Byeon of a Korea Zinc start-up member

Byeon of a Korea Zinc start-up member

My uncle, who is currently in his mid-80s, is a founding member of Korea Zinc. An adult joined Youngpoong in his late 60s and moved from Youngpoong to Korea Zinc as a founding member in 1974. In other words, he moved to an affiliate. At that time, seven executives and employees from Youngpoong moved to Korea Zinc as a founding member, and uncle was one of them. Since then, my uncle has worked as a senior executive at Korea Zinc and retired 20 years ago.

While witnessing the recent Korea Zinc incident, I was most curious about the opinion of my uncle, a founding member of Korea Zinc and a long-term employee, but I was careful to contact him because he was old and in poor health. However, yesterday, I gathered my courage to call him.

It was my uncle's one voice.

"Considering Ulsan community, employees, minority shareholders, and the national economy as a whole, it is better to manage the company from the side that has grown the company into a global company for the past 50 years. It's been proven. And if Korea Zinc's technology is world-class, and it goes to a private equity fund, isn't it possible to sell it to anyone with money after management for a certain period of time?"

My uncle was very worried. He was worried because he said that the future of his old job, which was a founding member and spent nearly 40 years in the golden age of his life, was uncertain. Let's hear more from your uncle.

Choi had five sons, and only three of them participated in the management of Korea Zinc. The eldest son specialized in management, the other son in smelting technology, and the other son in metal. It was the will of the previous founder. This was effective. Through the proper division of roles and specialization between the two generation and three brothers, Korea Zinc has flourished and stood as the world's best company in smelting fields such as zinc and lead. In particular, it is not an exaggeration to say that Korea Zinc's smelting technology is the world's No. 1. This is actually a national technology. When industries such as secondary batteries become more important in the future, the importance of these technologies will increase even more..  

On the other hand, Youngpoong said that was not the case. Until the 1980s, Youngpoong was much larger, but it was later reversed by Goryeo Zinc. In other words, Korea Zinc stood tall as a global top company, but Youngpoong did not. Moreover, even though Youngpoong had limitations in growth due to geographical constraints of the Seokpo smelter (located in the mountains upstream of the Nakdong River) and various environmental regulations, it failed to come up with any alternative measures and relied only on Korea Zinc for waste treatment.

My uncle said that Choi Yoon-beom, the third-generation chairman, is not aware of the current chairman's management capabilities or personality because he only met him when he was a child. However, he said that from a meeting of Youngpoong and Koryo Zinc OB members, he is believed to be making American-style thinking (tickle studying in the U.S. when he was in middle school) and making relatively reasonable decisions.

Uncle also said the following about private equity funds.

Private equity funds usually have potential, but it is common to take over and resell the management rights of companies that fail to demonstrate their value due to poor management, and before this incident, Korea Zinc was not the case. Has there been a big problem with Korea Zinc's management so far? However, due to disagreements and conflicts in management decision-making between Choi and Jang, it is impossible to conclude from the standpoint of foreigners who do not know the inside story. However, the involvement of private equity funds from Jang's side is seen as an act of breaking the legacy and loyalty of the family for 50 years.
    
One last word.

When it comes to management, the union's noisy management paralyzes the management, and if there is a dispute over control in this way, it is never easy for the company to move forward. It would be an honor that is only hurtful, no matter which way it ends. The aftereffects will last very long. The Choi Chang, his employees, the community, and the nation suffered major internal injuries due to this incident. It was the last words of my uncle.

Add. It has nothing to do with my personal views.