Although Kim Tae-hyun was swayed by Lee Hyun-woo, he was always receptive to his prospective brother-in-law’s words as they included both future prospects and practical possibilities.
This time was no different.
Today, he went home to discuss the matter with his father, Kim Sung-moo.
“Hyun-woo definitely has a different perspective.”
“That’s true, but you also don’t take his opinions lightly, which is nice to see.”
“If it didn’t make sense, I wouldn’t even consider it. But this time, his idea was definitely good.”
“Really?”
Kim Sung-moo looked at his eldest son, Kim Tae-hyun.
People tend to be jealous of those more capable than themselves if they let their emotions get the better of them.
Kim Tae-hyun could have been the same.
Lee Hyun-woo had started with nothing and grown his company to the point where numerous investors begged for shares, bringing bags of money.
Given the small age gap, they were practically peers, and living in the same era meant constant comparisons with such a genius.
It was strange not to feel jealousy, but his son accepted Lee Hyun-woo’s opinions positively without such feelings.
“My relationship with him has been extraordinary from the beginning. Honestly, just consider the shares we acquired when we partnered with Son Jung-yi and expanded to Japan. The IPO is almost certain next year, and its current value exceeds 200 billion yen. A significant portion of that includes shares of 【Guseong Electronics】, which can be liquidated through over-the-counter transactions.”
200 billion yen, when converted to the current unstable won exchange rate, slightly exceeds 2.2 trillion won.
“Initially, our stake in 【Guseong Electronics】 was 26%, right?”
“Yes, but as we kept issuing shares and attracting investors, it fell below half. About 10%?”
“Even so, we’ve already secured 2 trillion won.”
“Yes, exactly. Following Hyun-woo’s advice, we invested in mainframes, i.e., servers, and nowadays, many people compare our company’s products to those of 【IMB】.”
【IMB】, originally more famous for its business mainframes than PCs, was a well-known computer company.
Just being compared to such a company indicated that the technology of 【Guseong Electronics】’s mainframes had grown enormously.
“And there’s also mobile phones.”
“That’s right. The American Consumer Association says our MP3 phone is highly likely to be selected as the phone of the year. Of course, 【GB Electronics】’s camera phone is also in the running, but our product has sold more and received better consumer reviews. But I’m more excited about the product coming out next month.”
“You mean the PDA?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
That product was also born from Lee Hyun-woo’s advice.
Above all, expectations were high due to the operating system jointly developed with 【Jungle】.
The tangible and intangible value gained since connecting with Lee Hyun-woo was enormous.
This was why he trusted the conversation he had with Lee Hyun-woo earlier and persuaded his father.
“Alright, I understand. Since the infrastructure issues in Jeju require cooperation from the government and Jeju, I should meet with them.”
“You, father?”
“Yes, with the presidential election coming up, I’ll meet the Governor of Jeju first and then negotiate with the new government officials.”
“Oh, I see…”
Kim Tae-hyun’s eyes wavered, not expecting his father to take personal charge.
‘Father completely acknowledges Hyun-woo as well.’
Although the successes listed were primarily due to Kim Tae-hyun, Kim Sung-moo had also greatly benefited from Lee Hyun-woo.
Setting everything else aside, he had profited immensely from the exchange rate.
‘I wonder how high the exchange rate will go?’
The dollars purchased at the 800 won range had now reached 1,100 won.
【Guseong】 had made enormous investments in the exchange rate and it seemed about time to start withdrawing.
‘Hyun-woo will signal me when to do so.’
Precisely, Nostradamus was likely to forecast it in an editorial in 【Sejong Daily】.
Until then, he intended to continue profiting from the exchange rate investment.
Early the next morning, Lee Hyun-woo received a call from Kim Tae-hyun.
(Good news, want to hear it?)
“Out of the blue… What is it?”
(Hahaha, I’ll visit you later.)
“Hey, it’s kind of you to come every time. I’ll visit you this time.”
(What? I’m going to the Suwon headquarters today.)
【Guseong Electronics】’s headquarters is in Suwon.
Lee Hyun-woo readily decided to go.
“I’ve been wanting to visit.”
(You want to visit? That sounds significant?)
“Yes, haha, take it as you will.”
Kim Tae-hyun implying significance.
It meant that by seeing the connection between Suwon and 【Guseong】, Lee Hyun-woo would be inspired to envision how to transform Jeju.
Lee Hyun-woo genuinely wanted to see how much 【Guseong】 had impacted the city of Suwon.
Although he had occasionally seen Suwon’s 【Guseong Digital City】 in his previous life, he hadn’t observed it with such interest.
This time, he wanted to capture every little detail.
He believed that by seeing how the company had transformed the city, he would gain better inspiration.
So, along with two managers, he headed to Suwon and entered the area where 【Guseong Electronics】 was located.
‘At this time, it’s still a variable traffic lane?’
A variable traffic lane is a lane whose direction can be changed due to uneven traffic flow on a two-way road, aimed at reducing congestion.
In other words, this place, before changing its name to 【Guseong Digital City】, must have experienced significant traffic congestion during rush hours on 【Guseong Road】.
‘It later changes to a six-lane road.’
Seeing that a giant company could even expand lanes, he could imagine the influence 【Jungle】 would have on Jeju.
The two managers, aware of the CEO’s intent, began their conversation.
“This 【Guseong Road】 is enormous. It must be tens of thousands of pyeong.”
“That’s right. This used to be 【Guseong Industrial Complex】.”
“Oh? How do you know?”
“I graduated from a university in Suwon. Hahaha.”
At Kang Dong-ho’s answer, Han Se-jin nodded.
“Really? Then you should recommend some good places to eat later.”
“Galbi is the best in Suwon.”
As the conversation shifted to food, Lee Hyun-woo chimed in with a smile.
“I’ll treat you to galbi after meeting my hyung.”
“Oh, that’s not what I meant.”
“I’ll enjoy it. I lived in Suwon for a while but never had galbi.”
“Oh… People often don’t visit famous tourist spots or restaurants in their own city.”
“Yes, yes, I was like that. Hahaha.”
After some friendly chatter, they finally arrived at 【Guseong Electronics】.
Strict security was in place at the entrance.
While the two secretaries whispered about how this was another aspect to learn from, the security personnel, informed of their visit by the higher-ups, allowed Lee Hyun-woo’s party to enter.
Even here, it took a while to meet Kim Tae-hyun.
It reaffirmed just how vast 【Guseong Road】 was.
‘I need to make 【Jungle World】 in Jeju just as impressive.’
Finally meeting Kim Tae-hyun, who wore a proud expression upon seeing Lee Hyun-woo.
Perhaps, after being swayed for so long, he wanted to showcase something, and seeing how 【Guseong】 had transformed the city of Suwon made him feel proud.
With that expression, he delivered another piece of news that would surprise Lee Hyun-woo.
“Our chairman will personally oversee the Jeju headquarters project.”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t he do that for his prospective son-in-law? Though I did have to persuade my father a lot. You owe me, you know. Hahaha.”
Lee Hyun-woo chuckled inwardly.
‘Would he really go that far just because of me?’
He suspected that helping 【Jungle】’s Jeju headquarters project also meant securing profits for 【Guseong】.
Honestly, in the 1990s, if the chairman of 【Guseong】 took the lead, political and business figures would bow low.
Naturally, Lee Hyun-woo’s face lit up with anticipation.
‘I had planned for up to five years, but it might be faster.’
Moreover, the grand national project exaggerated by the two managers on the plane felt like it was becoming a reality.
Once the new government was established after the presidential election, the pace would likely pick up.
Unaware of Lee Hyun-woo’s thoughts, Kim Tae-hyun continued to boast.
“And there’s the data center. The mainframe going in there is going to be massively upgraded. I specifically asked them to pay special attention.”
Of course, the mainframe upgrade wasn’t solely because of 【Jungle】’s data center.
Recently, 【Guseong Electronics】 had challenged 【IMB】’s mainframes.
To create the best possible upgraded mainframe, the group had concentrated its capabilities, resulting in a quite decent latest model.
Putting that into 【Jungle】’s data center, to be completed early next year, would also greatly help in promoting the product.
Lee Hyun-woo played along with Kim Tae-hyun’s bragging.
“Wow, I don’t know how I can repay you.”
“Forget it. Do you think I said this to get something from you?”
“Still, I can’t just keep receiving.”
“Then just give me a prophecy.”
“What kind of prophecy…?”
“The exchange rate.”
“Ah… hahaha…”
Lee Hyun-woo laughed awkwardly.
Despite pretending otherwise, Kim Tae-hyun seemed to trust his economic forecasts considerably.
With almost 100% accuracy, it was hard not to believe.
He might have invested quite a bit in foreign exchange, so Lee Hyun-woo decided to give him a forecast with a smile.
“It seems like it’s no longer worthwhile to live off the exchange rate.”
“Oh, really? Do you see the limit of the exchange rate rise?”
“Yes, it looks that way to me.”
“Okay, then I’ll trust my prospective brother-in-law and make another move.”
“You know you’ll be responsible for it, right?”
“You rascal, always making an escape route.”
Lee Hyun-woo shrugged.
‘It’s not a small amount. What if it doesn’t turn out as I forecast? Of course, by now, the scale of the foreign exchange crisis is becoming visible.’
Indeed, the Korean economy was facing a crisis.
But the current environment was different from his previous life.
Should it be called disruptive innovation?
Some traditional manufacturing sectors were collapsing due to overinvestment and inefficiency, while new sprouts were thriving, fueled by the butterfly effect created by Lee Hyun-woo.
In other words, some traditional manufacturing sectors were collapsing, while various infrastructures supporting the information society were being established.
‘It’s time to talk about the flowers that will bloom from this crisis.’
Lee Hyun-woo wanted to inform people, through Nostradamus’s editorial, that a new era of opportunity was opening as the difficult period was coming to an end.
No, he had to inform them.
Last year around this time, with the premature celebrations of joining the OECD, many had experienced a year of nightmares, but now it was time to send a message of hope and resurgence.
So that night, he took the time to send an editorial by Nostradamus, including the exchange rate forecast, to 【Sejong Daily】.
