By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Bloomberg Television, a U.S.-based media company, plans to put Korean-language subtitles on all Bloomberg television programs broadcast in South Korea, currently carried on local cable channels and satellites.
Jimmy Kim, 38, vice president of the Asian Pacific region for the network, said he plans to implement the initiative in the second half of this year, adding that he has high hopes for the future of new media in South Korea and Asia.
Kim first joined US-headquartered cable news company CNBC at its Singapore office. Four years later, he is now in charge of new media in the Asian Pacific region for Bloomberg News' television unit, which encompasses 103 news bureaus around the world.
In 2004, Kim, who had a long career at Samsung Group in Seoul, did something that might be unthinkable for many young Koreans.
He left his senior post at the prestigious company to pursue his new passion: television broadcasting.
Korean-born Kim is proof that taking a tougher road can indeed pay off in the end. "During my MBA days in America, I studied English with a slow-learning class in my first semester. My English wasn't really up to par at the time," he recalled.
"But two years later, I was fluent enough in English to offer job counseling to my fellow MBA students," said Kim, who had studied at Indiana University. "Those kinds of experiences in my life came in very useful."
For young South Koreans who are exploring new careers or possibly working overseas, Kim had this advice: stay out of one's "comfort zone."
"If there are two career paths to choose from, it's always wiser to choose the harder path."
"If you've set a goal in life, then don't settle for doing business in the confines of the domestic market. Although it might be difficult, take it one step further and enter the global arena," said Kim.
"From my experience, when people have a clear set of goals, it might take some of them longer than the others to reach that goal, but in the end, they will always get to where they want," Kim said.