Yang Jeong-cheol, the governor of Yangseo County, had briefly dropped to his knees before I helped him back up. Now he looked at me with pleading eyes.
"CEO… if there is anything lacking in Yangseo County, please tell me. I will personally make sure it is improved."
His desperation was understandable.
For years, Yangseo County had suffered from a chronic lack of quality jobs for young people.
As a result, most young adults left the area once they came of age, moving to Seoul or nearby satellite cities in search of employment.
In fact, before Luktic was founded, Dong-sik had found a job in Seoul.And I myself had been preparing to look for work outside Yangseo as well.
This had long been a serious concern for the county.
Since Yangseo was a rural area, the exodus of young people only accelerated the aging of the local population.
The cycle had finally begun to change thanks to Luktic's factory.
Our massive plant had created thousands of jobs, and every single one of them offered top-level salaries within the industry.
Yangseo County's population was only about 100,000 people.
Given that scale, thousands of high-quality jobs naturally had a massive impact on the local economy.
Young people who would have moved to Seoul were now staying in Yangseo to work at Luktic. Others were even moving in from outside the region to join the company.
As a result, the local economy had begun to revive.
Real estate prices in the town center had even started rising noticeably.
Considering all of this, it wasn't hard to understand why Governor Yang was so desperate.
Naturally, he wanted Luktic's second factory to be built in Yangseo as well.
He might even be worried that someday we might relocate the first factory elsewhere.
But the decision had already been finalized internally.
The second factory would not be built in Yangseo.
At Luktic's current scale, putting all our eggs in one basket would be too risky.
So I decided to reassure him instead.
"Governor, the new factory will primarily produce goods for overseas export. Because of that, we've decided to build it in the Yeongnam region, closer to Busan Port. However, the first factory will continue operating in Yangseo, and if necessary we are willing to expand its facilities in the future. Please don't worry too much about that."
Governor Yang fell silent.
Busan Port handled 80% of South Korea's container exports, so placing an export-oriented factory in the Yeongnam region made obvious logistical sense.
He knew that as well, which left him unable to argue.
Strictly speaking, Luktic had no obligation to consider the governor's feelings.
But seeing a man old enough to be my father standing before me with such a dejected expression made me feel uneasy.
So I offered something else.
"Governor, please don't be too discouraged. After all, Luktic's research facilities are already being built in Yangseo."
His eyes widened slightly.
"At the moment it's only a few buildings, but I intend to gradually expand them into a large-scale research complex."
That was true.
Near the factory in Yangseo, construction of the Luktic Research Center was already underway.
Right now it consisted of only a few small buildings, but I planned to grow it into a world-class research hub.
"Using the technologies that allowed us to develop Elixir, the Skin Regeneration Agent, and the hair-loss treatment, Luktic will continue researching new products. The heart of that research will be the Luktic Research Center in Yangseo."
Hope suddenly returned to the governor's reddened eyes.
"Is… is that really true, CEO?"
"Yes. In the future we plan to bring leading Korean researchers to Yangseo. Eventually we may even invite renowned scholars from around the world to conduct large-scale research. One day, Yangseo County could become one of the major centers of scientific R&D in Korea."
"I see…! You were thinking on such a grand scale all along. I was too short-sighted to realize."
Even though he looked simple and humble, he was still a politician.
I could practically see the calculations running through his mind.
If Yangseo truly became home to a world-class research complex, it would become one of his greatest achievements as governor.
Perhaps it could even propel him toward a future run for the National Assembly.
Considering Luktic's track record and technological achievements so far, the idea wasn't unrealistic.
Governor Yang bowed deeply.
"CEO Hyun Si-woo… Yangseo County will do everything possible to support the construction and operation of Luktic's research facilities. If there is anything you need, please tell us anytime."
"Thank you. Once the research center is completed, Luktic's R&D department will begin relocating to Yangseo."
"Of course, CEO!"
With a much brighter expression, the governor finally left.
Later, I met with Dong-sik again and told him about the Busan mayor's proposal.
He seemed impressed.
"If it's Busan, transportation to the port will be much faster and cheaper. And they're even willing to upgrade infrastructure for shipping goods to the port. That's actually a very attractive offer."
I agreed.
"Exactly. Once the products are loaded onto container ships at Busan Port, Target will cover the shipping costs. Our only transport expense is moving the goods from the factory to the port. If we reduce that cost significantly, our profit margins will increase even further."
Dong-sik stared at me.
"CEO… our operating margin is already around 80%. How high are you trying to push it?"
I laughed.
"If it's 80% now, then we should work hard to make it 81%, 82%, and beyond."
Thanks to strong domestic pharmaceutical sales and exports to the United States, Luktic's cash reserves had already surpassed 1.5 trillion won.
For a company less than a year old, it was an almost unbelievable amount of capital.
Yet I was still thinking about reducing logistics costs and improving profit margins.
Dong-sik could only shake his head.
I later met with the Mayor of Busan again and informed him of our decision.
"We would like to build Luktic's second factory in Busan."
"CEO Hyun Si-woo, you've made an excellent choice! The city of Busan will mobilize every resource to support your business activities."
Soon afterward, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Busan City began reviewing the project.
The question was whether a massive factory could legally be built on the proposed site.
The conclusion came quickly.
There were no legal issues.
Part of the land had originally been designated as Greenbelt, but the President had decided to lift the restriction for Luktic's project.
Since the Ministry had the authority to designate or remove Greenbelt zones, the process was straightforward.
However, the lifting of the Greenbelt restriction would not be publicly announced until after the land purchase was complete.
Otherwise, speculators might attempt to buy land and hold it hostage for profit.
Even so, rumors would inevitably spread.
So we moved as quickly as possible.
The chosen site was a vast plain near Gimhae International Airport—part of the Gimhae Plain.
Since the Yangseo plant was already nearing its production limits, we immediately began acquiring land.
The area stretched roughly 1 kilometer east to west and 3 kilometers north to south.
Because the land was mostly unused Greenbelt farmland, owners readily agreed to sell when offered slightly above market price.
Within about a week, rumors began spreading that Luktic was purchasing massive amounts of land in the Gimhae Plain.
But by then, we had already secured most of the land we needed.
The total land acquisition cost was about 600 billion won.
That left us with 900 billion won in remaining capital.
Most of it would be invested in building the new factory.
After all, Luktic's products and pharmaceuticals carried profit margins exceeding 80–90%.
There was little risk of cash-flow problems.
Our goal was simple:
Build the factory as quickly as possible to meet exploding global demand.
Once the land purchases were complete, we applied for construction approval.
The permit was granted in just one week.
Dong-sik stared at the documents in disbelief.
"What…? Why did approval come this fast? I mean, it's good, but this seems too fast. Isn't the government pushing too hard?"
Even ordinary factory approvals typically took three to four months.
Yet this enormous project covering several square kilometers had been approved in one week.
Regardless, approval was approval.
Construction began immediately.
Dong-sik and I took the KTX down to Busan to inspect the site.
The Gimhae Plain stretched toward the horizon.
And on one side of it, massive foundation work had already begun.
The future site of Luktic's Second Factory.
"Dong-sik… are you really confident you can lead this project?"
"Yes," he replied calmly. "My job is to hire experts and oversee the entire project. I've learned a lot from Daesung Group's consultants. I'll prove that Luktic can handle things independently."
He had clearly learned a great deal during the previous factory project.
And considering how much he had contributed during Luktic's early days, I trusted him.
Together we looked out over the vast construction site stretching toward the horizon.
Soon, this place would produce goods not only for the United States, but for countries all over the world.
Luktic's global expansion was about to begin.
Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the minister was reviewing a report from the Tourism Policy Bureau.
His eyes widened as he read the data.
"This… it increased this much?"
"Yes, Minister."
"Could it be… Luktic?"
"Yes. According to our analysis, that is the cause. The Ministry of Health confirmed it as well."
"Incredible… I must inform the President immediately after tomorrow's cabinet meeting."
The minister stared at the charts again and again, as if he could hardly believe what he was seeing.