WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Second Life of the Trade King ◈
Chapter 24: Canadian Hard Wheat (2)
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Daeseong Fisheries & Produce International Grain Division Manager Jeong Tae-seok stood beside the OHP projector and took a moment to steady their breathing.
When a junior employee carefully placed the first transparency on the projector, a neatly drawn color chart of Daeseong Fisheries & Produce’s business structure appeared on the screen.
It showed how the company’s three branches, Busan Port ship provisioning, seafood distribution, and grain imports, worked together within a single company.
Pointing to the materials, Jeong Tae-seok began the presentation in English.
“Daeseong Fisheries & Produce is a company with comprehensive business capabilities based in Busan. Building on thirty years of expertise in seafood distribution, we operate an integrated trading model that combines grain imports with ship provisioning at Busan Port. Therefore, when Canadian wheat arrives in Korea, we can handle everything consistently within one company, from receiving it at the dock to domestic distribution.”
When the junior employee switched to the next transparency, a flowchart of Daeseong’s Busan Port receiving system appeared on the screen.
Color-coded arrows ran from the docks to warehouses, then from the warehouses to clients.
“I believe CWB’s greatest concern in the Korean market is the stability of domestic distribution after receiving the cargo. Even when a general trading company brings Canadian wheat into Korea, the current structure divides the logistics and distribution needed to get that wheat to Korean flour mills and food companies. Daeseong resolves the weaknesses of that fragmented structure within one company.”
The presentation was calm and logical.
However, near the end of the materials, Jeong Tae-seok added one more remark.
“Of course, there is also a small company in the Korean grain market that has secured an Australian line. However, it is a new company that began in the Busan Port ship provisioning business. It lacks the scale to handle a major market like Canada. CWB should choose a proven partner that can establish itself securely in the Korean market.”
The atmosphere turned slightly strange as the presentation took a detour to take a shot at another company.
Jeong Tae-seok had not named Yeongdo Trading directly, but everyone present knew which company was being referred to.
Still, no one showed it. They merely nodded.
On the other hand, Il-sung Corporation Food Ingredients Division Manager Cho Seong-hun looked at Jeong Tae-seok with mild puzzlement.
From the perspective of a department head at Korea’s largest general trading company, putting down a new company during a presentation only weakened one’s own presentation. He let out a quiet laugh, glanced at me at the end of the table, then buried his eyes in his own materials.
After Jeong Tae-seok’s presentation, which lasted about fifteen minutes, Hanseong Flour Mills Manager Lee Man-gyu stepped forward.
Premium binders bearing the Gompyo logo were passed around to the CWB representatives.
The OHP transparency showed a neatly drawn color graph of Hanseong Flour Mills’ annual use of Canadian hard wheat.
A bar graph showed the trend from 1985 to 1988, making the yearly increase clear at a glance.
“Hanseong Flour Mills is Korea’s number one company in the flour milling industry. Since establishing Hanseong Silo in a joint venture with America’s PIFCO in 1971, we have established ourselves as the very infrastructure of Korea’s flour milling industry. Among individual Korean companies, we use the greatest amount of Canadian hard wheat each year.”
Pride in the company was clear in Lee Man-gyu’s voice.
“Other companies import Canadian wheat and resell it, but Hanseong Flour Mills uses it directly. From CWB’s perspective, we are the most direct partner for securing stable demand. If you trade directly with us, you secure the most stable consumer of Canadian wheat in the Korean market. Specifically…”
After finishing a presentation of about twelve minutes, Lee Man-gyu returned to their seat and sat upright while looking at the CWB representatives.
Confidence radiated from them, as though it were only natural that CWB should trade with Hanseong Flour Mills.
Third was Il-sung Corporation Food Ingredients Division Manager Cho Seong-hun.
As an employee of an affiliate under Il-sung Group, Korea’s leading conglomerate, his presence was certainly different.
His expression and movements were relaxed, and he did not try to force confidence.
Everything simply seemed natural.
His two subordinates moved in perfect coordination. One operated the OHP projector while the other distributed binders to the attendees.
Thick color binders were neatly placed before each person, their covers embossed with Il-sung’s stylish English logo.
From the feel of the paper to the precision of the printing and the cover design, everything was top-class, befitting Korea’s largest general trading company.
When the first OHP transparency was placed on the projector, a world map appeared on the screen under the title Il-sung Global Grain Import Network.
Grain export ports in the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, and Southeast Asia were marked as dots, with color arrows running from those points toward Busan Port and Incheon Port.
A single chart visualized the global network of Korea’s number one general trading company.
“Good morning. I am Cho Seong-hun of Il-sung Corporation’s Food Ingredients Division.”
Cho Seong-hun’s voice was seasoned and relaxed. He clearly had the air of a veteran.
“As Korea’s largest general trading company, Il-sung Corporation ranks first in annual grain imports. As of 1988, our annual grain trade volume exceeds twice the average of Korea’s seven major general trading companies. If a Canadian line is added to our network, which already extends across the United States, Australia, Argentina, and Southeast Asia, CWB will secure the largest route into Korea’s grain market.”
The next transparency read, Il-sung’s Korean Distribution Network.
Il-sung Corporation’s warehouses and logistics centers, along with the distribution of its clients, were marked in color across a map of Korea.
“We are not merely an import channel like other companies. We are the infrastructure of Korea’s grain market itself. A partnership between CWB and Il-sung Corporation is the fastest and safest way to raise Canadian wheat’s share of the Korean market at once. Therefore…”
As the presentation, which lasted about twelve minutes, drew to a close, Cho Seong-hun added a brief remark.
“I believe the stability and reliability a large general trading company offers in the Korean market are precisely what the Canadian Wheat Board values most. Il-sung Corporation possesses both.”
Cho Seong-hun returned to his seat after finishing his presentation.
Perhaps because of the power held by Korea’s largest general trading company, Mark Williamson gave a faint smile and lightly nodded.
And now, only the final turn remained.
A consulate employee called out politely.
“Lastly, President Kim Hyun-woo of Yeongdo Trading, please give your presentation.”
Everyone was looking at me with intense curiosity.
They were probably wondering how I had ended up here, and what I had brought with me.
Especially after seeing the global network of Korea’s largest general trading company, the scale of demand from Korea’s number one flour mill, and Daeseong Fisheries & Produce’s comprehensive business capabilities, it was only natural for them to wonder whether the president of a new trading company could even speak properly.
I rose from my seat and walked to the front.
Even the materials in my hands contrasted with those of the companies before me.
Compared to Il-sung Corporation’s thick color binders, Hanseong Flour Mills’ premium Gompyo binders, and Daeseong’s Korean-English binders, Yeongdo Trading had only a thin black-and-white binder, with no subordinate to help me.
I walked to the OHP projector myself and placed the first transparency on it.
A single line of neatly typed English appeared on the film.
【Yeongdo Trading Co., Ltd. A Specialized Channel for Canadian Wheat in Korea.】
Rather than beginning with a company introduction like the others, I began with a statement that made them wonder what a “specialized channel for Canadian wheat in Korea” meant.
I spoke in fluent English.
“I listened carefully to the presentations from the three managers. Il-sung Corporation’s global network, Hanseong Flour Mills’ scale of direct demand, and Daeseong Fisheries & Produce’s comprehensive business capabilities are all important assets in Korea’s grain market. These were presentations from companies that have led Korea’s grain industry from their respective positions. However, I do not believe the Canadian Wheat Board’s real problem in the Korean market is the scale of a general trading company, a single direct consumer, or comprehensive business capabilities.”
At once, the faces of the employees from the three companies that had presented before me hardened.
Their eyes practically shot lasers at me over such an outrageous provocation, but I did not care. I looked only into Mark Williamson’s eyes.
Mark Williamson also stopped taking notes, folded his arms, and wore a faint, curious smile.
It was a look that said, Let’s see what you have to say.
I changed the OHP transparency.
Three lines of typed English appeared on the screen.
【Issue 1. Loss of Premium for Canadian Quality Wheat in Korean Market.】
【Issue 2. Single-Channel Dependency on Government Trading Entity (KAFTC).】
【Issue 3. Absence of Direct Relationship with Korean Milling Companies.】
I began explaining the three lines one by one.
“CWB will consider these three points important. First is the loss of Canadian wheat’s quality premium. Canadian hard wheat has a high protein content, giving it advantages over American and Australian wheat for bread. However, in the Korean market, Canadian wheat enters through a structure where general trading companies bundle it with American and Australian wheat for bids. As a result, it is evaluated only by price, and Korean flour mills do not properly recognize the quality premium created by Canadian hard wheat’s protein content. From CWB’s perspective, the value of its wheat is being discounted in the Korean market.”
The faces of the managers from the two companies changed sharply at my words.
Cho Seong-hun frowned after I unexpectedly pointed out a fatal weakness of general trading companies. Meanwhile, Lee Man-gyu of Hanseong Flour Mills, who had heard a complaint their company faced in the field every day, nodded faintly.
“Second is the issue of dependency on a single channel through the Agricultural and Fishery Products Marketing Corporation. Beyond general trading companies, Canadian wheat’s current entry into Korea depends on government-to-government transactions. However, the Uruguay Round negotiations are now underway, with an interim agreement expected in April 1989. As Korea’s agricultural policy structure enters a period of upheaval, the greater the dependency on a single government channel, the more it will inevitably be shaken by the coming tide of market opening.”
Mark Williamson’s gaze deepened.
It meant he had begun concentrating on what I was saying.
“Lastly, the third issue is the lack of direct relationships with Korean flour mills. Under a structure where general trading companies take their commissions in the middle, the final price of Canadian wheat used by Korean flour mills rises. In the end, that has hindered the expansion of Canadian wheat consumption in the Korean market. From CWB’s perspective, it means the Korean market’s full potential has not been realized.”
Il-sung Corporation Manager Cho Seong-hun’s expression hardened further at my presentation.
I changed to the next OHP transparency.
【Yeongdo's Proposal / A Specialized Direct Channel for CWB】
“Yeongdo Trading is a small company. We are a new trading company based at Busan Port. However, I believe being small is not a weakness, but a strength.”
“Why is it a strength?”
Mark Williamson finally asked a question.
It was a good sign, so I answered with a relaxed smile.
“I apologize for saying this in front of the representatives here, but general trading companies have a structural limitation. They must handle Canadian wheat together with wheat from other countries. Yeongdo Trading, however, can become a single direct-sales channel dedicated solely to Canadian wheat. From receiving it at Busan Port to delivering it directly to Korean flour mills, we can bring it into the Korean market without middleman margins and without mixing it with wheat from other countries.”
Then I laid out my specialized knowledge of Canadian wheat.
“Canada Western Red Spring No. 1. With a protein content of thirteen to fourteen percent, it is the standard variety for Korean sandwich-bread flour. The complaint from Korean flour mills is the protein variation between lots. Even Canadian wheat of the same grade has differences in protein content from shipment lot to shipment lot, and that directly affects the milling process and bread quality. When receiving cargo at Busan Port, Yeongdo Trading can become a channel that provides Korean flour mills with protein analysis data for each lot. The only way for CWB to have the Korean market recognize the quality premium of its wheat is through direct sales via a small specialized channel…”
Mark Williamson, who had sat upright throughout, relaxed and leaned back in his chair.
Then he looked at me with an oddly curious expression.
“Do you know someone on our side? You seem to know our circumstances quite well.”
The faces of the employees from the three companies, already stiff with tension, darkened further at his words.
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