New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 79
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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 79. Frog Hunt (4)
Just one week.
One week after Max Coffee advertised the free franchise fee conversion to Hanyang Dairy franchise owners.
Over 100 store owners had submitted franchise applications.
“Son, what are you going to do if we accept all of these? We can’t take 100 people as interns at our store.”
“The space is limited. That’s why I have an idea. Father, please take on the role of education manager.”
“Education manager? What’s that?”
Father looked bewildered.
But I pushed forward strongly.
Since things had come this far, I wanted to give Father a more responsible position.
And managing franchises would be much better than working in a cramped store.
“It’s a role where you go around to franchises to provide education and management.”
“You want me to be a manager?”
“Max Coffee is our family company. Who else but Father could take on such a role?”
“I do know Max Coffee’s structure the best.”
“That’s exactly why Father should take it on.”
Though he didn’t show it, Father seemed quite satisfied.
He wasn’t the type to refuse a position of authority, and above all, he knew the reality of Hanyang Dairy franchise owners well, so he couldn’t easily refuse.
“But it’s not like they can start their businesses right away. How will you handle education while interior construction is going on?”
“I’ve already prepared an education location. I rented the store 2nd floor as an education office. Since it’s a Fund-owned building, we only need to pay very cheap rent.”
It wasn’t Fund-owned but my own building.
So I didn’t need anyone’s permission, and I could just use it however I wanted.
“Our son’s company benefits are really amazing.”
“And we need new menu development too. Delivery-focused stores lack competitiveness with just coffee.”
“You want me to do that?”
Father took a step back.
He had fried chicken and made tens of thousands of cups of coffee, but new menu development was a different field altogether.
“Of course we need to bring in an expert. I’ve decided to recruit someone who used to be a menu planner at a major American coffee chain.”
“Why would someone like that come here?”
“He’s a Korean-American who wants to settle down in Korea. And the Fund General Manager helped us out.”
This wasn’t a lie.
Thanks to the General Manager, I was able to bring in a famous menu planner from the United States, and while it cost money, it was at a level I could sufficiently handle.
“Isn’t this getting too big all of a sudden?”
“Father, you’re the one who started this. I wanted to just do business here, but you were the one who said let’s make Store #2 and Store No. 3. So you should take responsibility.”
“Even so, if you increase stores by 100 all at once, what exactly am I supposed to be responsible for?”
“Don’t worry, experts will handle everything. Father, just manage the stores well. We’ll also establish a separate management team.”
Max Coffee, created for Father.
The initial goal was simply sales that would satisfy Father.
But Max Coffee had now exceeded the scale of a family business.
Naturally, various departments were needed, and many employees had to be hired.
Fortunately, thanks to Tiger Fund, these problems could be easily solved.
“Where are you going to suddenly find so many people?”
“The hiring crisis is so severe these days. There are plenty of people who want to work. And The Company will handle all the hiring, so we just need to do our assigned work well.”
“Really? I don’t understand how things work. But let’s try something for now.”
Max Coffee was still a business under Father’s name.
Now he was called something like a management supervisor in form, but legally Father was the representative.
He had suddenly risen from a chicken restaurant owner to the representative of a massive chain store, and a gear structure much more enormous than expected began to roll.
***
The operation to dismantle Hanyang Dairy’s franchise network proceeded smoothly.
When we moved first, as expected, dairy companies also began jumping in without exception.
“Competing companies are charging in aggressively. From the franchise owners’ perspective, they can work in the same industry just by changing brands, so they seem to be switching easily.”
“But Hanyang Dairy might raise legal issues.”
“Of course. Franchise contracts have clauses restricting industry conversion, and selling similar products can be a contract violation.”
Even while saying this, the General Manager was smiling.
Just from his expression, it seemed there wouldn’t be major legal problems.
“Is there a way to nullify the contracts?”
“Normally Hanyang Dairy would have the advantage, but this time is different. Sales declined due to owner risk, and the brand image plummeted. The franchise owners can actually raise legal issues instead.”
All responsibility for this incident lay with the Owner Family.
The franchise owners had no responsibility other than selling products diligently, and naturally no other responsibility could be placed on them.
“Still, if legal disputes begin, some store owners will inevitably be intimidated.”
“We’ll handle that through a major law firm. Since we have a high chance of winning, the major law firms will actually prefer our side. Who would want to stick with Hanyang Dairy and go to trial?”
“I’ll cover those costs.”
“This is related to Tiger Fund’s profits, so we’ll cover it. Stop the habit of spending your personal money. The company isn’t here for nothing.”
Out of guilt, I keep showing off my money.
No matter how much money I had in my account, there was no need to burden myself with personal funds for things that could be covered by company money.
“I’ll do that from now on.”
“Now! Hanyang Dairy’s pillars are finally starting to crumble.”
“But they’re still not defending against short selling at all. The market reaction has also cooled down quite a bit.”
“So now we need to deliver the decisive blow.”
The General Manager said while looking at the sofa.
On the sofa lay Chris, exhausted from his one-man protest.
“Now we need to deliver the final blow. We’ve been through all that hardship for this moment.”
“When does it start?”
“5 minutes left.”
What could have 5 minutes left?
I was curious about what final blow Representative Chris had prepared, but since I could find out in just 5 minutes, I didn’t ask further.
And exactly 5 minutes later.
The General Manager asked me to check the newspapers.
“It should have broken by now. Check the newspapers.”
“Which media company’s newspaper do you mean? No new breaking news has come out yet.”
“Not Korean newspapers, we moved from the American side.”
I hurriedly checked American media.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t just one place but multiple foreign media outlets pouring out related articles.
Financial Times – [Korean Large Corporations That Ignore Shareholders]
New York Times – [Korea Investment Warning, Companies That Don’t Defend Stock Prices]
Washington Post – [Korean Market Loses Investment Appeal Due to Management Risk]
Of course, the weight varied by media company.
Some treated it as a major story, while others had short one-paragraph articles.
But having multiple foreign media outlets simultaneously spotlight this situation was never a common occurrence.
“How is this possible? I didn’t know foreign media had this much interest in Korean large corporations.”
“Because Griffin Fund stepped forward. It’s a fund that has already clashed with American large corporations several times, so it’s good material for foreign media to cover.”
“Come on, no matter how famous I am, I can’t pull off something like this alone. It was only possible because Tiger Fund helped me. Tiger has always had good relationships with the media anyway.”
This case was a collaboration between Griffin and Tiger.
When CEO Chris’s public appeal combined with Tiger Fund’s media network, foreign media outlets began to move as well.
“But what difference will it make if foreign media gets involved?”
“It’s not over yet.”
“What else is there?”
“This short selling operation isn’t just Tiger Fund’s doing. It’s a joint operation with multiple prime brokers. So we need to earn our keep, don’t we?”
I didn’t need a lengthy explanation.
Major prime brokers were already pouring out reports.
Goldman Sachs – [Warning: Governance Risk in Korean Large Corporations]
Morgan Stanley – [No Response to Short Selling: Strange Korean Companies]
It wasn’t just prime brokers issuing reports.
Various global financial companies, including Tiger Fund, were officially expressing concerns about Hanyang Dairy and the Korean Market.
“What changes when foreign media and global financial companies get involved?”
“It’s no longer just about Hanyang Dairy’s problems. It’s spreading into suspicions about the governance structure of all South Korea’s large corporations.”
“Why explain it so complicatedly? Just think of it as foreign capital potentially withdrawing because of this incident. The very thing the Korean Government fears most is happening.”
It was overwhelming just trying to keep up with the situation.
The General Manager and Chris had escalated the scale of events far beyond expectations.
I gathered information from various sources to understand the flow of events, and realized the situation was developing more seriously than anticipated.
***
The Blue House had made overcoming the IMF crisis its top national priority.
South Korea’s strength alone wasn’t sufficient to achieve this goal.
Continuous foreign investment was absolutely necessary, and the prerequisite for that was a trustworthy corporate environment.
“Director Kang! What is this situation? Why are foreign media outlets publishing articles expressing concerns about investing in Korea?”
“It’s because of Hanyang Dairy. A conflict has erupted with a US Activist Fund.”
“Right now, all of South Korea is being criticized because of one company!”
The Blue House immediately recognized the gravity of the situation.
An incident had erupted that threw cold water on the Korean economy, which had just begun to recover.
If foreign investment were to halt because of this incident, it would inevitably take much longer to overcome the IMF crisis.
“Hanyang Dairy doesn’t seem to have any intention of defending against the short selling. That’s how this incident occurred.”
“What a wicked person. Call the Hanyang Dairy Chairman to the Blue House immediately. And Director Kang, check all materials related to Hanyang Dairy right now.”
“I’ll request materials from the police, prosecutor’s office, and the IRS.”
The older a corporation was, the more dust it inevitably accumulated.
That’s why corporate owners absolutely tried not to make enemies of the Blue House.
When the Blue House stepped in to shake off the dust, not just dust but dirty and ugly things were bound to come tumbling out.
“Who else is involved in this incident?”
“From what I’ve confirmed, Griffin Fund is taking the lead, but Tiger Fund is behind them.”
“Tiger Fund? That’s a name I’ve heard often.”
“It’s one of America’s Top 3 Funds. The actual representative is a Korean-American, and he’s directly commanding the Korean Branch right now.”
The Blue House was different from Hanyang Dairy.
They accurately understood who was behind this and what the situation was.
“Call that Tiger Fund general manager to the Blue House as well.”
“He holds American citizenship, so it’s difficult to treat him carelessly. So I’ll try to arrange an informal meeting in the form of a discussion session.”
“Try to arrange it by today.”
General Manager Kang Dong-ju wasn’t just a simple American citizen.
He was the actual head of a fund representing Wall Street, and a figure that even the US Government was paying attention to.
This was why the Blue House had no choice but to approach him carefully.
If they carelessly mistreated someone from Wall Street, it could cause problems with foreign investment attraction.
“The Hanyang Dairy Chairman was Han Tae-gwang, wasn’t it?”
“That’s correct. He was someone who received an invitation to the presidential inauguration ceremony.”
“I didn’t think he was that kind of person, but he’s quite a troublesome individual. When the media covers it like this, he should know to step down. Tsk tsk.”
The cause that created this situation was Hanyang Dairy.
The price for invoking the Blue House’s anger was now something Chairman Han Tae-gwang would have to bear entirely on his own.
Annual Salary 1 Trillion New Employee Chapter 79
E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27
Author | Seo Oh
Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Published by | Poten
Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585
ISBN | 9791175305892
List Price | 100 won
ⓒ Seo Oh 2025
This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law.
This e-book is published under the author’s contract, so unauthorized reproduction, duplication, distribution, and sharing are prohibited without written consent from both parties.
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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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