A Sign That Korean Economy Is Entering New Growth Era
Kakao founder Kim Beom-su has recently become the richest South Korean beyond Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong. Their current assets are US$12.9 billion and US$11.8 billion, respectively.
They are followed by Celltrion honorary chairman Seo Jung-jin (US$10.4 billion) and Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju (US$6.8 billion). Coupang founder Kim Bom-seok came in sixth with US$6.5 billion.
“The rise of those relatively young and self-made entrepreneurs shows that the South Korean economy, which has a size of US$1.6 trillion, is entering a new era of growth,” Bloomberg reported on Aug. 11, adding, “The economy’s reliance on family-owned conglomerates is continuing to decrease.”
The rise has been accelerated by COVID-19. The pandemic has boosted demand in the sectors including e-commerce, entertainment and biotechnology and more and more investment is going to startups and M&A in the sectors.
In July this year, a total of 104 investments were made in South Korean startups and the investments were approximately 2.98 trillion won in total. The figures increased 1.5-fold and 6.7-fold year on year, respectively. The previous high, about 1.1 trillion won, was recorded in the previous month.