[Top 100 CEOs] High School Graduate Management Miracles, Heuksujeo Rising to the Top of Korea's Business World

② "If You 'Nooreok', You Become a CEO"
Searching for the Success Myth of the Heuksujeo

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Among the top 100 domestic companies by market capitalization, nine CEOs graduated from specialized vocational high schools (formerly industrial high schools). At that time, talented but poor students mainly attended prestigious technical high schools, commercial high schools, and agricultural high schools. In other words, these individuals overcame adversity through hard work and rose to the pinnacle of Korea's business world.

Yoon Jong-kyu, who became a legend in the financial sector after starting as a high school graduate bank clerk, is seen giving a lecture to executives at the "2023 First Half Group Management Strategy Meeting" held on the 6th of last month at the Grand Walkerhill in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among financial sector CEOs, KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyu (68), Shinhan Financial Group Chairman-designate Jin Ok-dong (62), Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo (67), and Industrial Bank of Korea President Kim Sung-tae (61) are graduates of commercial high schools. Among non-financial sector CEOs, Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho (60) and Kangwon Land CEO Lee Sam-geol (68) also graduated from commercial high schools.

Many graduated from Deoksu Commercial High School, which was considered a prestigious school in the late 1970s. This includes CEO Choi Yoon-ho, CEO Lee Sam-geol, and Chairman-designate Jin Ok-dong. In the late 1970s, the cutoff score for the Deoksu Commercial High School joint entrance exam was in the 180s out of 200 points, significantly higher than the humanities track average of 117 points. Former BMW Korea Chairman Kim Hyo-jun (66) and Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon (66) also graduated from Deoksu Commercial High School.

Chairman Kim Hong-guk, who graduated from an agricultural high school and founded Harim Group, is seen in an interview with Asia Economy on December 7, 2021. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

There are also graduates from agricultural and technical high schools. Harim Chairman Kim Hong-guk (66) graduated from an agricultural high school. Having loved raising chicks since childhood, he entered agricultural high school despite his parents' opposition. He fulfilled his dream by founding Harim, known as the "Korean version of Cargill." He has since stepped down as a registered director of Harim but is listed as a CEO among the top 100 companies by market capitalization as the CEO of Pan Ocean, a shipping company affiliated with the Harim Group. Chairman Kim acquired Pan Ocean, which was under court receivership in 2015, to reduce logistics costs.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance CEO Hong Won-hak (59) graduated from a technical high school. Yongsan Railroad High School (formerly Yongsan Technical High School), which Hong attended, was the first prestigious high school in Korea to receive overseas (Australian) government support. Hyundai Rotem CEO Lee Yong-bae (62) is classified as a graduate of a medical science high school but should be considered a commercial high school graduate. Lee graduated from Yeongnak Commercial High School in 1980, which was renamed Yeongnak Medical Science High School in 2019. Founded in 1952 as a youth Bible club middle school division within Yeongnak Church established by the late Pastor Han Kyung-jik, the school underwent several name changes. During the 1970s and 1980s, Yeongnak Commercial High School nurtured talents like Lee in the heavy and chemical industries.

Hahm Young-joo, Chairman of Hana Financial Group, rose from a rural salesman to chairman.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Some CEOs did not go directly to university after high school but started working first. This includes Chairman Ham Young-joo and Chairman Yoon Jong-kyu. Ham Young-joo is known in the financial sector as a "country bumpkin." He was an excellent salesperson who approached customers with a warm impression. While attending commercial high school, he lived in a boarding house, paying rent with rice his mother grew in his hometown. He enrolled in Dankook University’s accounting department only in his second year as a bank employee.

Chairman Yoon Jong-kyu rose from a high school graduate and foreign exchange bank clerk to chairman of a financial holding company. His nickname is "Ddokbu," meaning meticulous in handling work. After graduating from Gwangju Commercial High School, he joined the Foreign Exchange Bank in 1973. In 1981, he passed the written exam for the civil service administrative exam as the runner-up. However, he suffered the pain of having his appointment canceled due to participation in protests during his university years. Overcoming this hardship, he became a legend in the financial sector.

The dominance of specialized and vocational high schools is largely analyzed to be related to the high school equalization policy.

With the start of the high school equalization policy in 1977, the phenomenon of prestigious first-tier high schools monopolizing talented students disappeared. The first graduates after the 1958-born cohort experienced this policy. Those born before 1958, the Year of the Dog, grew up hearing that which high school one graduated from was more important than which university one attended. Prestigious high school graduates held key positions in government, academia, and business. However, from 1977, students who would attend humanities-track high schools were randomly assigned to nearby schools, known as the "spinning generation."

However, vocational high schools continued to select students through exams after 1977. Although prestigious humanities-track high schools disappeared, prestigious vocational high schools maintained their legacy. These schools attracted smart students from poor families who needed to earn money quickly instead of going to university. Students with diligence, sincerity, and effort have emerged prominently in society. Kim Kyung-jun, CEO of CEO Score, said, "The fact that the high schools of CEOs of the top 100 companies by market capitalization have diversified numerically proves the trend that the non-equalization generation born before 1957 is retiring and individuals are growing into CEOs based on their abilities."