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Gong Byeong-Ho (born in May 10, 1960) is a South Korean libertarian scholar, economist, and author. After graduating from Korea University, Dr. Gong received his Ph.D in Economics at Rice University in 1987. Amongst the hundreds of books that he has written so far, the most influential include Korea, 10 Years Later, Gong Byeong-Ho's Self-Management, Standing Up as a One-Man Company, Thoughts of a Rich Man and Poor Man, Gong Byeong-Ho's Greek Classics. In the year 2013, Dr. Gong wrote Gong Byeong-Ho’s Life Philosophy, To My Son in the Military, Korea, 5 Years Later through the Lens of Developmental Psychology. In 2014, Dr. Gong wrote Gong Byeong-Ho’s Bible Study, God that Gong Byeong-Ho Met, Jesus that Gong Byeong-Ho Met. Currently Dr. Gong is the President of the Gong Institute.
Contents
- Early life
- Life in five stages
- Timeline
- Publication
- Awards and recognitions
- An Agent of Change in the World
- Expansion of liberalism
- Philosophy on writing
- Areas of concentration
- Short pieces
- Lecturer
- Lecture topics and audience
- Self management academy
- Economist
- Conservative or right wing critique
- The Original One Man Company
- Innovation
- Innovation in life
- Examples of continued innovation for a better life
- References
Early life
Gong was born on May 10, 1960 in Gyeongnam Tongyeong province in the southern region of South Korea as the youngest son in the family of three sons and four daughters. Gong describes the place he grew up in his autobiography Obsessed with Excellence: “Even though the house that my family lived is now a part of a city, back then, located near the sea and called hangnam-dong (south of the port), it was where the fishermen gathered and an important area for the fishing industry. Like its name, the neighborhood which was located south of the seaport had many abandoned materials from the time of Japanese occupation of Korea. In his autobiography, Gong describes his father Gong Tae-Jong (born in 1924) and mother Lee Jeong-Soon (born in 1925) as follows: "It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe my parents as people who worked their hardest to their utmost capacities. My mother’s hands, from all the work at home and at the fishery, were as rugged as those of manual workers, and it is those hands that first come to my mind when I reminisce about my mother. When I think about my father, diligence, sincerity, and adventurism are the words that first come to my mind while diligence, sacrifice, and devotion are the words that I think of when reminiscing about my mother. I have always aspired to live a moral and honest life because I remember the sacrifice and dedication that my parents have shown in their lives."
Life in five stages
According to his autobiography, Gong describes his life in five distinct stages:
Having first left home in 8th grade to attend a high school in Busan (second largest city in Korea), Gong eventually studied economics at Korea University and completed a Ph.D in Economics at Rice University.
Gong devoted the earlier parts of his career for the economic advancement and liberalization of South Korea. He founded the Center for Free Enterprise and it was during this time that Gong came to solidify his economic and political views as a libertarian.
A period of personal crisis as Gong begins his brief but compact experience as a CEO. Later, Gong would recall his experience during this time as a period of turmoil where he realized his true professional calling. The following quote from his autobiography aptly describes his state: “I have now come to realize that I am by nature unable to sacrifice my whole life for the public good. I can recall many moments in my life where that has rung true. I distinctly remember my predilection for things where I could engrave the three letters of my name – I didn’t like being defined as someone who represents or is part of a larger public institution. Moreover, the fact that I may be unable to provide the best kind of education to my children was another motive. In a capitalistic society, only those who amass capital through their own means are the true protagonists while the others are extras.”《Obsessed with Excellence》
A period of personal and professional growth where, through the creation and running of the Gong Research Institute, Gong pursues his true calling as a writer, lecturer, biographer, and professional mentor to thousands of companies, public institutions, and students on diverse number of topics such as the economy, self-management and development, methods of success and leadership, and Greek philosophy. In his dissertation. Suh Dong-Jin, a professor, describes Gong as one of the foremost important self-management guru who has successfully incorporated himself into a one-man company, paving his own future with his own philosophy and techniques.”
In the later stages of his career, Gong comes to take an interest in Ancient Greek Philosophy, publishing several books in which he interprets and analyzes famous Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle. It is also a transformative time for Gong in his life as he converts to Christianity. In his article published on Sept. 28th of 2011, he writes, “if someone were to asks me to what they should devote their time and energy, I’d say spend a good amount time studying and writing about the Greek classics. Like classical music and art, it is important to understand the works of great philosophers.” In the process of this journey, Gong encounters God and expands his studies to include the realm of Christianity.
Timeline
Publication
Awards and recognitions
"Only Management Guru who is not affiliated with a particular corporation"
An Agent of Change in the World
Amongst the people who attended colleges in the 70s in Korea, many were activists who pitted themselves against the government. At the time, the society put a lot of emphasis on the value of serving one’s own country. However, Gong (who had stated before that because of his individualistic tendencies, he did not like participating in communal activities) did not participate in the activist movements at the time. During his 30s, Gong spent a lot of his time and effort in fostering rational and healthy way of thinking in Korea in order to help Korea become more prosperous as a country and to help individuals become freer and more creative. Center for Free Enterprise is one of the institutions that Gong created in order to fight for the ideals of freedom, individualism, and market enterprise.
“We are all Intellectual Entrepreneurs”
Friedrich Von Hayek’s quote that “we are all intellectual entrepreneurs” rings true with Gong’s way of life. Gong states that he “wanted to bring liberalist ideals to Korea in the most efficient way possible.” He sought to provide a platform through which intellectuals could voice their opinions and exchange their beliefs and ideas on liberalism. Furthermore, to assist Korea on its path towards prosperity, Gong wanted to establish a research institute (still a relatively new concept in Korea at the time) to research, publish, and promote liberal ideas. More specifically, Dr. Gong wanted to create a research institute that would be run by intellectual capitalists and not salaried number-crunchers. The Center for Free Enterprise was established with the hopes of affecting change with a limited number of manpower and grants (p. 269) A former President of Center for Free Enterprise, Dr. Kim Jeong Ho (current President of Freedom Factory) said in the 10th Anniversary of Center for Free Enterprise that “Dr. Gong was a brilliant entrepreneur. From the very moment he created the [CFE], new products started pouring out of the institution. His very first and most expensive project was introducing to Korea important liberal publications by the likes of Hayek, Mises, Ayn Rand, Buchanon, Kirzner, and North under the series named the ‘Liberal Series.’ Dr. Gong’s work was not an extension of the works of Director Kim Jin Hyun, but similar. However, his work found no match in the size and the speed at which the institution grew.
Expansion of liberalism
Having been individualistic since a very young age and having had parents who ran their own business, Gong had an inherent pull towards liberal ideals and concepts such as individualism, rule of law, small government, free enterprise, emphasis on individual responsibility, and minimizing government intervention and maximizing individual choice. Moreover, his encounter with writings of Hayek and Mises during his time as researcher further influenced his embrace of liberal principles. Dr. Gong once stated that he was deeply influenced by their works such as Hayek’s The Fatal Conceit and The Three Sources of Human Values and Mises’ Liberalism and The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality. As of now there are more than 50 books in the ongoing Liberal Series and many of the books on liberalism have been translated into Korean.
Philosophy on writing
Everyone learns in different ways and according to Dr. Gong, he learns best by writing books. Dr. Gong does not write because he is knowledgeable about the field, but he writes to become knowledgeable about the field. Up to now, Gong has written over a hundred books. “I write not because I know, but because I want to know. not because he knows, but because he wants to know. The reason why I have written about such diverse topics as economics, management, leadership, ancient Greek philosophy, and the bible is because of my thirst for knowledge. I am the type that loses interest in a topic easily, so I am used to focusing on certain topics for a certain period of time to write a book. Honestly, at the end of the day, the reason why I write about such diverse number of topics is to live an interesting and fun life (Gong Byeong-Ho’s Study Guide, 175).
Areas of concentration
Because Gong is not bounded to a certain corporation as a researcher or a professor, he writes freely about whatever topics interest him. He is known to not have structural framework when writing a book because his understanding and depth of knowledge on a topic changes and evolves as he learns more about it. He usually gives himself about a year but prefers not to plan further than that because, as his understanding of the topic changes, the topic of the book itself changes. In his 30s, Dr. Gong focused on the market economy, growth and decline of corporations, liberalism, chaebols, and entrepreneurship. In his 40s, Dr. Gong focused on the economic growth of Korea, self-management, leadership, and parenting. In his 50s, Dr. Gong has focused on ancient philosophy, self-development, critiques of social issues, and the bible.
Short pieces
Gong often writes short pieces on things he’s observed, day-to-day interactions that he finds interesting, and reflections on a movie or a piece of news that he's read. Wherever he encounters materials that he can write about, he posts them on his blog. He likes to call the Gong Institute’s website his own public study platform. Writing about whatever passes through his thoughts is a hobby for him that he enjoys. “Write about the new person, information, knowledge, and experience that you may have met through your eyes, ears, lips, and nose; whatever it is that you may have encountered, write down your own thoughts that was formed through your encounter with it. Do not consider this to be writing of the formal kind. It is different from writing with a certain goal in mind. Writing light pieces is all about writing whatever slips through your thoughts without the pressure of having to write well. (Gong Byeong Ho’s Study Guide, 98).
Lecturer
Dr. Gong is one of the most influential lecturer in Korea. He has averaged around 300 lectures per year. He built up his credentials as lecturer during his time as student and assistant professor in both Korea and the United States and further enhanced his understanding of economics and management through leading the creation and the development of the Center for Free Enterprise. An article on the industry for lectures and professional mentorship stated the following: “Guest lecturers prefer corporations that hold various events for their employees. That’s because the pay and the prestige that comes along with being a lecturer at corporate events are huge. The most prominent among the lecturers is the Gong and Goo combo. Both have put forth their names as their main brands. They both focus on similar fields such as predicting economic prospects, self-management, change-management, leadership, etc. They are not only knowledgeable in the fields aforementioned, but they have continued to lead their own research institutes and stay active in other fields such as writing, publishing, and teaching.
Lecture topics and audience
Gong is one of the few in Korea who is knowledgeable enough to give talks and lectures on a variety of different topics. Over the last decade, Gong has provided various workshops and talk series on economics, management, self-management, humanities, corporate management, leadership, and more. He’s audience vary from corporate employees and CEOs to religious and educational institutions. 또한 그는 기업, 기관, 학교, 단체 등 다양한 고객군을 갖고 있다.
Self-management academy
"Self-Management Academy" is a phrase that Gong popularized in the recent years. After publishing the famed Gong Byeong Ho’s Self-Management Notebook and Gong Byeong Ho’s Practical Guide to Self-Management in 2003, Gong created and ran a 6-8 hour weekend workshop on self-management. Many young students starting from middle school up until college, and even those beyond college-level education have benefited from these programs. According to a former student said "I realized how planning and having goals in life is really important. The program taught me how much I lacked in self-management planning. It also helped me realize what I wanted to achieve in life and helped me gain confidence in myself to achieve the goals that I set out for myself. Another said “I used to find myself unable to concentrate, but now every second of the day is precious.” Until now Gong has completed 137, 116, 101, and 51 sessions for middle school students, high school students, post-college adults, and elementary school students, respectively.
Economist
Gong’s bases his theories and principles of economics on the liberal assumption that we need to minimize government interventions in the social realm of the society and maximize the options available to the people. He developed his ideas and hones his understanding of these theories in his 30s as he aimed to develop the Center for Free Enterprise and published numerous books on economic theory such as What is Market Economy and Corporate Man. These theories were further clarified in his 40s through his books such as Korea in Ten Years and Korea’s Road to Prosperity. In his book, The Market Economy and its Enemies, Gong writes “we must continue to accumulate mental assets so that our society can prosper. We must continue to strive to understand the concept of individual liberty and freedom to choose, the existence of competing and often conflicting ideas, the process of creating and accumulating wealth, corporation’s relationship with the public, bureaucrats and politicians, necessary principles for a free tolerant society, charitable acts by the public to the less well-off, separation of power, and the tyranny of the majority.” (The Market Economy and its Enemies, 351).
Conservative or right-wing critique
In the book, The Conservatives, in which 10 journalists discuss what it means to be a conservative in Korea, it mentions Gong as one of the top 10 conservative critique in Korea that has influenced the conservative movement in Korea. It names Gong as one of the top 3 conservative trio and one of the most “radical” conservatives in Korea.
The Original One-Man Company
Gong is known to in Koreas as a “One-Man Company.” According to the book, Korea’s One-Man Stock Company, Gong is unmatched by anyone else in the field of self-management. He has positioned himself to become a model of a one-man company business model.” Another said the following: “Recently there has been a trend to accumulate knowledge, one of the byproduct of this movement is an increase in "single intellectual individuals" and…Gong Byeong-Ho is a good example of that.”
Innovation
Unlike those who create services and products, it is often difficult for an intellectual entrepreneur to succeed through simple distribution and selling of knowledge, concepts, ideas, and principles. However, for Gong, as he mentioned in one of his interviews, “it is only when every citizen becomes an intellectual entrepreneur themselves that Korea will prosper.”
Innovation in life
When asked what the word innovation means to Gong, he says, “come to think about it, I have always strived towards for a ‘better life.’ I’ve achieved that through change and innovation. For me that has always meant breaking old boundaries and customs, never listening to others when they say that something should be done a certain way. I’ve always torn those boundaries down and moved forward. I’ve always been cognizant of other people’s opinion, but never bothered too much about it. Life is a work of art and I found it a necessity, not a choice, to strive towards a better life.”