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Chairman Bae Young-Kyu in Seoul |
A social activist, a politician, a SNS expert, a philanthropist, a self-made man. His name is Bae Young-Kyu, 56-year-old CEO of a construction company in Seoul's upscale Yeoksam-dong area.
Bae has dedicated himself to various social works, offering a helping hand to folks poorer than and less fortunate than him. Now at middle-age Bae is as active as when he was much younger.
"We have to help the less fortunate people without any conditions," Bae said in a recent interview. Bae reaps a wide respect from the people he meets for his humble attitude and deeds.
Bae has been donating to the various welfare charities a whopping sum of 20 million won every month since he started his own business some 30 years ago. People around him call Bae "an angel."
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Chairman Bae Young-Kyu in Seoul's Shinseol-dong area |
Bae said that the nation was in the financial crisis in 1998 and a number of people went out of jobs or their own businesses.
"A lot of people around me killed themselves extremely disappointed by debt and other financial despair," Bae said emphatically. "Back then social safety network is so weak"
A lot of small- and medium-sized companies went bankrupt overnight and Bae was also on the verge of going underbelly. He was running a trade company.
However, the national economic crisis came as an opportunity to Bae. He was able to purchase a chunk of land for factory at a much reduced price.
He also amassed large amount rice and distributed rice to the poor neighbors free of charge. He has been doing this ever since.
As aforementioned Bae spends an average of 20 million won on orphanages and other charity organizations.
"I take a great pride in helping the poor and the needy," Bae said. "In some months I spend the whole money on them"
Bae is the typical self-made man in South Korea which achieved an economic miracle for the last 30 or 40 years from the ashes of the Korean War (1950-53).
Bae was born to a poor family in Chunghyo-dong, Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province in 1961. He graduated from Dongbu Elementary School in Yeongcheon.
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Chairman Bae Young-Kyu (left) and his colleague |
Bae moved to Jeonju to attend middle and high-school in the city in North Cheolla Province. As soon as he finish high school there he moved to Seoul almost empty handed.
In Seoul he lived from hand to mouth, getting any jobs and working as a laborer. But his hard works paid off. Soon he was able to open a store in the market and to establish a company.
Suffering from all kinds of hardships and difficulty Bae started paying attention to the socially weak people. He began parceling out rice and other goods to his poor neighbors and other needy folks.
This altruistic behaviors paid off handsomely. Bae became famous among the nation's political circle. He began to be affiliated with nation's conservative party, taking some significant positions.
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Chairman Bae Young-Kyu |
Bae was appointed as the chief of election campaign headquarters for SNS electioneering at the previous elections of the former Sanuri Party. Bae still boasts of thousands of followers on the internet.
Bae served for many years as chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Athletics Federation, helping a number of athletes realize their dream. He even named for many times as the good will ambassador of a UN-registered NGO.
Bae was not able to go to college right after high school graduation because of abject poverty. Instead after he made success with his business, he went to many universities home and abroad.
He went through special graduate business course of the prestigious Seoul National University. He already attended the high-level special courses of Korea University and Kyunghee University in Seoul.
Bae event went to China to enroll in the special business course of Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Based on his experience Bae has authored four books on life and work, and social duty including his autobiography.
Currently, Bae serves as CEO of New City Development Corporation based in Seolneun area in Gangnam, southern part of Han River.
"Recently I was given this new opportunity," Bae said. "As CEO I try to treat my employees with respect, and I am really glad because I can spent my salary on the poor and needy"
Bae wants to tell nation's young people that altruistic life will make their life a happy one.