The Infusion of American Entrepreneurship in the Early Republic of Korea

We often hear how individualistic capitalism has influenced the rise of entrepreneurs in the twentieth century; and the core values or qualities of entrepreneurs, such as risk-taking, focus and discipline, self-drive, and an opportunistic mindset, are recognized not only among successful American entrepreneurs but also among entrepreneurs worldwide. However, we pay less attention to understanding how history and society influence the creation of entrepreneurs and how successful entrepreneurs react and respond to history and the social environment according to their perceptions of themselves in the cultural context. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, when Korea had not been exposed to Western individualistic capitalism and Korean society was used to living with the Confucian value of the importance of group memberships, and when the nation shared the common goal and pressing need for economic modernization, we can identify a more conscious social and nationalistic approach to entrepreneurship even among the early American-educated Korean entrepreneurs. However, the young entrepreneurs of the late 1990s were more exposed to Western individualistic entrepreneurial values of independence, free choice, competition, and self-achievement as compared to those of the early Republic of Korea in the 1960s and 1970s when society demanded and valued highly educated technocrats and economists who could contribute to the nation’s economic development.