By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
The season of year-end parties is coming again. And there is a person who warns against the dangers of the drunk driving. Ironically, he is a foreign CEO who is in charge of the South Korean unit of the world’s leading liquor company.
``Drink-driving is an obstacle to our healthy society,’’ Pernod Ricard Korea President & CEO Jean Christopher Coutures said in an interview with The Korea Times before his company’s launch of ``Smart Driving: Don’t Drink & Drive’’ campaign Monday.
It might sound somewhat strange for ordinary people that a company which makes and sells liquor is staging an anti-drunk driving campaign. But he says that his company has every reason to pay attention to that social issue.
``As a leader of the liquor industry here, Pernod Ricard Korea has a full understanding about our responsibility for Korean society and consumers,’’ he said in the separate, exclusive interview at the Westine Chosun Hotel, downtown Seoul.
He said that the Paris-based Pernod Ricard Group, which has been actively involved in ``Responsible Drinking’’ initiatives since 1971, is committed to ``responsible promotion and sales’’ that encourage ``responsible drinking’’ throughout the world.
``We’ve been working for almost a year on this campaign in this country,’’ he said. ``For the past one year, we studied the personal, social and cultural issues of drink-driving, where the Smart Driving campaign is now ready to tackle such issues.’’
According to the result of the survey, he added, 80 percent of Korean adults have driven while drunk and the reason is largely due to the lack of personal attention to the drink-driving issue.
Pernod Ricard Korea named Kang Byoung-kyu, a sports player-turned-TV star who holds a healthy, positive image, as the Smart Driving ambassador as part of efforts to raise public awareness about the problem more effectively.
Pernod Ricard Korea uses about 2 billion won ($2.2 million) every year for various corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities including tree-planting and financial support for schools and students studying Korean traditional music.
Coutures said that his company would use a large portion of the annual investment for the Smart Driving campaign, which will be maintained as a long-term campaign in partnership with the Coalition for Transportation Culture (CTC).
Pernod Ricard Korea became the largest shareholder of Jinro Ballantines in 2005 when Pernod Ricard, the world’s second-largest wine and spirits firm, acquired Allied Domecq, a British group that formerly owned Jinro Ballantines.
Jinro Ballantines, which markets Imperial, Ballantines and other famous brands, kept its lead in the Korean whisky market as of October, according to the French CEO. ``We have around 35.5 percent market share and so we maintain our leadership,’’ he said.
Coutures, who went through a process of trial and error in his first year in Korea, lays much emphasis on foreign businessmen to understand things Korean, including traditional and modern cultures.
``It took me some time to understand (things Korean) and so I spent a lot of time with my team members and people,’’ he said. ``Now I think my decisions are much better because I understand Korean culture much better now.’’