Episode 173. Catfish effect.
“CEO. The head of the election campaign, who came out of the presidential campaign, said he would like to meet the president, what should I do?”
“Camp for presidential candidates? Oh, the 16th presidential election was at the end of this year, right?”
“Which camp is it?”
“This is the side of the regular candidate. They may have come to ask for a donation.”
If it’s Jeong Ki-joon, he’ll be elected as the 16th president…
Come to think of it, I seem to have heard stories of people having difficulties during the election campaign due to lack of funds.
After seeing me contemplating for a while, the manager continued.
“I did report it just in case, but it would be better to send it back, right?”
“haha. Manager Lee seems to have misunderstood something, but he wasn’t thinking about whether to pay the donation or not. She was wondering how much to do.”
“..were you thinking about the amount?”
“yes. It’s not because I support Candidate Chung, but because I think he has an advantage in this election.”
“Um… Candidate Jeong narrowly won the party’s primary, and is far behind his rival, Woo Jae-han, in approval ratings. Can we reverse the difference in a few months?”
“A few months is a lot longer than you think. You never know what might happen in that, and in my opinion, Candidate Chung is smarter than Candidate Woo. Speaking of which, he can effectively use the public’s sensibilities.”
“…you think so. Then the commander of the fleet will tell you to come in.”
After a while, a man in his late 40s wearing a beige thin jumper came in.
He looked at me and greeted me.
“hello. I’m Kwon Yi-hoon, who is in charge of the campaign headquarters of Jeong Ki-joon’s Candidate Camp.”
Kwon Yi-hoon, who was elected as the 19th president?
Come to think of it, Kwon Yi-hoon was the head of the campaign operation headquarters for Candidate Jeong Ki-joon, right?
I should be friendly.
“This is Damoye representative Kang Jae-woon. Sit down.”
Director Kwon, who was sitting opposite me, opened his mouth.
“As you may have guessed, I came here to ask for support for the election funds of Candidate Jeong Ki-joon.”
As if the hospitality was poor at the first place I stopped by before coming here, I could feel an anxious look all over my face.
“Let’s have a drink before we talk. Coffee or tea, which do you like?”
“..by car.”
I pressed the intercom and spoke to the manager.
“Chief. Please bring me two cups of tea to my office.”
Soon, the female secretary brought two teacups with chrysanthemums carved into them and placed them in front of us.
I said, holding the glass in front of me.
“This is cilantro, and it is made from the leaves of trees that are more than 100 years old. It’s a tea that someone I know likes, but these days I enjoy drinking it too. Try it once.”
Kwon Yi-hoon bowed his head and expressed his gratitude.
Kwon Yi-hoon took a sip of the car and smiled a little.
“It is a very luxurious taste that leaves a strong aftertaste.”
“haha. You know how to drink tea. In fact, it is not a car I give to anyone because I am very fond of it. It is served only when a valuable guest comes.”
Kwon Yi-hoon made a surprised expression.
“..a dear guest?”
“I studied contemplation a little bit. Looking at the shape of the forehead, eyes, and nose, General Manager, you will definitely grow bigger in the future.”
I wasn’t really interested in contemplation, and I didn’t even know how to see.
Because I knew that he was going to be elected the 19th president, I spoke with an excuse.
At my words, Kwon Yi-hoon was confused, but he had a happy expression on his face.
“Thank you for a good look. As a single company, the head of the largest company in Korea said so, I don’t know where to put myself.”
“I’m right, so wait and see. By the way, how much do you need?”
“How much money do you need for the election?”
Kwon Yi-hoon looked at me for a moment and opened his mouth.
“I think it would be really good if you could help me with 200 million won.”
Candidate Woo Jae-han would have received tens of billions of dollars from large corporations, but it is simple.
“Where would you like to be with 200 million?”
“then..?”
“I’ll give you two and a half billion.”
Kwon Yi-hoon asked with a surprised face.
“Twenty-five billion?”
“yes. I would like to give even 25 billion won, but wouldn’t it be a violation of the Political Funds Act if the amount of political donations per corporation exceeds 250 million? Including my subsidiaries, there are about 10 corporations, so I will fully support them up to the limit.”
Even if it was not for the purpose of solicitation, there was nothing wrong with investing in the next president.
Candidate Jeong Ki-joon could not be called a loyal politician.
However, he wasn’t such an idiot to the point of pretending to be ignorant of the situation in which the sponsoring company was being treated unfairly.
With 2.5 billion, I bought a shield in case someone tried to cheat on my business.
If it could make a good impression on the 19th president of the future, it would be a surplus business.
However, during the administration of President Jeong Ki-joon, the issue of illegal political funds exploded.
Those in charge of illegally handing over political funds will be investigated by the prosecution, regardless of the ruling party or opposition party.
If you are unlucky, you can get entangled together at that time, so illegality had to be avoided unconditionally.
Kwon Yi-hoon bowed his head.
“thank you. CEO! There was no company willing to give 200 million won, but it’s 2.5 billion won… I’ll deliver the president’s heart to Candidate Jeong.”
“yes. And be sure to process donation receipts.”
Because if you don’t process receipts, it’s classified as illegal political funds.
It was a necessary procedure.
“…you want receipt processing…?”
“That’s right. Do you have any difficulties?”
“There is no particular problem, but the fact that I supported Candidate Jeong Ki-joon will remain as an official record. If we even lose the presidential election, we might be able to look hateful to Candidate Woo Jae-han. Would you mind?”
“it’s okay. It was my choice, so I have to take responsibility.”
Right now, the approval rating is quite low, so it seems like it’s bothering me, and Kwon Yi-hoon’s expression wasn’t good.
“If you really like it, please win this election. Then there is no problem? haha.”
Kwon Yi-hoon nodded his head with a stiff face.
“All right. No matter what happens, I will definitely win and repay the support of the representative.”
#A conference room at the headquarters of Viewizon, one of the four major U.S. telecommunications companies.
A serious discussion was taking place over a proposal for the delivery of 4G communication equipment from a road driver in Korea.
CEO Thomas Fisher asked Tristan, an executive in charge of network facilities.
“Now, 4G communication in a country where we have not decided exactly what to use for 3G communication… Does this really work?”
“If you look at the technical data, it is quite possible. In addition, there is actually tested data, and it turns out that a Korean company called Segye Telecom has already put it into deployment.”
“okay? Have you contacted Walcom, a fabless company specializing in modem chips, and Urixson, a telecommunication equipment company, and Nakia?”
“They say they haven’t even started developing 4G communications.”
“Um…the driver…a company I’ve never heard of. Does it make sense that they already finished a job that neither Urickson nor Nakia could have started?”
Tristan answered cautiously.
“I found it hard to believe because of that, too, so I did a little research, but all of the parent companies of the runaway drivers are gathered.”
Thomas’ voice rose.
“Everyone? Are you a D-Tab manufacturer?”
“Hmm…the genius Mr. Kang would have been involved, so it wouldn’t be impossible. If that’s the case, then we should think that it actually works and have a discussion.”
Thomas asked Ralph, director of strategic planning.
“What do you think of Ralph?”
“The advantage when we got this is that we can provide consumers with wireless communication that is faster than wired communication. You can send and receive video calls without interruption as well as large-capacity videos.”
“Then what’s the downside?”
“It’s superior to 3G in every way, but it costs a lot of money. Moreover, even with 3G, services such as video communication can be sufficiently provided, so it can be seen as over-spec. Of course, 4G has great advantages when exchanging large-capacity data such as video, but there is no need to provide such a service at this time. Consumers will be satisfied with just a video call. I think it is right to introduce 3G before 4G to make a profit, and to introduce 4G when consumers are tired of 3G.”
After hearing all the opinions of the executives, Thomas entered Django.
When my thoughts were cleared up, I opened my mouth.
“Technology has been and should continue to be with our carriers. Even if we introduce new technology, we introduce it when we need it, and we cannot accept what we don’t even need. According to Ralph’s opinion, the adoption of 4G has been decided to be rejected. However, if any of the other four major carriers introduce 4G, new subscribers may be drawn to it, so Ralph should negotiate with those in charge in advance. After all, they must have the same thoughts as me, so it will make sense.”
“All right. Mr Fisher.”
Chae Ki-hwan, the owner of the fugitive driver, found me.
“What CEO Kang might have done happened eventually. He received a reply from all four major U.S. carriers saying they would not introduce 4G equipment.”
“Hmm… It seems that their cartel is stronger than I thought. Still, I thought that at least one would betray the rest and go on to do 4G…”
“..At that time, you said there was a way to prepare for a situation like this, right?”
“That’s right. It’s simple. All you have to do is shake and break the cartel of the four major telecommunication companies. Because the cartel is broken and if even one place says that it will use 4G equipment, there is no choice but to introduce the rest.”
“It would be. But how are you going to break the cartel?”
“They believe they are in a safe situation where they do not have to move, so the cartel is valid. Then you have to make it unsafe. So I’m going to release a catfish.”
Chae didn’t understand what I was saying, so the boss gave a blank expression.
“A catfish?”
catfish effect.
A method devised by a Norwegian fisherman to transport live sardines to the harbor, which die easily upon catch, was to place a catfish in an aquarium.
If that happens, the sardines will work hard to survive from the catfish, so they do not die and survive to the port.
The word that leads to this paradoxical result is the catfish effect.
I was thinking of releasing a catfish called World Telecom among the sardines of the four major telecommunication companies.
The sardines will have to do everything they can to survive the catfish I’ve released.
In the end, there will be no choice but to introduce the 4G communication equipment of the road driver.
“We will bring global telecom into the American market. And when World Telecom receives business approval, the first thing to do is to install 4G communication facilities. Then they will no longer feel safe.”
