Lorraine Connection by Dominique Manotti Page A

about it. A few days later, Daewoo enters the Matra frame. Hang on, we need to think about this. Daewoo’s no stranger to anybody. It’s one of the major Korean conglomerates , the most recent and the most fragile, linked to the Korean dictators who chiefly finance it. It has been in serious financial difficulties since the fall of its dictator friends in the mid-eighties, and was bailed out at the last minute by the Korean government once before, back in 1985. Today observers in Seoul are sceptical about its ability to survive the recession that’s hitting the Korean economy. To spell it out, over there Daewoo’s considered to be a bankruptcy waiting to happen. Kim, Daewoo’s Korean CEO, is no stranger either. He had to leave the country for a while in 1985. In 1995, he was caught red-handed, bribing a public official and he’s just been sentenced to two and a half years in jail. He’s not banged up yet, but he’s cutting the risk by no longer residing permanently in Korea. Unbelievable, isn’t it, to go and seek out that particular Korean? But he’s well known in Parisian circles. He landed in France some time around 1985 right when he was beginning to have serious problems at home. At first he made numerous contacts and political friends on both the left and the right; latterly they tended to be more on the right. Let’s move on swiftly, I don’t want to bore you. He sets up a company in Lorraine with around a hundred employees. In 1987 he and his family are granted French citizenship amid total secrecy. Worse still, it’s treated as a sort of ad hoc defence secret. He doesn’t speak French, doesn’t live in France, fulfils none of the conditions for citizenship, but the Prime Minister of the day exerts a bit of gentle pressure and his file records that he has been granted citizenship for “exceptional services to France”. What services?’ He pauses, nobody moves. ‘You can see clearly that here’s what I would call a flaw.
    ‘Two years ago, Kim opens a cathode tube factory in Lorraine. A small factory. Has he already been told about the privatisationof Thomson Multimedia? Is he preparing his bid? It’s entirely possible. This factory will enable him to sign a deal with Thomson Multimedia in 1995. It’s baiting a sprat to catch a mackerel, but then he’ll be able to claim he was working with Thomson before the takeover. I’m convinced that he was foisted on to Matra, that it wasn’t Matra that went after him, but Matra’s boss, Lagardère, can’t say no to the President, for all sorts of reasons.
    ‘To cap it all, last May the Prime Minister makes Kim a Commander of the Legion of Honour. Commander, no less. No mention of his French nationality. Why? Is he ashamed of it? Not at all, any more than of his being sentenced to prison for corruption in his own country. That much goes without saying.’ Valentin leans forward, suddenly belligerent, punctuating his words with his fist. ‘I want to know what those “exceptional services” were, I want to know what Kim did, or who he paid to receive such recognition on a regular basis. If I can find out, I’ll have ammunition for blackmail and the Matra-Daewoo bid collapses.’
    Silence. Benoît-Rey clears his throat and Valentin smiles at him.
    ‘Don’t lose heart, my dear Pierre. Welcome to the delightful world of arms dealing. As the Marquise du Deffand said: It is only taking the first step that is difficult.’
16 October
    The following morning, after a few hours while they pretended to get some rest, mulling over extracts from dossiers, salvaging what they can, and voicing quite a lot of resentment, Benoît-Rey and Rossellini meet in Valentin’s office for a working breakfast. They sit in an austere room next to the boardroom at the top of the building, lit by a curious window, round like a camera lens, which perfectly frames the Eiffel Tower rising in majestic isolation against the Paris sky. Valentin always works facing the window ;