[SSG nudge Leadership] Movie ‘Minari’ and TV Series ‘Wangjwa-ui Geim’

Confidence Gained Swiftly from Global-Scale Activities

“Korean youth are smart. Unlike us in the past, they have a lot of overseas travel experience and are proficient in English. Let’s create opportunities for them to work and be active on a global scale. The world is vast, and there is much to be done.”

This was a phrase often repeated by the late Kim Woo-jung, chairman of the Daewoo Group, who passed away in December two years ago. Based on this, the Global Young Businessman (GYBM) training program was established in 2011, producing over 1,300 graduates so far and continuing to this day. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, population decline, and job shortages, confidence has waned, and the willingness to expand overseas has diminished.

A Resume to Become a Global Leader

From 2011 to 2019, the fantasy drama Game of Thrones, an unprecedented hit aired on the American HBO network, offered many insights into modern society. It is a drama about the lords of the Seven Kingdoms on two continents waging numerous wars to reach the pinnacle of power, plunging the world into chaos as they compete. In the final scene, when the lords of the Seven Kingdoms gather to elect a leader to the throne, everyone reveals their greed. However, the small-statured protagonist called ‘Tyrion’ delivers a speech on leadership based on his experience serving as a key advisor to several lords and witnessing the rise and fall of nations and leaders firsthand.

“What brings people together? It’s not armies, gold, or banners. It’s stories. Nothing in the world is as powerful as a great story. It cannot be stopped by anything and is stronger than any enemy... (omitted)... The person with the best story is the broken one, the one who fell from a high tower but survived. He is our memory and the guardian of all stories. Isn’t he the right person to lead us into the future through victory and defeat?” he eloquently states. The drama ends with everyone agreeing on this conclusion. It implies that a leader must be someone who can embrace both extremes, someone who can hold the pain, joy, sorrow, and ecstasy of all the people.

South Korea and the Film ‘Minari’

Among existing nations and peoples, I believe our Republic of Korea has the saddest story. That sad story is still ongoing. It is the sorrow of rising from the poorest country to become one of the top ten economies, only to falter and wander again. It is the sorrow of political strife between extremes and the sorrow of witnessing the world’s best K-quarantine system but the shortcomings of K-vaccines. It is the sorrow of the diaspora of 7 million overseas Koreans who, over the past 150 years, left for Manchuria, Russia, Japan, and Hawaii to survive. It is the sorrow of sending sons and daughters to German coal mines, scorching deserts, and battlefront jungles due to lack of resources despite having a country.

One such story of a desperate immigrant family abroad has resonated worldwide through the film Minari. Painful and sad stories move people’s hearts. Therefore, there will be much work for us in the global arena ahead. Korean youth, who were exhausted and struggling, are going abroad and, with just a little support, are performing excellently as managers and supervisors.

In the future, stories, culture, and their emotions will be reflected and play active roles as new products in industries such as agriculture and fisheries, manufacturing, construction, content, advanced technology, information, IT, BT, and NT.

Reasons to Have Confidence

We must not give up just because we are a little tired and struggling now. If you look around, everyone is like that. It was so in the past and will likely be so in the future. We must protect ourselves and determine our destiny amid the four major world powers. The leadership theory presented in Game of Thrones has gained global sympathy. Our content is attracting worldwide attention. It may sound absurd, but setting aside the perception of ‘You’ve become comfortable materially and economically, so can’t you do this?’ I want to turn my mind to the fact that, having grown this much with wide swings of hope and despair, we actually have greater potential. Because there are global dramas and films created by such realities and positive mindsets right before me.

Returning to the beginning, this year we are recruiting trainees for the ‘Kim Woo-jung Academy,’ which supports employment in Southeast Asia, that is, the Global Young Businessman (GYBM) training program. These are people who will be nurtured to become recipients of the Academy Award in global business 20 or 30 years from now.

Park Chang-wook, CEO of Korea Knowledge Leader Association (Secretary-General of Daewoo World Management Research Association)

◆ What is ‘Nudge Leadership’?

- ‘Nudge Leadership’ is not an oppressive method of coercion and instruction but leads organizational or individual change through small and gentle interventions or motivation. It also involves improving human relationships through one’s own small changes and transforming into someone others want to follow. Ultimately, it breathes creativity and passion into organizations or relationships, creating new value and happiness.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.