The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 243



Only Krnovel

243. 1+1=3 (2)

The first half of 2005 has already passed.

There was no need to hold a presidents’ meeting, and it was decided to only receive a rough report through the head of the planning office.

“Most of our affiliates are performing well. Sales of Taewoo Electronics and Taewoong Semiconductor increased by more than 10%, and although Taewoo Motors’ domestic market share increased only 2%, its U.S. market share increased by nearly 8%. And Taewoo Engineering & Construction has finally begun construction of its new headquarters in earnest.”

“It’s going very well.”

Taewoo Electronics, semiconductors, and even automobiles.

Since the system was already in place to some extent, it was running well without much attention.

“In the case of Taewoo Entertainment, we are preparing the second part of the audition program, and the winners and runners-up’s albums were released one month apart.”

“Is the album’s performance okay?”

“The winner’s album ranked first on a music program and also ranked first on a monthly music site. The runner-up also achieved quite good results.”

The aftermath of the audition had not yet subsided.

As they say, row when the water comes in, the winner’s album was released quickly, and thanks to that, they were able to continue to gain popularity.

“Please continue producing the remaining participants’ albums. They may feel discriminated against if their album production speed is slow.”

“It is happening sequentially. However, there are rumors that several people are in contact with other agencies.”

I couldn’t believe my ears for a moment.

There were 10 singers obtained by investing 10 billion won in production costs.

But how many of them are going to be taken away by other agencies?

For the first time in a long time, I felt the blood rushing to my head.

“Tell me exactly. Did another agency approach you first? Or did our singers approach another agency first?”

“You have to think of it as both. First, Da-jung Kim, who came in fourth place in this audition, had a meal with an executive from SG with whom she was close. After that, three singers who were close to Da-jung Kim met again with SG Entertainment. ”

SG Enter.

It was a well-known agency in the music industry.

It was an entertainment agency that had a large number of singers using the Somol singing style, which dominated the entertainment industry from 2004 to 2005.

“Did you simply meet up or did you express your intention to change agencies?”

“There hasn’t been any word yet. However, the number of days he comes to work at the practice room has decreased. And the Taew Entertainment employee said he copied a copy of the contract and went there.”

“Is there any clause in the contract that could be problematic? It seems like I’ll be requesting cancellation of the contract since it’s a slave contract and all.”

“This is a contract written directly by Taewoo Group’s legal team. And since it has been confirmed by a law firm familiar with the entertainment business, there is absolutely no possibility of a problem.”

I tried to cool off my anger.

Because I thought maybe I was overthinking it.

“Please take good care of Ms. Kim Da-jeong. The winner and runner-up’s albums have been released, but her own album has not been released yet, so she may feel disappointed. Please proceed with album work as quickly as possible and pay more attention to her welfare.”

“All of the compositions for Ms. Dajeong Kim’s album have already been completed. All songs were received from one of the top five composers in Korea. And I will personally take care of welfare issues.”

“Please pay attention to other singers as well.”

“I’m really sorry for making you worry about this, Vice President. I will take care of it in the middle.”

It was the planning director who bowed his head deeply.

It was impossible for the vice president, who leads the Taewo Group, to even care about his singers.

But I planned the audition program.

I was the one who suggested creating Taewo Entertainment, so I did not blame the planning director.

* * *

July is when the days start to get warmer.

I was already getting irritated because of the hot weather, but CEO Oh of Tae Entertainment came to see me with news that made me even more irritated.

“Four singers, including singer Kim Da-jung, are demanding termination of their contracts. They say they will even file a lawsuit if their contracts are not terminated.”

“Is this related to SG Entertainment? There is no way a few singers would prepare a lawsuit to terminate their contract, and there must be a force behind the scenes encouraging it.”

“It is not yet fully clear. The singers who requested the termination of their contracts are not showing up to work, so it is difficult to even try to talk to them. I think the situation will be figured out only after the lawsuit begins.”

The CEO of Taewoo Entertainment was not an expert in this matter.

They are very determined to get rid of the singer, so what can they do?

“Oh, boss, please take good care of the remaining singers. I will step in and resolve the issue of contract termination.”

“Oh, no! I will resolve it on my own. It is not good to see the Vice President taking the lead in this matter.”

“I’m not going to take the initiative myself, but I’m going to ask someone who specializes in this kind of work. So, don’t worry too much and just focus on working on other projects. The atmosphere at Taewo Entertainment will be somber, so you need to stay focused.”

CEO Oh of Taewoo Entertainment lowered his head as if he were a criminal.

I patted his shoulder and encouraged him, then sent him back to Tae-En.

And after a while, I left the company and moved to Captain Kang’s office.

“Captain Kang! It’s been a while since I needed to lend you some strength.”

“Are you giving me a mission? I was already itching to run a taxi company.”

“Do you know that it’s SG Entertainment? They’re touching Taewo Entertainment there.”

“Isn’t the boss there by any chance Kang Su-gi?”

“You’re probably right.”

“I knew that place very well from a long time ago. When I had just joined the military, we were involved in an operation to eradicate gangsters, and Kang Su-gi’s name was on the list.”

Gangsters and entertainment business.

Before the regression, the entertainment business used to be run based on professional knowledge, but there were still cases of dirty money flowing in.

“Are you saying that Kang Soo-gi is a gangster?”

“He is not a gangster, but rather a vandal. He acts as a bridge between gangsters and general business. He is called a vandal because he is half a gangster.”

“Please find the weak point. I need to tear SG Entertainment to pieces.”

“We will begin surveillance 24 hours a day. And since we have evidence secured since his time in the military, it will not be difficult to identify his weaknesses. We also know well which organizations Kang Su-gi is affiliated with.”

“Then I’ll trust you. I don’t want to take too much time. I want to deal with it before something big happens.”

Captain Kang bowed his head trustingly.

He immediately called several employees, and people who held intelligence-related positions in the military gathered together.

“Starting today, we will be closely following SG Entertainment president Kang Su-gi 24 hours a day. And we will spread our taxi drivers around SG Entertainment. Contact everyone, from SG Entertainment executives to the lowest level employees!”

“Do you also install listening devices?”

“Don’t install too much, but take advantage of the opportunity. First, let’s start by attaching a GPS to a vehicle during the rainy season to clearly determine the travel route.”

I had nothing more to say.

Captain Kang was an expert several levels above me in this matter, and I entrusted this task entirely to him.

* * *

two days later.

The CEO of Taewoo Entertainment came to me with his head down.

“Vice Chairman, I am truly sorry.”

“What happened again? Are other singers also saying they will change agencies?”

“That’s not true. I came here to tell you that SG Entertainment is definitely behind Kim Da-jeong.”

“How did you check it?”

“SG Entertainment CEO Kang Soo-ki came to see me in person.”

You didn’t even call me on the phone, you came to me in person?

These things were usually controlled from behind the scenes.

However, the reason why CEO Kang Soo-gi took action himself is because he is confident that he will win the fight.

“What did you say when you came?”

“They said they would resolve it amicably, but they threatened to release four people, including Kim Da-jeong, without conditions.”

“What evidence were you threatening me with?”

“I cited reasons such as pushing ahead with the schedule despite health issues, failing to keep promises to produce albums, and failing to make payments.”

These were truly absurd reasons.

When it comes to health issues, Taewo Entertainment is not a hole-in-the-wall store, and because it is affiliated with Taewo Hospital, it is possible to manage health more systematically than any other agency.

As for the album production, I already had all the songs written.

Non-compliance with settlement simply meant that there was no amount to settle because proper activities had not yet been performed.

“If we go to court, is this evidence against us?”

“There is no disadvantage at all, but if it becomes a battle of public opinion, Taewo Entertainment will suffer losses.”

“Isn’t that also causing damage to our image?”

“SG Entertainment is famous for that, so there is nothing to worry about damaging its image. And they even implicitly hinted at plans to use four singers, including Kim Da-jung, as cannon fodder.”

The world is unfair in some ways.

When a scumbag does something bad, I just accept it.

The way of the world was to point the finger at a good person if he or she made a mistake.

“In the end, if the case goes to court, Taewo Entertainment and the singers will suffer losses.”

“To be more honest, Taewo Entertainment’s image has not been significantly tarnished. We have secured all the favorable evidence and can refute all of the other party’s evidence. After consulting with the legal team, I found out that this is a fight we will 100% win.”

“So that means only singers can end up in the abyss.”

“SG Entertainment seems to be in the position that it is good because the number of singers under the company increases when singers cancel their contracts, and that they will have nothing to lose if the legal battle continues until the end.”

Does the entertainment industry have no business ethics?

It’s not the entertainment industry, it’s SG Entertainment that has no business ethics.

It was something that even gangsters would not do, and it was a petty method that was only possible because they were called vandals.

“It’s all good. But I don’t understand what kind of guts they have to start an all-out war with the Taewo Group. It is said that SG Entertainment uses a lot of power in the broadcasting industry, but it doesn’t make sense for them to act like this against the Taewo Group. Isn’t it?”

“I just don’t understand. They are acting as if they have a bigger backing than Taewo Group.”

A bigger company than Taewoo Group?

Is there a bigger backing than Taewoo Group, Korea’s No. 1 business group?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with an answer, so I decided to use the easiest way to find the answer.

“I need to meet President Kang Soo-gi. Please make an appointment.”

“Are you talking about the vice-chairman himself? Meeting someone like that will only lower your status as vice-chairman. I will meet with you and talk further.”

“If meeting just one person is going to cut it off, it’s better to not have one. Please make an appointment at a Korean restaurant in Myeongdong. Let them decide the time.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll try to make an appointment as soon as possible.”

When you meet them, you will know how great their backs are.

After a few days, Captain Kang could have figured out who was behind him, but his curiosity got so high that he couldn’t stay still.

Although I am confident that I will step on whoever is behind me.

Still, you will feel more relieved if you know who is behind you and step on it.