I Am the Third-Generation Heir of a Conglomerate - Chapter 428



Only Noblemtl

428. All-time (3)

Myeongdong, which I visited after a long time, had changed a lot.

Perhaps because it has become a tourist attraction, foreign tourists can be seen on every street.

High-rise buildings and luxury stores gave Myeongdong an even more luxurious image.

The person who ruled this Myeongdong was Lee Young-han.

He was the owner of Myeongdong and the person who was in charge of all the private loan businesses in Korea.

Since I made him the owner of Myeongdong, Lee Young-han welcomed me with great respect.

“The chairman is here!”

“Your face has improved a lot.”

“Thanks to you, Chairman. These days, I am making more money selling water than I am making money selling money.”

The term ‘money lending’ meant private loans.

The water business referred to the high-class bars located around the financial tower.

The financial tower was generating record profits, and its employees were pouring large sums of money into fancy bars every night.

“How much money do you make selling water? You are the owner of Myeongdong, not someone else, and you are making such weak remarks.”

“Hahaha, if you can make that much money from a hobby, that’s a lot of money.”

Lee Young-han was making a huge profit every year.

We had more cash on hand than most banks, and we were able to make such high profits all thanks to the information coming from our side.

Of course, I don’t give away information for free.

I provided information because I had something to receive from Lee Young-han, and now it is time to harvest.

“Are you taking care of the thing I asked you to do earlier?”

“Are you talking about the land purchases near Gyeonggi-do? We were able to secure a large amount of land at a low price because we started buying when the real estate market was in a recession. And we are still continuing to buy land.”

Lee Young-han was buying land near Gyeonggi-do for me.

To build a semiconductor city, a huge amount of land was needed, and in order to start construction sooner, the land purchase had to be completed first.

“There must have been some people who tried to trick you or demanded outrageous prices, but it seems like things have been sorted out well.”

“If there’s an egg stuck in it, wouldn’t it be okay to just take it out? Our kids are really good at taking out stuck eggs.”

The land acquisition process was the most difficult issue.

Naturally, landowners wanted more compensation for their land.

If they ask for 2-3 times more than the publicly announced price, it is considered a misdeed.

It would be a little better if the government stepped in.

However, construction still took a long time due to land compensation issues.

That is why I resolved the land issue in advance through Lee Young-han.

“How much land have you secured so far?”

“It’s over 1 million pyeong. On average, it was purchased for around 300,000 won per pyeong.”

“It must have cost more than 3 trillion won just to purchase the land.”

“So my bank account is completely empty. It’s as if all the money in Myeongdong is buried in the ground in Gyeonggi-do.”

“You’re speaking weakly again.”

3 trillion won is by no means a small amount of money.

Even if he were the owner of Myeongdong, 3 trillion won would be a burdensome amount, but it was also a small amount compared to the profits he had earned through our information so far.

“This time, it’s not a weak sound. I used all my spare money, except for the money I borrowed from private loans, to buy land. In fact, when I was building a high-class bar, I even borrowed money from the elderly in Myeongdong.”

“Taewoo Group will soon start purchasing land with government support. Even if we can’t afford it, we will buy it for 400,000 won per pyeong, so hold on a little longer.”

“If you could do that, I would be grateful.”

A profit of 1 trillion won.

Taewoo Group is buying the land it purchased for 3 trillion won for 4 trillion won.

Since they did all the hard work for us, they should receive compensation of around 1 trillion won.

And since he will have to do more difficult work in the future, he needs to be compensated properly so that he can be used again.

“And please secure more land. I will provide 6 trillion won through Captain Kang.”

“Are you saying we should purchase an additional 2 million pyeong?”

“We will build several more semiconductor complexes every year. Please use all the money we earn from land compensation this time to purchase land.”

“If we add the 4 trillion won we receive in compensation to the 6 trillion won we received in support, it comes to 10 trillion won. Are you saying that we should use all of that money to purchase land?”

It was not possible to create a semiconductor city all at once.

Every year, the construction had to be expanded and its scale expanded, and to do so, land had to be continuously purchased.

“A large-scale semiconductor city policy will be announced soon. The exact location of the semiconductor city will not be announced, but there are rumors that it will be built near Gyeonggi Province.”

“Then the land price will rise a lot more than it is now.”

“So please proceed with the land purchase as quickly as possible.”

“We will mobilize all employees to start purchasing land!”

“The amount of compensation for land is fixed. If you buy the land cheaply, wouldn’t Chairman Lee have a lot of money left over?”

Now, you can make a profit of 1 trillion won.

As land prices rise, profits tend to decrease.

So, it was not me but Lee Young-han who should be impatient.

“I will secure as much money as possible, even if it means asking the elderly in Myeongdong, and then go ahead and purchase the land!”

“Once the policy is announced, there may be forces that will take notice and buy up land.”

“I can tolerate everything else, but I can’t tolerate someone putting a spoon in my rice bowl. How can I take away the sumptuous meal that the Chairman himself prepared for me? I will crush every bone of yours so that you will never be able to lift a spoon again!”

Taewoo Group was also able to save money by securing as much land as possible.

The current land price is 200,000 to 300,000 won per pyeong, but the price will change once actual construction begins.

Especially when purchasing land purchased by a land corporation.

If you consider the cost of land development, the cost of installing main roads, and the cost of parks, roads, and land that must be handed over to local governments, the cost per pyeong will jump to over 2.5 million won.

Land prices have increased by a whopping 8 times.

So, it was advantageous to secure the land by using Myeongdong’s power even if it meant handing over a profit of more than 20% to Myeongdong.

Of course, it was not possible to create a semiconductor city with only the land purchased in Myeongdong.

Eventually, they had to rely on the government or land corporation to secure more land.

This was also the reason why a budget of 700 trillion won was set aside to create a semiconductor city.

***

A month has passed.

The president has stepped down as promised, and there are now 60 days left until the presidential election.

And today.

People’s Economy Party lawmaker Choi Jae-seok has decided to officially announce the development of a 700 trillion won semiconductor city as his number one campaign promise.

There are only three hours left until the official announcement.

I quickly called the key executives into the chairman’s office.

Because we couldn’t let the media hear about large-scale projects like the semiconductor complex.

“The reason I have gathered you all today is to announce a large-scale project that will be responsible for the future of Taewoo Group. First, I would like to apologize for proceeding with the plan without consulting you.”

I bowed my head and apologized first.

In particular, he bowed his head even more deeply to President Lisa and Vice President Wei, who are leading Taewoo Semiconductor.

“We plan to build a semiconductor city worth 700 trillion won for the future of Taewoo Group. The political world will also address this issue today.”

“Wait a minute. Did I mishear that? Did you say 700 trillion won?”

“That’s right. We plan to invest 700 trillion won in the semiconductor city.”

But President Lisa showed off her courage.

Now he was just leaning back on the chair, blankly staring at me.

The pressure of 700 trillion won was so great that not only President Lisa but everyone else just blinked and waited for the next words.

“First, let me talk about securing funds. Could you speak on behalf of Vice Chairman Han?”

“Ahem, Taewoo Securities was managing Taewoo Group’s internal reserve fund. And thanks to several successful investments, it was able to raise 700 trillion won without borrowing money.”

“Are you saying that we can use 700 trillion won in cash?”

“Yes. And we are not investing all 700 trillion won right now, but we plan to invest 140 trillion won per year over five years.”

“Is it okay to invest more money in semiconductors than Taewoo Group’s annual operating profit?”

Lisa’s question was valid.

Although Taewoo Group is the number one group in Korea, its annual operating profit was only 40 trillion won.

Of course, it was 40 trillion won thanks to affiliates such as Taewoo Corporation, which was suffering from severe deficits.

If we only look at the profitable affiliates such as Taewoo Semiconductor, automobiles, and electronics, it could have recorded higher operating profits.

Even so,

The operating profit was not enough to handle 140 trillion won in one year.

President Lisa couldn’t believe it when he said he would invest an amount equivalent to four years’ worth of operating profit every year for five years.

“We have already secured funds worth 700 trillion won. We can complete the semiconductor city without any contributions from affiliates.”

“Hmm, I don’t know if I should like it or not. A bigger factory would mean we could produce more products, but if there’s a recession in the semiconductor market, we could end up with unmanageable losses.”

Vice President Wei was the first to speak.

The fabless market was handled by President Lisa, and the foundry market was handled by Vice President Wei.

And Taewoo Semiconductor’s foundry plant was more than twice as large as its fabless plant.

“Even in the case of semiconductor cities, we planned with the foundry market in mind. In order to monopolize the foundry market, which is growing explosively every year, we need several times more factories than we have now.”

“My shoulders are getting heavier. I have finally finished receiving orders for the new semiconductor complex. Once the semiconductor city is completed, I will really have to run around and get orders until my feet sweat. Hehe.”

Vice President Wei’s smile was filled with excitement.

He seemed delighted at the thought that he could grow Taewoo Semiconductor several times larger than it is now.

“We will start construction as soon as possible. We plan to operate some factories within two years and complete the semiconductor city within five years. Is that possible?”

“It’s a very feasible plan, if only we could get started.”

Taewoo Construction CEO Ahn Deok-hwan answered.

Taewoo Construction was in charge of the construction of the Taewoo Semiconductor Complex, and in the future, Taewoo Construction will also be in charge of the Taewoo Semiconductor City.

“Will there be no problem in securing manpower?”

“You can just hire the same people you used for the Taewoo Semiconductor Complex construction. If they express a desire to hire you for a long term for at least 5 years, you can hire people from all over the country.”

“Even if you promise more benefits than other industries, make sure you hire workers as quickly as possible. And isn’t it possible to have a 10-year contract instead of a 5-year contract?”

Completing the semiconductor plant did not mean that construction was over.

Semiconductor technology changes dramatically every year, so factories that were five years old or so ago had to be rebuilt to be able to use new technologies.

“If we add the existing semiconductor complex, the construction will actually take a lifetime, not just 10 years. Once the semiconductor city is completed, we may have to remodel or tear down the existing factories and build new ones.”

“So you’re saying that it’s something that requires lifelong maintenance? In other words, it could become a job for life.”

“Yes. We will place large-scale recruitment advertisements nationwide.”

The semiconductor city will act like a black hole.

A black hole that sucks in people from construction sites across the country.

It was the moment when a black hole was created that caused everyone from low-wage shipyard welders to day laborers to flock to Gyeonggi Province.