By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A Korean businessman, who runs a construction company in Canada, called on overseas Koreans to make a bold attempt to penetrate the mainstream of local society with confidence and consistent efforts.
Yang Hee-yong, head of Young In Development headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, said most Korean entrepreneurs in foreign countries largely focus their businesses on Korean communities rather than the general public.
``Many Korean businessmen there believe that there are numerous barriers for Korean emigrants to join the mainstream market,'' he said in an interview with The Korea Times on Wednesday in Seoul. ``But I learned that it is ourselves that create the obstacles. However they can be overcome with effort and a challenging mindset.''
From 1985 Yang served as a chief executive officer at Pelicana Chicken, one of the most widely known chicken franchises in Korea, until he emigrated to the U.S. in 1996 with his family. He moved to Vancouver in 2002 and established a construction company there in 2005.
The CEO is now visiting Seoul to negotiate with Korean financial institutions about funding for a $1 billion construction project he is administering in Vancouver.
The first challenge he undertook was a promising and landmark high-rise construction project. Another Korean businessman who gave it up due to financial difficulties started the project.
``I faced a strong backlash from family when I had decided to take over the project, because it was on the verge of going bankrupt. Ironically, however, it was a challenge for me,'' he said.
Yang successfully made his debut in the field this year by completing the once financially challenged high-rise project. Residents of the 36-story building will move in from January next year.
He said the secret of his successful, but very high-priced, debut project was confidence and courage.
``Canadian financial institutions take into account three things _ experience, economic power and human networks _ as yardsticks to decide the volume of lending. I had nothing among the three, when I entered the business,'' Yang said. ``After accomplishing the first project, I was able to build fame, credit and reliability within a short time.''
Noting that the careers undertaken by Korean descendants there are polarized, he claimed that non-diversification has aggravated business conditions for overseas Korean businessmen.
``Competent Korean offspring prefer to work in specific fields such as medicine, law and accounting,'' the constructor said. ``The undesirable career structure of Koreans stands in the way of improving the Korean community abroad. Korean emigrants who are still afraid of cooperating with locals naturally downsize their business, focusing their sales efforts on Korean communities.''
He blamed the trend on parents teaching a biased way of thinking. ``Most Korean parents there have encouraged children to simply obey their parents, study well and have specific high-paying jobs,'' he said. ``Parents need to let their children loose to compete with natives and engage in a variety of industries.''
Building his third high-rise in Vancouver, he plans to expand his business to other parts of Canada as well as other countries including the U.S.