086 : High Risk High Return
“It’s dangerous! Everyone get out of the way!”
“Sprinkle sand, sprinkle water!”
The inside of the warehouse was a mess with black smoke and red molten iron.
There were no casualties as the employees were evacuated in advance.
Like a steelworks, the walls of the warehouse are finished with fire bricks, so if you suppress it like this, it will become the picture you want.
“What are you doing? Call the fire department! fire station!”
Incheon Steel employees ran everywhere, pulled a hose from somewhere and sprayed tap water.
Bulldozers also pushed the sludge and built higher embankments.
As it was in the ’60s, the fire department would come a long time later, and seemingly the whole company was in total disarray.
If this is enough, no one will say anything even if the operation is stopped.
“What happened…how.”
The German impersonating the master sat down on the floor, devastated.
“Defense Minister Yeom, please contact the West German embassy. Tell them that you will assemble an investigation team to investigate the fraudulent fraud of the Rurghisa deputy minister.”
“Yes, I will contact you right away and expel these guys.”
“No, no. Investigation, not deportation, comes first. You need to inform the ambassador and interrogate these guys. Whether or not you exercise your right to remain silent, you must conduct a formal investigation.”
“!!! Formal investigation!”
Assistant Secretary Yeom noticed something in my eyes.
Yes, in order to extort money from the West German government, the investigation must be perfect.
‘Deputy Minister Yeom, please ask the media to refrain from reporting on this matter for now. If we rush into this, we will lose tens of millions of dollars.’
I hooked and pulled Assistant Secretary Yeom and whispered in his ear. In order to threaten West Germany, it was necessary to control the media first.
‘Oh, I see what you mean. You’re threatening the West German ambassador. It’s a matter of government prestige.’
‘It’s not just a matter of prestige. If the Korean government passes the official accident report to the competitor, the West German company will not be able to win plant orders in the future.’
‘Huh, that’s literally tens of millions of dollars. Don’t worry about the press.’
If the media writes an article, the intensity of the threat is drastically reduced. To get the credit right, the West German government had to be convinced that it could cover up the accident.
‘you’re right. Seek cooperation from the media and ask them to be patient. Because there is no casualty.’
‘Yes, yes.’
Deputy Minister Yeom nodded his head at me to show that he understood.
And then he ran off somewhere. It must be going to hand down reporting guidelines to the press. It is said to be cooperation, but I will force it by citing the Blue House.
“Director Seok Ki-hoon.”
“Yes, Mr. Wu.”
“This is clearly a West German company scamming South Korea under the pretext of loans. We need to thoroughly investigate whether this was facilitated by the West German government.”
“All right. We will invest all the staff of the Second Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to properly investigate the damage.”
“Pick out the damage amount as objectively as possible. This is a major case in which Incheon Steel, a national key industry, is suspending operations, and the West German government should conduct a transparent investigation and provide appropriate compensation for defects.”
“That’s right. Appropriate compensation for defects!!!”
Director Seok clenched his fists and trembled as if he was going to turn the stress he had received into money.
“good. I will be in charge of reporting to the Blue House.”
“Yes, Mr. Wu.”
Director Seok seemed to get the hang of it.
At least 20 million dollars can be extracted as compensation for defects, and if negotiations are successful, it will be possible to introduce a loan for the integrated steelworks.
In their own way, the West German government and Korea should present conditions that would be mutually beneficial.
After all, I have to go as a special envoy.
“Hey, President Dong-jun Dong.”
“Yes, yes. Woo boss. Please take care of the situation when reporting to the Blue House. I will finish this in my line anyway.”
“In your line?”
“Please trust me. Just give us some time and we can fix it.”
It was as if the way he was talking was that he had a back stomach.
Ugh, most entrepreneurs in this era think of back boats as insurance.
“No, can’t you understand the situation? Looking at this situation, do you want to keep your position? Corruption has occurred in the loan guaranteed by the state, do you think this will be resolved by pushing your back?”
“Heh heh! Cha… Until the vice minister’s corruption… not…”
“No? Who do you know as an idiot? President Dong, shall we find out where the 9.2 million dollars went?”
“Please save me. Boss Wu.”
It was only then that President Dong fell to his knees.
If you really investigate, it seems that the corruption is revealed one after another like sweet potato stems. Hey, who the heck is behind you?
“I’m definitely warning you, don’t raise your business for nothing and quietly take off your clothes. I vomit up everything I ate. If you don’t, I’ll get rid of it on the other side.”
President Dong-jun Dong-joon became contemplative.
“I will take off my clothes right now. Even if you don’t expand the investigation like this, I will do whatever you ask.”
As if surrendering, President Dong took off his work clothes and held them out to me.
If you do this, you’ll be more curious about who’s behind you.
There’s nothing good about making enemies, so I’ll have to ask Secretary Ki to find out quietly.
“okay? Let’s go straight to the boss’s office.”
“Yes?”
“I have to take the materials and surrender now. The prosecution or the court will come soon, so hand it over to them?”
“Oh, no. no.”
I went to the president’s office with President Dong-jun Dong and collected all the ledgers and other materials.
At first glance, it seemed that the slush fund was well over 2 million dollars. I got into the car after watching President Dong Joon Dong go into the police station.
“Secretary Ki, let’s go to the Blue House.”
“Yes, boss.”
It was my turn to meet the president.
We had to make a deal like ‘I’ll give you Pohang Iron and bring you Incheon Steel’.
Originally, I was planning to get a permit to explore the East Sea gas field around today, but a bigger transaction distance has arisen.
It was difficult for me to visit the president first, but I couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Incheon Steel was the best factory for producing steel plates for ships.
There is already a hot rolling mill, and you can go to West Germany and borrow money.
In addition, the number of employees seemed to be 700, and the manpower was sufficient if only the top of the head involved in the corruption of the vice minister was cut off.
Seeing them put out the fire together, it seemed like they would actively cooperate in normalizing the company.
Incheon Steelworks already looked lovely.
***
Knock. Knock.
“Your Excellency, this is President Woo Chan-soo.”
“Look in.”
“Please go in.”
“thank you.”
I entered the Oval Office through the secretary’s office.
I informed the chief of staff about the Incheon Steel accident, even if it was a rough one, and since it was an urgent matter, he said that he would report it directly, so he let him in.
The secretary’s office already knew that the president had asked me to review the integrated steelworks.
“Is there something urgent to report?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Yes, try it.”
“The integrated steelworks project you mentioned earlier. I visited Incheon Steelworks to review business feasibility, and I was on my way to see molten iron coming out of an electric furnace a while ago.”
“What, the molten iron burst? did you say it was successful? I have to go right now. I should go and pat him on the shoulder.”
The president jumped up from his seat excitedly.
Can you mistake my words like this?
Well, in this day and age, how many noblemen would come running directly to deliver bad news to the president?
“It’s not a success, it’s a complete failure. The factory was completely destroyed by overflowing molten iron. We report that the technology transfer promised in West Germany was a complete fraud.”
“Is the factory broken? Rather, a scam? West Germany cheated?”
“It was a mouth-watering iron manufacturing method, but they were scammers trying to sell electric furnaces that wouldn’t work. If I didn’t, it could have resulted in a life-threatening accident.”
“Are you saying that someone almost died?”
“Yes. I saw with my own eyes the scene where the floor was melted by electricity and molten iron poured over everywhere. It was not a skill I could use at all.”
At my words, the president’s face flushed red.
Contrary to his expression, which looked like he would shout at any moment, he opened the desk drawer and took out a cigarette.
“West Germany… West Germany… I went and received the loan myself…”
He sucked so deeply that he burned half the cigarette in one go. Then he sighed and exhaled the smoke and sat down.
It must have been the loan negotiations that we concluded when we went to the summit in Germany. If you borrowed it then, how long was the assignment delayed?
“Hey, do you know what our situation is?”
“I heard the situation is serious. From the second half of this year, pig iron imports will almost stop…”
There was no way the president was unaware of what the director of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry knew.
“Yeah, what if even Incheon Steel is broken now?”
“The phased steel enhancement plan needs to be completely revised. I think it is most appropriate to build a comprehensive steelworks near Ulsan, where the power plant and port will be completed.”
“That’s something that has come up over and over again. But don’t you already know the biggest problem? I don’t have the money to build it. money.”
“Mr. President, I have an idea to solve the money problem.”
At my words, the president slightly wrinkled his forehead.
“Solving money problems? Are you trying to say that the steelworks loan can be included in the Korea-Japan agreement? He also always talks and makes no progress. Progress!”
I was so annoyed that I slammed the desk.
Well, it’s hard for Koreans to tolerate the Japanese kids negotiating like they’re threatening.
“I had no intention of obtaining a loan for a steel mill from Japan from the beginning. Korea-Japan negotiations must lead from the beginning to the end with Korea maintaining its superiority. If you keep connecting with money, your hand will dry.”
The most important milestone in this era is the Korea-Japan agreement.Read at noblemtl
Japan should not be given a chance to take care of its performance in Korea.
No matter what, we must bring the pie that Japan ate in the original history.
Whether it’s construction, planting, oilfield development, or trade with the public, everything.
It’s not impossible.
It’s just half a step ahead.Read at noblemtl
Just as Japan used us as a stepping stone in the original history to continue its economic growth, in this history, it is only if we take away Japan’s food for the future.
I just need to get caught in the middle and get ahead of myself by just five years.
Even if I shorten the five-year gap with Japan, our employees will overtake Japanese companies on their own.
“Building an integrated steelworks does not cost a penny or two. Who do you borrow from outside Japan? The U.S. has been waving its hands saying that it has loaned a lot, and West Germany only got 9.2 million dollars even if I visited in person.”
“I will not borrow money, but I will make West Germany provide the money to build the integrated steelworks itself.”
blank.
The president, perhaps surprised by my words, jumped up and hit the desk with his palm.
“Lord, are you serious about that?”
Hey, it looks like you really wanted to believe my words.
“I am serious.”
“You don’t know what kind of trouble you’ll get into if you bluff at me.”
“How dare you bluff in this place? I am saying this because I am confident. What West Germany fears most is its international reputation. If West Germany, a war criminal country, commits loan fraud, then West Germany will be eliminated as an excellent player in the international competition. It is a country that makes a living from exports, and the Incheon Steel accident will be a powerful blackmail card.”
“Intimidation card!”
“What would happen if an official report from the Korean government appeared that it burned down a factory worth hundreds of millions of dollars while doing construction work with only 9.2 million dollars worth of electricity? Wouldn’t the US or France offer to buy the report from each other? International orders are also a war. What could be more certain than a state-sponsored accident report to kill a competitor?”
“This, I guess, can make a huge threat.”
In the 21st century, it’s a blackmail card that everyone uses, but in the 60’s, even companies are still naive.
I have seen this kind of follow-up countless times in the field of heavy industrial plants.
Fires, explosions, collapses, water leaks, gas leaks, etc. happen all kinds of things when working on overseas plant projects.
When such a major accident occurs, not only private companies but also the Korean government come together.
This is to maintain the national image and reduce the disadvantages that will be experienced in the future international order competition.
There are many things the government needs to do, such as reducing the country’s exposure to the media and negotiating directly with the government to bind the accident report as a secret document.
It’s no different from West Germany in the 1960s.
If you refuse a large-scale loan, you can sue the international court for loan fraud and threaten to sell the accident report to Wall Street in the United States.
“If you send me as a special envoy, I will use a carrot and a stick at the same time.”
“Carrots and sticks?”
“If we say that we will apply new technology to the integrated steelworks, there is a high possibility that we will reach an agreement. It’s like our country is taking the risk for them.”
It is a matter for Korea to claim itself as a test bed.
It is a job that is prepared to blow money and carries out a risky experiment, so anyone has no choice but to show interest.
“Hey, Imja. Are you trying to gamble on our integrated steelworks?”
“The only way for developing countries to catch up with developed countries is through a high-risk, high-return strategy. Trust me. I will definitely choose the technology that will succeed.”
I can do it. no, you have to
Since the mid-1960s, several innovative methods have emerged in the steelmaking sector.Read at noblemtl
Japan’s steel industry has made rapid progress thanks to the adoption of the oxygen steelmaking method, so-called LD converter technology, developed by the Linz and Danawitz steelworks in Austria.
I know the art of going beyond that.
There is only one thing that underdeveloped countries have an advantage over developed countries in terms of economic strategy.
In other words, innovative technologies that go beyond existing technologies can be planted from the beginning of the industry.
If the innovative technology succeeds, it is one step closer to becoming a developed country, and if it fails or does not even try, it will stay in a middle-income country forever.
Korea was able to leap forward as an advanced country because it succeeded in successive gambles such as petrochemical, steel, shipbuilding, semiconductor, and IT.
The unfortunate thing is that even if that point was just a few years earlier, we could suck honey enough to beat Japan.
Of course, I couldn’t have known that at the time.
I wanted to, but I couldn’t because I had no money.
I just need to open that water a little bit faster.
“Imja, can you try?”
“Please leave it to me. Instead, I want you to pay for it.”
“It’s a price… I guess it’s Incheon Steelworks. Can we hear of a way to save it now?”
“It’s simple. You can use an electric furnace.”
“What are you talking about? I heard there was an accident today because the electric furnace exploded. Are you going to try that again?”
“It is a different kind of furnace. If you melt scrap metal and use an innovative process, you can make a steel plate at a low price.”
“Scrap metal? Imja… I don’t know, but there is no war scrap metal in our country anymore. There is nothing to be found by searching through the mountains and valleys.”
“Isn’t there a place where war scraps are being made even at this moment? There is a ship to bring it, and our people have already gone.”
“!!!!!”
At my words, the president’s eyes widened.
“great! Imja is a special envoy from today. A special envoy for the construction of an integrated steelworks!”
“thank you.”
I bent my back at a 90-degree angle in moderation.
Only then did the president loosen his expression and patted me on the shoulder.
“President, with all due respect, I have a few more things to ask of you.”
“a few?”
I had to run when I was in a good mood.
Originally, the request was for the Donghae gas field, but now is an opportunity to recruit talent.
Although he is a troubled person.
