seller bought land by plowing a field during kimchi-making season and became rich.
Each story was a little different, but it was the same that they became rich overnight.
As a child, I was envious of such lucky children, but when I grew older and realized that the legend was a tale of real estate speculators mocking hard-working ants, it was truly miserable.
When I came to my senses, I was putting my body into work, saying I was preparing my own house.
“If you borrow a loan and spend more money on land compensation than on facility investment, it will inevitably result in insolvent construction. Money that should be spent on industrial development cannot be handed over to government officials and speculators who sell information.”
“It is natural for land prices to rise in a capitalist country. don’t you know?”
“You’re defending speculators. Could it be that you are raising slush funds from the Blue House to the Ulsan Industrial Complex?”
tell me what In the original history, the creation of the Ulsan Industrial Complex was an important task for the national economy, and at the same time, it was very important in terms of political funds for the 1967 presidential election.
Afterwards, the military regime, which recklessly pushed the village away when building the Pohang Iron and Steel Works, paid the price of land that rose 120 times in Ulsan.
Pohang Iron and Steel Co. began construction immediately after the presidential election, because it did not require large-scale political funds.
Furthermore, whenever an industrial complex was created, there was concern that land prices would skyrocket like in Ulsan. In the early 1970s, the government began to regulate land prices and development rights by enacting the ‘Industrial Base Development Promotion Act’.
In other words, the Ulsan Industrial Complex was an atrocious precedent.
“I really can’t get used to the way of talking that crosses the line of the owner. Isn’t the owner afraid of me! uh?”
I’m afraid. It is a government with the right to live and die.
I know very well that it is as powerful as it is fearful.
Because of you, the idea of completely reexamining the Ulsan petrochemical complex is possible.
“I am afraid. I can’t report lies because I’m afraid. If things go this way, we will never be able to attract large-scale foreign investment again. We invested 300 million dollars, but if we had to spend 100 million dollars on land before building a factory, who would come to our country?”
“You’re threatening me now!”
The president banged on the desk.
Still, he was trembling as he pointed his finger at me, as if his anger was not resolved.
“I am not threatening you, I am telling you the truth. As a condition of borrowing, the government said that the factory site would be provided free of charge, but if this fact is known to the United States, the business will be canceled one after another. This will ruin our country. President!”
“What? Factory land for free? You mean you did what the owner of that important contract condition did?”
“Then what? Didn’t you tell me to go to America and do my best? I starve to death because I can’t bring in dollars, I become a beggar by clinging to Japan, or I become a half-asshole after being dragged into the courtyard, aren’t they the same?”
“right! cold! number!”
The president, who always called me the owner, shouted out the three letters of my name clearly.
He was so angry that he trembled with his fists, not his fingers.
I had to hurry. Before this gentleman gets even more excited, I had to tell him my truth.
I’m not your enemy.
It’s just that I don’t want to see the wrong guy eat the money I’ve worked so hard for.
“Leave it to me, I will take good care of it so that I do not harm the President. Aren’t they trying to make their own profit by eating away at the future of the country?”
“Are you handling it well?”
The president responded to my words.
You must not miss this time. You have to offer an alternative.
“Yes! I will do it without backtracking. As for political funds, it can be solved by cutting the corporate tax of state-owned enterprises by a few percent. President.”
For this nobleman, the best thing is to keep the cause of national development and get only the presidential election funds neatly.
Money collected through corruption in construction, money siphoned off corporate taxes, and political funds are all the same.
The difference is that in order to create 10 billion political funds, real estate corruption needs to be 100 billion, but if you use the corporate tax of a state-owned company, you literally only have to divert 10 billion.
That much is enough if you treat it as a rebate or an miscellaneous expense in accounting.
“It is a hundred times better for the profits of state-owned enterprises to be slightly reduced than for the entire nation to suffer. It will be a choice that will go down in history.”
“Are you sure it will go down in history?”
Once again, the president’s tone softened.
After all, this nobleman is the incarnation of the lust for power.
People in power with this kind of inclination can never be fooled by the fact that they will remain in history.
“At least you won’t hear that real estate speculation has started from this government.”
“… You make me feel bad by the end. to the end!”
The threat worked.
He was annoyed, but his voice was never the same as before.
I was about to catch my breath for a moment, but the president suddenly turned his chair and turned his back to me.
You don’t want to see my face either?
No, he doesn’t want to show me his face.
“What are you going to call it? If the corporation is overturned now, the opposition party as well as the ruling party will not stand still.”
“You have to step up to the podium and ask yourself if you want to create a society where working people are fools. There will be far more votes expressing resentment than cheering for the rise in land prices in Ulsan.”
“!!!!”
The chair he was sitting on moved slightly.
It would be an election strategy worth thinking about.
Political funds are received as they are funded, and the justification is to realize a just society, so it is a strategy to eat pheasants and eat eggs.
Damn, there was even a conflict about whether I should tell you this.
The chair that had turned its back on me for a long time slowly returned.
“Owner, it would be nice to have a title like this.”
The president personally handwritten the ‘appointment letter. Full name Woo Chan-soo. Appointed as a special advisor to the Ulsan Petrochemical Complex Promotion Committee.’
There was no need for a cabinet meeting to make the appointment.
It was unimaginable in the 1960s.
“Persimmon… Thank you.”
“If there are working-level staff you need, you can freely select them from the secretariat or the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
This is something that should never be done by public officials.
As soon as you devise a plan to fuck the speculator, the information will leak out.
‘I need to find someone to work with, but…’
Let’s put off saving people for a while.
For now, just being safe today is exhausting.
“Go! Go and do well.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
Lastly, we need to come up with fundamental measures to distance ourselves from this military regime.
If this happens a few more times, no matter how helpful I am, my throat will fly off.
First of all, this job needs someone to insert it as a buffer in the middle.
A nobleman who is in the same position as me, has good skills, and doesn’t seem to hate him… is there anyone?
‘Let’s go home for now.’
***
Unemployment in Seongsu-dong.
The place I could call home was the Seongsu-dong factory.
My nominal house was only a place to sleep.
“Howdy!! Sambok!”
“Hey, Chansu!”
“Wow, the boss is here!”
“Congratulations on your safe return.”
“Long live the vice minister’s childish team!!!!”
Upon entering the factory, Sambok and the staff welcomed me. Also this is my home
“Hey, even when I waved my hand at the airport, he didn’t recognize me and just got into the car.”
“Hey, where have you been?”
“I just waved the Taegeukgi under the banner so you could see it, didn’t you see it?”
“How many people were there, why were you standing there?”
“Because it might appear on TV. ah! Anyway, did the Blue House meal taste good? Wouldn’t you have gotten 300 million dollars worth of food?”
“The taste is crazy, anything you eat there makes you sick. Let’s go have a glass of soju with meat snacks.”
“Wow, boss. Is it dinner today?”
Having jokes with Sambok for the first time in a while, the staff’s eyes twinkled.
The office staff, as well as the line staff, poked their heads out the window and their eyes twinkled.
“Boss, handsome!”
“Boss, can I have a beer?”
Everyone must have been hungry for dinner.
“Haha, when I went to America, I saw that Gold Skin was making a big hit. Then what should I do?”
“Wow, then let’s celebrate!”
“answer! Of course you have to eat and drink. All the alcohol and snacks in Seongsu-dong today belong to us. Unemployment employees of the trend, quit your work immediately! Advance!!!”
“Wow! exciting!”
Cheers broke out when I told them to stop working.
The office workers were the first to leave the papers and run out, and the line staff also ran away, arranging their seats, leaving only the shift workers. The replacement will be happy if you pay for the dinner later.
This evening, Seongsu-dong is a reservation for revelry.
To be honest, in Seongsu-dong, the hospitality was so extraordinary that even if you were wearing the trending business clothes, you could still pay for it.
This is because I am generous in paying for employee dinners, and there are times like today where I pay for dinners indefinitely.
It was an unconditional welcome when the general staff came in.
**
Sizzle.
It’s been a long time since I grilled pork, green onion, kimchi, tofu, and everything else, and drank soju.
Even the mekehan smoke coming out of the briquettes was welcome.
“So what?”
“What’s up? Oiled it up to cool the engine, and chained the splitting ship.”
“Hey, I drank some American water, and my bluffing has increased a lot.”
Sambok gasped with his tongue slightly twisted.
“What, that’s bullshit. Because it’s true, bitch. And because you stocked up on so many flares, you used them to light up the storm and get out.”
The flares that Sambok had loaded were really useful.
“Hey, it’s getting more and more spectacle. Did the waves calm down after he threw the flare and said ‘Storm, stop!’? I can become a pseudo-teacher.”
“Really! There are a hundred witnesses!”
“Oh, yes? Then you should admit it.”
“Really! It’s not a joke.”
“Who said what? Woojjujju, you’ve had a lot of trouble. Eat a lot.”
Sambok handed me some lettuce wraps and repeated woojjujju. Well, it’s hard to believe even when I think about it.
“Sheesh. talk to you now I’ve been away for over a month, has the factory been alright?”
I asked while pouring soju down my throat.
This feeling of cheap synthetic ethanol is indescribably good. It’s nothing compared to Jackcock.
“What’s the matter without you? Wake up in the morning, wash your face, go to work, pull out the fabric, load and send the goods, answer and call, leave work, wash, eat late-night snack, fall asleep, and it’s the next morning. It repeats it infinitely.”
Heck, the industrial powers of the 60’s were here.
“Oh, that’s why your eyes are dark. I promised to promote you when I returned alive in the Pacific, but you wouldn’t like it, would you?”
“If you and I are promoted one more time, you will die and I will die. I am still struggling enough.”
After all, it would be difficult to ask Sambok to do other things. CEO Hwang Hye-seong is also a solid person who is more like an engineer than a manager…
At this time, it is more absurd to have high-ranking officials as colleagues.
In the 1960s, finding a high-ranking public official who was far from collusion with politics and business was picking stars from the sky, but where did they get them?
“Yeah, I got it. If you’ve been doing well so far, this is the best. Let’s go like this.”
“Ah, something special happened.”
Sambok put a handful of lettuce wraps in his mouth and said as if he had just remembered.
“Did something happen? What?”
“Our company’s products almost became contraband. In the end, it was Yu Ya Mu Ya.”
“What? Contraband?”
When I was startled, Sambok waved his hand left and right as if nothing had happened.
“It’s no big deal. We filled the first subcontract with gold skins. So Polytech went to the second subcontract, and some of the supplies were released to the domestic market.”
“What does that have to do with smuggling?”
“I sold some of them by deceiving them as contraband goods made in Japan. Even these days, when it comes to Japanese products, there are many people who buy them at a higher price than domestic products.”
“Oh, good luck. Did you turn our product into Japanese? how?”
To be honest, our products would be of better quality than those made in Japan, so I thought it would have sold well if we cheated.
For me, domestic demand is something I have to lose weight through unnecessary competition, so I just stay away from it.
If it is exported, there are many people who will buy it at the right price.
“He was a really good looking guy. We loaded a lot of our goods onto the boat, circled the sea near Busan Port, and sold it as if it had been smuggled in from Japan.”
“What? What kind of smuggling is that?”
“I know yeah. Aren’t you amazed? Do you know what I said when I was caught selling it later?”
“What did you say?”
“They say it’s not smuggling because it’s not offshore. So I ended up with a fine. I am me, I am me.”
For some reason, it seemed like he had found a useful person in Ulsan.
I already had a little bit of a face, so I was embarrassed to go out myself.
I needed a dark human, and it was just right.
By now, I will be in a desperate situation without being able to do business, so I will work well as I intended.
