Ten years later, Hyundai Motors will rise to third place in the business rankings on its own.
However, Hyundai Construction, Securities, and Electronics will face significant difficulties, leading to downsizing or being handed over to other conglomerates.
In the end, the ultimate vi...
The last day of 1999
I sat beside my grandfather, waiting for the arrival of the year 2000.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Through the TV, we watched as the Boshingak Bell rang, marking the beginning of a new millennium.
For a few moments, we simply watched in silence. The...
Taewoo Telecom hit the jackpot with its online lectures for students.
Some parents even signed up for Taewoo Telecom themselves just to access lectures from top instructors. Whether students were gaming enthusiasts or focused on studying, they all preferred Taewoo Telecom.
It would ...
Everyone was focused on Representative Yang Il-seop.
They were curious about the perfect move to crush Taewoo Telecom in one go.
"Do you know the two things you must never mess with in Korea?"
"Real estate and education, right?"
"Exactly. Especially education—if you ...
The ribbon-cutting ceremony proceeded as planned.
Still in a daze, I went through the motions, only grasping the situation once the white cloth covering the signboard was pulled away.
[Trump Model House]
That was the name of the project.
At that moment, a long-buried m...
Inside an office in Myeong-dong.
Team Leader Park pulled out a cigarette.
Just a few days ago, his subordinates would have rushed to light it for him.
But now, there was no one left by his side.
Click! Click!
Even his lighter refused to cooperate.
Three months into 1999
Time flew by.
With countless mergers and acquisitions, Grandpa and I were so swamped with work that we only saw each other when we finally returned home.
"Taewoo Telecom seems to be sponsoring something unusual. I thought we were just funding a spo...
A small bar in Namcheon-dong, Busan.
There, I was sharing drinks with the Commissioner of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency.
"Thank you for accepting my request."
"Of course, I had to. You took care of my son—returning the favor is the least I could do. Bes...
The Myeong-dong private loan market had always been underground.
However, if they registered as loan companies, their operations would become legal.
Of course, they would have to pay taxes, but in return, they could expand beyond Myeong-dong and...
The last day of 1998
The chaotic year of 1998, overshadowed by the national financial crisis, was finally coming to an end today.
All subsidiaries of Taewoo Group had already held their year-end closing ceremonies, and even the planning office staff had left early for the day.
After finishing my schedule in the U.S., I returned to Korea.
It had been only a short 2-night, 3-day trip, yet I had over ten meetings and met well over a hundred people—a grueling schedule.
My eyelids felt heavy from exhaustion.
But even after returning to Korea, there wa...
As 1998 drew to a close,
I boarded a flight to the U.S., leaving all other matters behind.
The hyenas of Wall Street had been hounding me relentlessly—I couldn't delay any longer.
"Team Leader Han, how bad is it over there?"
"We're getting calls from at least ten fir...
Russia’s economic situation was worsening steadily.
With sanctions hitting finance, the military, and even the grain industry, things couldn’t be any better.
In this situation, I called David to Korea, and he arrived carrying a wealth of information from the White House.
...
The Olympics held in Sochi, Russia.
The grand opening ceremony took place on February 7.
Despite many twists and turns, the closing ceremony proceeded on February 23.
Then, two days later, on the 25th,
the Russian flag fluttered over a square in the Crimean Peninsula, wher...
The conference room erupted with surprise at Seok-won's unexpected bombshell statement.
Not only the union representatives but also Executive Director Lee Kwang-ryeol seated beside him and the senior staff from Manyoung Machinery could not hide their astonished expressions, their eyes wid...
With only a few days left in 2013,
the year’s final executive meeting was convened.
The heads of subsidiaries with high sales entered the meeting room confidently, while those from less successful affiliates hung their heads low.
“We will begin the 2013 year-end executives’...
It had been a while since David last visited Korea.
He had come all the way to deliver several pieces of news in person, and as soon as he arrived, he headed straight to a traditional Korean restaurant, savoring a steaming bowl of baeksuk.
“Ahh! I don’t know why this flavor is i...
Volatility or uncertainty.
Those were the words companies hated most, and exactly why they avoided dealing with unpredictable partners.
But what if the unpredictable party was the U.S. Federal Reserve?
In that case, there was nothing anyone could do but accept it.
No o...
Charlotte Group executive meeting.
It was held roughly once a month.
That alone was a sign of how troubled Charlotte Group’s situation had become.
And today, even Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu, who managed the Japanese Charlotte Group, was attending.
“Sales at Charlott...
The long era of quantitative easing.
It had lasted nearly five years since the Lehman crisis.
Not just the American public, but even Wall Street had grown accustomed to quantitative easing.
Zero interest rates had become the norm.
It was taken for granted that the governme...
2025-08-17 14:33:01 +0000 UTC View PostIs there anyone in Korea who has done as many acquisition and sale contracts as I have?
Since the IMF crisis, I have sold companies the size of conglomerates and acquired mega companies like GM and AIG.
For smaller companies, I have acquired dozens of them.
Yet, no contract h...
Currently, Taewoo Group was holding two poisoned apples.
One was the shared office business called Together Work.
The other was the THAAD site land swap, also a poisoned apple.
The fight over the THAAD site was between Charlotte Group and Hyundai Motor Group, each claiming it...
One day, two days, three days…
Yong Gi-un remained shut in his house for three days.
He peeked through the window, checking his surroundings, and muttered, “Are they really not going to kill me?” Perhaps they were just trying to lull him into a false sense of security, or mayb...
Yong Gi-un decided delaying his death was impossible. He could feign illness for a few days, but those men in suits would likely just kidnap a doctor and medical equipment and set up a private clinic on the island.
Resigned to his fate, he poured all his energy into his final masterpiece.<...
The conglomerate chairmen were men of immense caution.
And how could they not be? To rise to their current positions, they had endured countless trials and crises.
But there was one simple way to move such men.
I had to take the lead myself.
If I pretended to accept Am...
Satellites were an indispensable resource for the Taewoo Group.
In the past, satellites had been used primarily for national security and weather observation.
But now, with the advancement of high-spec electronic devices such as smartphones, they were widely integrated into everyday lif...
A low-Earth orbit communications network.
In fact, it wasn’t a system much needed in Korea.
It was rare to find places in Korea where cell phones didn’t work, and even if there were, very few people lived there.
Plus, the service was expensive.
Users had to pay at leas...
After spending the New Year of 2013 in Korea,
I traveled to the United States to attend
President Obama’s second inauguration.
Since there was still a week left until the ceremony, I planned to take care of a few things in the meantime.
To that end, President Han also accompani...
A true one-on-one duel.
Even though Choi Jae-seok had stepped down while calling for national unity, the two remaining major party candidates plunged into negative campaigning—all in pursuit of even a single percent more support.
It wasn’t unity, but outright division.
I had...
2025-08-17 12:43:30 +0000 UTC View PostPresidential Candidate Debate.
The debate gathered three presidential candidates, each holding around 30% approval ratings, and as a result, it received overwhelming public attention.
So much so that it even rivaled the legendary 1997 presidential debate, which had ...