This Is How I Became a Chaebol

010 : back side of business card

“Welcome, Bando Hwarang.”

“I’m here to see some pictures.”

“Yes, feel free to look around.”

The way for ordinary people to enter the Bando Hotel comfortably is to say that they came to see the painting.

On the first floor of the hotel, there was the Bando Gallery.

The gallery where the famous artist Park Geun-soo sold his paintings.

In the 21st century, it was unfamiliar to see paintings that would cost hundreds of millions of won hanging casually.

It seems to be being sold to foreigners as a souvenir from an underdeveloped country, but even the selling price was only a few dollars, so the artist’s artistry was thoroughly ignored.

After all, cultural projects are in proportion to national power.

If you buy it, it will be money, but let’s focus on my work for now.

“Isn’t that a nice picture?”

“Yes that’s right. It is a painting that well expresses Korea’s indigenous sense of beauty and emotion.”

I talked to a foreigner who was appreciating the painting.

Drinking the coffee provided by the gallery and walking around as if taking a walk did not look very boring.

Well, there won’t be anywhere to go out to play.

Compared to the United States in the 1960s, which enjoyed a super boom, Korea at that time was in ruins, and even if you look around tourist attractions, it would be more inconvenient than the Bando Hotel.

Even in the 21st century, when Koreans travel abroad to Southeast Asia or near the Indian Ocean, they can see exotic scenery for a day or two, but end up lounging around at a resort with a swimming pool.

“Amazing. To think that foreigners can read the aesthetic sense of Koreans.”

“Haha, that’s amazing. It’s surprising that Koreans with this kind of sentiment are even full of ambition. Foreigners who have not experienced it will not be able to imagine it.”

huh? Are Koreans full of ambition?

How come, the talking form looks like Dr. David?

David was one of the closest members of the World Bank inspectorate.

As time passed, when everyone called Korea’s economic growth in the 1980s the Miracle on the Han River, David asserted that Korea’s growth was not a miracle.

Korea’s remarkable economic growth is the sum of the extraordinary brains and determined will of Koreans, so don’t dare use the word “miracle,” which is a combination of luck and coincidence, to denigrate it.

David’s words were clearly engraved in my head, as they were similar to my impressions of the people of each country that I had experienced many times at overseas plant construction sites.

‘Come to think of it, they look similar. From what I saw, he was a handsome grandfather.’

Dr. David, whom I saw in the TV documentary, was a grandfather with a chubby and warm impression like a beer keg, but the nobleman in front of me was a neat gentleman.

I didn’t know the young Dr. David, so I had to check it out.

“It is called Woo Chan-soo of the trending unemployment. Would you like a cup of coffee? I would like to hear your opinion.”

“Oh, were you a businessman?”

When I handed out my business card, he slightly distanced himself.

As if I was a common trader, I was wary.

“Senior businessmen say that you have to go to and from the Bando Hotel to see the economic trends, and today I think I know a little bit why.”

“Haha, you are a funny person. Anyway, nice to meet you. My name is David.”

‘Good luck!! I found David in one shot!’

David didn’t hand out his business card, only shook hands.

It didn’t matter.

I was just glad to find David.

“When I asked who it was, it was the World Bank Secretary. You are suffering. Please do your best so that a petrochemical complex can be established in Korea as soon as possible.”

“…how… are you from the Korean government?”

David widened his eyes and became more alert.

It was natural. Because he is a World Bank official who handles international loans.

This is because their main job is to review which country and which industry should lend international funds, and they are subjected to countless bribery attacks and lobbying.

“Please. At my age, I can’t even give a business card to the political world in Korea. I am a trader who handles chemical fibers, so I just happened to know about the government’s plan to build a petrochemical complex.”

“It won’t be confirmed yet.”

I was wary, but I guess I was curious about my words.

It must have been because I gave so much advanced information.

What I said was an unmistakable historical fact.

At this time, the Korean government has already decided to build a petrochemical complex, and when, where, what kind of factory, and at what money will it be built? started thinking about

There was no money to build the industrial complex, and the national policy was finalized before a feasibility study was conducted.

It can be said that it was a rule of thumb for government policy, but from my point of view, the government of this era seems to be smart and even powerful.

They knew that it would be impossible without the petrochemical complex to get out of the developing country.

He was well aware that economic policies that make the people live better are much more beneficial to maintaining the regime than political strife.

“It will be confirmed soon. The World Bank is also expected to respond soon. Isn’t it?”

Korea requested a loan from the United States at the same time as making policy decisions, and the US government tried to widen the distance by sending a World Bank inspection team to understand the situation.

David was the spearhead of such a World Bank inspection team. I want to use it as a guide dedicated to Korea.

“It’s confirmed, it can’t be.”

“Well? really don’t know? If you put a telex in the World Bank headquarters, you’ll be able to check it out at once. That’s strange. It’s not like the head office skipped over the Korean official…”

“!!!”

David wrinkled his brow.

Everyone, whether in the East or the West, feels extremely bad when they are excluded from their work.

‘Also! I was unaware of the information! This is the reason why this nobleman became a close friend!’

Moment, I’m a genius! I was about to shout.

I had trouble sleeping last night and was thinking over and over again.

‘Why did David take the side of Korea in the creation of the petrochemical complex? For what purpose did he arbitrarily send the report to the US government? What was in that report that made the US government suddenly give out the loan?’

about the question.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that there had been some tension between David and the World Bank headquarters.

Think about it.

Is it common to arbitrarily post a report to the US government when you are only a dispatched clerk?

There must have been a lot of noblemen higher than David at the World Bank headquarters.

In the end, I was prepared to take off my clothes and threw the report.

“Somehow, there is no reply to the report I sent from headquarters, and there is no work order…”

“What kind of report do you have?”

“I sent a report comparing where the industrial complex site is advantageous, but the reply was… Oops, what did I say…”

At that moment, David told me a secret.

It was natural.

You’ve been thinking about all the work by yourself.

When I asked, dissatisfaction burst out subconsciously.

“Why do you need a comparison? Of course, Ulsan.”

I continued talking as if I didn’t know it was confidential.

“… How can you be so sure? Are you saying you know what the comparison target is?”

“If I were David, I would have reviewed Incheon, Yeosu, Seosan, and Ulsan. Among them, of course, Ulsan.”

“Ugh! how about 4 places? Even the Korean government doesn’t know yet…”

I was surprised when I got it right.

Of course, in the 21st century, there are petrochemical complexes in all four places, only with a difference in scale.

Compared to the Ulsan industrial complex, it was not known in terms of recognition, so the general public did not know it well, but it was too obvious to me, a plant industry worker.

“How? Considering the availability of land, industrial water, port facilities, transportation and electricity, there are no suitable places other than those four.”

“Amazing. If so, how did you infer that Ulsan is the best place?”

“Incheon is too expensive for land, and Seosan and Yeosu have soft ground, so it is difficult to build a foundation. On the other hand, Ulsan’s soil quality is rocky, so the base construction cost is low, and it is easy to draw industrial water from the nearby Taehwa River.”

“How to make the soil…”

“All around Ulsan are low hills. I know that because it is my hometown. Furthermore, it would be nice to use the soil and rocks that come out when building the foundation to build Ulsan Port. Because the petrochemical complex absolutely needs a port to dock oil tankers.”

“Ugh!!!”

“Even if the basic utility construction cost alone, excluding the land price, would be around 5 billion in Incheon and 3.5 billion in Yeosu and Gunsan, but 1.7 billion in Ulsan would be enough.”

“……”

David was so shocked that he couldn’t speak.

I had no difficulty.

I just recited something that was controversial in the history of plant construction in Korea.

“David-nim, honestly, you’re looking at Ulsan too, right?”

“Wait, I’m sorry during the talk. I forgot I had a meeting.”

“You are busy. It was an honor to meet you.”

“To the glory… Anyway, thank you.”

David used the meeting as an excuse to leave, perhaps feeling burdened because he was wary of me.

I was also satisfied with this.

It’s because I gave you a business card.

David will have no choice but to find me.

He’s a World Bank official now, but he’s been bullied by the World Bank headquarters.

That would be the case, and the loan the World Bank was reviewing at this time was apparently an International Development Association (IDA) loan, but in reality it was a fund derived from the US government’s foreign aid policy.

In other words, the World Bank prioritized figuring out where the US government wanted to support, rather than objectively comparing aid recipient countries.

Until then, South Korea’s ranking of aid was behind India, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Even Pakistan was prioritized over South Korea because of its proximity to China.

Of course, this was before the United States entered the Vietnam War. I know. The fact that the world situation at this time changed everything with a shot of the Vietnam War.

‘David, don’t forget my business card. Then you could be a World Bank executive in no time!’

I desperately made a suggestion to the back of David’s head, who was moving away.

***

The office on the 3rd floor of the Bando Hotel.

As soon as David arrived at his office, he took out a thick file folder.

It was a site review for a petrochemical complex in Korea.

“The cost of basic utility work… here it is.”

David was able to find the relevant data after a long search through the table of contents.

「Incheon: 18.14 million dollars (about 4.9 billion won)

Yeosu: USD 14.07 million (approximately KRW 3.8 billion)

Gunsan: USD 12.22 million (approximately KRW 3.3 billion)

Ulsan: USD 6.29 million (approximately KRW 1.7 billion)

“Ugh!”

David nearly fainted in surprise.

There was little difference from the number Mr. Wu had mentioned. Even the construction cost of Ulsan was correctly guessed at 1.7 billion won.

“Oh, it’s a value calculated by a computer.”

The amount was not simply a number that could be deduced from bouncing the abacus.

It was data extracted using a computer of the US 8th Army, the only one in Korea, using a complex mathematical model.

Even referring to the report of the 8th U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that analyzed the geology of each region, Ulsan’s geology is mainly of thick sandstone layer and the surface is soft rock, which is advantageous for ground foundation construction compared to other regions. it was written that

That also matched Mr. Wu’s words perfectly.

I wondered how Korea, which does not even have a single excavator for soil analysis, would have known that.

“Amazing. where did you say Did you say mainstream unemployment? As a textile exporter…”

David glanced at it and pulled out the business card he had tucked away in his inside pocket.

There was an office address below the name, but to my dismay, there was no phone number.

I looked at the back of the business card to see if this was all.

「Vietnam War -＞ Inflation Risk Hedge」

‘Vietnam war, avoiding inflation risk’.

David, an economist, trembled as soon as he saw the phrase.

“This man is a genius! Genius!”

David had to find a man named Woo Chan-su.

I wanted to hear more.

No, I had to listen.

He seemed to be able to gain a great reputation just by collecting and conveying his opinions to the US government… no, Chan-su Woo’s foresight.

I went down the stairs and looked around the first floor gallery and lobby, but I couldn’t find Woo Chan-soo.

It seemed that I had already left the Peninsula Hotel.

‘You kicked the rolling luck with my foot. this…’

David was in a hurry.

‘Chansu Woo… You said you were a chemical fiber exporter, right? Then, why not go that way?’

David hurriedly drove out into the street.