Three black sedans rolled into the yard of the Manyoung Machinery factory in Pyeongtaek, their engines rumbling heavily.
Sitting comfortably in the plush backseat, Seok-won turned his head toward the window. The sight outside was bleak and desolate.
[Oppose restructuring!]
[Stop layoffs that destroy families immediately!]
[Fight to the death!]
Red-lettered banners were strung up all over the factory buildings.
It was an all-too vivid reflection of the IMF era's bitter reality—crippling debt had brought the group to the brink of bankruptcy, leading to layoffs, strikes, and now even the sale of the company.
The motorcade came to a halt in front of the administration building. Han Ji-sung, who was seated up front, quickly stepped out and opened the rear door.
Stretching his long legs, Seok-won emerged from the car in his perfectly tailored suit. A middle-aged man with graying hair strode briskly toward him and bent at the waist in a sharp ninety-degree bow.
"Welcome, President."
The man, dressed in a worn work jumper, was Executive Director Lee Gwang-yeol—a fixture of Manyoung Machinery with over twenty-five years' service.
After the acquisition, the entire former management team, which had ties to Hansan Group chairman Lim Jong-myeong, had been dismissed. Lee was the sole survivor.
'They said he was highly capable, deeply loyal to the company, and—most importantly—respected by the employees.'
Recalling the details he had read in Lee Cheol-gyun's report, Seok-won smiled and extended a hand first.
"Glad to finally meet you. You must be Executive Director Lee Gwang-yeol."
Taking Seok-won's hand with both of his, Lee kept bowing repeatedly, as if overwhelmed with gratitude.
"Yes, that's me. Please, feel free to speak casually."
"Shall I? Well, you're right—now that we're family, there's no need for formality."
With that, Seok-won exchanged quick handshakes with several other executives who had come out to greet him.
Each of them wore the same tightly wound expression, tense with the worry of leaving the wrong impression on the company's new owner.
"Where are the labor union representatives?"
When Seok-won glanced around and asked the question, Executive Director Lee Gwang-yeol answered with a troubled look.
"Well… they're waiting in the conference room. They've been furious ever since the last strike was forcibly dispersed… I'm ashamed you have to meet them for the first time under such circumstances."
Worried that his words might have offended him, Lee spoke carefully. But Seok-won gave a faint laugh, brushing it off like it was nothing.
"Of course they wouldn't feel kindly about it. Forcefully breaking up their strike with state power before even attempting dialogue—how could there not be resentment? Even if it wasn't us who did it."
"…"
"Then let's head straight to the conference room."
Relieved that Seok-won showed no displeasure, Lee quickly gestured forward.
"This way, sir. I'll guide you."
With Lee leading, Seok-won began walking. Executives Yoon Ki-hoon and Yoo Hyun-seok followed quietly behind.
Inside the spacious conference room.
Union representatives, their foreheads tied with red headbands, sat stiffly on one side of the long table, expressions grim.
"It's obvious what they'll say. They'll start with how bad the company's situation is and jump straight into layoffs talk. That's why we can't let ourselves look soft."
Everyone nodded firmly at the declaration.
"To those office-necktie types, we might just be numbers on a page. But for us, this is about our livelihoods. We have to fight to the very end."
"That's right."
"Just because your name didn't appear on the dismissal list this time doesn't mean you're safe. If we accept these layoffs, who knows when we'll be the next to go?"
"Exactly."
"Those bastards are more than capable of doing just that!"
Thus, on the eve of their first face-to-face with the company's new owner, the union members steeled their resolve together.
And then—the door opened.
Executive Director Lee Gwang-yeol entered, guiding Seok-won into the conference room.
"…"
"…"
The air tightened with silence as both sides sized each other up.
The union representatives fell silent all at once, as if by prior agreement.
Even with Seok-won walking into the room, not one of them rose from their chairs. They simply sat rigidly in place, maintaining a frigid, thorn-lined silence.
It was an obvious attempt at a test of wills. Watching this, Executive Director Yoon Ki-hoon and Division Head Yoo Hyun-seok frowned faintly, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, the Manyoung Machinery executives, including Lee Gwang-yeol, shifted uneasily, glancing toward Seok-won for some reaction.
Unable to contain himself, Lee finally barked sternly at the union side.
"The new president is here—you would greet him properly, if you have any manners at all!"
At that, Union Chairman Yoon Dong-hyeon—his hair shaved close, a thick beard covering his face—leaned back in his chair with defiant slouch and spoke.
"The company might have been sold, but we have yet to recognize that man as this company's president."
"That's right!"
"From the start, the sale was carried out with no say from us whatsoever."
The union reps rallied beside their chairman, their hostility laid bare.
"These people…"
Lee was left speechless, stunned by how much more antagonistic they were than he had anticipated.
But Seok-won, as though he'd expected exactly this, placed one hand lightly on Lee's shoulder and reassured him in a calm voice.
"It's alright."
His gentle smile at that moment made Lee almost gasp in admiration.
This young man was about the same age as his eldest son, yet he carried himself with a self‑assured composure that seemed to belong to a completely different world.
Born with a diamond spoon in his mouth as a chaebol heir… and yet they say he struck it rich on his own in the U.S., becoming a Wall Street heavyweight at such a young age. No wonder his presence feels different.
As Lee was thinking this, Seok-won stepped forward, letting his gaze sweep over the union representatives across the table. His eyes finally came to rest on their chairman. Then, in a voice not loud but razor‑clear, he spoke.
"You mentioned just moments ago that you didn't want the company sold. But that was nothing more than the wish of the employees, wasn't it?"
"…What did you just say?"
"A group like Hansan, drowning in 6.35 trillion won in debt and standing on the verge of bankruptcy—don't you all know that, to keep the group afloat and preserve its name, they had no choice but to sell off four core affiliates, including Manyoung Machinery?"
At this, one of the union leaders shot up angrily.
"That was the result of the group's executives mismanaging everything! Why should the rank‑and‑file employees bear the cost of their failures?"
His outburst drew nods of agreement from the others.
Seok-won, however, only shrugged, unaffected.
"True, the financial crisis was an unpredictable shock. But it's equally true that Chairman Lim Jong-myeong's reckless management drove the group to this ruin."
"…"
The union representatives were caught off guard. They had never expected Seok-won, of all people, to seemingly acknowledge their accusations. Their faces betrayed their confusion.
The executives of Manyoung Machinery, including Lee Gwang-yeol, reacted with the same astonishment, their eyes fixed on him with incredulity.
Only Han Ji-sung and the others who had come along with Seok-won displayed calm familiarity, as though this was entirely typical behavior for him.
In that instant, Seok-won had seized the lead in the conversation—and he did not stop there.
"But unfortunately," he continued smoothly, "even if we assign responsibility for the group's collapse squarely on its executives, that doesn't mean we can avoid large-scale restructuring. Without it, the entire group would have sunk into bankruptcy. If the Rothschild Fund affair hadn't exploded and the sales had proceeded as planned, what do you think would have become of Manyoung Machinery?"
The union representatives' faces hardened, but none of them could produce an answer.
Seok-won continued, as though simply voicing the obvious.
"Most likely, it would have been broken apart—business divisions split up, factories carved away, and sold piece by piece. That's the standard hedge fund playbook for selling faster and at a higher price."
"W-what?"
"That can't be…"
The shocking revelation shook them visibly. Eyes wide, they turned toward Executive Director Lee Gwang-yeol beside Seok-won, silently demanding confirmation.
Lee let out a faint sigh before confessing the truth he had long concealed.
"The Rothschild Fund deal collapsed, but… yes. In fact, at the group level there had already been discussions about selling the Gyeongju plant to France's Valeo in order to reduce the debt."
"What?!"
"You can't be serious…"
"They were planning something that huge behind our backs, without a single word of consultation? Outrageous!"
The discovery that their factory's fate had been secretly negotiated without so much as informing them left the union leaders both shocked and furious.
"I was against the sale," Lee admitted, bowing his head in shame, "but Rothschild's side pressed so hard there was nothing we could do. I know it's too late now, but I have no words other than to say I'm sorry."
The union's Gyeongju plant representative slammed his fist on the conference table, jumping to his feet as he roared:
"Hah! If the company thought we'd obediently go along with selling off our factory, they're dead wrong. We'll take direct action to stop it!"
His defiant shout, veins straining in his neck, was echoed by his comrades.
"Damn right!"
"We'll fight to the bitter end!"
"We won't just sit here and take it!"
"That's right!"
As their angry voices swelled, Seok-won merely watched impassively. Then, in a level tone, he cut in:
"If you go on strike, state power will be summoned again—just like the last time. And you know what happened then."
"—!"
"There will be criticism, of course… but since it's already been done once, doing it a second time won't be very difficult. Not with the cover of the IMF crisis to justify it."
The memory of riot police pouring in and forcibly crushing their strike was still all too vivid. At once, the faces of the union representatives darkened.
No matter how fiercely they resisted, deep down they knew—they were the weaker side.
Especially in the IMF era, just as Seok-won had pointed out, workers were inevitably the most vulnerable. In order to survive, they had to work, and if there was no company willing to hire them, tomorrow was nothing but uncertainty.
A heavy silence fell over the conference room. Still glaring at Seok-won with eyes full of hostility, Union Chairman Yoon Dong-hyeon threw out a biting remark.
"So, because you bought the company whole instead of breaking it apart, we're supposed to be grateful, is that it?"
Even under such a sharp gaze, Seok-won's smile remained.
"No. I'm simply giving you the information you need to recognize the situation clearly."
He intended to move forward quickly toward normalizing the company, and for that, winning over the union was essential. But that didn't mean he would bend or make unlimited concessions.
As expected, the union's aggression had already lost some of its early fire. Spotting this, Seok-won responded with a relaxed composure.
"Then let's sit down and continue the rest of this discussion."
He pulled out the chair in front of him and sat. The others followed, resuming their seats around the table.
Leaning back comfortably, Seok-won fixed his steady gaze on Chairman Yoon across from him.
"As you know, I'm a businessman."
"…"
"That means I acquired Manyoung Machinery precisely because I judged it to be a solid company, with great potential for growth. But with labor-management relations in shambles, it'll be difficult to get this company back on track quickly—regardless of which side caused the problem."
Union Chairman Yoon Dong-hyeon gave a small nod.
"With layoffs and restructuring in the air, morale is already shaken. And now, with the company sold and a new owner stepping in, suspicion and unease only grow stronger. I can imagine you worry that, just as with the Rothschild Fund, the first thing I'll do is swing the axe of mass layoffs in the name of cutting costs."
The words struck home. It was as if he had read their innermost fears, and both Yoon and the other union leaders were caught off guard.
"Trust, once broken, is the hardest thing to rebuild. So naturally, suspicion will linger. Especially now that the company has been sold wholesale to another owner—if such doubts didn't exist, that would be even stranger."
Deliberately, Seok-won let his words hang in the air, letting the silence focus all eyes on him.
The union leaders, Yoon among them, listened now with sober, intent expressions.
"And in such situations," Seok-won resumed, "rather than a hundred empty words, sometimes the best way to build trust is with solid proof—on paper."
A tiny gesture of his hand, and Deputy Manager Han Ji-sung stepped forward, pulling documents from his briefcase and setting one down in front of each union leader.
Fingers interlocked casually atop the table, Seok-won continued speaking.
"If the employees stand with the new management and cooperate toward normalizing operations, I'm prepared to guarantee full retention of all jobs—with no layoffs—for at least five years. On top of that, the year-end bonuses from last year, which were withheld due to financial strain, will be paid retroactively."
"—!"
A collective gasp escaped the union leaders.