[Desk Column] Twenty is Good Because It Is Twenty, Eighty Is Meaningful Because It Is Eighty

Kim Min-jin, Minister of SMEs and Startups

It would be nice if we could avoid aging by not eating rice cake soup, but time simply cannot be escaped. Whether what increases with age is experience and ability, or just stubbornness, belly fat, and gray hair, can be guessed by looking at the trajectories of our past lives. As the frequency of noticing signs of aging increases, what falls is confidence, and what rises is blood sugar.

Still, the ways of the world are mysterious, granting everyone an official chance to be reborn once a year. Every day follows yesterday and leads to tomorrow. But that does not mean every day is the same. People say, "It's never too late," or "Age is just a number." It may sound clich?, but this is the charm the world offers. There is plenty of evidence.

Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, conceived and started his fast-food franchise business at the age of 52. He was a paper cup salesman who established a company selling milkshake mixers and traveled across the United States making sales. Kroc discovered the McDonald brothers' hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles. He was captivated by the simple menu, standardized cooking methods, and service, and decided to pursue a chain store business. From the founding of McDonald's in 1955, he opened nearly 8,000 stores over 20 years. Today, there are over 34,000 stores in 119 countries worldwide.

In his autobiography, Kroc recalled that "our goal was to continue replicating the business based on the reputation of the system itself rather than the quality of a single store." That was the essence of the business he devised. Kroc created the prototype of the franchise system we know today. This method soon spread worldwide. Although the franchise system is now considered a traditional business, it was a venture at the time. He was not a food industry expert but saw through the core of the business with an outsider’s perspective.

Coach Park Hang-seo took charge of the Vietnam national football team at the age of sixty and became a national hero in Vietnam. Although he graduated from a prestigious high school known for football, the alma mater of Cha Bum-kun, he was not a famous player himself. Known to us as the assistant coach of the 2002 World Cup team at age 44, his coaching career seemed to be on a smooth path. However, after briefly serving as the national team coach for three months and a short stint as a professional team coach, he moved through second-division professional teams and corporate teams, approaching his sixtieth birthday when he chose the unfamiliar path to Vietnam. Just as Guus Hiddink is a legend in South Korea, Park Hang-seo is a work in progress in Vietnam. He still has much to show.

Singer Yang Joon-il, born in 1969, is experiencing a syndrome-level popularity surge. Having disappeared from the public memory for a long time, it is unknown what kind of life he has lived, and how long the public’s attention, calling him "Topgol GD," will last is uncertain. However, he has reappeared before the public. While his natural looks and physique may have helped, at his fifties, he appeared as a prepared entertainer.

My father-in-law, in his eighties, obtained a caregiver certification last year. To earn this certification, one must complete 240 hours of education including theory, practice, and internship, and pass written and practical exams. Ordinary people like us cannot suddenly become Ray Kroc, Park Hang-seo, or Yang Joon-il overnight. Nor can we suddenly live like Grandma Park Mak-rae (born in 1947, a famous YouTuber).

Twenty is good because it is twenty, and eighty is meaningful because it is eighty. The world gifts us a new year every year and a new day every day. I send applause to myself and to you all, wishing that the first day of the Year of the Metal Rat (Gyeongja, 庚子) will be a day to unfold the dreams held in your heart and live happily and healthily.