The day of the bidding information session at Sasung Semiconductor arrived, and I headed there with Park Jong-bum.
I had been racking my brains for a solution, but nothing came to mind.
Sasung Semiconductor wanted the highest possible price, while the other electronic scrap companies would be desperate to win the bid and gain a foothold in the market.
"Should we really participate in a fair and square bidding process?"
I clicked my tongue.
"That's no fun."
Sasung Semiconductor disposed of electronic waste about five times a year.
We usually bought it for about 700 million won per batch and made a profit of over 1 billion won after delivering it to the smelter. That meant an annual net profit of over 1.5 billion won.
It might seem like a small amount compared to Chunha Trading's assets, which had exceeded 70 billion won, but it wasn't a trivial matter.
"Sasung is a trendsetter in the electronics industry. Other companies will follow suit."
Including mid-sized companies, there were five other semiconductor manufacturers besides Sasung.
Together, they generated over 10 billion won in annual sales for us, with a net profit of several billion won.
Park Jong-bum also expressed his concerns.
"The problem is that there's no other way to process the electronic scrap from semiconductor companies besides extracting the gold."
The current market size for reusable electronic scrap in Korea was about 10 billion won, while the market for gold extraction was about 20 billion won, with over half coming from large corporations.
We had been monopolizing the electronic scrap from large corporations, so the other companies were competing for the remaining 10 billion won worth of scrap from smaller companies.
And now, Sasung's sudden announcement of a bidding process had driven the other companies into a frenzy.
"And we have so many expenses coming up."
The secondhand electronic components business I had envisioned required a minimum investment of hundreds of billions of won.
Our salespeople overseas would buy restored IC boards, deliver them to the branches, punch out the IC chips, ship them to Hong Kong, smuggle them into Shenzhen, restore the chips at our factory, and then sell them. The entire process would take at least a month.
And during that time, we would have to continue buying more scrap overseas.
I estimated that we needed at least 50 billion won to sustain this cycle.
And that was a conservative estimate. Since it was a new business, the actual cost could be higher.
"We have to win this bid."
"Of course."
With determined expressions, Park Jong-bum and I headed to Sasung Semiconductor.
Sasung Semiconductor was a high-security company, and even I, who frequently visited them to collect electronic scrap, wasn't allowed in without proper authorization.
Electronic devices were prohibited, and we had to go through a body search. A company employee had to come and vouch for us before we could receive a visitor pass.
Kim In-soo, the person in charge of waste disposal, came to the security gate, and we finally received our passes. He then led us to the meeting room where the bidding information session would be held.
"Assistant Manager Kim, if you had given us a heads-up, we wouldn't have been so surprised. A bidding process… it's so sudden."
Kim In-soo scratched his head and said,
"It's a company decision."
I glared at the back of his head as he walked ahead of me, cursing him internally.
He had been receiving a generous allowance from me, and his nonchalant attitude infuriated me.
I suppressed my anger and said,
"The other companies don't have a track record with you and are all latecomers. Isn't there a risk of technology leaks? You should report this to your superiors. I'm worried."
"I tried, but it didn't work. It can't be helped."
We arrived at the meeting room.
"You're the first ones here, so you'll have to wait. We'll start as soon as everyone arrives."
Kim In-soo left the room, and I sat down in the front row, grinding my teeth.
"How much is that bastard getting every month?"
"Two million won."
"And that's his reaction? That's more than his salary."
Park Jong-bum whispered,
"Maybe another company bribed him, promising him a larger sum if they win the bid."
"That son of a bitch. He thinks he can get away with it, huh?"
I glared and said,
"He's wrong if he thinks I'll let him off the hook after taking my money."
After a while, people started arriving and filling the meeting room.
Electronic scrap companies were both competitors and partners.
Some smaller companies that collected restored IC boards from areas where Chunha Trading's influence was weaker started delivering to us because our prices were higher than what they would get from gold extraction.
I usually handled corporate sales, but Park Jong-bum was in charge of junkyards, so some of the attendees approached him and greeted him.
"Director Park, you're here too. It's been a while."
Park Jong-bum greeted them and said,
"Nice to meet you, CEO Lee. This is our CEO. Sir, this is CEO Lee from Hanyang Tech, who supplies us with boards."
CEO Lee's eyes lit up.
"You're the CEO of Chunha Trading? It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Lee Young-soo from Hanyang Tech."
"Park Sol from Chunha Trading."
We shook hands, and Lee Young-soo sat down next to me, smiling.
"By the way, Chunha Trading's prices are insane these days. We're delivering to you because your prices are higher than the smelters, but the overall volume of boards we're collecting has been steadily decreasing."
"Is that so?"
"Did you develop your own gold refining technology? Even then, your prices are impossible."
I replied indifferently,
"We're buying them because they're useful."
"Or are you buying them at a loss to drive out the competition? If that's your intention, you've succeeded. Our sales have been cut in half because of the decrease in board supply."
He smiled and said,
"But how long can you keep that up? Even Chunha Trading has its limits. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you. Let's have a fair competition."
He then left to talk to other attendees, and I asked Park Jong-bum,
"Hanyang Tech? What kind of company is that?"
"They're the second largest electronic scrap company after Chunha Trading. Of course, there's a huge gap between us. I heard they have a powerful backer."
"A powerful backer?"
"Yes, they're very aggressive with their pricing and are growing rapidly."
"A powerful backer, huh. So they think we're buying at a loss."
Park Jong-bum grinned.
"It's the only logical explanation. You're paying more than the value of the gold."
I scoffed.
"I'm glad they think that. Director Park, spread the rumor that our CEO has gone crazy after making too much money."
"Hehehe, alright."
Thirty minutes later, Kim In-soo entered the room, handed out a document, and said,
"Let's begin the bidding information session."
Everyone's attention was on him as he wrote on the whiteboard and started explaining.
"The total volume of electronic waste for this bid is three tons. It's a mix of various items, but the most common one is item A on the list. It accounts for about 50%."
Item A was a small, shiny wafer, used for manufacturing IC chips.
They were the same wafers that had brought us a fortune when we first delivered them to the smelter in Japan. I remembered my excitement when I returned to Korea.
"If it's 50% wafers, the price should be higher than usual, right?"
Park Jong-bum nodded.
"Yes, it should be worth 1.5 billion won, not 1 billion won."
Murmurs filled the room, and Kim In-soo continued his explanation.
"Item B is 20%, item C is 10%, item D is 10%, and the rest are miscellaneous items. So that's the composition of the waste. The bidding method will be a total bid, not a per-item bid. Please submit your total bid price in a sealed envelope, and we'll sell it to the highest bidder. Any questions?"
Someone raised their hand.
"Are we supposed to bid based on just the external appearance? That's not very accurate."
Kim In-soo nodded.
"I forgot to mention that. We'll provide samples and confirm the exact ratio soon. Please base your bid price on the samples."
I frowned.
Unlike Chunha Trading, which had accumulated data from previous transactions with Sasung, the companies participating in the bidding for the first time would have to estimate the price, giving us an advantage. But if they provided samples, that advantage would disappear.
Park Jong-bum said worriedly,
"This isn't good. Especially for companies like Hanyang Tech. They might even bid at 0% profit margin just to be able to say they do business with Sasung."
"Damn it."
The attendees asked various questions, and after a while, Kim In-soo announced the end of the information session. Everyone stood up and left.
I approached Kim In-soo, who was cleaning up, and said,
"Assistant Manager Kim, I'll call you later."
Kim In-soo hesitated, glancing around, and then said,
"Alright."
After work hours, I discreetly picked up Kim In-soo and took him to a room salon we frequented.
"Assistant Manager Kim, have a drink."
"Ah, yes."
I poured him a glass of 21-year-old whiskey and asked subtly,
"I couldn't talk freely back there, but is there any way we can work this out? What if we lose the bid? Then I won't be able to take care of you anymore."
Kim In-soo took a sip of his drink and said with an indifferent expression,
"It can't be helped. It's a company decision, I have no power over it. I only agreed to meet with you because of this."
He took out a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to me.
"It's 2 million won. I don't think I deserve it since I can't help you with the bid. I'm returning it."
His words confirmed my suspicion.
He had been bribed by another company.
"Can I ask what this means?"
"It means exactly what I said. I'm not going to accept bribes anymore. Thank you for everything."
Kim In-soo stood up and turned to leave, but Park Jong-bum suddenly blocked the door.
Kim In-soo said angrily,
"What is the meaning of this?"
I leaned back on the sofa and glared at him.
"Sit down."
"Sit down? Are you talking down to me?"
"Let me rephrase that. Sit back down."
"Hey, CEO Park!"
I took out a recorder and placed it on the table.
"What do you think this is?"
"A recorder?"
I chuckled.
"You're so naive. Did you think I would give you money without any precautions? I recorded every conversation we had, every time you received money from us, every time we talked about waste disposal."
Kim In-soo's face turned pale.
"Are you… are you threatening me?"
"Yes, I am. Did you think you could just return the 2 million won and pretend nothing happened after receiving so much money from us? You're so simple-minded."
I glared at him and said,
"I said sit down. Do you want me to expose this to your company?"
"And you think you'll get away with it?"
"What do I care? I don't even know if I'll win the bid."
Kim In-soo sat down at the table, his face pale.
"Which company bribed you?"
"W-what are you…"
"You were receiving a monthly allowance larger than your salary, and now you suddenly refuse to accept it. That means you have a new source of income. Which company is it? Which company dared to mess with my business?"
I pushed the recorder closer to him and said in a firm voice,
"So, which company is it? Do you really want to lose your job? Do you think I can't do it?"
Kim In-soo closed his eyes tightly and said,
"It's… all of them."
I was stunned.
"All of them? How is that possible? Only one company can win the bid. That doesn't make sense."
"Well…"