Chapter 1711: Korean Chaebol

"This is Director Choi Jong-hoon, son of SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won."

"This is Shin... from Lotte Group."

"This is... from Hanjin Group."

Lee Jae-yong, true to his role as Samsung's heir, led Zhao Fusheng to meet several heirs of Korea's top chaebol families.

Some say there are five chaebol families in Korea, others say ten.

According to public data, the wealthiest among Korean chaebol families is the Lee family of Samsung, with total assets of 386 trillion won. Second is the Chung family of Hyundai, with total assets of 292 trillion won.

Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group together account for over half of the assets of Korea's top ten chaebol.

Third is the Choi family of SK, with assets of 145 trillion won. Fourth is the Koo family of LG, with assets of 130 trillion won.

Following them are the Shin family of Lotte, the Huh family of Kumho, the Cho family of Hanjin, the Kim family of Hanwha, and the Park family of Doosan.

Among these, the top five chaebol are widely known, but the later families are not well known except to Koreans themselves.

But that doesn't mean they lack influence.

Hanjin Group is one of the world's largest logistics companies, founded by Cho Choong-hoon, the most famous entrepreneur before Kim Woo-choong of Daewoo Group. Hanjin includes twelve sizable enterprises such as Korean Air, Hanjin Shipping, and Hanjin Heavy Industries.

Doosan Group produces various production and consumable materials for domestic and international markets. Ranked ninth in Korea by asset size, it has nineteen subsidiaries, with business areas broadly divided into production materials, consumable materials, and services.

From the nation's economic foundations to the consumer goods market, Doosan's business groups effectively add value and play a central role in supporting the national economy. Many of its products hold high market shares both domestically and internationally, earning them the title of world-class products.

Kumho Group owns multiple independent subsidiaries including Kumho Tire, Kumho Express, Kumho Chemical, and Asiana Airlines, spanning aviation, transportation, petrochemicals, tires, leasing, and leisure. Kumho Tire, one of its main enterprises, ranks among the world's top ten tire manufacturers.

Hanwha Group, formerly Korea Explosives, was founded during the Korean War and is headquartered in Seoul. It has 53 subsidiaries and branches in Korea and 78 offices and affiliates worldwide.

Its global network spans Europe, the United States, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Leveraging competitive advantages in industrial manufacturing, construction and real estate, finance and insurance, and energy development, it continuously opens new overseas markets. While strengthening new future growth engines like aerospace, it focuses its core efforts on overseas resource development.

These chaebol control every sector of Korea's national economy, acting as the country's behind-the-scenes manipulators. Even Zhao Fusheng had to admire that.

At the very least, no businessman in China could achieve such a position.

Holding a drink, Zhao Fusheng chatted with the chaebol heirs for a while, mostly introduced by Lee Jae-yong, and then he answered a few of their questions appropriately.

Of course, the heir of CJ Group was not among them.

In fact, Lee Jae-hyun hadn't appeared here at all.

The reason was simple: although CJ and Samsung were on opposite sides, Lee Jae-hyun now ran CJ Group himself. For Lee Boo-jin's inauguration as vice president of Samsung Everland, he would at most make a phone call; showing up in person to congratulate would be excessive.

It was a matter of status.

Just like Zhao Fusheng's presence here—though he chatted pleasantly with the heirs, everyone knew that this Chinese man was not someone they could match.

His wealth was comparable to the entire Samsung Lee family. Even their fathers would have to treat him with respect.

"Chairman Zhao, I heard you taught Lee Byung-hun a lesson yesterday?"

Choi Jong-hoon asked Zhao Fusheng with a smile. His family owned SidusHQ, a famous Korean film and TV production company founded by Cha Seung-jae, who now served as its representative director.

"Yes, he wasn't very smart," Zhao Fusheng said flatly.

"Haha, that guy is quite interesting. I heard he likes..." Choi Jong-hoon rattled off a bunch of stories about Lee Byung-hun.

Though they were lofty chaebol heirs, they were still men who enjoyed gossiping about entertainment industry romances.

"By the way, I'm thinking of getting to know Kim Tae-hee. What do you think?"

"Kim Tae-hee isn't that interesting, right? She's just in logistics. But a Seoul National graduate, that's a bit intriguing."

"You guys, if you ask me, Son Ye-jin is better..."

A group of men together, even chaebol heirs, couldn't escape those messy topics.

Zhao Fusheng didn't mind. Though he had no interest in what they were discussing, he could understand these guys.

Though they were heirs to big corporations, that didn't mean they weren't playboys.

Or rather, these people might be scarier than ordinary playboys, because in their eyes, those celebrities weren't even people—just playthings.

"Chairman Zhao, how much do Chinese actresses cost..."

Just then, a chaebol heir opened his mouth to speak, but Lee Jae-yong's face suddenly changed, and he said sternly, "Kim Beom, I think you've had too much to drink!"

"I!"

The man was startled. Before he could say anything, someone beside him stopped him.

Are you kidding? Lee Jae-yong's eyes were practically shooting flames.

"I'm sorry, Chairman Zhao. He's drunk," Lee Jae-yong explained to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "It's fine, I understand."

Then he said to Lee Jae-yong, "I'm going to the restroom."

Lee Jae-yong quickly called a waiter to escort Zhao Fusheng to the restroom.

Turning back, his face darkened as he looked at Kim Beom: "Kim Beom, is your head full of shit? Bastard!"

Even facing a fellow chaebol heir, Lee Jae-yong cursed without hesitation.

There were gaps between chaebol families too.

As Samsung, Korea's number one chaebol, and Lee Kun-hee's heir, Lee Jae-yong had the right to speak like that.

Moreover, the other party was indeed inferior to him.

And even if they fell out now, Lee Jae-yong didn't think the Kim family would side with Kim Beom. But Lee Kun-hee would certainly support him.

The reason was simple: for Samsung's Lee family, Zhao Fusheng was a partner they needed to win over.

"Jae-yong hyung, I..." Kim Beom was terrified. As the leading figure of their generation, Lee Jae-yong rarely showed his emotions so openly; clearly, he was angry.

Lee Jae-yong snorted: "Talk about domestic actresses all you want, I don't care. But don't bring up China. Chairman Zhao's wife is also a Chinese actress. And she grew up with him. If you piss him off, don't blame me for not giving your family face!"

The others exchanged glances, surprised by this revelation.

"Ya! You idiot!"

A friend of Kim Beom slapped him on the head: "Bastard, do you want to cause trouble for your family?"

Though they were top Korean chaebol and not afraid of Future Group as a newcomer, if this idiot's words brought a powerful enemy upon their families for no reason, even they would be scolded.

As for Kim Beom himself, he was even more panicked. The Kim family didn't have only one heir...

...

...

Zhao Fusheng naturally knew nothing of this. When he came out of the restroom, Park Sun-young was already waiting there.

"What do you think? Boring, isn't it?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked Park Sun-young.

"Well..."

Park Sun-young hesitated, then shrugged and said under Zhao Fusheng's knowing smile, "Actually, it's not bad. I've attended some parties like this before with the representative."

That was true. Hanxing Investment's current scale made it a large enterprise in Korea, naturally qualified for such high-end events.

"Is that so?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed: "Then it seems you should come more often. You might find a wealthy husband."

Park Sun-young smiled helplessly. She was truly resigned—her boss was so gossipy, caring about her personal life.

But she understood that Zhao Fusheng was just teasing her.

Someone like Zhao Fusheng would never lack women. He certainly wouldn't be interested in her. This was just his way of showing closeness.

"Let's go find a place to sit."

Zhao Fusheng said to Park Sun-young after a moment's thought.

Park Sun-young nodded. Though she hadn't always been by Zhao Fusheng's side, she had heard many stories about the chairman from Liang Jingyu. In those stories, the chairman disliked being in the spotlight and was almost frighteningly low-key. From the time he started in advertising planning, he had always maintained an air of mystery.

Comparatively, he was like those Korean celebrity actors who only appeared for promotions when they had a work to release, and otherwise remained almost invisible.

Zhao Fusheng was that kind of person. Unless the company had a major move, he almost never appeared in media reports.

And even when reported, no photos were ever released.

Such a person naturally wouldn't enjoy a noisy, bustling party like this.