Mong-joon Chung, Honorary Chairman of Asan Nanum Foundation, spoke at beLAUNCH 2013 on the entrepreneurial roots of the Hyundai group and the importance of startups for the Korean economy. Asan Nanum Foundation was set up by the Hyundai group to encourage entrepreneurship in Korea among other things. Mong-joon also spoke about the role entrepreneurs have played in the post Korean war industrial growth in the country.

Mong-joon Chung shared the story of how his father Ju-yung Chung started a car repair company with a seed funding of 3000 won from Oh Youn Geon. But in just one month the shop caught on fire, but instead of giving up his father went to Mr Gun and asked for more capital and Mr Geon gave him more capital than he did the first time. He shared this to illustrate the need for supporters and investors in early stage startups.

“We need 2^nd generation of entrepreneurs for the continued growth of the Korean economy. There will be a lot of obstacles you will face, but you have to have faith in yourself” said Ming-joon Chung addressing budding entrepreneurs.

“We need a lot of supporters for entrepreneurs to prosper. Marking the 10^th anniversary of my father’s death, we launched the foundation” he added. The Asan Foundation has various projects for entrepreneurs. The foundation also plans to create a hub for startups by starting a campus in the later half of this year.

Image Courtesy: Asan Nanum Foundation