My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 445 Gossip
It was late at night, and the banquet had ended. In the lounge of the executive lounge, An Rusong sat on a soft and comfortable sofa, smoking a cigarette while watching the large-screen TV opposite him.

The show currently airing on TV is SBS's Wednesday-Thursday drama "On Air," which has been incredibly popular recently, achieving a viewership rating of over 23% across South Korea. This drama will undoubtedly further solidify screenwriter Kim Eun-sook's position as a writer.

Today, the show has aired its 24th episode. An Rusong doesn't like watching this kind of show, but in the Renwang Mountain villa, everyone, from Sun Manzhu and Li Caicao to even Rubin who only comes back on weekends, is obsessed with it.

"click"

Just as the TV series was coming to an end and the end credits were playing, the door to the dressing room was pushed open from the outside. Li Fuzhen, holding a bottle of "Baojia Shi" in one hand, walked in. She closed the door with her leg, then went straight to the single sofa to An Rusong's right. As she bent down to sit down, she raised the "Baojia Shi" in her right hand, waved it at An Rusong, and asked, "Want a bottle?"

An Rusong let out a soft sigh, sat up straight, and extended his hand to the other person.

“Mi-yeon went downstairs to see President Nam-ki and Minister Ma off, she’ll be right back up,” Li Fu-zhen said casually as she handed him a bottle of “Bao Jia Shi” and sat back down on the sofa.

"How did the talks go?" An Rusong stubbed out his cigarette and asked as he unscrewed the cap of his drink.

“It’s not a big problem,” Li Fuzhen said. “Both of you presidents are human. And as human beings, we like money. No matter what our political stance is, our human nature will never change. So, we’re not afraid of not being able to agree on a price. We’re just afraid that the other party won’t want to sit down and talk. Of course, being too greedy is also not good.”

"Baojiashi" is just a small bottle, similar to Red Bull in China. An Rusong unscrewed the cap, tilted his head back, and drank the whole bottle of beverage in one gulp.

"President Lee Byung-soon means that all the copyrights to works in KBS's copyright library can be sold to CieloTV in a package for the same price offered by LeTV: 38 billion won." Lee Boo-jin opened her bottle of beverage, took a small sip, then leaned back in her sofa chair, crossed her legs, and said.

An Rusong frowned and turned to look at the other person. When he was present earlier, Lee Nam-ki hadn't said that; Han Mi-yeon's asking price was 50 billion won. Lee Byung-soon was a bureaucrat; he might not be good at business, but as the seller, how could he voluntarily lower his price after the buyer had made an offer?

“We will pay the difference in price to Minister Ma in cash,” Lee Fu-chen continued. “Once Minister Ma receives the money, the relevant agreement can be signed.”

An Rusong suddenly realized that the 12 billion won in cash was essentially a kickback for the two CEOs Lee. As the head of the copyright cooperation department of KBS TV, Ma Jijian might also receive a portion, but certainly not much.

"Are there any cigarettes left? Give me one." Li Fuzhen finished her drink, leaned over to throw away the bottle, and asked An Rusong.

An Rusong didn't say anything. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it directly to the other person.

“President Lee Byung-soon is a smart man,” Lee Bo-jin said after lighting a cigarette. “He knows that he won’t stay in the position of president of KBS for long and may be purged in the future. So, it’s a smart choice to make as much money as possible while he has power.”

She paused, then continued, "I heard that after taking office, President Lee Byung-soon not only made sweeping personnel changes at KBS1, but also implemented many reforms to KBS Business, perhaps..."

As she was speaking, footsteps came from the direction of the door. Soon, the door, which had been slightly ajar, was pushed open from the outside, and a spirited Han Meiyan strode in.

"Ah, finally those guys are gone," she exclaimed as she stepped inside. "I talked myself hoarse dealing with them!"

As she spoke, she walked straight to the small bar in the corner of the lounge. "What are you talking about?"

“We’re saying our Chairman Han is very capable,” Lee Bo-jin joked with a smile. “She has the potential to be a strong woman. At least she can handle these bureaucrats at KBS with ease.”

"Don't say that," Han Meiyan said with a smile after pouring herself a glass of water at the bar counter and gulping it down to moisten her throat. "You don't know, when dessert was served, I was completely stunned when Lee Nam-ki said that LeTV was also in contact with KBS. Especially when he said those words, his face was so gloomy. Just by looking at his attitude, you could tell he wasn't interested in talking to us."

An Rusong smiled. The situation was indeed as Han Meiyan had described. Lee Nam-ki had an overbearing demeanor, as if he had no intention of continuing the discussion on this issue. Someone lacking experience would easily be intimidated by him. In reality, An Rusong wasn't a seasoned negotiator either. The reason he wasn't intimidated was simply because he wasn't afraid of the other party. Moreover, An Rusong was different from Han Meiyan. The latter needed Lee Nam-ki's approval on the online rights transaction for KBS works, while the former also needed this, but the problem was that he knew Lee Nam-ki couldn't stop this deal.

Don't even mention that Lee Nam-ki is just the vice president of KBS TV station. Above him is President Lee Byung-soon. Even if this guy really is the president of the TV station, so what? An Rusong can naturally find connections to force the other party to make concessions.

“That’s just a bargaining tactic,” Li Fuzhen interjected. “It’s just that this guy comes from a bureaucratic background and lacks negotiation skills; he only knows how to use his power to intimidate people.”

Han Mi-yeon wholeheartedly agreed with this statement. The reason she was initially taken aback by Lee Nam-ki's imposing manner was because she knew one thing: Lee Nam-ki was the vice president of KBS, a state-owned television station whose funding came from government appropriations, not its own operations. Therefore, Lee Nam-ki didn't care about the station's profits, because his performance wasn't judged by the station's profitability.

In this situation, if this guy has enough control, he could actually sabotage the deal.

Compared to Lee Nam-ki, CieloTV's options are very limited. Despite Ahn Yeo-song's seemingly assertive attitude at the dinner table, which made it sound like CieloTV didn't care about KBS's copyright holdings, things could actually become very complicated if CieloTV failed to acquire KBS.

Fortunately, everything turned out alright, and the copyright library of KBS was eventually acquired.

“That’s right,” Han Meiyan said as she sat down next to An Rusong. She placed her water glass on the coffee table in front of her before continuing, “This guy speaks so righteously, but in the end, doesn’t he still take a kickback? A whole 12 billion won. I bet at least 5 million won will go into his pocket.”

500 million Korean won is less than 3 million yuan. In An Rusong's opinion, these two presidents Lee were not actually that greedy.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore," An Rusong patted his thighs twice and stood up from the sofa. "The banquet is over, and you've achieved your goal, so I'll head back now. As for what happens next, I won't get involved."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Fuzhen stood up with him and said, "I still have something I want to ask you."

An Rusong turned to look at her, his eyes filled with questions.

"I heard that the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Association has decided to remove Eom Ki-yong from his position as president and appoint Kim Jae-cheol as the new president. Is this news true?" Lee Bo-jin asked.

Eom Ki-yong is the current president of MBC. Previously, an MBC news program exposed the news that Lee Min-bok had signed a beef import agreement between South Korea and the United States, causing considerable trouble for the Blue House. As a result, President Eom Ki-yong was also blacklisted by the Blue House. An Ru-song knew very well that this guy would probably be removed from his position as president soon.

The situation at MBC differs somewhat from that at KBS. KBS has a board of directors, essentially a shareholders' meeting. Because no single controlling shareholder holds an absolute majority of shares, the selection of the president requires a board meeting to discuss the matter. The removal of Jung Won-joo was decided after such a board meeting.

As for MBC, one of its shareholders holds an absolute majority of shares, namely the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Association, which Lee Boo-jin mentioned. This is a government department, similar to a public institution in China. Therefore, replacing President Eom Ki-yong would not be as complicated as it was for KBS. The Blue House only needs to exert some administrative pressure on the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Association.

As for Kim Jae-cheol, An Rusong also knew him. This guy had a close relationship with Lee Min-bo, and the two had a very good personal relationship. Of course, not many people knew this. To the outside world, Kim Jae-cheol always presented himself as a scholar and policy critic.

"I don't know, I haven't received any information about this," An Rusong said after thinking for a moment in response to Li Fuzhen's question.

He genuinely didn't know about it. Although he had a close relationship with Li Minbo and Bai Jinjun, he wasn't one of their official staff members. It was impossible for the latter two to inform him in advance about such sensitive personnel appointments.

However, An Rusong also knew why Li Fuzhen asked that question, because for some time now, Kim Jae-cheol had been speaking out for KBS, criticizing the Blue House for replacing Jung Won-joo as an interference with press freedom.

Now, the sudden news that Kim Jae-cheol will become the president of MBC television station is probably surprising to everyone.

(End of this chapter)