Once the second-half presidents’ meeting began, the Ilhyeon Group affiliates delivered their presentations one after another.
“Next is Ilhyeon Department Store.”
At Chief Secretary Do-beom Hwang’s words, the prepared president of Ilhyeon Department Store brought his mouth to the microphone and began his presentation.
“Ilhyeon Department Store has recently opened new branches in Ulsan and Masan, and we’re accelerating our business timeline with plans to open branches in Gwangju and Mokpo within the next year. The business is proceeding smoothly, and…”
Once he’d finished laying out current and upcoming projects, Ilhyeon Department Store’s presentation concluded with the projected results for the second half.
Once the presentation ended, Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee flipped through the submitted report and fired off questions.
“Busan branch’s Q2 revenue dropped compared to last year — what’s the reason?”
“How’s construction on the Mokpo branch coming along? Can this really be completed by the second half of next year?”
“Aren’t the second-half targets set a bit low? If you’ve lowered them just to boost your achievement rate, that’s disappointing.”
The Ilhyeon Department Store president broke into a cold sweat answering each of Tak-hyeon Lee’s questions one by one.
Knowing that a single misstep could bring down his wrath, the president answered Tak-hyeon Lee’s questions with everything he had.
After a while, Tak-hyeon Lee closed the report.
“That’s enough on Ilhyeon Department Store… next.”
At Tak-hyeon Lee’s words signaling the next report, every president in the room turned to look at Seong-ho Kim.
Chief Secretary Do-beom Hwang, too, looked at Seong-ho Kim as he spoke.
“Next is Ilhyeon Hotel. Since the president’s seat is currently vacant, Team Leader Seong-ho Kim of the Strategic Planning restructuring team will present in his place.”
Do-beom Hwang introduced Seong-ho Kim, then raised a hand, signaling him to begin.
“Team Leader Kim, please go ahead.”
At Do-beom Hwang’s cue, Seong-ho Kim began his presentation.
“Hello. I’m Seong-ho Kim. Ilhyeon Hotel has been undergoing restructuring since the start of this year. The restructuring…”
Watching Seong-ho Kim calmly lay out the restructuring’s origins, goals, and progress, Byeong-jin Jo, standing behind him, shook his head.
‘Is his heart made of steel or something?’
More than 60 affiliate presidents, plus attendants like himself accompanying each one, meant well over a hundred people gathered in the grand conference room.
And at the very head of the table, Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee watched Seong-ho Kim with a hawk’s gaze.
Just standing behind Seong-ho Kim was suffocating enough, the atmosphere pressing down so hard it was difficult to even breathe properly — and yet Seong-ho Kim delivered everything he’d prepared without so much as a tremor in his voice.
Byeong-jin Jo could only watch his back silently, unable to imagine just how vast Seong-ho Kim’s capacity really was.
After Seong-ho Kim’s presentation continued for a while, the highlight of today’s presidents’ meeting finally arrived.
“Now I’ll report on Ilhyeon Hotel’s projected results for the second half.”
At Seong-ho Kim’s words, tension began filling the once-quiet conference room.
Every eye and ear in the room turned to Seong-ho Kim, curious how the restructuring’s results would turn out.
“Projected second-half revenue is 57 billion won. This is roughly an 80% increase over the same period last year, and exceeds our target of 50 billion won by 14%.”
At the news that projected second-half revenue was 57 billion won, everyone in the room wore startled expressions.
The common view had been that even the 50-billion-won target seemed set too high — and yet he’d delivered results exceeding it by over 10%, which left them astonished.
But it wasn’t over yet.
“Operating profit is also expected to swing to a surplus, with an anticipated profit of over 10 billion won.”
“Wait.”
Tak-hyeon Lee, who usually waited for a president’s presentation to finish before asking questions, unusually cut in early this time.
“A swing to surplus? You’re saying that’s really possible? And over 10 billion won, no less?”
Even as he asked, Tak-hyeon Lee kept examining the materials Ilhyeon Hotel had submitted.
He could have found the answer simply by reading the numbers in the documents, but he wanted to hear it directly from Seong-ho Kim’s own mouth.
“Losses continued through July and August, but operating profit turned positive starting in September. October and November are expected to widen that margin further, so I believe we can comfortably achieve 10 billion won in second-half operating profit.”
“Ha… remarkable.”
An exclamation of admiration escaped Tak-hyeon Lee.
“What kind of magic did you pull off?”
Tak-hyeon Lee asked, looking at Seong-ho Kim with wonder.
“I don’t believe in miracles, generally… but I can’t think of any other word for this. What on earth did you do to turn Ilhyeon Hotel’s operating profit positive?”
Even at Tak-hyeon Lee’s sudden question, Seong-ho Kim answered calmly.
“This simply happened because things proceeded well according to plan.”
“According to plan? So you’re saying you anticipated Ilhyeon Hotel’s swing to profit from the very start?”
“Yes. And since it’s come up, allow me to share the next plan as well.”
Seong-ho Kim moved straight into discussing his targets for the following half.
“For the first half of next year, I intend to target 80 billion won in revenue and 30 billion won in operating profit.”
“80 billion?”
“Operating profit of 30 billion?”
The presidents listening beside him couldn’t help but blurt out their astonishment aloud, even with Chairman Tak-hyeon Lee present.
Seong-ho Kim smiled gently at their reaction and continued.
“Rather than after-service, where we respond to what a customer requests, we’ve established before-service at Ilhyeon Hotel — providing what the customer needs before they even ask. Guests satisfied with this before-service have kept returning to the hotel steadily, and I believe this will substantially improve the hotel’s results going forward.”
“Before-service…”
Tak-hyeon Lee murmured to himself, apparently struck by the new service model Seong-ho Kim had proposed.
Seong-ho Kim continued laying out Ilhyeon Hotel’s goals to him.
“By the first half of next year, we expect to complete our data analysis on the preferences of the VIP guests who frequently visit Ilhyeon Hotel. Based on that, if we can provide each VIP with the high-quality service they specifically want, achieving 80 billion won in revenue should be comfortably within reach.”
“Comfortable, at 80 billion… then what’s your honest target?”
“You mean the figure I personally expect?”
“Yes, that. I’m curious what it is.”
Tak-hyeon Lee closed Ilhyeon Hotel’s report and put the question to Seong-ho Kim.
Every president in the room looked at Seong-ho Kim with the same curiosity as Tak-hyeon Lee.
Whether achievable or not, they were curious what target Seong-ho Kim himself actually had in mind.
Seong-ho Kim swept his gaze briefly over the more than hundred people watching him, then slowly spoke.
“My target is 100 billion won for the first half of next year, and 250 billion won in total revenue for the year as a whole.”
“How much? 250 billion?”
The smile on Tak-hyeon Lee’s face hardened.
“Did you just say 250 billion?”
“Yes. My target is 250 billion won.”
The presidents, who moments ago had been startled by the mention of 80 billion in revenue and 30 billion in operating profit, now couldn’t even react at Seong-ho Kim’s latest words.
Like Tak-hyeon Lee, who’d asked again thinking he’d misheard, Seong-ho Kim’s target sounded too far-fetched to believe.
Last year’s half-year revenue had been just 30 billion won, and annual revenue had barely cleared 60 billion while the company drowned in losses — that a company like that had suddenly swung to profit was astonishing enough, but hearing 250 billion in annual revenue made everyone doubt they’d heard correctly.
“250 billion? Hahaha. 250 billion.”
Tak-hyeon Lee, looking delighted, pounded the desk and laughed with pleasure.
“If you really achieve 250 billion, I’ll give you quite the gift, Director Kim. Look forward to it.”
“Since you’ll be giving me a gift, I’ll work even harder to make sure what I’ve just said doesn’t turn out to be empty talk.”
“Hahaha. Good. That’s exactly what I hope for too.”
As Tak-hyeon Lee kept bursting into delighted laughter, Sang-jong Lee’s face twisted.
Mun-jong Lee’s expression wasn’t much better.
Because they had a rough idea of what kind of “gift” Tak-hyeon Lee might have in mind.
‘That fellow can never be given an affiliate president’s seat in the Ilhyeon Group. Never.’
Mun-jong Lee couldn’t tolerate a bug landing on the food he intended to eat.
So, as Tak-hyeon Lee’s laughter began to die down, he spoke up with a negative remark in front of everyone present.
“I wonder if this isn’t rather far-fetched talk.”
Everyone in the room turned their eyes to Mun-jong Lee.
Mun-jong Lee tapped the report with his palm and said,
“Even if the chairman told him to speak freely, is it really acceptable to make such far-fetched claims? Director Kim was invited to this presidents’ meeting to accurately report Ilhyeon Hotel’s situation, not to flatter the chairman with sweet talk.”
“Vice-Chairman. Well said.”
At Mun-jong Lee’s opening, Sang-jong Lee chimed in.
“Do you think this is a place where you can just throw out any number you like? 250 billion? Why not go for 300 or 400 billion while you’re at it?”
Sang-jong Lee spoke sarcastically, turning Seong-ho Kim’s words into a joke.
Mun-jong Lee spoke again, determined to press Seong-ho Kim down firmly.
“To my eyes, Director Kim’s figures seem like numbers that simply can’t be realized.”
“On what basis do you think that?”
Though he might have been expected to be cowed, Seong-ho Kim asked the question with the same calm expression and voice as from the start.
Mun-jong Lee tapped the report once more and said,
“80 billion in half-year revenue is impressive enough as it is. But even reaching 150 billion in annual revenue on that basis is hard to believe under current circumstances. And now 250 billion?”
Mun-jong Lee twisted his mouth into a sneer and said,
“Ilhyeon Hotel ultimately survives on its guests. Do you really believe the current rate of increase in occupancy can achieve 250 billion?”
Mun-jong Lee turned his head toward Tak-hyeon Lee, who’d been laughing with delight just moments before.
“Chairman. Director Kim is trying to deceive you at his very first presidents’ meeting. This isn’t something you should let slide.”
“Deceive me?”
Tak-hyeon Lee’s face hardened.
Narrowing his eyes, he looked at Seong-ho Kim and asked,
“The vice-chairman says you tried to deceive me… what do you have to say about that?”
Even at Tak-hyeon Lee’s sharp words, Seong-ho Kim answered with the same calm expression.
“As it happens, I was about to bring this up myself.”
“Bring up what?”
Seong-ho Kim looked at the scowling Mun-jong Lee and said,
“As the vice-chairman says, it’s true that the revenue increase so far has been limited to the food-and-beverage and service sectors. For real expansion, occupancy needs to grow.”
“So… you have a plan?”
Mun-jong Lee looked at Seong-ho Kim and asked the question with a note of disbelief.
Seong-ho Kim answered as though he’d been waiting for exactly this question.
“Our Ilhyeon Hotel has been selected as the official designated hotel for the World Cup tournament organized by FIFA. The announcement will be made next week, but FIFA has already contacted us to prepare a selection commemoration ceremony.”
Seong-ho Kim turned to look at the presidents seated in the room and said,
“It will be officially announced that Ilhyeon Hotel is the best choice for anyone traveling to Korea. In line with this, I plan to aggressively pursue marketing to attract international travelers.”
“FIFA’s designated hotel? Is that really true?”
Mun-jong Lee asked Seong-ho Kim with a disbelieving expression.
Seong-ho Kim smiled and nodded as he answered.
“I came here in a hurry and wasn’t able to bring the fax from FIFA with me, but I’ll make sure it reaches you, Chairman, through the secretariat as soon as I return.”
Seong-ho Kim confirmed to Tak-hyeon Lee that official documentation had come from FIFA, then continued.
“It’s not just FIFA. Our Ilhyeon Hotel has also been selected as the official venue for the year-end FTA negotiations with China.”
“We’ve been selected as China’s base camp?”
“Yes. And this kind of expansion is set to continue next year as well. Next year’s World Bank meeting and the Asian Economic Forum will also both be held at Ilhyeon Hotel.”
Seong-ho Kim turned to the assembled presidents and continued.
“Ilhyeon Hotel has already been recognized by numerous international organizations as, without question, Korea’s finest hotel. With aggressive marketing built on this foundation to capture international travelers… the question of occupancy will clearly be resolved.”
Finally, Seong-ho Kim looked at Tak-hyeon Lee and said,
“Chairman. 250 billion won is by no means an impossible figure. If anything, I consider even 250 billion to be a conservative estimate.”
“Even 250 billion is conservative? Hahaha. Now that’s some nerve. Hahaha.”
At Seong-ho Kim’s words, Tak-hyeon Lee burst into laughter once more, and with every laugh, Mun-jong Lee’s and Sang-jong Lee’s faces crumpled further.
(End of Chapter 49)