[One Thousand Characters a Day] Chairman Kim Ung-gi's 'The World Is My Treasure Island' <2>

Editor's NoteSeah Sang-yeok, specializing in clothing manufacturing and export, has grown brilliantly for 37 years without a single deficit. As a result of expanding its business not only in China but also in Saipan, Vietnam, Indonesia, as well as several Central American countries including Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Haiti, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, it has risen to become a global fashion Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) company. Global Seah has proven the reason for its existence through extraordinary social contribution activities. When everyone turned away from Haiti, devastated by the worst earthquakes and violence, it quietly built an industrial complex and established the 'Seah School,' providing free education from kindergarten to high school for over 10 years. It participated in the charity work of actor Sean Penn, whom it met in Haiti, donating a large sum, and has been helping Ukraine's reconstruction recently through clothing, relief supplies, and construction. Word count: 799 characters.

Over a long time managing the company, I mostly met people related to business, but I also met many who were not. However, upon reflection, there are types of people I deliberately avoided meeting. I have always been cautious about aligning myself with or relying on political circles. For that reason, even if they were alumni or close acquaintances, once they entered politics, I forgot and distanced myself from them.

I have lived as an entrepreneur and want to be remembered strictly as a businessperson. I approached business with a reverent heart and even when taking brief rests, I spent that time with a sense of fear. Business activities are competition itself. I want to engage in good competition, not malicious competition. I want to win through good thoughts and actions, not through malicious ones.

If a company colludes with politics, it easily leads to collusion, and in doing so, good competition is lost. I fear losing good competition. No, more than that, I fear collusion. Human relationships must maintain a certain distance to coexist. When ties with different ways and purposes of living mix and collude, those ties can become bad relationships. In my 37 years of business, I have never asked for joint guarantees nor granted such requests. I disliked the idea of causing harm to others if I went wrong, and also disliked being harmed because of others.

No matter how good a relationship is, it must maintain a certain distance to continue. If it becomes too close, flaws are not seen and only strengths are noticed. Or conversely, more flaws than strengths are seen. Whether the former or the latter, if both parties cannot accurately see each other's strengths and weaknesses together, the principle of coexistence collapses. Without coexistence, the relationship eventually ends or becomes a bad one.

- Kim Woong-gi, The World is My Treasure Island, Sam & Parkers, 19,800 KRW