PROFESSOR JO GYU YUN: YOU WILL BECOME THE BEST IN THE WORLD
Professor-Director of the International Institute of Intellectual Development, Head of the IMEI Education Committee, Professor Jo Gyu Yun delivered a leadership lecture on the topic of "Healthy Mindset for Happy Life" at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. It was noted that the delegation had a meeting with the Chairman of the Board – Rector of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Zhanseit Tuimebayev, the main areas of cooperation were discussed, achievements of this institute were presented. Professor Jo Gyu Yun is a well-known scientist, developer of local government programs in the Republic of Korea.
Professor Jo Gyu Yun used the role model of South Korea, which made an amazing leap grow from a low-income economy and war-torn country to the leaders of the Central Asian region, spoke about the system of thinking and lifestyle that helped to accomplish this miracle. It is based on the principles of real leadership, the ability to withstand challenges, the second industrialization, export growth and, most importantly, the revival of the consciousness and spirit of the people. Professor Jo Yun started the leadership lecture with the history of his country.
– A long time ago, for 36 years Korea was a part of Japan. The Japanese invaders were very cruel, they took everything we had. Our young men were taken to the frontline to fight on the side of Japan, and our girls were given to their soldiers for entertainment. They even tried to eliminate Korean language. That's why our parents all have Japanese names. Every day we had to worship in front of the Japanese emperor. We resisted for a long time, many people shed blood, we could not overcome them. But on August 15, 1945 Korea finally became independent. We were very happy, unfortunately the joy was not long. In 1950, due to differences in ideology, a civil war broke out in the country and Koreans had to fight against each other. The war lasted 3 years and it took away everything that we had acquired during the years of independence. Western experts then estimated that our country had no possibility of recovery and there was no hope. According to UN statistics, Korea was then one of the three poorest countries in the world. We had not obtained any minerals. Such a poor country has overcome poverty and managed to become a developed country. Our young people were patriots, many then fled to Germany, worked in mines to a depth of thousands of meters, many women went there as nurses and treated the wounded. The fact that they worked there became a catalyst, and we could get a government loan.
As a result of the war, we can say that the entire territory of Korea was collapsed. Korea is located on a peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides. For comparison, the territory of Kazakhstan is 26 times larger than the territory of Korea. Your territory is vast and there are a lot of minerals. There is a great potential in Kazakhstan, so Kazakhstan has a bright future. At that time, in Korea the annual per capita income was 79 USD. But Korea has conquered poverty. We dreamed of becoming a developed country and we have achieved this. Now the average annual income of the population is 34 thousand USD. Korea has become a strong IT country with one of the fastest Internet. The country's foreign trade turnover is $1 trillion, the 10th largest in terms of GDP and the 6th largest in terms of exports in the world.
The most important thing without which a breakthrough and prosperity is impossible is the revival of the consciousness and spirit of the people. How did Korea become a developed country, how did the country get out of poverty? This has become possible due to the change in mindset. You all know the children's writer Andersen from Denmark. He was born ugly, in a poor family. He was too ugly that his friends mocked him. Because of this, he always considered himself as an unhappy person. One day he changed his views on his surroundings. "No, I don't want to be unhappy, on the contrary, I am a gifted person," he said to himself. And he changed his approach to life, eventually became a famous writer, wrote the world masterpiece "The Ugly Duckling". If there is a challenge, and if it is not overcome, then it will naturally be hard to live. Is it possible that difficulties will bring us a better future? That's how Koreans began to think in a new way.
There are no natural resources in Korea, so we started buying raw materials from different countries, processed them and sold the finished goods to the world. For example, coffee does not grow in Korea, and Ethiopia is the leader in the production of coffee beans. And we bought coffee beans from Ethiopia, processed them and started selling them. As a result, Korea ranked third in the world in the terms of export of coffee products. And yet, there is not even a drop of oil in Korea, but Korea ranks first in the terms of export of oil products. Before we became an economically developed country, we had several conditions for our success. The first condition is leadership. I would like to note that the Olympic Games were held in Seoul for the first time in 1988. Then we had such a motto "The whole world to Seoul, and Seoul to the world." The whole world came to Korea. At that time, the Koreans themselves could not go anywhere. Because no one could get a passport, Korean citizens began to receive it only in 1989. Now entrepreneurs can travel abroad for cooperation, businessmen travel freely around the world and attract investors. Thus, we were able to achieve economic growth quickly. In the 1970s, highways were built for the first time. First, a high-speed road was built from Bussan to Seoul with a length of 520 km. Now there are more than 50 such roads in the country and they look like a net. Such changes would have been impossible without the revival in the consciousness of the people.
Koreans always challenge. At first, Korea was an agrarian country, then it became industrial. Western countries were against this scenario, because so far not one agrarian country has been able to become industrial. We rushed to the second industrialization and achieved success. This was the first time in the world. Mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, heavy industry and other industries Korea has risen as a full-fledged country. The third condition is due to export. Without this condition, we cannot talk about development. The fourth condition is the revival of the consciousness and spirit of the people. In order for a developing country to become developed, it is necessary to revive consciousness, without this it is not possible. This happens thanks to more than one leader. Your university is the best university in Central Asia, ranked 150th in the world ranking. But you can't stay in this place, can you? Now your university in the world ranking should enter the hundred. This will be possible only after the revival of your consciousness. We called this movement "people's", we started saying "let's live better". Although our parents were very hungry, they really wanted poverty not to pass into the next generation. They worked hard. And so they defeated poverty.
Korea is the only divided country in the world, external forces have changed the image of our map in order for Koreans to lose their hearts. Our people have decided that we should not feel defeated. In order to get rid of such thinking, we decided to change our political image. We were no longer "hares", but became "tigers". They started a movement to revive consciousness in small Korean villages. This movement consisted of three principles: the first is diligence, the second is self–sufficiency, and the third is cooperation. The villagers rallied and began to work successfully. And so, step by step, we began to raise the economy, and as a result, Korea became a developed country.
But economic growth could not overcome the internal problem of human. On the contrary, many people began to degrade because of the abundance and comfortable life. So we came to the conclusion that we cannot provide ourselves with a bright future without a challenge. If you encounter problems and defeat them, then you will step over time. You form a strong soul and it gives you a challenge. Thanks to these difficulties, the Koreans have created an automobile engine. We issued our car brand with our own engine. We have also achieved success here. Now even the famous Mercedes-Benz purchases Korean engines. We give a guarantee for our cars for 10 years or for 100 thousand miles. Then our competitors said that such a guarantee was a failed strategy. Through the service centers the automobile plant determined which spare parts are worn out faster and finalized these consumables. I've been driving my car for 8 years and there are no problems. Today in Korean factories one car is assembled in 13 seconds. The Korea has hilly landscape, so we cut tunnels through the mountains and built bridges by the rivers. Now there are 37 thousand bridges in Korea, and 27 thousand tunnels. We also have the 123-storey tallest building in the world. Korea is a small country, but it has a domestic missile and its own fighter jets. Korea is ranked 4th in the world in terms of military power.
How did Korea achieve an economic boom? Thanks to the human resource and luck of minerals in our bowels. Young people are the future of your country. You are human resources of Kazakhstan and you all have great potential. It is important to change your mindset, you will not achieve anything, the fact that you graduate from the best university does not mean that you can become the best. I am sure that you will open your wings and make this world beautiful. And your teaching staff will help you in achieving this. You are already the best in Central Asia, now you are striving to become the best in the world. Move forward with this dream and you will become the best in the world.
Press Service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
