Hyundai Motor chief to join Korean version of Buffett lunch project
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun / Yonhap
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun will hold a lunch meeting with young applicants in a project modeled after "Warren Buffett lunch" to connect better with younger generations, a Korean business lobby said Sunday.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) planned the "God-saeng One meal" project as part of its efforts to restore its status as the country's leading business lobby group and strengthen communication with the public, an FKI spokesman said over the phone.
God-saeng means a life that is lived very faithfully in Korean. It focuses on oneself and establishes goal-oriented routines for his or her development.
In the first communication project, the FKI invited Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung, car-sharing company SoCar Chief Executive Park Jae-uk and entertainer-cum-entrepreneur Noh Hong-chul to a lunch meeting with the MZ generation.
The FKI plans to select 30 MZ people for the God-saeng One meal project.
Generation MZ refers collectively to millennials, who were born in the early 1980s to early 1990s, and Generation Z, born in the mid-1990s to early 2000s.
The three business leaders will meet with the 30 selected people under the theme of "God-saeng for dreams and unyielding spirit," the FKI said in a statement.
Chairman Chung leads the Korean automotive group's efforts to morph into a future mobility solutions provider, with focus on electrification and autonomous driving.
Car-sharing company SoCar CEO Park Jae-uk / Yonhap
SoCar CEO Park has played a leading role in the growth of the SoCar business as the country's No. 1 car-sharing services provider.
Noh is operating restaurants and bakery and coffee outlets with a variety of creative ideas, such as a circus-concept bakery-cafe store, which are popular with the MZ generation.
The selected applicants will have to pay for their lunch with the three businessmen by fulfilling their plans to contribute their talents to the community within three months, the statement said.
Warren Buffett, 92, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., raised more than $53 million for San Francisco charity Glide, in the past 21 auctions, which began in 2000.
No auctions were held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, an unidentified wealthy person bid more than $19 million to dine with Buffett in the 21st and last auction.
In 2017, the FKI came under fire as chief executives of member conglomerates, such as Samsung Group, Lotte Group and SK Group, were accused of being involved in the corruption scandal surrounding impeached President Park Geun-hye.
Activist groups called for the disbandment of the then 56-year-old lobby group despite its drastic reform plans.
Some 180 member companies, including the country's four biggest conglomerates ― Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Group ― have withdrawn from the formerly 600-member group since March 2017.
The four major groups have yet to return to the business lobby. (Yonhap)