Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Once the realtor finished his sales pitch, a lady asked a question.

“How much is it per pyung?”

“It’s 1 million won per pyung. That’s the price if you buy now. After a few days, the price will go up.”

“You said it is a farmland. It’s very expensive for a farmland.”

“Look at the area. The way the land is used can be changed. Do you know what would happen once this land is reclassified? I don’t think you know.”

“What would happen?”

The ladies swallowed their saliva.

“Since it is a riverside area, you can build a motel or a beautiful café. You can rent it out and let it generate income for your retirement.”

The three women blinked their eyes. It seemed like they were picturing a cozy café or a motel on the land inside their heads.

Ordinary people seemed to be very interested in the riverside land.

The realtor’s office was busy answering phone calls.

“Whether there is a land on the market? Not yet. There is one but someone is talking with our realtor about the land right now.”

“A land on the market? Why don’t you come and consult our realtor? I am with a client right now and I gotta go.”

The ladies were discussing about the land.

“Did you see all the phone calls we are receiving right now? The land that’s available today might not be available tomorrow.”

“I am a resident of Seoul. Is it possible for me to buy a farmland here? I was told that in order to buy a farmland, I have to submit some kind of plan for the use of the land.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. If you make a provisional contract for the land today, I will explain everything to you about it.”

“How much do you require for a provisional contract?”

“As you know, for a contract, 10% of the land’s price is required. However, I can’t ask the landowner to come to the office right now to make the contract, so 10 million won will do for now. And the land will be on hold for you.”

“Okay then, we will take all those three lots.”

The ladies were probably wealthy. They looked generous and merciful like Buddha. Moreover, they seemed to be benevolent just like Liu Bei in the Chinese historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. One lady opened her designer bag and pulled out checks.

The realtor looked at Gun-Ho.

“I can give you a call once another land appears on the market. Leave your business card with me.”

“I don’t have a business card.”

A frown appeared on his forehead when Gun-Ho said he didn’t have a business card. He handed a piece of paper to Gun-Ho and said,

“You can leave your number here.”

Gun-Ho thought he could get a lot of spam calls once he gave his number to him, but he couldn’t tell him he didn’t want to leave his number. After he left his number with the realtor, Gun-Ho walked out of the office.

“Those ladies will eagerly look forward to MB’s election. If their husbands are either a university professor, a pastor or are working in the media, their husbands will try so hard to have MB get elected. Those civic organizations that are opposing the Four Major Rivers Project, Min-Ho Kang and the female journalist, can they beat those people?

Gun-Ho thought about these things while driving back to Seoul.

After his trip to Yeoju City, Gun-Ho thought about the Four Major Rivers Project all day long every single day.

The wallpaper pattern on the ceiling looked like a flowing river. He once dreamed about a field of reeds around the four rivers. Gun-Ho opened an early morning newspaper.

“The Four Major Rivers Project is hitting the news every day. The newspaper is covered with it.”

Gun-Ho read every single news and articles on the newspaper meticulously. After he was done with the newspaper, he started thinking again.

“Those ladies who bought the riverside land in Yeoju City probably have rich husbands, so they can just go around and shop for lands like a hobby or something. But I can’t. Not just yet.”

One of the reasons why Gun-Ho couldn’t easily decide to acquire a land now was that he couldn’t afford to have his money tied up in a land. Unless he had a job or a business that generated income, he wouldn’t be able to use a significant amount of his money into a long-term investment like the ladies did—who bought the land in Yeoju.

“Then what should I do?”

Gun-Ho walked around in his room with his arms crossed.

He couldn’t come up with any good ideas. He thought of the weir that the realtor mentioned. A weir is a barrier built to control the flow of the river’s water.

“Building a weir in a stream should not be so difficult while building a weir in a river with a strong current would involve a large scale construction and it takes a long time to complete.”

Gun-Ho thought of what Chairman Lee told him about the Four Major Rivers Project earlier.

“Do you think MB will be elected? If so, will he do the Four Major Rivers Project? If so, who would benefit the most from the project?”

Gun-Ho walked around again in his room with his arms crossed.

“The first beneficiary must be the landowners around the river, and… Oh, my gosh!”

An idea flashed across Gun-Ho’s mind. A light bulb went on over his head.

“That’s it! It’s dredging construction!”

Gun-Ho went over on what Chairman Lee said about Major Rivers Project once again.

‘Do you think MB will be elected?’

“He will likely be elected. The economy was not doing well right now, so the electorate was leaning toward MB who used to be a CEO of a big company. Their hopes were high. Additionally, his opponent—Dong-Young Jeong—was not very popular.”

‘If so, will he deliver on the Four Major Rivers Project promise?’

“He will certainly do it. He had a good experience with his previous renewal project with Cheonggyecheon. It was a success, so he will definitely do it again without hesitation.”

‘If so, who would benefit the most from the project?’

“It will be the landowner around the four rivers, and the people who will participate in the project—the construction companies. He wouldn’t select Hyundai Construction for the project though because he once worked there so the public will suspect the connection between the two. I should put aside those big construction companies. Mid-sized construction companies will be selected. Which one of those has experience with dredging construction or industrial plant construction?”

He narrowed down the list of construction companies that would be possibly selected to participate in the Four Major Rivers Project to those mid-size companies with experience of dredging or industrial plant construction. Gun-Ho started searching on the Internet.

“Investing in real estate is a good option for me, but investing in stocks related to the project is good as well. The people who have money make more money. I have more than 1.1 billion won. I don’t want my money tied up in a real estate. Stocks can be easily liquidated, so investing in stocks is a better option for me. If I use my 1.1 billion won in investing in stocks, I can easily recover the loss incurred by my earlier QM Steel stock investment.”

Gun-Ho started searching on the Internet enthusiastically.

“I have to find the construction companies who will likely participate in the Four Major Rivers Project!”

He was already late.

Two strong KOSDAQ registered candidates—EE-HWA Construction and Samok-Jeong Company—became popular already among little investors. (Sammok-Jeong Company is now Sammok S-Form)

EE-HWA Construction was an industrial plant construction company, and Sammok-Jeong Company manufactured construction molding.

“Sh*t, these people are so quick. EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company were not this popular before.”

Gun-Ho observed the trading volume of those two companies’ stocks and verified whether foreigners and institutional investors purchased their stocks.

“The trading volume has been increasing, and their stock prices are above the 20-day moving average! Should I get in now? There is still time until the presidential election.”

Gun-Ho sighed and mumbled while closing his eyes. He then looked into a blank space. He could only think of EE-HWA Construction and Samok-Jeong Company right now. He didn’t even hear the delivery man who was ringing the doorbell of his office-tel.