By Oh Young-jin
When the ``Giving Pledge,” a donation campaign by wealthy American people, was revealed last year, it caused me to react negatively for two reasons.
First, I thought it had nothing to do with us, the ordinary people, regarding it as something like a black-tie, $10,000-per-plate, caviar-eating, Dom Perignon-drinking scene from a Hollywood flick about the rich and famous, who try to buy redemption for the misdeeds they committed in pursuit of great fortune.
Second, bluntly speaking, I believed, giving was not a major part of our rich people’s genes.
But a couple of recent events have helped me snap out of the stereotypical images I had about the wealthy in general and about the Korean rich in particular.
In other words, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, the young Mark Zuckerberg and other ``Giving Pledge” signatories who promised to donate more than half of their wealth to charitable causes should be encouraged and praised for their spirit and act of benevolence so as to spread it throughout the world.
And hidden amidst us Koreans is the Buffett spirit of philanthropy that is ready to blossom.
Woongjin Group Chairman Yoon Seok-kum helped me realize this.
Last week, I had lunch with Yoon, the 67-year-old leader of a conglomerate covering areas from construction and printing to water purifier and bidet rentals.
He started selling Encyclopedia Britannicas 40 years ago and is now listed as one of Korea’s 40 richest people. He talked about his plan to donate all of his wealth to charitable causes except for a small amount to be left to his family.
He said that he would reveal details when it is appropriate.
He also showed a hint of reluctance to make a full disclosure because he feared his pledge might violate Korea’s unwritten rule of modesty and offend other rich people in the conservative wealthy community.
Yoon’s pledge was anything but an emotional deathbed wish.
He looks energetic and is married with two grown-up children. His pledge sounded rather like a sociological explanation as to why he is planning to donate and how the spirit of giving can be motivated further.
He first tackled the weakening sustainability of the typical inheritance, the father-to-son transfer of wealth.
He said that nowadays couples have one or two children with a dwindling preference for sons.
This means that it is quite possible they don’t have a son to carry on the family name or hold a time-honored custom of remembrance, eliminating one big traditional ground for primogeniture inheritance. Inheritance by daughters also weakens the desire to bequeath wealth to offspring for other reasons, according to the way he obviously sees it.
Yoon also holds a Buffett-like view about wealth. He believes if people make a fortune they are entitled to enjoy the fruit of their endeavor but there is no ground for generation-to-generation transfer. He also showed his fatherly concern that, if his fortune is passed to his children, it would spoil their chances of making it on their own.
He accented that society has a role to play in promoting the Korean Giving Pledge.
``We should stop seeing wealth as the fruit of untoward acts,” Yoon said.
He went on to say that giving rich people a reason to identify with the society they belong to is important, because it will encourage them to give more out of compassion and concern, not out of pity or obligation.
``It is a two-way street,” Yoon said, pointing out that those on the giving end would be nonchalant, if forced against their will to donate, while the recipients would be less appreciative, if they came to know it.
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo is another case in setting a new example.
Korea’s second wealthiest man recently disclosed his plan to donate 1 trillion won of personal assets but his plan is like a well-made Sonata blueprint.
The 74-year-old business tycoon is quite specific about his goals.
Among others, a scholarship program will benefit 13,000 down-on-their-luck college students, making overdue interest payments on their behalf. Some students will be relieved of loan sharks’ pressure for them to pay outrageous interest. All told, the beneficiaries will be able to use student loans at interest ranging from zero to 3 percent, well below a painful 6.5 percent standard rate.
This initiative addresses one of the long-running grievances of students and parents about rising tuition that the state can’t adequately deal with, offering a new model for philanthropy.
There is one thing that we can learn from what Yoon said and Chung didn’t say ― stopping being shy about giving praise when its due.
We know of nooks and crannies in history of how Korea has achieved much in a very short period of time. But letting the old less-proud past chapters of that history bury their present achievements is like selling our future in a pawn shop.
I know of worries about the unchecked power of corporations and frustrations about the top 1 percent in the income hierarchy held by the remaining 99.
That shouldn’t stop us from applauding Yoon and Chung for what they are trying to do ― spreading a spirit of human decency.