The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 299



Only Noblemtl

299. Rocket (3)

Electric vehicles were still an unfamiliar field.

Most consumers tend to look for products they are familiar with, and products whose specifications have changed too much from existing products are often ignored.

However, there were consumers who did not do that.

They were Apple’s loyal customers who liked unfamiliarity and innovation.

Of course, there is a prerequisite that it is limited to products with the Apple logo, but there was no problem because the electric vehicles coming out of Taewo-Kai Automobiles will have the Apple logo.

“We are currently producing prototypes. Perhaps because Apple’s designers prefer simple designs, there are no major problems with production. We just need to add curves to a few parts, so we are in the process of changing the appropriate materials and molding methods. no see.”

“That means a prototype will be released soon.”

“A prototype can be released within three months at the latest. Mass production is possible only by the end of this year at the earliest.”

I smiled with satisfaction at the planning director’s report.

If mass production of the Apple-Taucar is possible by the end of this year, it would not be a task to move the political circles in the United States and Europe to create electric vehicle-related laws and policies.

“Has the charger production been completed?”

“In the case of a fast charger, Japan’s TDK and Taewoo Battery succeeded in developing it through collaboration. Each company has also established a system that can be mass-produced right now.”

Although the planning director said it was a Japanese battery company.

In reality, since SAVE Investment Company had acquired it in Japan, it had to be considered an American company.

And it was also a company that I had poured trillions of money into over the years.

“Then let’s start mass production right now. By early next year, we will install a large number of battery charging stations in major cities in the United States, Europe, and Korea.”

“The scale of the project is too large for Taewoo Group to proceed alone. The cost of installing a charging station is expected to be several times more than the cost of producing an electric vehicle.”

“Of course, it is difficult for the Taewoo Group to do it alone. In the case of the United States and Europe, we will get help from the political world. In the case of Korea, we also plan to get help from the government. Of course, if it does not work out, we will get investors to install charging stations first. ”

It is difficult for cars to travel in places where there are no gas stations.

The same was true for electric vehicles, and commercialization of electric vehicles was only possible if there were charging stations.

“Then we will start mass production at the Taewoo Battery Factory.”

“I will tell TDK separately, so you can just pay attention to Taewoo Battery. Is there anything else to report?”

“Taewoo IT’s sales are increasing significantly, and the same is true for Taewoo Electronics.”

“Your grandfather took good care of Taewoo Group while I was away.”

“In-house reserves have also recovered to a similar amount as last year.”

The company’s reserves were used for mining rights and various other projects.

However, Taewo Group had more than one cash cow, so money piled up again.

In particular, as the smartphone market grew, semiconductor sales were increasing significantly, and Taewo IT was also playing a significant role.

Because of this cash cow, it was able to acquire AIZ and GM.

“They say internal reserves are accumulating again, but they will disappear quickly if we stabilize GM and play chicken in the internet commerce market.”

“So, I’m a little worried. Except for Taewoo Group, the top 10 companies are accumulating huge amounts of internal reserves. In particular, Samjin Group has internal reserves close to 100 trillion won.”

“Suppose you are accumulating internal reserves, is there any more to doing than selling interest? If you are confident that you will earn dozens of times more than the interest, then of course you should invest.”

No one gave an award just because the company had 100 trillion won in reserves.

Even if you run an interest business, you can only make a profit of less than 10%.

However, if you invest properly, you can make more than 10 times the profit, so there was no need to accumulate in-house reserves.

Of course, if you fail to invest, you will regret it.

I did not invest in places that would fail, and I did not hesitate to use in-house reserves because I was confident that I could somehow succeed in a business that seemed likely to fail.

“We will proceed like that. And there is one more thing to report. Seoul Subway Line 9, which is being built by Taewoo Engineering & Construction, will be completed in June.”

“So that’s already happened.”

“But there are rumors coming out from many places. There are even saying that a hearing should be held on why the construction was carried out on a larger scale than the demand forecast made by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.”

“They seem to suspect that the scale of construction was intentionally increased to collect more construction costs.”

During the foreign exchange crisis, several national projects were carried out.

These were projects that were won in return for Taewoo Group investing entirely in construction costs.

The same was true for Subway Line 9, and all construction costs were secured through a consortium that included Taewo Group or SAVE Investment Company.

“In the case of public transportation, it seems like they are trying to target it because it is a good topic to raise as an issue in the political world.”

“We paid for it and built it ourselves, so what’s the problem? It’s not like we embezzled construction costs.”

“There are suspicions that the scale of construction was intentionally increased because construction costs are covered by fees.”

“There is only one year left until the local elections, so it seems like they are trying to raise awareness by using the issue as an issue.”

“There are rumors that the chairman may be asked to appear as a witness at the hearing.”

It could be said that fame is everything to politicians.

There was no better opportunity to increase his fame than the hearing, and it was clear that he would want to create a scene where he scolded the head of the company.

Moreover, the average company head just bows his head and says sorry.

Therefore, politicians wanted to somehow summon the heads of companies to the hearing.

“If attendance is requested, we will somehow take steps to ensure that executives other than the chairman can attend the hearing as witnesses.”

“Even if a witness is requested to attend, they cannot be forced to attend. They can refuse to attend through an overseas business trip or hospitalization.”

They were two managers who taught us expedient methods.

I didn’t want to go to that kind of situation, but I also didn’t plan on using any tricks to avoid it.

“When a request to attend comes from the National Assembly, just accept it. We haven’t committed any crime, so there’s no need to avoid it.”

“The hearing room is a place where people are humiliated even if they are not guilty. Rather than trying to determine right from wrong, they will try to humiliate the chairman in some way and capture the chairman’s humiliating appearance on camera.”

“That’s why we’re going. It has to be captured well on camera so it can be used as evidence.”

Hearings are also a place where politicians become stars.

It was also an opportunity to humiliate politicians.

It was a double-edged sword that could end the politician’s life if he failed to properly understand the situation and just tried to insult him.

“Is there anything else left to report?”

“It’s not important, but I have something to report about the film festival. At the film festival held at the end of the year, not a single film released on OTT was nominated. And the same was true at the film festival held early this year.”

“It’s going to be different now that the Oscars are just around the corner.”

The Academy Awards are only a few days away.

Director Bong’s work was proudly nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Award.

Simply being nominated will have little impact, but if it even wins the Best Foreign Language Film award, the situation will immediately turn around.

* * *

A few days later.

President Han and I met in Captain Kang’s office.

At work, I had to wear a tight tie and stiff shoes.

Here, no one would say anything even if you loosened your tie and wore slippers.

“Can Korea really win the Best Foreign Language Film Award? The prevailing view is that just being nominated for the finals is something close to a miracle.”

“Thanks to David’s hard work, he was nominated for the finals, so now we have to look forward to the quality of the work. If the work is good, it could win an award, right?”

“If that happens, it will be a monumental achievement as it will be Korea’s first time receiving an Academy Award. In Asia, Japan, China, and Taiwan have received awards, but Korea has not received one yet.”

In the film world, Korea was still a periphery.

Although Korean movies were popular among the Korean people, they were not at the stage where they were loved overseas.

“As far as I know, this is the first time I’ve been nominated for the finals. To be honest, this isn’t bad, but it would still be better if I received an award.”

“Looking at public opinion, there is already a lot of noise over Director Bong’s film being excluded from the Korean film festival. It is even being reported in the news that a film that was nominated for the Academy Awards was not even nominated in Korea.”

Should I say it is similar to the World Cup?

Although our country has never won the World Cup, we were enthusiastic about it.

And I would receive huge congratulations just for making it to the finals.

The same was true for the Academy Awards.

Even if you didn’t win a prize, there was a lot of interest and congratulations even if you made it to the finals.

The media was bound to cover why it was excluded from the film festival.

“It can be said that the first goal has been achieved, but I still hope to win a prize.”

“Huh? Isn’t that David? Wow, he’s very skinny.”

David briefly passed by the camera.

If someone who didn’t know him saw him, he would have overlooked it, but we were so familiar with David that we recognized him right away.

“With how much money I have invested in the film industry, I am qualified to participate in the awards ceremony.”

“Someone is out here drinking beer, and seeing David doing that makes me very upset.”

“If you feel confident enough to drink on David’s behalf 365 days a year, why don’t we switch roles?”

“I had a health checkup this time and they said my liver isn’t very good. I’ll just be satisfied with beer.”

Even while the jokes were being exchanged, the awards ceremony continued.

And then the moment we had been waiting for, the foreign language film awards ceremony, came.

The Austrian director, who was last year’s winner, came up on stage, checked the cue cards for a while, and then announced the winner.

[Bong Ho-jun!]

Maybe my ears are wrong, right?

I quickly looked at the owner, and he was frozen in the same position holding the beer.

“Chairman! Did I hear that correctly?”

“It would be correct unless we both have weird hearing.”

There was nothing wrong with our ears.

This was because director Bong Ho-jun was walking confidently above the awards ceremony.

“I had expectations, but I never expected to actually receive an award.”

“David has done a great job. There’s going to be a lot of fuss starting from today’s morning paper.”

“Public opinion against the Korean film festival will become even more heated.”

“Then it’s good for us. In the future, it will be difficult to reject movies released on OTT.”

Director Bong receiving an award at the Academy Awards was something that happened even before his return.

However, that period was advanced by 10 years, and the popularization of OTT services was also advanced that much.

I put down the beer I was drinking.

There was no time to drink while looking up everything from the morning paper to the morning news.