Chapter 1282: A Dangerous Profession

Zhao Fusheng's initial understanding of the Korean film and television industry was similar to that of Hong Kong: he would bring capital over, directly invest in a movie or TV drama script, and then proceed with cooperation.

But now it seemed that if he did that, he would either be taken for a fool and swindled out of his money, or simply be shut out, not even qualified to sit at the table.

This was very realistic, because Koreans had always been xenophobic. Zhao Fusheng remembered that a male idol group member from China, set to debut in Korea this year, had to wear a mask on stage due to his Chinese identity, and was even ostracized and suppressed within the group.

Given that, Zhao Fusheng felt he should temporarily set aside the idea of directly investing in the Korean film and television industry.

That said, his targets were now limited to Korean idol management companies and variety show production companies.

He had to admit that the Strategic Planning Department of Future Group had truly impressed him.

At the very least, the materials in his hands not only listed the largest entertainment companies in Korea in detail but also outlined their current operating conditions and flagship groups. Of course, most of this information was public, but for a layman like Zhao Fusheng, it was sufficient.

However, regarding variety show production, there was relatively less information; it only mentioned that most Korean variety shows seemed to be led by television stations.

Moreover, in the report, the Strategic Planning Department predicted that Korean variety shows might soon experience an explosion, potentially changing the current landscape of Korean variety.

When the world had already opened its arms, there were still people standing still.

Nowadays, for Korean stars to become popular, the old mysterious approach was no longer suitable; they needed to expose themselves on various variety shows.

In other words, those Korean idols needed many comedians to set them off.

But the problem lay here: the Korean entertainment industry had a strict hierarchy. Film actors, TV actors, singers, comedians, models—the status of artists was arranged according to seniority and the level of their profession.

This was hard to imagine, yet it indeed existed.

For example, seniors who debuted earlier could arbitrarily order juniors to do anything, even slapping and insulting them. What's more, often when participating in shows, one had to watch the seniors' expressions.

Not to mention the contracts in the Korean entertainment industry, often spanning over a decade, with extremely low profit shares for artists. Many idol singers worked hard all year only to earn less than office workers by the end of the year.

In the eyes of Future Group's Strategic Planning Department, this was highly unreasonable.

So they concluded that perhaps in the near future, the Korean entertainment industry would face major turmoil.

Although this idea seemed bold now, from Zhao Fusheng's perspective as a time traveler, it was a very accurate inference.

Because just a few years later, many things really did happen in the Korean entertainment industry.

Not only were artists exposed to slave contracts and turned against their agencies, but there were even female artists forced by their companies to become call girls, and some even committed suicide. Moreover, the MeToo movement more than a decade later exposed the long-standing sexual harassment undercurrents in the Korean entertainment industry.

In short, in Zhao Fusheng's view, the Korean entertainment industry was actually darker and more chaotic than the domestic one. It was just that Koreans were always good at covering things up, so they managed to conceal it a bit better.

But regardless, looking at the materials in his hands, Zhao Fusheng now had a clear understanding of the current Korean entertainment industry. Combining it with the fragments he remembered from his previous life, he roughly outlined the state of the Korean entertainment industry today.

"Hmm, it seems I still have to deal with that old fox, Lee Soo-man," Zhao Fusheng muttered to himself.

He didn't know much about this so-called godfather of the Korean entertainment industry, but he had the impression that Lee was very good at packaging artists, always able to turn his company's artists into top idol stars.

Of course, such a person naturally had a mixed reputation. Some called him a tyrant who liked to beat the artists under his company, while others called him a miracle worker, because whenever SM Entertainment was in a desperate situation, he always managed to launch a new group to save the company.

But for Zhao Fusheng, he felt that Lee was a qualified businessman.

A qualified businessman was undoubtedly the kind of partner Zhao Fusheng most hoped to see.

…

…

No one knew where Zhao Fusheng chose to go first on his trip to Korea.

May 10th, clear.

On the flight from the capital to Seoul, South Korea, Zhao Fusheng sat in the business class cabin, silently watching the white clouds outside the window.

In early January of this year, the South Korean capital, Hanseong, was officially renamed Seoul. The person who orchestrated this was Lee Myung-bak, who was formally arrested by the South Korean prosecution in 2018.

Well, he was engaged in the most dangerous profession in the world: President of South Korea.

Interestingly, none of South Korea's past presidents had ended well. Even those who left office unscathed were eventually brought to justice, making it one of the most dangerous professions in the world.

Of course, except for Zhao Fusheng, no one knew that Roh Moo-hyun, who had just served as president for three years, would be impeached a few years later and commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. And his successors, Lee Myung-bak and Ms. Park, would also face imprisonment.

"The Blue House Curse."

Zhao Fusheng murmured to himself.

"What did you say?" At that moment, Dong Chenxi's voice came from beside Zhao Fusheng. The business class of this flight was entirely booked by Future Group, including staff from Future Investment, eight bodyguards from Future Security, and a group from the Strategic Planning Department. In Dong Chenxi's words, since they were accompanying the boss on a business trip, they shouldn't skimp on necessary expenses.

Of course, this was Zhao Fusheng's own suggestion, because this trip to Korea was to explore the market, and he hoped these people would do their best for him.

"I was saying that being president in South Korea is quite a risky business," Zhao Fusheng said with a smile, and told Dong Chenxi the story of the Blue House Curse, omitting those after Roh Moo-hyun and only mentioning the fates of the previous presidents.

But even that left Dong Chenxi stunned.

There was no helping it. Although the internet was becoming more developed and information was no longer as closed off as before, no one had actually compiled such statistics.

But seeing Zhao Fusheng speak so convincingly, Dong Chenxi felt he wasn't joking.

"But, that's too unreliable, isn't it?" Blinking, Dong Chenxi said absurdly, "According to you, who would still want to be president?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "The world hustles for profit. For some people, as long as they can become the president wielding the power of a nation, even if only for a few years, that's enough. Don't forget, there are too many interests involved."

Dong Chenxi fell silent. A few years ago, she would have scoffed at Zhao Fusheng's words, but now she was no longer the naive college girl she once was. Years of navigating the business world had taught her that what Zhao Fusheng said was indeed true.

"Have you read the report from the Strategic Planning Department?" Zhao Fusheng didn't dwell on the matter and asked Dong Chenxi instead.

Dong Chenxi nodded: "Yes, and I had someone do a data evaluation. Based on the data, if we plan to enter the Korean entertainment industry, the best investment targets are DSP or YG."

"Oh?" Zhao Fusheng raised an eyebrow, looking at Dong Chenxi in surprise: "What about SM and JYP?"

DSP, YG, JYP, and SM were the four major companies in the Korean entertainment music scene. Among them, SM and DSP were established companies that had shown their strength early on, cultivating groups like Sechs Kies and H.O.T. YG and JYP were up-and-comers, also demonstrating considerable strength. Zhao Fusheng also knew that in the coming years, DSP would decline, and the other three would become the big three in the Korean music scene, until the emergence of third-generation girl groups broke their monopoly.

Of course, even then, these three companies still held significant influence in the Korean music scene.

"DSP is currently in a state of internal and external difficulties. Their founder, Lee Ho-yeon, is gradually stepping back due to health reasons, which is our opportunity to enter. YG, due to its positioning in Korea, is actually a niche company; hip-hop is their style and also their limitation. If we want to break into the Korean entertainment industry, both companies need financial support. As for SM and JYP, our evaluation experts believe that the former already has a mature star-making system and is deeply entangled with political forces, making it unsuitable for our investment. As for the latter, their founder is too emotional, which is detrimental to the company's future development," Dong Chenxi spoke eloquently in response to Zhao Fusheng's question, clearly having done her homework.

Zhao Fusheng sat there, listening to Dong Chenxi's analysis, remaining silent for a long time.

Just as Dong Chenxi thought she had convinced Zhao Fusheng, he suddenly smiled and slowly said, "Your analysis is very reasonable, and the evaluation was definitely discussed seriously by the team. But the problem is, do the materials you have really reflect the actual situation in Korea?"

Dong Chenxi was taken aback, looking at Zhao Fusheng in surprise. It was obvious she sensed he had more to say.