American: Native Empire

“Really?”

“Do you think I’m lying? Just follow me.”

“Th-thank you!”

Kim Hyun-woo bowed his head to the guard. 

The guard grumbled as if he couldn’t understand, but he guided Kim Hyun-woo to the elevator as his duty.

‘This must be the headquarters of the Earth Industry Group.’

The exterior was very splendid, but the interior was neat and tidy. Even the elevator had its own style.

As Kim Hyun-woo admired the Earth Industry Group, he soon arrived at his destination.

Knock knock.

“I brought a guest.”

“Come in.”

And then a heavy door opened with a creak. 

Only then could Kim Hyun-woo see a thick box.

“Sit down. Do you want anything to drink?”

“…Water is enough for me.”

“I see.”

While water was served, they had a conversation. 

It was mostly about Kim Hyun-woo’s personal matters.

‘He was a student abroad.’

The thick box knew well about Joseon, the country where Kim Hyun-woo came from. 

There was nothing unfamiliar to him.

Soon after water and coffee were placed on the desk, they had a serious talk.

“So. You want to buy the radio that was shown at the conference?”

“Yes.”

“That’s why I called you. Why are you so desperate to buy a prototype? It’s not even a perfect product.”

Kim Hyun-woo couldn’t answer right away.

In fact, he already had a radio in his dormitory. 

He didn’t need an unfinished transistor radio to listen to radio broadcasts.

He had bought many new products as an early adopter, and even waited in line to buy some on the release day. 

But this was the first time he acted so recklessly.

Of course, he had thought about why he was doing this while he was begging in front of the headquarters.

That’s why he could answer the question.

“The transistor is something that Golden Lake made, so it must be amazing. He never made anything ordinary so far.”

“That’s true. The transistor is a great invention. It might even change the world.”

“Then I want it more. This prototype is the first product that Golden Lake made with transistors, right? And it’s a portable radio… I think it’s worth collecting.”

Kim Hyun-woo’s eyes burned with desire. 

The thick box nodded as if he agreed.

“I see what you mean. Well, I made a few more just in case, so I can sell you one.”

“Really?”

“Haha. Of course, the performance is not perfect. And as you said, it’s a valuable item, so you have to pay a fair price.”

“I have enough money!”

The price that the thick box offered was quite high, but Kim Hyun-woo didn’t hesitate to pay.

After the deal was done, Kim Hyun-woo asked something he was curious about.

“Then when will you sell the finished product?”

“Hmm. I can only say that it’s still under development. You said you’re graduating this year?”

“Yes. I have to go back to help my father’s business.”

“I’m afraid it won’t be released by then.”

“Hmm… It won’t be easy to get the product outside of Wakan Tanka, right?”

“That’s likely.”

The thick box had high expectations for the portable radio. 

He thought it would be very popular in the empire.

In that case, it would take a long time for it to be exported overseas.

“So I’m considering selling the license of the transistor radio abroad. If there’s a group in Joseon that buys the license, you might be able to get it sooner.”

“License…”

The thick box said it without any intention. 

But Kim Hyun-woo paid attention to the word license. 

And his mind started to spin.

‘A license for the transistor radio?’

In the empire, television broadcasts were active beyond radio, but many other countries were not ready yet. 

Joseon was no exception.

The most popular broadcasting medium in Joseon was radio.

Of course, because of the price and size of vacuum tube radios, they were not widely spread among the people.

What if a light and cheap transistor radio was made in this situation?

‘…It would surely be a hit.’

As he made up his mind, Kim Hyun-woo’s heart started to beat faster. 

He felt like this situation was like destiny.

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Kim Hyun-woo opened his mouth.

“What are the conditions for buying a license?”

“Huh? Are you interested in the license of the transistor radio?”

“Yes. As I told you, my father runs a group. If you tell me the conditions, I’ll talk to him.”

“Haha. I didn’t say it for that…”

It wasn’t a bad thing for the thick box either. 

As long as they met his requirements, selling a license would be profitable. 

He thought.

Anyway, the main target of the Earth Industry Group was the imperial citizens. 

Unlike other groups, the Earth Industry Group had grown only with the domestic market.

The radios made overseas would probably be sold overseas anyway.

So he had set some guidelines for the license price. 

The thick box told Kim Hyun-woo about it.

He didn’t know then. 

The impact of this meeting.

***

After that, Kim Hyun-woo returned to his dormitory.

He got scolded by the school for skipping classes without permission for a few days, but it didn’t affect his grades much since it wasn’t exam season.

Kim Hyun-woo diligently studied while also gathering information about transistors. 

He planned to persuade his father based on this.

Soon, it was summer vacation. 

Kim Hyun-woo flew to Manchuria as soon as the vacation started.

“What are you doing here? You should come home during vacation.”

That was the first thing Kim Chul-hwan said when he saw his eldest son, Kim Hyun-woo.

Kim Hyun-woo usually stayed in the empire even during vacation. 

He only came back when his father begged him.

But this time, he didn’t ask him to come back. 

He had visited Manchuria last winter vacation, and he had only one semester left, so there was no need.

“Well…”

Kim Hyun-woo explained everything that had happened to his father, Kim Chul-hwan. 

He also showed him the prototype he bought directly from the thick box.

“A transistor radio?”

“Yes. As you know, there are many houses that can’t afford a radio.”

“That’s true. Radio receivers are quite expensive.”

“But with this transistor, you can produce radios cheaper and lighter than vacuum tubes. This will surely be a hit in our country. It’s made by Golden Lake, so the potential of the transistor is certain.”

“That makes sense. If it’s developed by Golden Lake, I can trust it. A transistor radio… The Earth Industry Group is selling the license, right?”

“Yes. As you know, the Earth Industry Group focuses on the domestic market. They only want to sell the license to other countries.”

Kim Chul-hwan carefully read the conditions of the license contract that his son brought.

‘The conditions are not bad.’

Maybe because they were a big group, there were no toxic clauses in the contract. 

They seemed to have little interest in overseas markets, and just wanted to sell the license.

‘Imperial technology, and Golden Lake’s work. If we emphasize these points in marketing, it might sell well.’

There were many Joseon people who would die for anything imperial. Golden Lake was also a very famous person in Joseon.

And the radio was much lighter and cheaper than the existing ones.

Kim Chul-hwan smelled a strong scent of success. 

It was similar to when he started his first business in Manchuria.

***

Kim Chul-hwan’s Hansung Group was a big group that ranked fifth in construction contracts. 

This was possible thanks to the hot development fever in Manchuria.

But this was only achieved in the construction industry. 

On the other hand, producing and selling radio receivers was a completely different business.

“A radio? We barely have enough time to build buildings in Manchuria, and you want us to suddenly enter the radio market?”

“We can grow well enough as we are now. Why do we need to make radios…”

The executives’ opposition was understandable. 

Most of them were experienced people in construction.

Of course, not all of them were like that.

“I think it’s possible. Don’t we have a lot of reserve funds in our group?”

“What are you talking about? We decided to use that money to expand our construction scale!”

“We haven’t finalized that yet. And from what I’ve seen, the transistor radio has enough, no, more than enough competitiveness. This is not only likely to succeed, but if it does, it will bring us a lot of money that we can’t compare to now.”

“We’ve only been eating construction rice so far, and now you want us to make radios…!”

“Who says we have to eat construction rice forever?”

A heated debate ensued at the executive meeting over the transistor radio.

“What do you think, boss?”

In the end, the ball was passed to Kim Chul-hwan. 

The opinions of the executives were only references, and Kim Chul-hwan made the decision.

And after a long deliberation, Kim Chul-hwan came to a conclusion.

“We will enter the radio market. So contact the Earth Industry Group and buy the license.”

“…Understood.”

After that decision was made, Hansung Group moved busily.

“Thank you for selling us such a good technology license.”

“Haha. I hope luck is with your company.”

Hansung Group signed a license agreement with the Earth Industry Group on the same terms that Kim Hyun-woo had brought, and built a factory in Manchuria.

And they learned the transistor technology as agreed.

Kim Chul-hwan thought.

‘Now that we’ve started, we have to do it well. Make it as good as possible, and as cheap as possible!’

Hansung Group had always prioritized these two principles to get where they are now. 

Kim Chul-hwan didn’t think differently about radios.

‘The Joseon people are especially sensitive to prices right now. So let’s focus more on the price.’

To do that, he had to lower the production cost. 

He had already spent money on the license, so he needed it more.

‘Thankfully, Jin is messing up.’

The reason why Manchuria was so quickly activated was largely due to the situation of Jin, one of the ten countries that split China.

Jin was a country that bordered Manchuria. 

But the politics of this country were extremely corrupt. 

Corruption was common, and taxes were murderous.

The king and the powerful indulged in luxury and pleasure with the money borrowed from the empire and the taxes they collected. 

As a result, the country’s economy was in shambles, and the people couldn’t afford to eat.

Because of that, the streets were full of violence and robbery. 

In the end, their only choice was to escape.

The most common place they fled to was obviously another Chinese country, but there were also many who headed to Manchuria. 

Joseon was more affluent than other countries.

Manchuria grew faster with their cheap labor. 

That was why the labor cost in the north of Joseon was cheaper than in the south.

Kim Chul-hwan planned to use them to gain price competitiveness.

Of course, he also paid a lot of attention to quality. 

He hired a lot of students from the empire and worked hard on product development based on the license.

And around the same time as the Earth Industry Group released the transistor radio, Hansung Group also launched their product.

The result was a huge success. 

When the demand for radios was increasing, the cheap and portable radios were chosen by consumers.

In just one month after launch, nearly 40,000 transistor radios were sold.

It was a jackpot.