The new-concept retirement program — offering a fresh choice to those who found the relocation burdensome, and a way to pull forward the timeline for those already dreaming of a future beyond company life, all backed by a consolation bonus on top of the retirement allowance — drew an enthusiastic response from a great many Ilhyeon Watch employees.
Though a fifteen-day window had been set, Ilhyeon Watch employees kept coming to Seong-ho Kim’s office without pause, retirement applications in hand.
“So… you’re really going to pay it, right?”
One Ilhyeon Watch employee, holding his retirement application, asked Byeong-ju Jeong cautiously.
By now used to it, since every employee who came to submit an application asked the same question, Manager Byeong-ju Jeong took the application, set it on the reception desk, and said,
“Yes, that’s right. Once we’ve checked the application and found nothing wrong, the retirement allowance and consolation bonus will be deposited within a month.”
“Really? You’ll really pay 50 months’ worth of salary separately, on top of the retirement allowance?”
“Yes.”
Having handled the same exchange several more times after that, Byeong-ju Jeong finally caught his breath and looked at the stack of applications piled on the desk, shaking his head.
“Whew, I’m exhausted. So many employees flocking in like this — and, come to think of it, most of them really are employees close to retirement age.”
“Because they’ve done the math.”
Seated beside him, Seong-ho Kim turned his chair to look at the applications organized on Byeong-ju Jeong’s desk and said,
“Torn between retiring at the normal age or taking the honorary-retirement option, they’d have done the math themselves, talked it over with other employees facing the same dilemma, and once they judged honorary retirement was the better deal, they’d have filed the application without hesitation.”
“Honestly, honorary retirement looks better to me too. Getting dozens of months’ salary — what a great opportunity. It’s not as if I’d just sit around after retiring at the normal age anyway; rather than starting a business then, it’s better to jump in with more money while I’m even a year younger. And even switching companies, this option is better.”
Byeong-ju Jeong rested a hand on the desk full of applications and nodded.
“Thinking it over again, it really is a brilliant method. Completely erasing the employees’ discontent and getting them to leave on their own.”
The more Byeong-ju Jeong thought about it, the more admiration seemed to spill out of him, and he kept heaping praise on Seong-ho Kim.
Of course, a bomb still remained at Ilhyeon Watch.
“But, Assistant Manager Kim. What do you plan to do about the ones up top?”
Byeong-ju Jeong asked, pointing a finger upward.
Catching that Byeong-ju Jeong meant the executives, Seong-ho Kim smiled lightly.
“We have to sort that out too.”
At his words, Byeong-ju Jeong leaned in close.
And said in a low voice,
“There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence that they’ve been sticking a straw into the company and helping themselves, but there’s no hard proof. That’s been weighing on me a lot… do you have a way to solve it?”
“I’m going to make them move on their own.”
“Make them move on their own? How?”
Byeong-ju Jeong tried to keep asking what method Seong-ho Kim intended to use, but just then, Do Eun-cheol and the other executives came to the office where Seong-ho Kim was.
“Assistant Manager Kim.”
Seong-ho Kim patted Byeong-ju Jeong’s shoulder to say just wait a moment, and turned toward Do Eun-cheol.
“President, what brings you here? If you’d called for me, I’d have come to you.”
“A man with business ought to come himself.”
President Do Eun-cheol of Ilhyeon Watch said this as if his coming to Seong-ho Kim’s office in person were nothing unusual, and gestured to the other executives.
“There’s something I wanted to ask, so — let’s sit, for now.”
Watching Do Eun-cheol and the executives seat themselves on the office sofa without waiting to be invited, Seong-ho Kim gave a wry smile, rose, and sat on the sofa across from them, asking Do Eun-cheol,
“So what could you possibly be curious about, that you’ve all come crowding in like this?”
Do Eun-cheol glanced at the stack of retirement applications on the reception desk and said to Seong-ho Kim,
“On the matter of the relocation and the honorary retirements, that’s already settled, so I won’t say anything more about it. But what in the world is this about severing ties with Seimo?”
“Didn’t you receive the report that came down from Strategic Planning?”
Seong-ho Kim paused for a moment, looked around at the executives, and said,
“There’s simply no more reason to rely on Seimo’s help when they’ve been reaping excessive profits.”
“On what grounds are we supposed to trust domestic parts?”
“You should have received the test results — didn’t you check them? If anything, the results showed that using domestic parts is actually better.”
“Even so…”
“The matter has already been approved by the chairman.”
Short as Seong-ho Kim’s words were, no words more powerful than these existed.
“…”
Not just President Do Eun-cheol but the other executives too fell utterly silent.
After exchanging a glance for a moment with Executive Director Ju-gyeol Bang and Managing Director Seong-su Ju, Do Eun-cheol rose from his seat and held out a hand to Seong-ho Kim.
“Understood. Then which parts suppliers will we be switching to?”
At that, Seong-ho Kim shot Byeong-ju Jeong a look, and Byeong-ju Jeong handed Do Eun-cheol a paper listing the names of the new parts suppliers.
Checking the company names on the list, Do Eun-cheol said to Seong-ho Kim,
“So these are the ones who’ll be newly supplying us with watch parts?”
“Yes. All domestic firms, excellent in both technology and production capacity.”
“Understood. Then we’ll be on our way.”
When Do Eun-cheol turned to go, the other executives followed him out of the office.
Byeong-ju Jeong, who’d been thoroughly tense, wore a momentarily baffled expression at how smoothly they’d backed down.
“What was that? I expected a scene — why’d they back off so meekly?”
Shaking his head, Byeong-ju Jeong closed the office door and sat down beside Seong-ho Kim.
“They’re about to lose the money they’ve been taking from the old suppliers, so why back off so easily? Did they realize they can’t keep doing it and just accept it?”
Byeong-ju Jeong found it strange that Do Eun-cheol and the others, who’d taken backdoor money through rebates without the slightest hesitation, had gone back with no real resistance.
Seong-ho Kim smiled at Byeong-ju Jeong and said,
“Manager, have you ever seen a dung fly give up dung?”
“If a dung fly gave up dung, it wouldn’t be a dung fly anymore.”
“Exactly.”
The corners of Seong-ho Kim’s mouth rose.
“They’re the same. They’re dung flies — how could they possibly give up the dung? You asked me a moment ago, didn’t you? What to do when there’s only circumstantial evidence and no proof.”
At his words, Byeong-ju Jeong nodded.
And, looking at Seong-ho Kim with curious eyes, he asked,
“Do you have a way to find the proof?”
“No need to find it. They’ll make the proof themselves and bring it straight to us.”
“Make the proof themselves and bring it to us? What does that mean? How would they possibly…”
Just as Byeong-ju Jeong was about to ask how Do Eun-cheol and the others would ever make and hand over their own evidence, a possibility occurred to him.
“Don’t tell me… you already spoke with the new parts suppliers ahead of time?”
“With the existing suppliers, they’d already built a sticky, cozy relationship, so it wasn’t easy to find proof, was it?”
“Right. That’s exactly what was so frustrating. The circumstances were clear but the proof… is that why you switched suppliers?”
“That too, among other things. Switching suppliers both raises our watches’ competitiveness and lets us dig up proof against them. I never thought switching suppliers alone would make them stop what they’ve been doing all this time. So I gave the new suppliers a heads-up in advance. If those men come around demanding rebates, I told them, please gather the evidence.”
“You really are…”
Byeong-ju Jeong looked at Seong-ho Kim with an admiring gaze.
Seong-ho Kim smiled at him and rose from his seat.
“Shall we get going, then?”
“Get going? Where?”
Seong-ho Kim took Byeong-ju Jeong’s coat down from the coat rack and held it out to him.
Taking the coat, Byeong-ju Jeong looked at Seong-ho Kim with a questioning gaze, asking where they were headed.
Putting on his own coat, Seong-ho Kim answered the question.
“Having evidence alone doesn’t solve the matter, does it? I happen to have a friend who’s a prosecutor.”
“Assistant Manager Kim, don’t tell me…”
“I never intended to let them off easy from the start. Shouldn’t they be punished for driving the company to this state?”
Seong-ho Kim glanced at his watch and hurried Byeong-ju Jeong along.
“Oh! Look at the time. We’ll be late for our appointment. Let’s hurry.”
At Seong-ho Kim’s urging, Byeong-ju Jeong hastily put on his coat and followed him.
And he let out a sigh, shaking his head at the foolishness of the Ilhyeon Watch executives — unable to let go of their greed even enough to keep from sticking a straw into the very suppliers who were new to them.
Tak-hyeon Lee, who usually conducted his business from the study in Pyeongchang-dong, made a rare appearance at the company.
Since Tak-hyeon Lee had been staying away from the company to lend weight to Vice-Chairman Mun-jong Lee’s authority, the mere fact that he’d come to group headquarters sent the entire Ilhyeon Group into a state of tension.
Whether for good reason or bad, Tak-hyeon Lee’s appearance meant that something had happened within the group.
Fwsssh.
A file folder came flying at Mun-jong Lee.
Even so, he could say nothing, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, staring only at the floor.
“What exactly is it that you do?”
At Tak-hyeon Lee’s words, Mun-jong Lee could say nothing.
Because on this matter, there was no excuse he could offer even if he had a mouth to give one.
Tak-hyeon Lee shouted at the silent, head-bowed Mun-jong Lee,
“Do you really not know about this? Wasn’t it you who ordered this?”
At those words, Mun-jong Lee, who’d kept his mouth firmly shut, lifted his head.
“No. I truly had no idea.”
Hastily denying Tak-hyeon Lee’s words, Mun-jong Lee spoke with an expression even more wronged than Tak-hyeon Lee’s own.
“I truly had no idea those madmen were demanding rebates from suppliers. I have absolutely nothing to do with this matter.”
But when Tak-hyeon Lee’s suspicion still didn’t seem to lift, Mun-jong Lee said in a loud voice,
“I’ll take personal responsibility for handling this matter myself.”
“Enough. There’s nothing for you to handle.”
Tak-hyeon Lee waved a hand as if disgusted and turned, sitting back down.
“It’s already been reported to the prosecutors through the secretariat. And I’ve spoken to the prosecution too, asking them not to let this slide easily.”
Mun-jong Lee broke into a cold sweat at Tak-hyeon Lee’s use of the word “asking.”
Tak-hyeon Lee was a man who gave orders, not requests.
That he’d used the word “asking” meant that much greater a fury was behind it.
“They dared demand rebates from our suppliers? And in cash, 10% of sales, no less? I won’t let these bastards off. Not content with sticking a straw into my company, they used it like a cash vault?”
At Tak-hyeon Lee’s fury, Mun-jong Lee hastily bowed his head.
He was afraid Tak-hyeon Lee’s rage might spill over onto him too.
“This wasn’t a matter of a day or two — it went on for decades, and you didn’t know. It makes me doubt whether you deserve to sit in the vice-chairman’s seat at all.”
“Father, I…”
“Get out of my sight. I can’t stand looking at you.”
At Tak-hyeon Lee’s roar, Mun-jong Lee left the chairman’s office with his shoulders drooping.
Watching Mun-jong Lee leave with a displeased gaze, Tak-hyeon Lee picked up the collective petition the new Ilhyeon Watch suppliers had filed, lying on his desk.
In it was written, in detail, when, how, where, and what Do Eun-cheol and the other Ilhyeon Watch executives had demanded.
And alongside the petition, on Tak-hyeon Lee’s desk, sat a recorder with the contents recorded in full.
(End of Chapter 27)