New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 119

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 119. Black Gold and White Gold (3)

 

The Chief Secretary’s demeanor was quite different from before.

 

This was because the government’s policy of unconditionally attracting foreign currency had changed.

 

Since the Blue House officially declared overcoming the IMF crisis on December 4th last year, they now needed not only foreign currency attraction but also justification that aligned with public sentiment.

 

“If we leave Daehyeon Electronics as is, massive restructuring will be inevitable. However, if Tiger Fund acquires the semiconductor business division, we can minimize restructuring.”

 

“How do you plan to minimize it? You wouldn’t intend to carry a company that shows losses in the trillions as is.”

 

“Restructuring is inevitable. But we can promise to hire new employees equal to that number.”

 

Restructuring was absolutely necessary for my plan as well.

 

Because we had to cut unnecessary personnel.

 

But such conditions alone couldn’t persuade the government, so I played the card of large-scale new hiring.

 

“You’re saying you’ll hire that many new employees?”

 

“If we do that, we can gain positive public opinion.”

 

“Hmm, it’s true that even large corporations are reluctant to hire new employees these days. But can you handle it?”

 

Among all costs, labor costs were the highest.

 

That’s why creditors also demanded restructuring for corporate recovery.

 

But conversely, we were saying we’d increase new hiring, so the Chief Secretary was worried.

 

“It’s fully possible. And we plan to maximize the use of existing personnel through transfer assignments.”

 

“That’s a very good idea. However, I still question whether we should entrust the semiconductor business, which is the center of industry, to a fund.”

 

“If you look at the contract written with the creditors and Daehyeon Electronics, you’ll see it includes a clause giving Korean companies priority in case of resale.”

 

I emphasized that we wouldn’t hand over the semiconductor business division to foreign companies.

 

Why would we give this good business to others?

 

Since it was a business Tiger Fund would hold onto tightly, we could specify the overseas sale prohibition clause in the contract.

 

“Hmm, but there are still many parts that are difficult to accept in terms of public sentiment.”

 

“This is as far as we can go too.”

 

“It sounds like you’re saying you’d give up the semiconductor business.”

 

I needed to give the impression that we had nothing to lose.

 

At this time, there was no one else besides us who could spend 5.5 trillion won on the semiconductor business.

 

“This is a business we’re starting while accepting losses. It’s impossible without the government’s help and support. As you can see from the conditions we’ve presented so far, they include many conditions that no other place could absolutely offer.”

 

“It’s not that we want to block the semiconductor business, but we still need some safety measures.”

 

Now the Chief Secretary was taking a step back.

 

If I pushed harder here, it could turn into a pointless pride battle, so I also showed a retreating stance.

 

“Rather than Tiger Fund Headquarters operating directly, the Korea Branch will handle the semiconductor business. If it’s structured as a Korean corporation managing it formally, it would look like a Korean company continues to operate rather than foreign capital taking the semiconductors. Wouldn’t that help calm public opinion?”

 

“So legally and on paper, it would be a Korean company managing the semiconductor business.”

 

“The media might criticize it as being only formally a Korean corporation, but the fact that it’s a Korean company doesn’t change.”

 

It was nothing more than covering one’s eyes and pretending.

 

Even as a Korean corporation, Tiger Fund held the actual management rights.

 

Nevertheless, since public opinion lacked sufficient grounds to attack head-on, I wanted to circumvent it this way.

 

“Hmm, good. Employment guarantee and Korean corporation. If these two conditions are met, we’ll permit the acquisition of Daehyeon Electronics’ semiconductor business division.”

 

“We’ll also try to operate Daehyeon Electronics’ small device factory in a way that guarantees employment as much as possible.”

 

“Handle that as you see fit.”

 

The small device factory was smaller in scale compared to the semiconductor business division.

 

Perhaps that’s why the government wasn’t showing much interest in it either.

 

“Actually, we weren’t that interested in the semiconductor business. But considering our relationship with Daehyeon Group, we decided it would be better for us to acquire it.”

 

“Tiger Fund has invested a lot in Daehyeon Group. You even solved Daehyeon Construction’s Middle East outstanding receivables problem.”

 

“The Daehyeon Electronics problem will improve somewhat as we acquire the semiconductor business division, but the more serious side is Daehyeon Construction.”

 

I subtly shifted the conversation topic to Daehyeon Construction.

 

The business sector the government is most sensitive about is naturally the construction industry.

 

If construction collapses, the nation’s discipline could shake together, so the Blue House would be seriously examining the Daehyeon Construction problem.

 

“Daehyeon Construction is already giving us headaches. As you know, the construction industry has a very large employment scale, and it’s entangled with partner companies and subcontractors in a chain, making it difficult to handle. And construction company insolvency directly leads to national credit rating decline, so we can’t ignore it.”

 

“If there’s anything Tiger Fund can help with, please contact us anytime. We’ll do our best to help.”

 

“Thank you, even if it’s just words.”

 

I had subtly planted some bait.

 

I implicitly spread the bait that Tiger Fund was also interested in Daehyeon Construction.

 

If Daehyeon Construction shook seriously, the Blue House would have no choice but to seek Tiger Fund.

 

***

 

After finishing his US schedule, the General Manager returned to Korea.

 

Although I reported the Korea Branch’s situation daily via email or phone, when he actually saw the Daehyeon Electronics semiconductor business division acquisition contract, he closed his eyes tightly.

 

“You really acquired it.”

 

“I judged this was the cheapest price.”

 

“Will Daehyeon Electronics’ semiconductor business division really make money?”

 

“It will definitely make money. I’m confident it will become a cash cow that will be responsible for Tiger Fund’s next 10 or 20 years, not just at a profitable level.”

 

The acquisition amount was 5.5 trillion won.

 

Considering Tiger Fund’s total operating funds, it wasn’t that large an amount.

 

That said, since continuous annual losses were expected, the General Manager sighed.

 

“I heard this year’s losses will exceed 1 trillion won too. Moreover, since you acquired the small device factory as well, losses will increase further.”

 

“It’s not easy to turn losses into profits, but I’ve prepared measures to at least reduce the loss margin.”

 

“Is there such a method?”

 

The semiconductor business was one of the core elements of my plan.

 

If I changed the semiconductor business division in the direction I wanted, I could sufficiently reduce losses.

 

“Tiger Fund holds large equity shares in various IT companies. I’m trying to make maximum use of that.”

 

“Are you saying you’ll pressure IT companies to secure orders?”

 

“Not pressure, but create cooperative relationships. Particularly, I plan to strengthen cooperation with Apple and make semiconductors in the form they want.”

 

Customization strategy and long-term cooperation strategy.

 

These were the two strategies to revive the semiconductor business division.

 

“You’re saying you’ll produce customized semiconductors or chips.”

 

“All IT companies naturally want stable semiconductor supply chains. But we also hold large equity shares in those companies, so trust relationships are already established.”

 

IT company stock prices that fell to rock bottom due to the IT bubble collapse.

 

Tiger Fund was buying large quantities of such companies’ stocks.

 

No IT company would bother to make us their enemy, and they would certainly want to make us their ally instead.

 

“Trust relationships are established, but wouldn’t it be a bit insufficient to completely entrust semiconductor production? While Daehyeon Electronics’ semiconductor business division’s technology is excellent, it’s not world-class level.”

 

“It’s true we’re several steps behind Samjin Electronics, but there’s one reason why they’ll have no choice but to choose Daehyeon Electronics despite such technology gaps.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

It wasn’t an advantage of Daehyeon Electronics’ semiconductor business division.

 

The advantage arose as the semiconductor business division separated from Daehyeon Electronics.

 

“We don’t compete with customers. As the semiconductor business division became independent, it’s now a company completely unrelated to finished products. Companies that extremely dislike technology leaks will naturally seek us out.”

 

“True, Samjin Electronics makes mobile phones, MP3 players, and computers, so competitive structures are bound to form.”

 

“We’re trying to do customized production tailored to such IT companies’ needs.”

 

“It sounds nice to call it customized production, but isn’t it closer to just subcontracting or contract manufacturing?”

 

Since we’d make according to customers’ demands, it could be seen as subcontract production.

 

But in the semiconductor industry alone, customized production could never become subcontract production.

 

“Customized production isn’t simple subcontracting. It’s an area possible only with cutting-edge processes, and it’s what the semiconductor industry calls the foundry industry.”

 

“You’re saying you’ll make the semiconductor business division into a foundry-focused company.”

 

“That’s right. If we do that, we can make all IT companies worldwide our customers.”

 

“Is there a reason to enter the foundry market?”

 

Ultimately, it was a question of whether it would be profitable.

 

Currently, the foundry market’s scale was minimal, and naturally, general DRAM production would seem like a much more attractive business.

 

“I’m confident that within 20 years, the foundry market will occupy more than 50% of the entire semiconductor market.”

 

“If the Branch Manager asserts it to that degree, I should believe it. But let me ask one thing. To realize that plan, how much do we need to invest in the semiconductor business division?”

 

I had already finished all calculations.

 

Of course, my calculations wouldn’t be completely accurate, but there wouldn’t be major errors, so I could answer the General Manager’s question specifically.

 

“For the first phase, we need to invest 5 trillion won, and in the long term, we need to invest over 20 trillion won to dominate the market.”

 

“It’s nothing but a money pit.”

 

“Tiger Fund must bear the first-phase investment. However, the long-term investment can be sufficiently covered by the Semiconductor Business Division’s own profits. In fact, we can even recover the first-phase investment.”

 

It wasn’t a money pit.

 

The semiconductor business was a goose that laid golden eggs, and now was simply the time to feed that goose until it started laying eggs.

 

“I understand. Well, the Korea Branch’s affairs are entirely up to the Branch Manager’s choice, so there’s nothing I can say about it. Ah! But did you also acquire Daehyeon Electronics’ small device production line for the same reason?”

 

“That’s correct. We plan to turn it into an iPod production line in consultation with Apple.”

 

“That’s not a bad plan. There are rumors that Apple is looking for a reliable production factory.”

 

There was no way they’d let just any factory mass-produce the iPod, which was like their child.

 

Especially Apple, with its closed-off nature that extremely disliked external production.

 

But if I personally took responsibility and promised to produce the volume, the story would be different.

 

The iPod was Apple’s child, but Nexfin and Rollbook were close enough to be blood relatives, so they could trust us with it.

 

“We plan to turn Daehyeon Electronics’ small device production line into Apple’s Asian production base.”

 

“For that to happen, the iPod would need to sell hundreds of times better than it does now. Is that possible?”

 

“It’s not a production line just for the iPod. It’s a plan made with Apple’s small devices that will be developed after the iPod in mind.”

 

Could there be a more perfect partnership than this?

 

Beyond simple technical cooperation through Nexfin and Rollbook, a perfect partnership that included semiconductors and production could be established.

 

We were Apple’s major shareholders.

 

There was no reason to hand over such benefits to other companies.

 

And it was also an opportunity to enjoy the fruits not only from Apple’s tree but also from other IT companies’ trees.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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