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From left to right are Kakao founder and Chairman Kim Beom-su, Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-gyu and NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin.

The leaders of economic groups like the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) are taking on a new look as February draws to a close.

Big news has been dropping by the day, from mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures to domestic and overseas stock market listings and billions of dollars in investment in new industries such as electric and hydrogen vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, solar energy and delivery apps.

A younger set of presidents and board chairs at major businesses have become like box office stars, their faces appearing day after day in newspapers and on television. All around, the new generation of “youthful” businesspeople in their 40s to 50s has become very visible in the industry and corporate worlds, from the founders of IT-based platform businesses to third- and fourth-generation heirs at the traditional manufacturing companies.

Kim Bong-jin, the 40-something founder of Woowa Brothers, and Kim Beom-su, the 50-something founder of Kakao, have pledged to give wealth back to society in the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. It’s a development that could expand beyond a refreshing one-off gesture by self-made figures who remember their less-prosperous youth — and cement itself instead as a “phenomenon” or tradition.

This stands in sharp contrast with the figures Koreans are used to in traditional manufacturing chaebol and their zealous efforts to pass wealth and company leadership on within the family.

For now, it’s unclear what sort of impact this budding trend in the business world will have or what results it will bring in the future. It’s also difficult to gauge or imagine exactly what it means. Hopefully, it’s something that will be remembered in the future as a fundamental turning point in the business community’s philosophy and convictions toward the community.

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, chosen as the next KCCI chairman, brought seven younger businesspeople in their 40s and 50s on as vice-chairs of the KCCI. Representing the IT, gaming and startup worlds, they include Kim Beom-su, NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin and Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-gyu.

On the surface, the move sends the message that in addition to the traditional manufacturers, the voices of the innovative businesses driving industry in the future will also be reflected in the economic organization’s policies. But sources have also pointed to another underlying aim; namely, increasing “social value and responsible activity” by businesses and businesspeople.

Now either retired or deceased, the first and second generations of businesspeople “served their country” by achieving sales growth through their pioneering tenacity. Could it be that the 40- and 50-something South Korean businesspeople of today see it as their mission to set new targets for business activity in line with a changing era?

In any case, the South Korean business world looks to be charting quite a different path as it travels through an era marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid changes associated with new industries.

For the most part, these figures represent the generation of businesspeople who “got lucky.” They took over the reins of their business at a time when South Korean businesses have been making startling strides in a digital and eco-friendly era.

Founded in the late 1960s, companies like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor have relatively short histories dating back just over a half-century. Yet, they managed to reach a new plateau, transforming themselves into global heavyweights.

Meanwhile, businesses in the areas of hydrogen vehicles, batteries, solar energy and delivery apps have grown into confident innovators as they battle for the global summit in their fields — which Alvin Toffler referred to in his book “Powershift” as “global gladiators.”

IT businesses have won a historical lottery of sorts, recording all-time-high performance numbers last year as they basked in the benefits of a shift toward virtual activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some analysts have suggested that a climate of consciousness of the community and humankind has started to take shape among businesspeople whose global businesses now command tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in annual sales.

Another typical characteristic of these younger company heads is their openness and broad-mindedness in temperament and feeling — as exemplified by the “YouTuber CEO.” This is not a generation of solemn, awe-inspiring “management hermits.”

While they are sometimes portrayed as immoral, professional businesspeople are generally productive, motivated by a desire to make good products that give people pleasure. Some report that this more active approach has led to casual debates over company goals and duties at meetings of company heads and economic associations.

As technology-driven industry expands faster and more broadly, businesses that control employment, income and people’s lives enjoy deepening influence. In South Korea and overseas, industry and economy in the 21st century are directed less by the previous laws of business cycles or the prescriptions of economists and more by the investment activities of corporations acting as powerful “visible hands.”

It’s a case where society is being changed — and people’s fates decided — not only by the state and policy institutions but also by the behavioral model beliefs and management philosophies that businesspeople subscribe to.

The late Hyundai Chairman Chung Ju-yung, whose business started out as a rice shop, once said that a company “is a group of humans working for the benefit of other people.”

“As a company grows, it naturally takes on a public service character, and indeed it should,” he explained. According to him, a company “belongs to the individual when it is small, but as it grows, it is shared by its staff and by society and the state.”

With these new, younger additions to their leadership, the economic associations can serve as more than just lobby groups working to influence the government. Perhaps they can also answer society’s call with a more diverse set of corporate objectives: things like inclusive, sustainable profit-making, fair prosperity, and social and environmental responsibilities and roles.

Can they now usher in a new type of culture for businesses and businesspeople in South Korea?

By Cho Kye-wan, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]