<Article from the 'Economist' business column of Jung-ang daily newpapers>

The wife of a businessman; the seed money maker of Daesung group

“A business does not grow by feeding off money; it grows with the mind.” This is what Kwi-ok Yeu, the wife of Daesung group’s founding CEO Soo-Keun Kim had always told her children. Born on the 10th of May 1923 in the city of Daegu, Kwi-ok Yeu was a modern woman who had graduated Shin-Myung girls high school and completed her course at Pyung-Yang women’s Theological Seminary. In 1942 at the age of 19, she married the founding CEO of the Daesung group, Mr Soo-Keun Kim. She passed away on the 20th of March at the age of 83.

Her husband started his business when she was 24 years old, which meant that she had basically spent 54 years of her life as the wife of a businessman. Her family consisted of her husband and 7 children of whom included 4 boys and 3 girls.
This includes the first son Young Tae Kim (64), the second son Young Min Kim (61) CEO of SGG group, the third son Young Hoon Kim (54) CEO of Daesung group. The oldest daughter is Young Joo Kim (58) Vice CEO of Daesung.com, the second daughter JungJoo Kim (57) CEO of Daesung.com and also a Professor at Yonsei University, and the youngest daughter SungJoo Kim (50), CEO of SungJoo International Co. Ltd. The fourth son Young Chul Kim had passed away in 1973 through a car accident.

"Our mother was the supporting pillar of our family and of Daesung group. When I look back at my childhood, I picture countless scenes of my mother comforting my father," said Dr JungJoo Kim at the mortuary located in the Seoul University hospital.

"At times, our father told my mother that doing business in Korea 'is like climbing up a cliff with bare hands.' Every time he said this, my mother would lay him down on her lap and sing a hymn to help relieve the stress he had from work. My mother never involved herself in the business that my father led, and she merely focused on expending her energy on the psychological assistance of her husband. She was not even aware of how much each coal briquette was sold for at Daesung group," recalls Dr Jung Joo Kim. Without a doubt, Mrs Yeu lived her entire life as a devout Christian.

"Throughout our lives, we had countless moments of despair, but our parents never scolded at us or said 'no.' In fact, they would give us courage by telling us that 'everything will be fine.'“

The powerful spark of Daesung group

Daesung group, which grew on the foundation of the coal business, was considered as the top 10 leading groups until the early 70s. However, many people fail to realize that the spark of such success was lit by Mrs Yeu.

In May of 1947, Honorary founder Mr Soo Keun Kim bought a 100pyung (about 400 square yards) site in Daegu in the district of Chilsungdong and started his coal business. In the beginning, he bought only enough coal powder to fill one truck, and made briquettes with a manual machine. They recall that he could not buy a greater piece of land because he had no savings due to leading such an honest life on monthly wages received in his previous occupation.

"There was one time when my father was scammed by his friend. I remember my father coming home one day, collapsing onto his bed and claiming that he had lost all his fortune. His friend had stolen all of my father’s stocks in the Dae Dong Co., Ltd, and he was bedridden in despair. Despite the hopelessness that shadowed over our house, my mother told my father that ‘losing one’s health is a matter to be majorly concerned about, but losing one’s wealth is only a small one,’ and encouraged him to dust off his fears and get back up.” Says Dr Jung Joo Kim.

Like every other day, Mrs Yeu was attending her choir practice at church, and came across a young woman who was trying to light up the coals of the church fireplace. Mrs Yeu witnessed the young woman struggling, and long streaks of smoke filled the air. Mrs Yeu offered to give her a spare Rostol (an iron plate used for lighting coal or firewood) from home, inviting the young woman to her house.
While she prepared a meal for her she asked, “I wonder what your husband’s occupation is, that such a young woman like you have to work so hard?” “My husband is a chalkboard maker, but he was fired from his factory,” she replied. Mrs Yeu felt compassionate towards the young woman, and allowed the woman’s husband to set up a chalkboard factory beside her husband’s one. The June 25th war broke out straight after they had made a load full of chalkboards. During the war, the North Korean People’s army ripped off all the chalkboards in schools in order to cook their rice. By the end of the war, the whole nation lacked chalkboards.

“The whole nation was fussing about the lack of chalkboards. The government bought our stack of chalkboards for a large sum of money, and this is what acted as the seed money of Daesung group.”

After this, founding CEO Mr Kim completely resumed the business by taking over the shipbuilding fuel business. The Daesung group continued to extend their business, taking over the Seoul and Daegu city gas lines and using the energy business to strengthen its foundations. "Blessings will follow when you strive after virtue," was Mrs Yeu's philosophy, in which played the role as a solid foothold for the growth of the Daesung business. Even the name "Dae-sung" was created by Mrs Yeu. It's name reflects the hidden meaning to 'not be pretentious and instead, build a virtue and carry out transparent management. In actuality, Daesung group is famous for not exploiting spare revenues.

Frugality and thriftiness in running WCTU

After the June 25th war, Mrs Yeu participated in temperance activities with the determination to contribute in the reconstruction of the country by pulling out the roots of the nation's drinking and gambling culture. In 1952, she was appointed as the president of the KWCTU of Daegu city branch. Even after moving to Seoul, she actively participated in the cause. Despite her status as the wife of a conglomerate (large company) husband, she lived a frugal life.

Her frugality reached the extent to which she would normally mend her stockings and reuse them. She would often go to the Silk and satin shop down the road of Jong-ro 1ga and ask for the remaining fabrics left from making han-boks, and she would sew the left over pieces to create blankets and skirts for her family and herself. She found it wasteful to spend money on her own makeup, and therefore purchased starch flours priced 600won and spread it across her face in place of makeup. Even passing down mended pieces of underwear was nothing new for the Kim family.

There was also a famous anecdote of when Mrs Yeu turned up to former president Young-Sam Kim's banquet hall wearing clothes and a hat made from pieces of fabric that she had bought at Dong-dae-mun for 10,000won. Apparently, the former president even made a joke saying that Mrs Yeu's fashion was so unique that he thought she was a wife of a Jae-il Dongpo (Korean residing in Japan)

Throughout her lifetime, she occasionally sat her children down and continuously emphasized the fact that "a wife of a businessman should never waste money." “What we learnt from our mother is the power of optimism. Despite of being caught in any situation, she managed to stay strong.”

The adoption of their mother's optimism

Dr Jung Joo Kim reminisced back at the Seoul Seogyodong city gas explosion incident of 1985 and commented, "Sung-joo, Young-hoon and I were in the United States for our studies. When we heard the news, we thought our lives were doomed. I remember phoning my mother, trembling so hard that I could even feel the ground shaking. Without a surprise, my mother's voice was as calm as if nothing happened, and reassuringly told me, "Don't worry Jung-joo. Even a faulty pan is exchangeable. It will soon be revealed that the cause of the explosion is due to the poor construction done by the Seoul gas enterprise.“

Honoray CEO Mr Kim was sent to trial for the case, but fortunately the court stood for Daesung group. "After everything was settled again, our father told us how our mother firmly gave him courage so that he could overcome the nervousness he was feeling before the trial," says Dr Jung-Joo Kim.

"Knowing that you read so much, I am sure that you will go to Harvard University," she told her.

At the time, it seemed like pure nonsense. However, just as her mother had said, Dr Jungjoo Kim graduated Ewha Womens University as a top scholar and entered Harvard Graduate school and received her doctorate degree. The oldest son Mr Young-Dae Kim, graduated the Seoul-National University Business School as a top scholar, and Mr Young-Min Kim, Mr Young-Hoon Kim and Mrs Young-Joo Kim have also graduated Seoul National University, with the youngest daughter Sung-Joo Kim receiving her sociology degree at Amherst College and currently receiving attention as a global CEO.

"It will work out. Everything will be alright.“
Mrs Yeu's warm encouragement and optimism have been engraved into the family, and has left a great stepping stone for the lives of her husband and children.