The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 230



Only Krnovel

230. First shovel (4)

Late at night.

I met with Rep. Choi Jae-seok in a cozy space where only the sound of crickets could be heard.

“The public bidding for the KEPCO site has been scheduled for the 24th of next month.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Thanks to the active participation of the National Economy Party, we were able to advance the schedule.”

“Can you say it was a hardship? It was something that had to be done for equal regional development. But I don’t think that’s what I’m talking about, so do you mind? 13 groups participated in the public bidding for the KEPCO site.”

It was an expected number.

As well as Samjin and Hyunjae Automobile Group.

Several domestic groups joined forces with foreign capital and entered into open bidding.

“Even with foreign capital, there is a limit to the amount of money that can be used. If you don’t risk your life, you will never win the public bidding.”

“It seemed to me that there were at least three groups risking their lives.”

“It would be Samjin, Hyunjae Motors, and Taewoo Group.”

“Yes, especially now, automobiles are taking a very active role.”

They used Myeongdong to undermine the financial power of Samjin and Hyunjae Motor Group.

However, because these groups were so well-financed, they rushed to open bidding.

“I can confidently say that there is no Korean group with greater financial power than Taewoo Group. The problem is not the public bidding, but what happens afterward.”

“Are you talking about licensing issues?”

“Due to the close relationship with the Air Force base, the issue of high-rise building permits cannot be easily resolved. As long as the Ministry of National Defense is actively opposing it, there is not even the slightest room to resolve the issue.”

There was the same problem before regression.

The Charlotte Group had a lot of friction with the Ministry of Defense and the Air Force over the issue of high-rise buildings, and after many twists and turns, they were able to build Charlotte Tower.

This was possible because of the active help of the new government and the push to dismiss the Air Force general.

“We will resolve the issue through careful consultation between the Air Force and the Ministry of Defense.”

“If this is a way to silence the Ministry of Defense by putting pressure on the government, I cannot help. This is a matter directly related to national security.”

“I am also a citizen of the Republic of Korea. When security is strong, the value of the Taewo Group increases. So, I will never put undue pressure on the government or the Ministry of National Defense. I just plan to solve the problem by suggesting a better way.”

How much criticism did the Charlotte Group receive?

Fortunately, the Charlotte Group was able to survive despite receiving such criticism, but if Taewoo Group receives such criticism, its brand image will fall into the abyss.

“Wouldn’t it be better to build a new headquarters on the KEPCO site?”

“Just because it is a KEPCO site does not mean there are no problems. Environmental groups are opposing high-rise buildings, and regulatory issues are quite complicated.”

“I’m a politician myself, but Korea is a country with a lot of regulations.”

Even Representative Choi Jae-seok sympathized.

Still, we couldn’t ignore the regulations and raise the building, so we had to find a solution.

“Shouldn’t we first succeed in purchasing the land?”

“If we succeed in purchasing the land, we will meet with the Minister of Defense and the Commander of the Air Force one by one to find a solution.”

“I will help in any way I can. I can at least provide you with a position with the Air Force Commander.”

“Then I will ask you a favor later.”

Representative Choi Jae-seok was a difficult sword to handle.

However, it was also a knife that could cut through anything if you learned how to use it properly.

Therefore, I had to handle it carefully so as not to hurt his feelings.

* * *

Last day of public bidding.

It was not until then that Taewo Group submitted a late application for participation.

Although we did not expect it, various media outlets reported the news of Taewoo Group’s participation in the war as top news.

How many hours have passed since the news broke?

Chairman Kyung-Jun Jang called me directly.

[Are you also greedy for the KEPCO site? Isn’t the Charlotte Group site enough?]

“As I said before, the Charlotte Group site had very complex licensing issues, so a new site was needed.”

[Are you really participating in the bidding with the intention of purchasing the KEPCO site?]

“Taewoo Group is not the kind of place where you prick persimmons that you can’t eat.”

[Hmm, I understand. I’ll see you at the public bidding hall.]

It was Chairman Jang Kyung-jun who hung up the phone first.

The planning director, who was listening to the phone call from afar, took a deep breath.

“Chairman Jang Kyung-jun seems very angry.”

“Isn’t Hyeonjae Motors equally greedy for a new headquarters?”

“There is not much land left in Seoul, so of course I will be greedy.”

“Don’t worry too much about the current car. Are the bidding preparations completed?”

“We have prepared two types of bidding documents: a plan worth 4 trillion won and a plan worth 6 trillion won.”

I received two envelopes of documents from the planning director.

It was up to Chairman Jang Kyung-jun to choose which envelope to use.

All I had to do was carry two envelopes to the public bidding room.

* * *

The long-awaited KEPCO site public bidding day.

13 bidders entered the bidding hall.

Of the 13 places, 10 were just small pieces hoping for a fluke.

The important things are Taewoo, Samjin, and Hyunjae Automobile Group.

At Taewoo Group, I, the vice chairman, attended as a representative, at Samjin Electronics, the head of the strategic planning office, and at Hyunjae Automobile Group, Chairman Kyung-jun Jang personally visited the bidding hall.

Chairman Jang Kyung-jun looked around for a moment.

When he saw me, he immediately walked over and started talking to me.

“Hmm, I didn’t want to see you here, but it ended up being like this.”

“I think this is my first time seeing you in public. It feels even more nice to meet you in a place like this.”

“I’m not happy at all. Do you really need to own the KEPCO site to feel at ease?”

“Some may say we are being overly greedy, but from Taewo Group’s perspective, it is an inevitable choice.”

With a sigh, Chairman Jang Gyeong-jun sat down in his seat intentionally and roughly.

He looks like he is taking out his anger on a chair. I could see how uncomfortable he felt about the current situation.

“It’s an inevitable choice. Don’t you want to hold dried persimmons in both hands and think about which dried persimmon will taste better?”

“Do you know? If you eat one dried persimmon, wouldn’t you be so full that you might give the dried persimmon in your other hand to someone else?”

“The Taewoo Group I know is definitely not that kind of place. It’s a place where you force yourself to eat two whole dried persimmons even if it upsets your stomach.”

It was accurate.

They say they decided to build a new headquarters on one of the two sites.

There was no intention of handing over the remaining land to someone else.

“It could be possible. All I can say is that we are keeping all possibilities open.”

“Vice President Kim. Don’t you think dried persimmons are the only food that people can eat? If the Taewo Group eats dried persimmons and our Hyeonjae Motors Group eats Yakgwa, everyone can be satisfied.”

“Is it possible that Taewoo Group can give you that medicine?”

“Please select Hyunjae Capital as the partnership capital company between Taewoo Motors and Kai Motors. Then, we will be able to neatly withdraw from this public bidding.”

I gritted my teeth.

Because if I don’t do this, I think I’ll burst out laughing.

To achieve this result, $10 billion was given to the Myeongdong trio.

It was to erode the financial power of Samjin and Hyunjae Motors and to make Chairman Jang Kyung-jun desperately want a partnership instead of KEPCO land.

“It’s a very good proposal. Looking at the partnership proposals submitted to Taewo Group, most capital companies offered similar conditions. Since the conditions were similar, it was entirely up to the management to decide which company to join hands with.”

“It depends on Vice Chairman Kim’s choice.”

“That’s right. And I’m also the kind of person who never breaks a promise.”

“Director Park, please give me the bidding documents.”

Buuuuk! Sigh!

Chairman Jang Kyung-jun roughly tore up the bidding documents.

“Let’s withdraw from the bidding. Then, Taewo and Kai Motors’ partnership capital will now become our current capital.”

“I promise. We will make an official announcement within next week at the latest.”

“Even if we fail the bidding, you can’t guarantee that Taew will win, right? Even if you fail the bidding, you have to keep your promise.”

“I will keep my promise regardless of the outcome.”

“By the way, I’ve put both hands and feet into my hands. Let’s get our hands on two gold scrap sites and see what’s going on. Huh.”

Chairman Jang Kyung-jun sighed and stood up.

Then I handed him an envelope of documents on the desk.

“Go back to work and take a look. It will contain some very interesting information.”

“Vice Chairman Kim said it was an interesting story, so I’m scared to read it. It’s not Pandora’s box, right?”

“It depends on how you look at it. It may be nothing, or it may be serious. Please make sure to go back to the company and check.”

“I will keep my promise. I will go back to the company and take a look, so prepare well for your bid.”

Chairman Jang went out carrying an envelope of documents.

At the same time, public bidding began.

* * *

Chairman Kyung-Jun Jang arrived at the company.

Even though it was not work time, the streets of Seoul were full of cars, and it took quite a while before I could finally go into the president’s office and take a breather.

“Chief! Bring the envelope of documents Vice Chairman Kim gave you.”

“I’ll take it in right away!”

The current automobile planning manager brought a document envelope and an envelope knife.

He carefully opened the envelope after observing Chairman Jang Kyung-jun’s thoughts.

Contrary to expectations that there would be something special inside, the envelope contained only one sheet of bidding documents.

“Not to make fun of people, but what does it mean to give a bidding document to someone who gave up on bidding?”

“Chairman, I think you should look at the bid amount.”

“Why? What’s there?”

The manager quickly took out a document from his bag.

It was a copy of the bidding material that Chairman Kyung-Jun Jang tore up at the bidding site.

It was placed right next to it for easy comparison with Taewoo Group’s bidding data.

“The bids are almost identical!”

“What? Taewoo Group spent 6 trillion won?”

“That’s right. And it’s 500 million won more than ours. If we had gone into the bidding like this, we would have lost the KEPCO site to Taewoo Group with a difference of only 500 million won.”

Chairman Jang Kyung-jun laughed.

How many employees worked hard to create bidding materials?

We saved all night’s sleep to create bidding materials and mobilized all of our information to calculate the bidding amount.

The resulting bid amount was 6.17 trillion won.

I believed that with 6 trillion won, we would beat all other groups and succeed in the bidding.

However, Taewo Group’s bid amount was 6.17 trillion won.

500 million won may seem like a large amount.

If calculated as a percentage, the difference was only 0.01%.

There is nothing more humiliating than losing a bid by a very small margin, and I almost suffered that kind of humiliation in this bid.

“I don’t know whether to be happy about this and criticize it for making fun of people.”

“Still, aren’t you glad that we got at least one? Thanks to the Chairman’s decision, we were able to push out other capital companies, including Samjin, and sign a partnership agreement.”

It was Chairman Jang who had a bad taste in his mouth.

No matter how much water I drank, the stuffy feeling wouldn’t go away.

However, the words of the secretarial staff member who came in soon after made his dullness even worse.

“Chairman, Taewo Group won the bid for the KEPCO site!”