This Is How I Became a Chaebol

142 : I will definitely send you

“Okay, I’ll hang up!”

Following the emcee’s comment, the distinguished guests cut the tape with scissors, and the President strode forward and entered the hot rolling mill.

The slab, which had been heated in advance, flowed along the rail, and whenever the cooling water was sprayed over the rollers, a crackling sound and tremendous steam spewed out.

“Um, nice. If you make steel plates like this, you make boats and cars, right? right? owner.”

“Yes that’s right. Iron is the rice of industry.”

The president asked a question right away, and I answered right away.

Among national infrastructure industries, the petrochemical industry comes first, followed by steel mills.

All other industries are built on that foundation.

“Look over there. The Pohang Steelworks’ No. 1 hot-rolled coil has been produced!”

“hurray! hurray! hurray!”

The first hot-rolled coils were produced in time for the president’s visit. It’s not red-hot, but it’s still hot enough to burn you if you touch it carelessly.

Regardless of the warm energy, all attendees surrounded the No. 1 hot-rolled coil.

“Your Excellency, please call me.”

“I will.”

Someone handed the president a bucket of paint and a brush.Read at readwn

Just like the 1960s, it was time to write calligraphy again.

「Crystal of blood and sweat」

“Waaa!”

I wanted to write a calligraphy, but it was the perfect writing for this spot.

“I’ve heard well that everyone slept only three or four hours a day and worked hard to death. I know that it is the blood and sweat of the gamers who melted into this iron, and the people of Korea know it too. Good work.”

The president gave a real congratulatory speech here.

“hurray! Mr. President, long live!”

“hurray!”

“Sir, if we import flat steel from Japan, make coils like this, and export them back to Japan, we have 10 dollars left over per ton. Wouldn’t the stick be Kim Seon-dal’s trade?”

“ha ha ha! What the minister said is correct.”

“Heh heh, is that so?”

They blocked the eyes and ears of the president while playing drums and janggu among themselves.

It was an absurd calculation.

Buying semi-finished products, operating this expensive facility, and selling it back to Japan for only $10 per ton?

Only Japanese companies are excited if they process it at such a low price.

That’s because they developed a hogu outsourcing company.

At first glance, semi-finished products processing seems like a surplus business, but there is a fatal weakness in that technology cannot be accumulated.

If they continue to earn this kind of money, their own technology development will become distant, and they will not be able to escape from middle-income countries.Read at readwn

Just like Southeast Asia or South America.

It’s not even a surplus business.

“great. Everyone did a good job, so I’m going to have a drink of makgeolli today and catch my breath. Let’s all go.”

“Your Excellency, please take the lead.”

“Waaa!”

After a round of rice planting, the president drove the crowd around to the dinner party as if going to eat.

The meeting place wasn’t particularly great either.

In the temporary building used as the office of the Promotion Committee, a table was set, newspapers were spread, and snacks and makgeolli were set.

I saw this scene in a photo of the Pohang Iron and Steel History Museum, and I thought it was a staged photo…

In this era, even the president had dinner at this place.

that is great. It was also a good place to build a negotiation board.

“Today, the seat to the right of His Excellency should be chairperson Seok Ki-hun.”

Bae Hak-ryeol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Finance, set the mood by pretending to be patronizing, and Deputy Minister Seok Ki-hoon hesitantly went to the seat next to the president and sat down.

“Limja, I know you’ve worked hard. Smoke a cigarette.”

The president put a lighter on a cigarette pack and recommended it to Assistant Minister Seok Ki-hoon.

Smoking a cigarette in front of the President must have been a great privilege at the time.

“Thank you, I will bloom.”

As far as I know, Deputy Minister Seok Ki-hoon is a non-smoker, but after taking a deep breath, he quietly turned it off.

It seems that smoking a cigarette in front of the president was enough.

“Everybody fill up their glasses.”

“His Excellency, I would like to propose a toast.”

The atmosphere quickly heated up.

“For the day when molten iron pours!”

“for!”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Most of the attendees emptied the rice wine with the president.

But it wasn’t all like that.

Rep. Kim Joong-pil, Blue House advisory professors… All of them frowned like Japanese technicians and pretended to just drink makgeolli and put it down.

How can a trivial thing get marked like this?

“Everyone had a drink, so if there is something difficult on set, talk to me. Since we gathered, we have to solve it here.”

As the president of a Korean corporation, the president began hosting meetings under the guise of a meeting.

***

“As the chairman of the promotion committee, I would like to say something.”

“Yes, tell me. What problems do you have in the field? What can the government do to help?”

Deputy Minister Seok Ki-hoon tightened his stomach and started talking, and the president replied coolly as if he would listen to anything.

“There is a steelworks layout plan initially planned by our promotion committee, but design changes have been taking place indiscriminately since Japan took over the implementation design.”

“What is an implementation design? And what the hell is going to change? Didn’t the Pittsburgh steel industry also admire the design of the perfect integrated steelworks?”

Ugh, the president didn’t know.

It’s the most important national project of all time, and he couldn’t have ordered design changes.

“Mr. President, the implementation design is a drawing that is used in the field. The original design is slightly modified to suit the site situation, but Chairman Seok Ki-hoon said, it means that Pohang Iron and Steel is being ruined by using that authority.”

“What? Ruining Pohang Iron and Steel?

“If it’s a rushed construction, we can just knock it down and rebuild it, but we are changing the layout of the factory. In a way that is extremely inefficient in production.”

“What are you talking about? How much is the blood tax here! This is a business that depends on the fate of the country.”

At my words, the president’s voice rose.

A good start.

Once the attention was drawn.

“Woo boss. You have to know how to speak properly. Isn’t His Excellency misunderstanding!”

Bae Hak-ryeol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, stepped forward and frowned.

“What do you mean I don’t know? The factories have to be placed in a row and all the way from the molten iron to the steel plate must flow all at once, but since we are changing it into a horseshoe shape, the molten iron and the steel plate are plates that need to be moved here and there.”

Later, in the 21st century, automation or computerization will occur, but that is a structure that becomes difficult.

“What is it? The U-shaped structure was chosen as the best choice by Japanese experts and advisory professors at the Blue House.”

“The I-shaped structure is the best. It was the best arrangement the Pittsburgh engineers and commissioners had chosen.”

“When you work, you always have to revise the design, and in the meantime, you are looking for the best. If you have table discussions with the blueprints you made in front of your desk…”

“What tabletop theory is this? It was a layout plan that thoroughly analyzed the Pohang Iron and Steel plant site and logistics.”

“I guess you don’t know because you’ve been away lately…”

“Look at the deputy prime minister. owner! Are you saying that Pohang Iron and Steel is being made strangely?”

The president interrupted the deputy prime minister and asked me.

“That’s right.”

“President Wu is misinformed.”

“Deputy Prime Minister, I told you to be quiet! Go ahead.”

The president made the deputy prime minister shut up in an impatient voice.

It was a good day, so I came to congratulate those who worked hard, but I was angry when an argument broke out over the most basic factory layout plan.

“President, I will tell you one by one. First of all, imported slabs as materials for hot rolling mills are ridiculously expensive.”

“Are slabs expensive?”

“Your Excellency, it is not so. If we process it and sell it back to Japan, it will be an excess of 10 dollars per ton. Excuse me, we need to import as much as possible. Without even knowing it, President Woo! Let’s go ahead and do it.”

“How do you calculate? You import slabs at $90/ton, process them into hot-rolled steel sheets, and sell them back to Japan for $100/ton? Doesn’t Loss count? A few kilos per ton are lost just by removing the oxide film. It’s a business that doesn’t even pay for labor.”

“That… that is.”

“And sell it back to Japan? Then Japan would sell them for $110 or $115, so why do others do good things? We should export it to the US.”

“No, do you think someone will buy steel plates from an underdeveloped country? You have to put a Japanese trademark on it to sell it. If you don’t know what…”

Ugh, I’m drowning in a sense of defeat to the bone.

Fucking human, are you planning to lead the economy with that kind of mindset?

“Who says he doesn’t know who? Did I bring the United States of Pittsburgh together for nothing? You’ll get steel certification there. Not from Japan, but from the importer!”

“Do you know that exports work as they say?”

“Shut up! Who has exported more than President Woo here? I ask! President Woo, is this really a job that doesn’t even pay for labor?”

The president asked me while chain-smoking. Setting up a cabinet with the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy also meant, in a way, that he rebelled against the government policy.

If this happens, I will have to kill the EPB to survive.

“Yes that’s right. The annual output of the hot rolling mill here is about 600,000 tons. If you leave 10 dollars per ton, it is about 6 million dollars per year, or about 1.6 billion in Korean currency. Can that amount be worth the hard work of this many people in 3 shifts? A guy who signed a contract like that should be drunk right away.”

I blushed a lot and pretended to break the chopsticks.

Empty!

“Who signed this contract? Which one are you?”

At the words of 1.6 billion, the president slammed the alcohol table and shouted.

“Your Excellency, it is only a temporary contract. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries made a contract in exchange for the loan. It has also been approved by the National Assembly.”

This time, Rep. Kim Joong-pil added a comment.

ok, that’s it!

“Pohang Iron & Steel was built to patriotize the country through steel. It’s not for subcontracting from Mitsubishi. Moreover, the funds for claims between Korea and Japan are our blood, and it is absurd to pay anything for them!”

“President Woo, diplomacy between countries is not like that. Like business, can I profit every time? In actual diplomacy, you have to give what you give and take what you get.”

Rep. Kim Joong-pil deliberately cleared his throat and treated me like a child.

“What kind of sounds are there!”

“Go… Your Excellency!”

Rep. Kim Joong-pil flinched at the president’s shouting.

“Give what you give, take what you get? You mean you set it up on your own? I know how hard it is to put the first button on the wrong side of the Korea-Japan agreement and put it back in place! I bet the Pohang Iron and Steel Company handled things like that!”

As for the Korea-Japan agreement, Kim Joong-pil replaced the diplomatic document with a piece of memo, and things went terribly wrong.

This is because memos can be interpreted completely differently from the perspectives of each Korean and Japanese due to their characteristics.

“Your Excellency, that is not what I mean, and it means that we will never lose money.”

“President, this is a losing business. Give me an international bid and I can bring you a slab for $70 a ton.”

If you go through Australia, you can bring it as much as you want for that price.

If you bring some of it to the slab instead of limonite, the efficiency will drop slightly, but it can bring you up to $60, so it’s not a loss.

If you help eliminate connections between Korea and Japan, you can bring a million tons.

“$70 a ton? So how much do you have left? If you export directly at $110 a ton, will you have $40 left over? Then how much is it per year?”

“Current annual production is about 600,000 tons, so we can save 24 million dollars.”

Deputy Minister Seok Ki-hoon quickly replied.

To be honest, it would be less than that if you take out the labor cost and other expenses, but what about it? It is only a relative comparison.

“The $6 million a year business was actually $24 million a year. Isn’t it a business that loses money! How the hell did you eat at Mitsubishi? I don’t know anything else, but I don’t know that I shouldn’t touch Pohang Iron and Steel Co.!”

The president was furious as if he would overturn a drinking table.

When the atmosphere became threatening, the courtiers quickly sent out only the working staff and closed the door.

“Your Excellency, the EPB and other government agencies are doing their best to support the Pohang Iron and Steel Company. A bribe, never.”

“Can you take responsibility for that? Then why are you digging up the factory site you bought with difficulty and turning it into the sea? Aren’t you determined to eat Pohang Ironworks?”

“What are you saying…”

“What? Make land into sea? What else do you mean? Who would do something like that when it wouldn’t be cool to reclaim it!”

The president lit a fire in his eyes.

Didn’t he go up the hill to see the factory site during the groundbreaking ceremony?

He had remembered the plan to expand in a straight line along the coast.

“The representative of the design service said that. They say that land must be dug to fill the factory site. There are several dredgers, large mountains, and several dredgers, so all you have to do is dig up the sea sand and fill it up.”

“A service representative? Bring that lunatic right now!”

“I am a Japanese engineer named Jozaburo Ueno. The Blue House advisory professor also agreed with his opinion, so let’s talk about it. professors.”

My words froze the professors.

His pale face looked like he had already admitted defeat.

“Why is no one talking? Why did you make a U-shape for the factory by digging the ground? As we narrowed down to the factory land!”

“That… That’s what makes logistics easier and shortens the construction period…”

“Little bastard, which university professor are you? Deliberately narrow the land to make logistics easier? Call it a horse!”

“I am a professor of shipbuilding engineering at A University.”

Deputy Minister Seok immediately responded to the President’s shouts.

It seems to have bothered the propulsion committee quite a bit.

“Take that guy and investigate right away! Whatever you received and ate, make them vomit it all up!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“Ugh, forgive me… please forgive me. dismissal!”

At the insistence of President Susseul Peren, a court agent dragged out an advisory professor.

Foolish bastards.

You should look at the board and eat bribes.

Do you touch Pohang Iron and Steel?

This is something that can never be digested.

What the president thinks of as a national infrastructure industry.

“Go… Your Excellency. You misunderstood something. This isn’t such a big deal. At the working level, it is just a slight change in the layout of the factory.”

Congressman Kim Joong-pil, who had been stunned for a while, seemed to want things to get bigger.

“It is by no means an easy matter. Productivity…”

“Woo boss! Ahead, Your Excellency. If you keep saying things that misunderstand me, you will have to take responsibility for this.”

Kim Joong-pil finally cut me off and threatened me.

It seems like they won’t let you go if you dig this place.

Do you think such threats will work on me?

You’re out on this one.

definitely don’t let it go