The 3th Generation of the Chaebol Wants to Live Quietly - Chapter 1087



Only Noblemtl

“Please explain this again. I am not the only one who has questions.”

In fact, the KM Electronics planning team that came to the weekend meeting were all holding their heads.

Up until now, it’s been burdensome just to keep up with what Director Choi Min-hyeok has been doing.

But it’s a car company.

It wasn’t a small company either.

GM, HY cars are out.

Team leader Jo Seong-don completely unpacked his belongings.

“There’s no need to overthink it so much. We’re not interested in GM’s car acquisition. The Ministry of Finance and Economy will take care of that… .”

The person who entered the conference room at that time was Choi Seung-jin, one of the new employees.

“… I got a call.”

Team Leader Jo Seong-don also initially tried to leave the conference room, but when he received the sharp gaze of Manager Bae Jong-dae, he just answered the phone right there.

[… This is Team Leader Jo Seong-don.]

[Director Choi Min-hyeok isn’t answering the phone. Is something wrong?]

[… Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae?]

[Oh, I’m sorry. I made a mistake because I was so absent-minded. Yes, I’m Lee Hwan-chae, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance. GM suddenly made several proposals, and they all had to do with Director Choi Min-hyeok. I’m really flustered.]

[If it’s GM… …. Is it related to HY automobiles?]

[It’s not just HY cars. The acquisition targets include other car companies, including Oseong Motors. But as you know, our situation is a bit difficult. I’m not necessarily in favor of selling car stocks, but this will help. Furthermore, there are so many car companies in Korea that we can avoid negative comments that we’re eating our own flesh.]

[… I guess so.]

[Furthermore, he said that if this matter is resolved well, a reasonable share purchase is possible. He said that he will not strike back.]

[Well, isn’t that something we don’t know? There’s no way GM would do something like that. The evidence is what they did with Daewoon Motors.]

[That’s right. But this time, it seems a little more serious. We’re currently conducting due diligence on several auto parts companies.]

[… I assume this is assuming that the government accepts GM’s demands and eases regulations.]

[That’s obvious. But what’s more important is Director Choi Min-hyeok’s attitude. He said that he will proceed with this project only if negotiations with GM go well.]

In fact, the strategic alliance that GM is talking about now was something that had already been decided internally at GM.

They put pressure on Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae by putting the name of ‘Director Choi Min-hyeok’ in it.

From Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae’s perspective, if he could just wrap up this matter well, he could move up.

For example, the position of Minister of Strategy and Finance is not a dream for him.

[… I will report this to Director Choi Min-hyeok immediately.]

[Please take care of it. Oh, GM will contact me soon, so please pay attention to that. To be honest, I am a little worried. I am worried that Director Choi Min-hyeok will threaten and blackmail GM, saying that the automobile business is not his business. Please make sure that does not happen. Please.]

[…yes.]

Team Leader Jo Seong-don clicked his tongue after hearing the request from Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Lee Hwan-chae. He seemed to know what the other person thought of Director Choi Min-hyeok.

‘No, that would be absurd.’

Of course, the planning team that heard Team Leader Jo Seong-don’s phone call was also shocked.

Chief Bae Jong-dae couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“How on earth does it work?”

“Don’t worry too much. Car issues aren’t the responsibility of our planning team.”

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

Team leader Jo Seong-don stuck out his tongue.

“Did you know that we recently gave a vacation to our company’s top performers? Our planning team doesn’t have enough time, so we can’t do that, but let’s at least have a workshop. Would you believe me if I said that?”

“Oh, really?”

“Because Director Choi Min-hyeok said so. Don’t worry too much.”

Chief Bae Jong-dae looked slightly apologetic.

“But here, someone… … .”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the five.”

Not only Manager Bae Jong-dae, but also other planning teams were keeping an eye on Team Leader Jo Seong-don.

They also wanted to avoid the automobile business.

Actually, I wanted to know how it worked.

But I didn’t bother to ask about it.

Because I’ve already experienced this kind of thing so many times.

Chief Bae Jong-dae also ended up asking one question.

“You’re talking about selling the Collins division. Are you really going to do it this time?”

“That’s why there’s chaos now. It’s not easy to eat 6 billion dollars.”

“…but.”

Manager Bae Jong-dae was about to ask another question when Assistant Manager Jeong Seong-geun put pressure on his side with his elbow. He ended up shutting his mouth after saying, “What’s wrong?!”

* * *

Director Choi Min-hyeok was also astonished after hearing the newly appointed President Alan Parriton’s story of acquiring automobile shares in Korea under the pretext of active investment during a meeting with Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Lee Hwan-chae.

‘Originally, we were going to do a joint venture with Daewoon Motors… … .’

This was also an event where the future changed due to the butterfly effect that he had created.

Even GM’s investment schedule was brought forward by two years.

He suddenly wondered what would happen if the IMF crisis broke out when GM was starting to acquire shares in the automobile industry in earnest.

‘That would be fun too, though.’

But the timing won’t be exactly right.

GM will have inside information too.

Choi Min-hyeok paid more attention to the fact that GM had touched the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

“You’re saying that Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Lee Hwan-chae called you personally?”

“Yes, Director Choi isn’t answering the phone… … .”

“That can’t be true. I never heard anything like that from my secretary.”

“That’s strange.”

Team leader Jo Seong-don met the secretary in person, checked the phone records, and tilted his head.

“There really isn’t any.”

Director Choi Min-hyeok ended up smiling bitterly.

“I guess I’m a burden.”

“Yes? Are you talking about the Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance?”

“Well, I don’t know. This investment proposal. If I set it up arbitrarily, I could use that as an excuse to fold it all. In the end, Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae would have to take full responsibility for it, and if that happens, his promotion would be out of the question.”

“ah.”

Team Leader Jo Seong-don clicked his tongue. He too has a sense of humor now. This autonomous driving technology. Only Director Choi Min-hyeok knew where it would lead.

Director Choi Min-hyeok had a face full of sorrow.

“To be honest, the autonomous driving technology that has been released so far is just a formality. It doesn’t have much meaning. It means that we will have to frequently check it in the future. It’s not easy to coordinate that issue.”

“…Are you talking about the investment capital?”

“Yes. The initial investment we are making now is bound to be a loss. The initial investors will have to take responsibility for that, and I don’t want to do that.”

“Are you saying that you will place all the responsibility on the other party?”

“Instead, I’ll supply the technology. Isn’t that enough?”

“… … .”

Team leader Jo Seong-don didn’t have the heart to answer. In reality, porting autonomous driving technology to a car is not an easy task.

Astronomical amounts of money are one thing, but it also takes a lot of time.

The important thing is that Director Choi Min-hyeok had no intention of investing time in this anime’s autonomous driving technology.

“You know? The key to this is the sale of the Collins division.”

“…yes.”

Team Leader Jo Seong-don grabbed his forehead. He realized belatedly why Director Choi Min-hyeok had sent the planning team on vacation under the pretext of a workshop.

‘If you cover it up like that, there’ll be a lot of talk.’

* * *

Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae was glad that he spoke with Team Leader Jo Seong-don rather than the burdensome Director Choi Min-hyeok.

No, to be exact, I intentionally called Team Leader Jo Seong-don first.

He honestly couldn’t quite understand the situation even after calling.

Aide Seong Hwan-soo had a slightly different opinion.

“It seems like the interest rates have pushed the schedule forward a bit.”

“What are you talking about? All that’s left on GM Korea’s side is a few managers.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about the time of withdrawal. It’s because of the consideration of acquiring the car. Didn’t Ford sound out the possibility of acquiring KA a while ago?”

“It’s just a test.”

“That’s not the case. Ford Motor Company is also interested in acquiring a Korean car company. If that’s the case, then GM is no different.”

“But there hasn’t been any talk like that recently, right?”

“That’s probably true. But this time, Director Choi Min-hyeok is involved. And there’s talk of autonomous driving as a related technology.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“I have an acquaintance on the Oseong side, so I got the information from there.”

“Is the story about the five stars there?”

“That’s a different story. What’s important is that Director Choi Min-hyeok has created new autonomous driving technology and a prototype based on it.”

“Are you talking about a car that can move on its own? Is that realistically possible? Even in Germany, it’s only being tested on certain roads. You’re not talking about something that’s possible on Korean roads, are you?”

“That’s not certain. But it’s a technology that GM would be interested in.”

“Wait a minute, so this incident was also caused by Director Choi Min-hyeok?!”

“… Yes. But I guess we can’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, right? We got a favor from GM thanks to Director Choi Min-hyeok.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae also realized one thing belatedly: GM’s response was completely different from when it withdrew from Korea.

It was something I could never have imagined.

Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae did not like the fact that it was because of ‘Director Choi Min-hyeok.’

“Ah, I don’t know. Let’s just watch for now. Don’t complicate matters by interfering unnecessarily. If Director Choi Min-hyeok did something, there must be something else involved.”

“…All right.”

Deputy Director Seong Hwan-soo also heard more, but was unable to speak.

What Director Choi Min-hyeok did was so interwoven like a spider’s web that it was unclear where it began and where it ended.

‘Did they deliberately create this situation?’

The reason he thought so was simple.

Even the Ministry of Strategy and Finance now turns away when Director Choi Min-hyeok’s name is mentioned.

The prosecution and the National Tax Service were beyond words.

* * *

President Alan Parriton thought it was a stroke of genius to meet with Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Lee Hwan-chae first. Although the Korean government is also watching Director Choi Min-hyeok’s mood, it was better than not doing anything at all.

Vice Minister Lee Hwan-chae has also put down the chronic, old-fashioned behavior of Korean bureaucrats, unlike before.

‘Well, the Korean economy these days isn’t what it used to be.’

After he thought he had made a preliminary stop, he received information related to this matter. Information about Dr. Lee Ji-soo and Director Choi Min-hyeok.

As soon as President Alan Parriton decided that he had obtained some information, he made an appointment with Director Choi Min-hyeok.

Even in the car, he continued to review and re-review the information he had learned.

I didn’t overlook even the smallest bit of information that could have been missed.

He got up from his seat as soon as the vehicle stopped.

It was right in front of KM Electronics headquarters.

He glanced at the company name hanging next to the modern building KM Electronics headquarters and smiled bitterly.

“It’s ridiculous why I have to look for KM Electronics in the first place.”

“Electronics companies are not completely unrelated to automobile companies.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Ahem, I don’t know much about the headquarters’ situation either.”

“I guess so. It’s really absurd. The president I was working for was suddenly summoned to the United States.”

“Honestly… it’s kind of like that.”

“Don’t think so hard about it. It’s not that strange if you think about it.”

“…All right.”

Director Kim Tae-seong quietly told the data he had researched.

“KM Electronics is not an electronics company, but rather it is making astronomical profits from patent income. It is difficult to see it that way, as it is expanding its scope beyond just electronics patents these days.”

“Among them, there is also autonomous driving technology?”

“… Actually, that’s a bit strange. I wouldn’t have known about it if President Allen hadn’t told me to. No, even if there was such a patent, I wouldn’t have told anyone.”