Three meanings of “serving the nation through business”

Lee Sang-jai

The author is a deputy director of economic and industry news at the JoongAng Ilbo.  

Let us begin the new year with a term that may sound slightly old-fashioned. Saeop boguk, often translated as “serving the nation through business,” was a phrase once common in New Year messages from corporate leaders more than a decade ago. Literally, it means repaying the country through enterprise. The word bo here carries the sense of repayment or gratitude. It reflects the idea that companies, having benefited from the state and society, should give back through job creation, tax payments and exports.

The domestic origin of this idea can be traced to Lee Byung-chul (1910–1987), the founder of Samsung. In his autobiography, “Ho-Am Autobiography” (1986), he wrote: “As an entrepreneur in an independent Korea, what should I do? The foremost task is to build national capital, which forms the foundation of national prosperity. If securing a business foothold was my first awakening, then the conviction of serving the nation through business, formed after liberation, was my second awakening. […] It was also the starting point of a difficult path, one that sometimes drew criticism as mere profit-seeking.”

He was 35 years old at the time. Creating even one additional job or earning a single dollar overseas was both survival and patriotism. Lee’s notion of serving the nation through business carried a Confucian sense of moral resolve.

That idea, however, is evolving. One of the most striking business scenes of the past year was the so-called “AI alliance” involving Jensen Huang, Lee Jae-yong and Euisun Chung. It was not merely a photo opportunity. Huang pledged to supply 260,000 AI chips to Korea, a surprise move. Another notable moment came during tariff negotiations with the United States, when the so-called Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) package captured the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. It became a powerful bargaining chip because it aligned with Washington’s strategic priorities of restoring manufacturing competitiveness and countering China.

Did Huang offer up strategic resources simply out of goodwill, or did Trump promote MASGA as a signature project out of sentiment? Hardly. These moves were possible because of Korea’s formidable strengths in semiconductors and shipbuilding, sectors that are difficult for competitors to match. The same applies to defense manufacturing and batteries. Amid trade wars and geopolitical risks, these industries have given Korea an undeniable strategic presence. At this point, the idea shifts from repaying the nation to protecting it.

If Lee Byung-chul’s vision represented “repaying the nation” through business, another strand resembles the style of Chung Ju-yung (1915–2001), the founder of Hyundai, where the emphasis is on safeguarding national capability. This version emerged from perseverance over time. Shipbuilding is the clearest example. More recently, gas turbines illustrate the point. Late last year, Doosan Enerbility exported a large industrial gas turbine to the United States, widely regarded as the birthplace of such technology. The deal surprised the industry. Until then, only a handful of global players, such as General Electric and Siemens, had dominated the field.

Behind this was what insiders describe as the “20-year persuasion” of Park Ji-won, chairman of Doosan Group. For two decades, whenever a new salaried chief executive took office, Park repeatedly pressed for the localization of gas turbine technology. Each time, he was told it exceeded current capabilities or was unrealistic. He did not retreat. Instead, he insisted it was a path Korea had to take. With the rise of artificial intelligence, Big Tech companies are racing to secure data centers and stable power supplies. Demand for gas turbines has surged, and Doosan has suddenly become a sought-after partner.

A third meaning of serving the nation through business can be described as assisting it. Here, bo means to help. This perspective emerged from an unexpected encounter with the story of Kim Gi-oh (1900–1955), an independence activist who was left paralyzed from the waist down after torture by Japanese colonial authorities. When he founded Daehan Textbooks at the age of 48, his slogan was “serving the nation through publishing.” The first titles he released were practical textbooks such as “Sericulture,” “Fertilizers” and “An Illustrated Guide to Crops.” With print runs of fewer than 400 copies, profitability was out of the question. Yet Kim pressed on, arguing that practical education was something a newly born nation could not yet provide on its own, but that someone had to step in to help, according to Lee Tae-ryong, head of the Independence Movement Research Institute at Incheon National University.

This idea of assisting the nation through business refers to private actors filling gaps where the state is unable or insufficient. If that gap was practical education after liberation, today it may be artificial intelligence or platform infrastructure. Because these areas are closely tied to economic security, protecting the nation and assisting it are two sides of the same coin.

The era when making money alone was enough is over. The mindset that monopolies or abusive practices are acceptable as long as companies contribute to the national economy is no longer tolerated by consumers or investors. Sustainability has become a central management concern, and the emphasis on environmental, social and governance standards has turned the three meanings of serving the nation through business into a necessary package.

Where, then, do the government and the ruling party stand? They still tend to view large corporations as groups that squeeze subcontractors or collude with one another. Business leaders are often portrayed as luxury car driving lobbyists. This perspective helps explain the push for measures such as the Yellow Envelope Act and further revisions to commercial law. Flexibility, such as expanding flexible working hours or allowing sector-specific application of labor rules, remains off the table, with companies bound by the 52-hour workweek. The global trend is moving in the opposite direction, with governments offering subsidies and easing regulations to attract businesses. Korea stands out for moving against that tide. Treating companies as adversaries first is no longer merely outdated. It reflects a deeper crisis.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.