[
INVESTOR INSIGHT] I don’t know too much about entrepreneurs. At least, I've never met any from a close distance. The ones I know, I have read about in the media, or maybe met for interviews.
But one thing I do know about them is that they don’t follow the trend. They buck it, and they create new ones. The ideas, technology and innovation they bring to our lives possess a force powerful enough to entirely reshape certain facets of our lives.
Kim Jung-ju is one such entrepreneur who had a good idea. His brainchild, Nexon, bred a string of best-selling games including the 22-year-old “Kingdom of the Wind” that had mass appeal. The popularity eventually catapulted Kim to billionaire status.
 |
Kim Jung-ju / The Investor |
And now look at him. We probably all know about the scandal itself.
Offering bribes to a prosecutor itself is a crime. But it’s not just this.
In my view, what Kim committed goes beyond a simple crime.
To me, the Nexon founder had stood for something great.
Sure, he had life on a silver platter in many ways, but it appeared to ordinary people like me that it was his brains that took him where he is -- not just on the Forbes’ list of richest people, but as an almost legendary figure in the gaming world.
He graduated from a school many Koreans want to send their kids to, and he didn’t just wind up being a civil servant or a salary man. Kim showed that when brains meet hard work, it could yield something great. Something as great as Nexon.
He also represented the successful Korean entrepreneur who took the world by storm.
And now he is nothing more than yet another greedy businessman. Someone who wanted to cement his friendship with a prosecutor with a generous gift.
In the end, Kim has proved that in Korea, all that matters is connections.
And that we must all work hard to try and forge these connections if we are to be successful.
If you know the right people, you can get past all the laws, and if you happen to be that person, you can pocket astronomical amounts of money.
So what is the point of trying to teach your kids to mind their manners, to be good in school, to get into Seoul National University like Kim? In fact, what is the point of a good education when regardless, they will cheat? And cheat more than ordinary people who haven’t had the kind of education they had?
This is why the Nexon scandal makes me want to leave the country.
If the most elite of this country cannot be bothered to live properly. When people who I expected to lead in more ways than one choose to live as scoundrels or crooks.
Then, what kind of a country is this? What kind of a message are we giving our kids when we encourage them to get into better schools, only to see the graduates turning more corrupt then those who were not as privileged or received less education.
Kim Jung-ju and his pals -- the whole lot of them who have made pots of money with their big brains -- need to come up with an answer.
By Kim Ji-hyun / The Investor Senior Editor (
jemmie@heraldcorp.com)
