【Guseong】 was a place where the words of the chairman were absolute.
Seo Jung-ki, the chief secretary, quickly conveyed Kim Sung-moo’s words to various places, and through the group’s PR team, it spread as press releases in the media.
『Kim Sung-moo Declares the New Millennium 【Guseong】!』
Naturally, from the morning, this headline grabbed Lee Hyun-woo’s attention, making his eyes roll faster. After reading it all, he saw that from the commuting system to talent acquisition, everything at 【Guseong】 was going to change from A to Z.
‘Wow, is the chairman finally awakening?’
It was just one visit to 【Jungle】 and a one-hour conversation with him, but the change Lee Hyun-woo felt was no joke.
In fact, in his past life, although Kim Sung-moo made some mistakes, including passing the company to his children, Lee Hyun-woo highly appreciated his merits that outweighed those mistakes.
It wasn’t something just anyone could do, so he was looking forward to it this time as well.
How will 【Guseong】 transform?
Moreover, if 【Guseong】 changes, it will also affect the Korean business world.
Naturally, a smile spread across Lee Hyun-woo’s face.
‘As we move forward in the era of technology, other fields will gradually follow suit as well.’
Now, it seemed like it would be fun to watch, and as soon as 【Guseong】 made a move, several companies began to seek similar changes.
Soon after, the rival company 【GB】 also announced that they were preparing for the upcoming millennium era by tweaking their commuting system, talent recruitment, and welfare.
Meanwhile, 【Daehyun Group】 declared that they would not fall behind in the changes to secure future food sources, and as the top tier of the business world changed, those below naturally attempted to follow suit.
It was what Lee Hyun-woo thought of as a virtuous cycle about to unfold.
Through this series of developments, Lee Hyun-woo once again felt the power of 【Guseong】.
‘Indeed, when 【Guseong】 moves, things speed up.’
Beyond the relationship of future father-in-law and son-in-law, Lee Hyun-woo thought he should visit Kim Sung-moo more often, and in fact, that evening, he visited with Kim Ah-young and had dinner together.
However, his future mother-in-law, Jang Hee-jin, treated him so well that he felt overwhelmed.
With a smile reaching his ears, he chatted with Kim Sung-moo.
“Lately, I’ve seen a lot of news about you in the newspapers, Chairman.”
“Nothing has changed yet, but I don’t know why there’s so much excitement.”
“Because it’s you, Chairman. Not someone else.”
“Our son-in-law is becoming more flattering.”
“No way. Didn’t I tell you at the beginning of the year? You are the person I respect the most, and I always listen with the attitude of learning.”
“Hahaha.”
Seemingly in a good mood, Kim Sung-moo laughed.
“Actually, I have something to say to our son-in-law too.”
“Please feel free to tell me anything. Think of me as your child.”
“Alright, alright.”
Could it be an extension of what he mentioned last time?
Lee Hyun-woo opened his ears and looked at Kim Sung-moo.
“It’s about the donation you mentioned last time.”
“Oh, yes…”
“I don’t intend to change your mind, but you have to be cautious and tread carefully at that point. Money always has two directions: the good side and the bad side. Especially, if you use donated money well, it can help many people, but on the contrary, it can become a tool to satisfy the greed of a few.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded.
It was somewhat surprising that such words came from Kim Sung-moo, but the meaning contained was surely something to be engraved in his heart.
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
“I’m not saying don’t do it. You understand my point, right?”
“Of course.”
If ever 90% of Lee Hyun-woo’s wealth flowed out into the world as donations, it would be an enormous amount.
Would everyone accept it with good intentions?
No, they wouldn’t.
Sometimes, there would be people who see it as an opportunity and think of ways to make money.
Therefore, Lee Hyun-woo started planning that night when he got home.
The principles of donation.
First, it must be transparent.
Second, it must be used properly.
Third, if you can’t trust others, do it yourself.
As he jotted this down, the purpose of the donation became clear.
In fact, donations often end up in the hands of a few people who misuse them, making it hard to know where they really go.
So, it had to be transparent and used appropriately.
If that couldn’t be trusted, it was best for Lee Hyun-woo himself to take action.
‘Yes, if I’m donating to children or helping those in need, and the money flows into an organization or the state, it’s impossible to know how it’s used, so I’d better do it myself.’
In his past life, didn’t Billy Kates set up a foundation to operate transparently?
Though it was premature to reveal this now, Lee Hyun-woo, closing his notebook, vowed that if there was a clear plan for retirement in the future, he would definitely handle it himself.
‘This is exciting in its own way.’
Imagining the kind of foundation he would create in the future made his heart race.
And like a lie, the next morning, as he read the newspaper, an idea came to him.
『The Economy Is Improving, But It’s Still Winter for Those Who Lost Their Jobs!』
First, jobs. The foundation should help address the gaps in the social safety net that the state couldn’t absorb.
As soon as he arrived at work, he called Goo Man-hoe.
“I have something to discuss.”
“Yes? What…”
The talent development division of 【Jungle】 wasn’t only busy during open recruitment.
The preparation process for that day was no joke, and 【Jungle】 frequently underwent rolling recruitment, so Goo Man-hoe didn’t think it was a time to be idle.
Even so, he discussed the tasks ahead with him.
“You may remember, but don’t you think it’s time we create a platform similar to an 【Online Headhunter】?”
“Oh…, yes…”
The name was painful for Goo Man-hoe.
It reminded him of the reality where he lost his company and didn’t know when he would get it back.
Lee Hyun-woo wasn’t someone who couldn’t read that expression.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s actively create that platform in our company. And what if we offer the service for free?”
“For free?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
【Online Headhunter】 was a paid service website.
However, it only charged companies looking to hire, but recently, they were making the mistake of charging a monthly fee to job seekers as well.
What would happen if 【Jungle】 operated a similar platform for free?
“It would be a big deal, wouldn’t it?”
“It would cause a stir. But we could find many meanings in it.”
First, it would give Goo Man-hoe a sword of revenge for the company he lost.
Second, it would connect those who needed work with those who wanted to work.
And all for free.
“Our 【Jungle】 actually makes a lot of money. We don’t need to profit from that platform, so I think it would be great to take this opportunity to do something good and push it forward boldly.”
After thinking for a moment, Goo Man-hoe nodded.
“I understand your intention, CEO. I’ll push it forward right away.”
“But there’s going to be a lot of work, so please hire more people.”
“Yes, thank you for your concern.”
Rising from his seat, Goo Man-hoe’s eyes were filled with determination.
Seeing this, a smile spread across Lee Hyun-woo’s face.
From that point on, Goo Man-hoe’s performance was so remarkable that the expression ‘elusive’ was fitting.
Having already created a job platform once, development wasn’t an issue, and he actively searched for job seekers and hiring companies to list on the platform.
It got to the point where university career center directors or career support team leaders said this upon seeing Goo Man-hoe:
“【Jungle】 is really doing a lot of good work!”
“With the term ‘job-seeking resit’ emerging, I feel a bit relieved thanks to 【Jungle】.”
Last year, as countless companies collapsed, job seekers flooded the employment market.
Since the social safety net wasn’t properly in place, they still found it difficult to find jobs.
As a result, the impact inevitably extended to university graduates.
To get into a company, they had to compete with senior graduates.
The term ‘job-seeking resit,’ which was hard to find before, emerged for this reason.
Listening to the university career officers’ words, Goo Man-hoe felt a sense of pride bubbling up.
‘I think I know why the CEO wants to run it for free.’
【Jungle】 was like a black hole, absorbing all fields of information and communication.
Although it had positive effects, like the creation of new companies and industries, it was still a small company with just over a thousand employees making a lot of money, so it couldn’t help but feel conscious.
To alleviate that, projects that satisfied society were essential.
Last year, when Lee Hyun-woo discussed with the 21st Century Venture Business Association and ran an academy, it seemed to be for this reason.
Moreover, Lee Hyun-woo frequently attended classes himself, making the news often.
This acted as a promotion, indicating that they offered high-quality classes worthy of the 【Jungle】 CEO’s attendance, attracting more people and gaining state support.
However, reemployment wasn’t always easy.
Due to a lack of information, it was difficult for them to properly utilize what they had learned.
Thinking this far, a lightning bolt struck Goo Man-hoe’s head.
‘What if we received orders from companies to educate talents on demand?’
Most companies were struggling to adapt to the Korean-style informatization wave 【Jungle】 had stirred up the year before.
The problem was that to adapt, information industry talents were essential, but it was extremely difficult to find competent people.
Talent with some knowledge of computer hardware and software was all swept up by 【Jungle】 and emerging venture companies.
Even if that wasn’t the case, they were taken by large companies like 【Guseong Electronics】 and 【GB Electronics】, making it increasingly difficult to find good talent.
‘If we could educate and produce talents on demand for places needing information talents, it would be quite effective.’
His way of pushing things forward as soon as he thought of them was influenced by Lee Hyun-woo.
In fact, most of 【Jungle】’s core members had a quick work-processing style similar to Lee Hyun-woo.
Goo Man-hoe began visiting various groups.
Sometimes through his connections, sometimes through his shameless and reckless personality, and sometimes through his business card as the head of talent development at 【Jungle】…
“That doesn’t sound bad. We need quite a few people to handle information and communication security in our bank, but it’s nearly impossible to find them.”
“The 21st Century IT Academy also offers hacking training.”
“What? Really?”
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. Knowing how to hack is essential for accurate security measures.”
【21st Century IT Academy】 is the name of the academy operated by the 21st Century Venture Business.
Goo Man-hoe had already met with the academy’s management and discussed his ideas, receiving a promise to establish commissioned courses for companies.
Thus, he broke through one of the commercial banks.
Starting is half the battle.
From that point, he visited other banks to confirm the demand for security talent.
“Hello? Ah, Director, it’s me. I think we need to increase the information security courses.”
Calling the 【21st Century IT Academy】 after work was a natural part of his routine.
At the end of the day, a deep sense of fulfillment washed over him.
‘I think I understand the CEO’s sentiment.’
Once again, feeling Lee Hyun-woo’s warm heart, Goo Man-hoe thought he would spend meaningful days pushing this work forward.
