Reviving the spirit of the early entrepreneurship

Chung Dae-yul

The author is a professor at the management information department of Gyeongsang National University.

Entrepreneurship has led industrial revolutions to advance and prompt new changes in the economy. Entrepreneurship of fledgling companies vitalizing the market economy constitutes the essence of a free economy. Innovative corporate pioneers offer products and services that can change working and living styles and create numerous jobs. Success stories in the U.S. and other advanced countries prove entrepreneurship is the main driver of growth and the core of a national economy by creating new values through innovations.

Korean companies have flourished based on the capital system since the founding of the country and led to epic growth dubbed as the Miracle on the Han. Koo In-hwoi founded Lak Hui Chemical Industrial in 1947 which has parented LG Group and GS Group and grown to become a global name in the chemical industry. Lucky Goldstar (now LG Electronics) was created in 1958 and has led Korea’s advance in electronic innovations.

Lee Byung-chull and Cho Hong-jai cofounded Samsung Corp. in 1951, which became the foundation of Samsung Group, a major driver of the Korean economy. Chung Ju-yung of Hyundai Group, Park Tae-joon of Pohang Iron and Steel (now Posco), and Kim Woo-choong of Daewoo Group also were the first-generation corporate pioneers who helped make the Korean economy leapfrog in global stature. The economy has become the world’s 10th strongest all thanks to their daring entrepreneurship.

The stunning growth of the Korean economy has its dark side of overbearing and domineering ways of big businesses, collusive relationship with politics, and tax evasions. Past governments have been negligent in improving anti-business sentiment. They encouraged start-ups for the purpose of populism without much success due to a low understanding of entrepreneurship by the government and the public. Young Koreans still believe that finding a stable job is their sole career path instead of starting a business.

The country has a future when entrepreneurship is revived. For Korean brands to confidently compete on the global stage in the fourth industrial revolution age, employers and employees must be armed with the spirit of entrepreneurship. The public, including teenagers, should be educated on entrepreneurship.

The fourth industrial era brings a wave of new opportunities, but they are being wasted. Young people should be trained to have the capabilities to build innovative businesses and a growth model to start and develop venture enterprises. Start-ups are not so hard as people think. But the opportunities arrive for those who are well prepared.

To promote Korean entrepreneurship, the K-Entrepreneurship Foundation was launched last week in Jinju City in South Gyeongnang, home to a number of corporate founders. An international forum was held on July 9-11 sponsored by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) and the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration (KASBA), timed with the fifth anniversary of the city declaration as the capital of Korean entrepreneurship.

Corporate pioneers like Lee Byung-chull of Samsung, Koo of LG, Cho Hong-jae of Hyosung, Kang Byung-joong of Nexen Tire Corp., and Lee Chong-hwan of Samyoung Chemical were all born in Jinju. Researchers are exploring the connection between entrepreneurship and the activism of “respect and justice” by prominent Joseon era Neo-Confucian scholar Cho Shik (1501-1572) who lived there. The research works are being carried out by Gyeongsang National University, KASBA, and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, and the International Council for Small Business.

Samsung Lee’s emphasis on talents, LG Koo’s engaging management, and Hyosung Cho’s stress on national economy and public welfare — all stemming from the Joseon scholar’s spirit — constitute the unique approach of Korean entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship of the first-generation corporate founders can be relearned today with a priority on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management.

Human-first entrepreneurship should stay as the fundamental value in the fourth industrial era and further future. Establishing K-Entrepreneurship and teaching the right spirit to the young generation will help the economy and happiness of the people as we build the common prosperity of mankind.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.