The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 274



Only Noblemtl

274. I’m still hungry (4)

I was slowly getting used to the fancy interior of the chairman’s office.

I got a call from David.

[boss! The agreement to acquire DHL’s U.S. freight forwarding business has been concluded.]

“It took a little longer than I thought.”

[I said it wasn’t urgent, so I took my time on purpose. After some effort, they lowered the price on their own. We acquired it at a price that was 30% lower than what we expected.]

David was a person who made sure to get things done even though he was busy.

In the past, he only had excellent lobbying skills, but as time went by, he developed negotiation skills as well.

“I had a hard time. Because I have David, I can work with peace of mind in Korea.”

[But it looks like you will have to come over to the United States sometime soon. The presidential primary has ended. As the boss expected, Obama was confirmed as the presidential candidate.]

The US presidential election is just a few months away.

I was not particularly impressed because I knew the result clearly, but the media and citizens were surprised and said it was a miracle.

“The primary has just ended, so why should I go to the United States? The presidential election hasn’t even ended.”

[Candidate Obama wants to meet and talk with the boss.]

“If that’s the case, I guess I’ll have to go to America soon. I already have a few things to take care of, but I can’t make a schedule quickly. It’s not easy for me to be away since I just became the chairman.”

How can you refuse if the next President of the United States wants to see you?

Since he has not yet been elected president, he must score points now to be comfortable for the next eight years.

[I think you only need to come within next month.]

“Then, let’s schedule a business trip. But what is the situation on Wall Street these days? With a team leader coming to Korea, it’s hard to get news from Wall Street.”

[Aren’t you now President Han instead of Team Leader Han? The situation on Wall Street is very chaotic. Several companies go bankrupt every week, and it seems like people are rushing to tear them down. In particular, Quantum Fund is baring its teeth very fiercely.]

It was an expected situation.

It was Quantum Fund, which followed me and signed up for subprime mortgage insurance.

Unlike other Wall Street financial companies, they did not invest in subprime mortgages, so they suffered minimal damage and were able to use their money freely.

“Let them fight each other so they can turn their attention away from us.”

[I’m just watching and telling you to fight hard.]

“Then, I will contact you when a schedule for the U.S. is set.”

After the phone call with David.

It’s been a while since I visited Taewo IT.

Unlike when I was vice president, the employees were lined up waiting for me as I became president.

“This kind of protocol is not good. It doesn’t help with work efficiency, so please don’t do this again.”

“We will make sure something like this does not happen in the future.”

The excessive loyalty of the secretariat staff led to this.

The Chief of Staff left for Vietnam, and the position of Chief of Staff became vacant.

Therefore, there was an excessive loyalty competition between them to take the position of Chief of Staff.

“Please refrain from following protocol as much as possible. And don’t let me know in advance that I’m visiting an affiliate. It’s just a hassle.”

“I’m sorry. The Chairman’s movements will be kept strictly confidential.”

After giving a firm warning to the secretarial staff, I headed to the conference room.

Not long after, Team Leader Cheon Min-jeong peeked out into the conference room and came inside.

“Congratulations! Chairman!”

“Speak as comfortably as before. Just because you study artificial intelligence, you don’t have to talk and act like an artificial intelligence.”

“Maybe it’s because you took office as chairman, but I feel a little distant.”

“There is no difference between being a vice president or a president. You have to talk comfortably so the project can proceed smoothly, so don’t make it too difficult.”

Cheon Min-jeong slightly stuck out her tongue and sat down.

When she first started working at the company, she couldn’t find anything polite, but perhaps because she was promoted to team leader, she was now making an effort to be polite.

“Then I’ll treat you as comfortably as before. We couldn’t hold an idea meeting while the chairman was in the US, so a lot of ideas were piled up.”

“Please organize your ideas and send them to me. Then, the next time we meet, we will discuss those ideas. Today, I came here because I have something to say about the autonomous driving project.”

It was Cheon Min-jeong, taking out a notebook.

It was clear that if I brought up the idea written in my notebook today, I wouldn’t be able to get off work for a few days.

Therefore, we postponed the idea meeting until later and quickly announced that today’s goal was autonomous driving.

“The autonomous driving project is progressing well. We have improved many of the technologies being applied to automakers and completed new functions. Of course, it is still not enough to reach fully autonomous driving.”

“Although fully autonomous driving is difficult, isn’t highway driving with few variables possible?”

“The variables vary greatly depending on which highway it is. If it is a highway with a lot of vehicle movement, there may be more variables than a national highway.”

“What about American highways? We recently acquired DHL’s U.S. freight forwarding division.”

The United States possessed a territory nearly 100 times the size of Korea.

This also meant that trucks had to transport cargo across a territory 100 times larger.

The people who drove for 4 days and 3 nights on highways with no cars on the road were American truckers.

“If it were an American highway, there would certainly be fewer variables. However, due to the lack of data, it is difficult to apply autonomous driving yet.”

“We can start collecting data now. First, let’s apply only the collision prevention system for truckers and apply it one step at a time.”

“The collision prevention system can be applied right away. And as data accumulates, we will try to apply the autonomous driving system little by little.”

It was like acquiring DHL’s cargo transportation division to develop autonomous driving.

This decision was made because it was clear that the U.S. market would be several times larger than Korea’s, especially in the case of autonomous driving.

“We will soon be able to secure road driving data through collaboration with American taxi companies.”

“Are you seriously considering the American market?”

“After Korea, the U.S. market should definitely be the next market.”

“To do that, we first need to succeed in the Korean market, but there are still too many restrictions. In particular, in the case of the remote control system, it is almost complete, but we cannot utilize it due to regulations.”

Cheon Min-jeong wrinkled her nose as if she was angry.

She was angry because she could not use technology that had been developed with difficulty.

“How safe are remote control systems?”

“You can think of it as being safer with the driver driving the car himself. When you sit in the driver’s seat, the viewing angle inevitably narrows, but the remote control system has no blind spots. And since it is still controlled remotely by a person, not artificial intelligence, there is no problem. .”

The reason for regulating remote control was ultimately safety.

However, given that remote control is safer than human driving, there was no problem.

“We will work to deregulate autonomous driving technology, including remote control, soon.”

“Really? Is that even possible?”

“Does it seem impossible?”

“Politicians are naturally sensitive to votes. If the self-driving system is applied, votes from people in the taxi, bus, and transportation industries will be lost, so they have no choice but to act passively, right?”

Cheon Min-jeong was a person who enjoyed social studies and was now interested in politics.

Moreover, he had an accurate understanding of the current situation in Korea.

These were politicians who would never take deregulation measures considering the votes of transportation industry workers.

“So we need to relax regulations now. People are not very interested in autonomous driving yet. Over time, we will see how society will change due to autonomous driving, so we need to fix regulations now.”

“I’ll just trust you, Chairman!”

Cheon Min-jeong showing a bright smile.

He was just happy to be able to show the world the technology he created.

“Let’s schedule an idea meeting soon.”

“You will need to come well prepared. I have a lot of ideas that I have been thinking about.”

It will be at least 3 days and 2 nights.

If he could keep Cheon Min-jeong in the Taewoo Group in return for a few days of hardship, it was definitely not a loss-making business.

* * *

A few days later.

The planning director hurriedly rushed into the chairman’s office.

Perhaps because I worked with him for a long time, I was able to understand the seriousness of the work just by looking at the speed of his steps.

“What happened?”

“The Blue House has made an official invitation. Although it is said to be a meeting with the top 10 companies, this is only in name and is for a meeting with the chairman. The chairman of other companies has a schedule at 11 o’clock, and only the chairman arrived two hours early. “The schedule begins.”

No matter how much Taewoo Group is ranked No. 1 in the business world.

It was not to the extent that he could refuse the official invitation from the Blue House.

Rather, since I was waiting for this schedule, I didn’t feel burdened at all.

“Well, now that I’m the chairman, I guess I should visit the Blue House at least once.”

“The Blue House may be working to tame them. It is highly likely that they are holding a grudge because only the Taewo Group did not provide any support during the presidential primary process.”

“It might be possible in normal times, but it will be difficult with the global economic crisis just around the corner. When was the Blue House schedule set?”

“It’s this Wednesday right now. I’m suspicious of the sudden schedule. Usually, schedules like this are announced at least a month in advance. There’s never been a case like this where the schedule was announced just two days in advance.”

The planning director’s face was full of discomfort.

Could it be that the Blue House is calling me for the purpose of taming me?

Or maybe they are doing this to put pressure on Taewo Group?

The planning director was full of these thoughts, but I actually thought the opposite.

“It looks like something urgent has happened at the Blue House to suddenly call me. I already have a guess.”

“What is it about?”

“They must have called me because of the Lehman Brothers acquisition that Korea Development Bank is in progress. Acquisition negotiations are probably in full swing, and it is clear that they are calling me because they want to get advice before putting the final stamp on it.”

The planning director’s face became much more relaxed.

I was relieved that it was not because there was any other purpose, but because it was related to the Korea Development Bank.

“But when I’m meeting with a VIP at the Blue House, is it okay for me to go empty-handed? I think I’ll need at least a gift that will make the VIP look good.”

“We can’t go empty-handed. We have to bring in at least some kind of factory attraction or charity project.”

Even though it was a gift, it was not possible to take money or anything in kind.

In fact, it would cost less money that way, but it couldn’t be done because there were a lot of eyes watching.

It was customary to create at least one project that could help increase the president’s approval rating.

“I don’t think the Blue House will be satisfied with a tolerable gift. Let’s plan a large-scale social welfare project at the planning office level.”

“There is no need for that. I have already prepared a gift that is much larger than social welfare projects.”

The Taewo Group was firmly entrenched in the current regime.

But the moment I started working on the business I had prepared, the ugly hairs were immediately pulled out.

Because it was a project that could significantly add to the president’s achievements.