Story of a Big Player from Gangnam - Chapter 836

Gun-Ho took Miura Machines’ president and its plant manager to the restaurant across the street from the GH Building in Sinsa Town.

“It takes about 1.5 hours to get to Cheonan City from here. We can leave for Cheonan City after lunch. There is a nice Japanese restaurant across the street. Their sushi is very good.”

“Oh, there is a sushi restaurant around here; I see.”

When they arrived at the restaurant, Gun-Ho ordered sushi dishes. While having lunch, Gun-Ho made a call to GH Machines’ President Jong-Suk Park.

“President Park? It’s me.”

“Yeah, bro. Did those Japanese people arrive?”

“Yeah. They are having lunch with me right now. We will leave right after lunch. We will probably arrive there before 2 pm.”

“I guess several people have to sit in the car altogether. With Mr. Yoshitaka Matsui who is interpreting for them, your car must be packed.”

“That’s fine. I will sit on the front passenger seat, and the other three people can sit in the back. It won’t be so bad.”

Jong-Suk made a suggestion, “I can bring my car to the Giheung Rest Area and pick them up from there. So, everyone including you can sit more comfortably while coming to GH Machines.”

“That wouldn’t be necessary.”

“I insist. I’m leaving for the Giheung Rest Area right now. I will have a bowl of Udong and a cup of coffee while waiting for you there. So, you don’t have to rush, but drive safe.”

“Okay then. I will see you at the Giheung Rest Area soon.”

Gun-Ho asked Miura Machines’ president, “How do you like sushi in Korea?”

“It’s good. I find it very tasty.”

There were four of them in Gun-Ho’s party. And, the chef at the restaurant sent a lot of Tsukidash (side dish) to Gun-Ho’s table as free service, probably because Gun-Ho’s party came as a group of customers. As dishes came out seemingly constantly, President Miura seemed to be worried and said to Mr. Yoshitaka Matsui, “We don’t need these many dishes. It will cost a lot.”

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsui laughed and said, “Please have as much as you want. In Korea, they don’t charge for each dish of Tsukidash, unlike Japan. These are all free of charge.”

“Oh, really? So Desu Ka (Is that right)? I didn’t know that.”

After lunch, the four men got into Gun-Ho’s Bentley. Gun-Ho sat on the front passenger seat while everyone else sat in the rear seat.

“Is everyone alright in the back? Is it not too cramped back there? If the traffic is not so bad, we can get there in an hour. I will try to make the trip as short as possible.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about us, Mr. President Goo.”

When the Bentley that Chan-Ho Eom was driving entered the expressway, the two Japanese visitors started dozing off in the rear seat.

A while later, they arrived at the Giheung Rest Area. President Jong-Suk Park was waiting for them.

“Hahaha. It’s good to see you, Mr. President Tsuyoshi-shi Miura and Mr. Plant Manager Yanagi Masatoshi.”

Miura Machines’ president and plant manager were surprised when they saw Jong-Suk Park at the rest area. They didn’t expect to see Jong-Suk Park on the way to GH Machines.

Gun-Ho smiled and told his guests, “President Park came all the way to this rest area, so he can meet our important guests as soon as he can.”

The two Japanese visitors seemed to be touched.

“Thank you for welcoming us so warmly.”

Gun-Ho sat with Jong-Suk Park in Jong-Suk’s car while Miura Machines’ president, its plant manager, and Mr. Yoshitaka Matsui sat on Gun-Ho’s Bentley, and they all headed to GH Mobile in Jiksan Town first. President Song was expecting them; he was waiting for them at the front entrance.

“Welcome to GH Mobile. It’s very nice to meet you.”

President Song gave a tour of GH Mobile’s factory to the guests from Japan himself. Miura Machines’ president and plant manager seemed to be impressed by its cleanliness and the highly organized production site, not to mention the workers who were busily working while focusing on their work.

“Very nice. The workers seemed to know how to handle machines neatly and efficiently. I can see their proficiency in their work.”

“Is that right?”

“I can also tell that this manufacturing facility has been managed meticulously in a very organized way by Mr. President Song. And, I admire you, Mr. President Goo, for running a large factory like this one, especially at your young age.”

Mr. Yoshitaka Matsui was impressed by the factory as well. He looked at Gun-Ho with respect. He then said, “I didn’t know GH Mobile is this large with this many workers. GH Media—compared to GH Mobile—is the size of a department of GH Mobile. How many workers does GH Mobile have?”

“We have 700 workers here.”

“Haha, GH Media has 15 workers.”

Gun-Ho laughed at Mr. Yoshitaka Matsui’s comparison with GH Media.

After finishing the tour at the factory, President Miura gave a gift that he brought from Japan to President Song. It was a necktie made of silk.

“Thank you, sir, for showing us the factory. And, I appreciate your time for us as well.”

President Miura gave a bow several times to President Song. The gesture expressing his gratitude was certainly showing that he was Japanese.

Gun-Ho’s party then headed to GH Machines that was located inside Baekseok Agricultural and Industrial Complex. It seemed that the factory was cleaned to welcome the visitors. Gun-Ho noticed that it looked cleaner than usual. The tools and machines parts that were usually scattered here and there, were all placed on shelves in an organized way.

Gun-Ho laughed quietly.

‘It seems that Jong-Suk organized everything by items, getting ready for the inspection to obtain the certification such as ISO 14001 and TS 16949.’

The workers there glanced at the Japanese visitors from time to time while working, and they seemed to pretend to work even harder. They had rollers working and doing welding work and stuff.

Miura Machines’ president looked around the facility and nodded his head. He, especially, showed great interest in the experiment tools. He carefully looked at them and touched them as well. Gun-Ho noticed that some of them seemed to be recently placed there because he hadn’t seen them before at GH Machines. So, he asked Jong-Suk Park in a low voice, “Jong-Suk, Are those machines new? I haven’t seen them before. Do you use those machines here too?”

“Haha. I actually borrowed them from GH Mobile. I want to make sure that GH Machines’ factory looks very well equipped and professional.”

After finishing the tour of GH Machines’ factory, Miura Machines’ president asked Jong-Suk Park, “Did you make those twin screws here? I don’t think this factory is properly equipped to produce that sort of twin screws.”

“Oh, we actually purchased those twin screws.”

Miura Machines’ president said after closely looking at the screws, “I’m not sure where you purchased these, but I guess that Korean company must be highly skillful.”

“Those screws were not manufactured in Korea. We bought them from West Moulding in the U.S.”

“Oh, I see. I know of West Moulding. Isn’t it the company situated in Seattle, U.S.?”

“That’s right.”

“We once competed for a job with West Moulding before. The work was for Boeing Company. We lost it over them.”

“Is that right?”

“It was about camshafts. I believed that our product was superior to West Moulding’s, but their price was lower, and Boeing Company chose theirs. We were in an unfavorable position for the work since we had to ship our products that were manufactured in Japan to the U.S. and had to pay for VAT as well, which raised our production cost. If we obtained that contract, we would have been in a much better position now.”

“I see. That means if we acquire Miura Machines, we would have a chance to obtain a contract for the work with Boeing Company later.”

“For camshafts, yes, you will have a chance. But I’m not sure about labor costs in Korea though. If you can manufacture the products at a low cost, you will be able to get the work.”

Jong-Suk Park led them to his office in GH Machines.

The office manager lady brought green tea in white ceramic cups. She seemed to wear some makeup that day, probably because she wanted to look neat and professional to the guests from Japan. Gun-Ho thought that she probably did her hair as well.