INTERVIEW 'When in South Korea, do as Southerners do'
Kim Hong-kyun, the founder of trucking company S.P. Transport / Courtesy of Korea Hana FoundationThis is a fifth in a series of interviews with North Korean defectors and their assimilation into South Korea―ED. Self-made businessman advises fellow North Korean defectors to hang in there, think like South Koreans, if they want to succeedBy Kang Hyun-kyungKim Hong-kyun seems to be the man who can literally “make a living by selling sand to desert people.” Koreans use the phrase “doing sand business in the desert” to refer to people with exceptional business and survival skills. In the desert, sand is everywhere, so common that few people believe one can make ends meet there by selling sand. As always, however, people with extraordinary business acumen discover opportunities in areas that others overlook. With persistent effort and a never-give-up attitude, they achieve things that initially looked to be impossible. Kim, 59, is such a person. He saw business opportunities in a trucking company when he arrived in South Korea in 2001, 11 years after he left North K
Apr 14, 2023By Kang Hyun-kyung
