“I heard that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport included DS Heavy Industries in the support group they are sending to South America this time.”
Jinhyuk Park leaned back deep into the sofa to listen to Hisoo Hyun more comfortably.
Hisoo Hyun leaned slightly forward toward Jinhyuk and continued. “The support group was sent to secure SOC business rights in South America.”
“SOC projects? If it is SOC, shouldn’t construction companies be the ones going?”
“I thought so as well, but for now, I don’t think it’s anything special since the local construction companies specifically requested DS Heavy Industries’ participation.”
“Why would local construction companies request DS Heavy Industries?”
“They claim it is to purchase the heavy equipment produced by DS Heavy Industries needed for construction. However, anyone can see that is just an excuse, and in truth, other rumors are circulating.”
“Other rumors?”
“I heard that DS Heavy Industries joined the support group to participate in power plant projects.”
At those unexpected words, Jinhyuk wore a bewildered expression. The statement was so absurd that he didn’t even know how to react. Jinhyuk’s eyes widened as he asked Hisoo Hyun, “Power plant projects? Is DS Heavy Industries even capable of building a power plant?”
“As far as I know, it’s impossible. Whether it’s nuclear or thermal power plants, it requires an accumulation of technology. The market is structured such that companies that have already preoccupied it monopolize the field, making it impossible for a new company to enter. That is why the news of their sudden participation in power plant construction was a surprise to me as well.”
Jinhyuk now understood why Hisoo Hyun had remained silent and waited for Kim Jeong-jin to leave earlier. It was certain that while holding onto news like this, no other conversation would have registered in his mind.
‘Power plants… power plants… Just what kind of power plant project are they participating in? It wouldn’t be a solo venture…’
“It is a consortium, but I heard most of the companies involved will participate as financial investors. And the entity that will actually execute the power plant project will be DS Heavy Industries.”
“That makes no sense… Is that true?”
“It is true. I am currently gathering as much information as possible, but I still do not understand in what format they intend to participate in the power plant business.”
Jinhyuk leaned back, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Hisoo Hyun. It didn’t seem likely that Hisoo had been misinformed. Knowing him, he would have verified the facts several times because it was such an unbelievable story. He would have only told Jinhyuk once he was absolutely certain.
If so, it was certain that DS Heavy Industries was participating in the power plant business. However, he couldn’t even imagine how they were doing it. It wasn’t something he could just vaguely accept and move past; something felt suspicious.
“I discovered this information while checking the list of names for next month’s support group, which included the President of DS Heavy Industries. It seems that even within DS Heavy Industries, this matter is being kept strictly secret. Even the top-level executives know nothing about it.”
Jinhyuk crossed his arms and lowered his head, sinking into thought. After thinking for a long time, he spoke to Hisoo Hyun. “Is this related to Kang Man-sik?”
“It doesn’t seem to be entirely unrelated. When the Ministry was forming the support group, the initial rumors did not include DS Heavy Industries.”
“Then?”
“They were included after the talk of the engagement came out.”
Jinhyuk nodded at Hisoo’s words. It seemed this was the reason Junman Park had chosen Kang Man-sik’s son, Kang Do-hyun, as his son-in-law.
‘Perhaps the Chairman wanted to pair Seo-eun with Kang Man-sik’s son from the beginning.’
“Excuse me? What do you mean by that?”
“It was too strange. It was just too strange.”
When Seyoung Oh used tens of billions of won worth of DS Telecom’s artworks to support West Air, there was no way Junman Park wouldn’t have known. Even if that amount of money was at a level Junman Park could overlook, Jinhyuk thought the Chairman would have found her behavior insolent.
Considering how Junman had sent warnings to Jinhyuk just for doing things he didn’t like, he should have warned Seyoung Oh and made her behave more carefully. However, he hadn’t shown any such movement, and even when Jinhyuk brought the artwork issue to the surface, Junman Park hadn’t taken any action.
Then, he had suddenly paired Park Seo-eun with Kang Man-sik’s son, even creating an opportunity to wrap the whole matter up. No matter how much he thought about it, this was a choice Junman Park would only make if there was something to be gained from Kang Man-sik by using Park Seo-eun.
And Hisoo Hyun was now providing the answer to that thought. Jinhyuk didn’t uncross his arms as he stared intently at Hisoo Hyun and said, “Then let me change the question. We all know the fact that DS Heavy Industries currently lacks the internal technology to participate in power plant projects. If so, what ways are there for them to join the business?”
Hisoo Hyun fell into thought for a moment at Jinhyuk’s question. It was a subtle question that didn’t have an easy answer. Jinhyuk waited patiently for Hisoo to finish his thoughts. After waiting for quite a while, Hisoo finally spoke.
“There is only one possibility.”
“What is it?”
“Acquiring a company capable of building power plants is the only way.”
Jinhyuk nodded at Hisoo’s words. Just as he said, it was the simplest and most certain answer.
“Nuclear power is being phased out globally, so it won’t be that… Tidal? Thermal? Hydro?”
“A combined cycle power plant is the most likely. For the others, the cost of building a plant that produces the level of power the government wants is significantly higher. Since the construction cost for combined cycle power plants is lower than other types, that’s likely the one.”
“A combined cycle power plant… By any chance, are there any related companies currently up for sale?”
“As of now, there are no likely candidates. In the private sector, most are held by energy-related conglomerates. But those places…”
Hisoo was about to say there was no possibility, but he stopped and stared at Jinhyuk. He wore an expression as if something had just occurred to him.
“What is it?”
“There might be a possibility.”
“What kind of possibility?”
“The possibility of a company coming onto the market. Generally, energy-related businesses have solid financial structures and profitability, so they aren’t usually subject to sale. But that was the story until now.”
“Until now?”
“Yes. With oil prices currently on a downward trend, the profitability of energy companies has deteriorated significantly. Especially in the case of a subsidiary within a group that is deeply linked to refining-related businesses, they might consider a sale due to large operating losses.”
“Is that so? You’re saying he even had that in mind?”
Jinhyuk was once again surprised by Junman Park. Since he hadn’t worked by his side and Junman spent a large portion of the year overseas, Jinhyuk had simply thought of him as someone who sat atop a well-functioning group and sought only stability. That was why he thought Junman felt uneasy about any aggressive business ventures Jinhyuk undertook.
But perhaps the image Junman Park had shown until now was different from what Jinhyuk had imagined.
‘Maybe he expressed dissatisfaction with my actions because he was worried I would ruin the picture he was painting by interfering.’
“Look into it. I understand the general flow now.”
“Yes, sir. I will have an answer for you before the groundbreaking ceremony for the data center.”
Hisoo Hyun bowed to Jinhyuk and left the office.
***
Contrary to Hisoo Hyun’s expectations, he wasn’t able to get any information before the data center’s groundbreaking ceremony. In the meantime, the contract support group led by the Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport visited four South American countries.
The Ministry supported the companies from behind the scenes so that Korean construction firms and public enterprises could win large-scale projects taking place in South America. The Ministry’s support group was able to achieve noticeable results while traveling through the continent.
They signed an MOU for the business rights of a large-scale railway industry in South America, including Brazil, and also laid the groundwork for domestic construction companies to participate in projects creating South American landmarks.
Amidst these continuous reports, news that caught Jinhyuk’s ear also arrived.
[South Korea Wins Large-Scale Power Plant Project Rights in Brazil]
Since the Ministry’s support group hadn’t returned to Korea yet, detailed news hadn’t been shared. However, breaking news arrived first, stating that Korea had secured the rights for a massive power plant project Brazil was planning.
Because of this news, the market began to go wild. Related stocks hit their upper limits just by being mentioned, and those in the industry were on high alert, trying to figure out where the work would flow from.
Consequently, at the groundbreaking ceremony for DS Telecom’s data center, most of what Jinhyuk heard along with the congratulations were stories about the Brazilian power plant.
“Congratulations, CEO. Perhaps because you are young, you seem to conduct business with very aggressive investments.”
“Yes, thank you. I thought being aggressive where possible would be a good thing.”
Unlike Jinhyuk, who intended to continue the conversation, the other person immediately changed the subject. “By the way, CEO. Didn’t DS Heavy Industries also participate in the Ministry’s support group this time?”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Then have you heard anything particular?”
Most of the conversations Jinhyuk had at the groundbreaking ceremony went like this. After starting with congratulations for building the data center, they eventually shifted to asking for news about the support group that had left for South America.
“Well, I am not very familiar with that side of the business.”
“Still, with the Chairman away, aren’t you the one overseeing the overall affairs of the group? If there is any good news, please share it with us.”
“Hahaha. Did you come here to celebrate today’s ceremony, or did you come because you wanted to hear about South America?”
“I apologize. I was so curious that I seem to have committed a discourtesy.”
“It’s fine. I am just as curious as you are.”
Jinhyuk nodded, accepted the apology, and moved to another spot. However, even in the new spot, the stories he heard were exactly the same. Furthermore, he even heard the same thing from the side of Dongjeong Industries, which was in charge of the data center construction.
“Why was DS Heavy Industries included in the support group?”
Even Jinhyuk’s aunt, who had previously said she wouldn’t attend the ceremony, had come to find him and ask. Jinhyuk looked at her and said, “I am the CEO of DS Telecom. How would I know about the affairs of DS Heavy Industries?”
“I heard the volume of the contracts won this time is substantial… railways, highways, and even subways. It seems they’ve secured projects worth anywhere from several trillion to tens of trillions. If you’ve heard anything, tell me.”
“Shouldn’t Dongjeong Industries know more about that part?”
“We couldn’t participate this time, so we don’t know much.”
Sunmyung Lee spoke about their failure to participate with confidence, as if she didn’t even feel embarrassed. Jinhyuk sighed and shook his head. Sunmyung Lee’s competence was at such a pathetic level that he thought it might be best to cut ties after using Dongjeong Industries to secure DS shares.
“So, do you know or not?”
“I don’t know. I am just as curious as you are.”
DS Heavy Industries had participated in a project where they had no reason to be involved, and projects they couldn’t even execute were being won. Jinhyuk was equally curious about why DS Heavy Industries had joined the group and what role they would play in the power plant business.
“Since you’ve made the difficult trip here today, I will make sure to attend when Dongjeong Industries has an event next time. Please return home safely, Aunt. I have work to do, so I must go elsewhere now.”
Jinhyuk turned away without even listening to Sunmyung Lee’s reply. He then looked around for Hisoo Hyun. Just then, Hisoo Hyun, who had been looking for an opportunity to meet him just like Jinhyuk, approached first.
“CEO.”
“How did it go?”
“Nothing is coming out at all. The outline of the business seems to be roughly visible, though. As expected, it seems Brazil plans to proceed with a project to build about ten combined cycle power plants. The scale of the project is at the 1,000 MW level, and they have set the estimated construction cost at about 700 million dollars per unit.”
“If it’s 700 million dollars per unit, does that mean the total project cost is 7 billion dollars?”
“Yes, it seems to be around that much.”
“That is substantial.”
“Since other countries including Peru have expressed their intention to participate later after seeing how things go in Brazil, the potential value looks to be over 7 billion dollars. It will likely boast the largest scale among the power plant projects being executed in South America.”
Jinhyuk nodded at Hisoo’s words. Generally, in the case of power plants, it was standard to release projects one by one, wait to see the results, and then add more. It was very rare for projects to be bundled together like this.
“I heard they plan to separate the construction and operation. So, after construction, a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation will handle the operations.”
“It’s no wonder the government was so determined to participate.”
“Yes. In the case of a power plant, the construction is important, but since the operating rights follow afterward, the government seems to have proceeded with the ambition to win the contract no matter what.”
“Not just the power plants, but the scale of the projects obtained while traveling through South America is incredibly large. Will they even be able to do it all? I heard the Brazil-Peru trans-continental railway construction is a 10 billion dollar project.”
“That’s not all. The Bogota subway project is also 7 billion dollars. There are even more highways. The projects won this time alone will easily exceed tens of billions of dollars.”
Jinhyuk looked at Hisoo Hyun quietly while listening to him. He didn’t care about the other projects. Only the power plant project, where DS Heavy Industries was expected to participate, held his interest. However, he felt something strange in the story.
“Is it even possible to do all of this? Doesn’t the scale make no sense? You are saying that projects worth tens of billions of dollars were handed over to a group led by a vice-minister without any bidding? Is this kind of thing normal? Or am I just thinking too much?”
Hisoo Hyun frowned upon hearing Jinhyuk’s words. It was such a simple question that even a child could have asked it. However, his eyes had been blinded by the fact that the contracts had been won, so he hadn’t been able to verify things properly. He had just been busy cheering, assuming the reports weren’t wrong.
Rather than being suspicious that the projects were exaggerated or not yet finalized, his desire to believe that they were true was greater. Hisoo Hyun brought his brows together and pursed his lips as he took a moment to organize his thoughts.