A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 78



Only Krnovel

The Chairman Who Doesn’t Regret Episode 78 – Things to Do (2)

As I entered the real estate, Director Baek and his subordinates were fiddling with cameras.

The camera was bigger than I thought. I wondered if it would be okay to move around and take pictures of something that looked heavy. I wonder how they filmed documentaries in those days. It must have been an extreme job with a camera like that.

“I think there will be a lot of moving filming, so I brought something that is easy to carry. I think it will be enough.”

I didn’t say anything, but Director Baek spoke first. Was it because I was staring at the camera?

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Director Baek nods his head.

What’s in that big crossbody bag? Could it be film or batteries?

I took my attention away from the camera and looked at the real estate owner.

“Have you found it?”

He nods his head confidently.

“Is it bad to eat and play?”

He really has a knack for making things difficult.

“How many houses did you find?”

“There was only one owner of the land, and no furniture to be found. Except for three houses, all of them were illegal.”

“Are you saying that only the people who currently live there are like this?”

He nods.

“It seems there were other landowners, but I can’t find them now. As the young man said, the government officials are looking for them quickly.”

I wonder if the mayor’s body is worn out.

Is he trying to move quickly for the sake of his bald head, which must be uncomfortable these days, or is he hoping to see results before the Asian Games?

My goal is also to achieve a certain level of performance before the Asian Games, so I don’t know if our goals are aligned. Anyway, the eyes of the owner of the fortune telling shop, who was always being picky, are filled with curiosity. It seems like he’s curious about roasting and boiling government officials.

“Let’s just meet the owners today.”

At my words, both the real estate owner and Director Baek nodded.

“How much is the land worth?”

“What’s the point? Who would be interested in a shantytown? You can’t farm or build a building there.”

“But I still have to pay per pyeong?”

“I told you there is no price, so who would buy this land? There are lots of lands that are being developed just a little bit further out.”

“Since I am going to buy it, I need to know the price.”

The owner shook his head at my words.

“If you buy it, you will definitely lose money. Gangnam is not developed yet, so who would develop here?”

Every word is correct.

“Would 5,000 won per person be a reasonable price?”

The owner shook his head.

“5,000 won is nothing. Even if you only consider the jeonse deposit, you can buy an apartment in Gangnam for 100-200, so why is this piece of land worth 5,000 won?”

I think the term “embracing a jeonse” means that you have to return the jeonse deposit of the current jeonse tenant. It would mean that you can buy an apartment with 1-2 million won of the jeonse deposit.

I really can’t get a feel for the prices.

I don’t know much about the situation at that time because it was about 10 years ago when I first became interested in investing. I especially don’t know much about real estate, not finance, because I had no interest in it.

“Then how much is it?”

“If you just talk well, 500 won is enough.”

“Is it that cheap?”

“Even if you buy it for 500 won, you’ll lose money because you’ll have to pay more tax.”

At present, the Korean economy has developed and stabilized, so renting or leasing is more profitable than owning real estate.

The reason is that it was a better way to make money by putting money in the bank than by buying a house. Of course, real estate prices skyrocketed in the late 80s, but that was only in some parts of Seoul.

At the owner’s words, Director Baek and his subordinates, who were handling the camera, also looked surprised.

“The land is cheap.”

The owner’s expression suddenly crumples as he hears Director Baek’s monologue.

“It’s not that the land is cheap, it’s that the land around the shantytown is cheap! Come out of there right now, and I’ll give you at least 70,000 won per pyeong. I’ll give you twice that amount for the yolk.”

So, in the end, what this meant was that the image of a shantytown was driving down land prices.

Anyway, if the land price is cheap, it’s a good thing for me because it makes it a little easier to proceed with the work.

I think I understand why the residents of the shantytown were pushed out by big business and the government, and why the compensation they gave was not very good.

Since the land and house prices are cheap, the compensation I would receive on paper would not have been realistic. The monthly rent for the semi-basement room I live in right now is 90,000 won.

If you tear down a shantytown and don’t even pay one month’s rent as compensation for the damage, how can that be considered realistic compensation?

“How much land do the landowners own?”

“There is a 600-pyeong piece of land surrounding the shantytown, and around that is about 1,300 pyeong, and the rest is ownerless.”

“What about the house in the shantytown?”

“All three houses combined are less than 30 pyeong.”

If you compare it to the 500 won the owner mentioned, it’s an amount that is simply less than 1 million won. For some people, it’s an amount close to their annual salary, but for others, it’s nothing special.

At a time when expensive apartments in Gangnam cost around 20 million won, it was a strange world where such a huge piece of land cost 1 million won.

“It won’t be easy to buy. You have to have something to regret to sell, but the landowners are natives who have nothing to regret.”

“Is that so?”

“If the landlords push this contract, they’ll say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ll sell it.’”

He muttered, saying that it was a very strange contract.

“If you buy a house and don’t stamp that fucking contract that says you can live in that house, you’re an idiot. They’re not letting you live there by paying you money, but rather giving you something to live in. I don’t know if this is the right world.”

Director Baek looks at me with a smirk.

It’s a look that asks when you’re leaving.

“Today, we will meet with the landowners and the homeowners. This part may not fit the purpose of the program, so it will need to be processed.”

Director Baek opens his mouth slightly at my words.

“Oh, student Jeon Gang-ssi… did you even think about that?”

“The purpose of this documentary is to create homes for the common people who don’t have them, so showing people who already have homes or land doesn’t necessarily fit the purpose.”

Director Baek nods his head as if he understands.

“Then what about processing?”

“It would be good to film landowners and homeowners, and people without land or homes, and show them in a cross-sectional manner to create a contrast. I think it would be good for forming a sense of empathy among the common people.”

The subordinate who was handling the camera looks at me and says, “What?” I don’t know why Director Baek has such a pleased expression, but he nods his head anyway.

“It would be nice to film the shantytown from afar, and show that only a part of the shantytown has an owner, and the rest of it has no owner, and start the program introduction like that, and then show the process of us creating an owner.”

Director Baek claps his hands and his subordinates nod their heads vigorously and join in the applause.

“Hey- Director, I feel like I’ve already watched a documentary? Wow- With such a short explanation, a whole show just seemed to fly by.”

“So, I said it would be fun? Better than Oji, right?”

The gentleman they brought in as a camera director was probably a documentary film crew traveling around the wilderness.

“Oh my, it’ll definitely get better. You won’t even die.”

“Sup, why are you saying such unlucky things?”

As the conversation went off the rails, I clapped my hands together and said:

“Okay, let’s move. First, the landowner.”

The real estate owner nods and picks up the phone.

“Let’s make a phone call and get moving, it’s difficult if the house is empty.”

**

We moved by car, but the car couldn’t enter the shantytown, so we had to get out.

It was because the alley was narrow, but it was also muddy.

“Does the landowner live here?”

The owner nodded at my question.

“His house is here too.”

It’s really strange that someone who owns almost 2,000 pyeong of land in this area and inside the shantytown would choose to live in the shantytown.

Even if the land had no value, if someone had this kind of wealth, wouldn’t they have come from a fairly good family in the past?

“This was a land of nothing even during my grandfather’s time.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yeah- This neighborhood never did well even during the Goryeo Dynasty, let alone the Joseon Dynasty.”

He tilted his head.

“There are two heavens and the mountainside is nice, but is it true that life was bad even back then?”

It might be a pretty good place with feng shui conditions such as Baesan Imsu.

“Isn’t this place too close to the mountainside?”

“Oh, is it compatible?”

“Yeah- I guess there was something as scary as a tiger back then. It’s gone now because the Japanese took them all away, but back then, the world was like a tiger.”

Real estate also has some really mysterious aspects.

There are so many variables, and even the unimaginable issue of compatibility is being discussed.

In the future, we will need to acquire land that encompasses the entire district, including Sanggye-dong, so it would not be a bad idea to take an interest in this area.

“You said that in the central area, there are places where it costs 150,000 won per pyeong?”

“There will be worse places – and there will be people who won’t sell even if they die.”

“Is that so?”

“Land is a very strange thing, and you have to be lucky to obtain it.”

As we chatted about real estate, we soon found ourselves deep in the shantytown.

The cameraman was busy turning his body around constantly to take pictures of the shantytown.

“Wow- This reminds me of when I was little.”

It reminds him of his childhood, but the faces of the people living here show great wariness.

After a while, the house the owner stopped at was surprisingly a house I knew.

“Is this house owned by the landowner?”

The owner, who was looking around at a map, nodded.

“That’s right.”

Surprisingly, the house was the home of three siblings.

“Huh. Sir, I think you’ve already gone out.”

The owner of the bookstore tilted his head at my words.

“What are you talking about? The landowner is your grandmother.”

“ah-”

It seems like it wasn’t Chang-Hyeon’s house, but the house next door.

Still, what was strange was strange.

That old lady is someone I know too.

The owner knocks on the door of the grandmother’s house.

“Are you there? This is the person who called.”

I was terrified when I heard a knock.

“Ke-hack-”

Grandma comes out with her characteristic dry cough.

“huh?”

My grandmother looks at me with surprised eyes.

“Did you come together?”

“Yes, Grandma.”

“Why are you with this guy?”

“I am the one who buys land, Grandma.”

“Kehack- Why buy useless land?”

“It may be useless to others, but it is useful to me.”

“Anyway, he’s a strange guy.”

My grandmother’s words make me chuckle.

I think I’m weird too.

It’s no wonder my grandmother looks at me strangely.

“Please sell me some land, Grandma. I have something I really need to do.”

The grandmother has a thoughtful look on her face for a moment.

“I have no job. I don’t have to carry the money of an old man living alone.”

The grandmother expresses her intention to refuse.

Couldn’t you have gained complete trust just by sharing a few potatoes?