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South Korean consultant draws from best of two Asian cultures
April 28, 2012, Saturday
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Lee Pyung Se, 73, was among the earliest South Koreans to settle in Shanghai in the 1990s. China and South Korea established diplomatic relations in 1992.
Twenty years of experience have honed his commercial skills in China, where he does business consulting at both the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Associations in Shanghai.
He describes himself as "aggressive" in business negotiations, though he doesn't look the part.
"Chinese people tend to be indirect in business talks, and I have to press them a lot, but I find the situation is gradually improving," Lee said.
He formerly was chairman of the board at a Seoul-based clothing fabrics company.
In 1987, he visited China for the first time to attend the famous Canton Trade Fair in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
He subsequently made many trips to Shanghai and Shenzhen to purchase hemp and twist yarn.
"I had to get used to long waits because purchasing fabrics at that time involved a lot of government approval procedures and was very complicated," he said.
But the long waits afforded Lee the opportunity to sniff out business prospects on the mainland.
One idea that came to him was opening a Korean restaurant to cater to compatriots who find Chinese food too greasy.
"South Korean people prefer healthier, lighter tastes," he said.
In 1991, he moved to Shanghai because his fabrics import-export company wanted to expand its business in the city. While tending to that commerce, he pursued the idea of starting a restaurant.
The eatery opened in 1993 with about 100 wait staff, bankrolled by Lee, two cotton mills in Shanghai and a packaging plant in Hunan Province. The initial investment was US$200,000.
It was the first South Korean restaurant in Shanghai, according to Lee, and was located on Jiangsu Road N. because the area has good prospects for future development, convenient transportation and plenty of nearby hotels catering to foreign tourists.
In the absence of any real competition, the restaurant thrived, with long queues at mealtimes.
In 1998, Lee's fortunes turned. The boss of the Hunan company was arrested for financial crimes, and his successor meddled incessantly in the operation of the restaurant even though he had little grasp of the business, Lee said.
Exhausted by all the travails, Lee eventually closed the restaurant.
Down but not out, Lee went on to serve as chairman of a construction and interior design company established in Shanghai by one of his friends.
Most South Korean companies, he said, are privately owned, giving the principles a much stronger say and sense of responsibility than exist in state-owned Chinese companies.
Despite heart transplant surgery in 2000, Lee remains remarkably fit and energetic. He stepped down from his board chairmanship and became a consultant to the construction and design company.
He now lives in Hongqiao Town because of its tranquility and proximity to Hongqiao airport.
The first place he lived, in Minhang's Hanghua area near the Huqingping Highway, was too ridden with mosquitoes, he said.
About half of Hongqiao Town's 23,750 expatriates are South Korean, making it the biggest concentration in Shanghai.
Lee recalls when there were only about 50 South Korean people in all of Shanghai in the early 1990s. That number has risen to between 40,000 and 50,000 now, he said.
Lee's early exposure to China started when he was only five years old. One of his teachers had lived in China for a long time and recounted some of his experience. He also taught Lee Chinese characters.
That introduction blossomed into cultural admiration. In Lee's office hang Chinese calligraphy works and paintings, and dolls in traditional Chinese costumes sit on the shelves.
Lee said he never studied Chinese formally, but he has picked up a lot of the language just from daily conversation. He speaks simple Shanghai dialect.
South Korean and Chinese share a lot of culture, including veneration of the philosophers Confucius and Mencius. The two cultures also share similar traditions, such as marriage and funeral customs, he said.
Like many South Korean people, Lee is patient, humble and polite. Lee has a South Korean wife and two children. He said he enjoys close ties with Chinese friends and plays golf in his spare time.
Twenty years of experience have honed his commercial skills in China, where he does business consulting at both the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Associations in Shanghai.
He describes himself as "aggressive" in business negotiations, though he doesn't look the part.
"Chinese people tend to be indirect in business talks, and I have to press them a lot, but I find the situation is gradually improving," Lee said.
He formerly was chairman of the board at a Seoul-based clothing fabrics company.
In 1987, he visited China for the first time to attend the famous Canton Trade Fair in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
He subsequently made many trips to Shanghai and Shenzhen to purchase hemp and twist yarn.
"I had to get used to long waits because purchasing fabrics at that time involved a lot of government approval procedures and was very complicated," he said.
But the long waits afforded Lee the opportunity to sniff out business prospects on the mainland.
One idea that came to him was opening a Korean restaurant to cater to compatriots who find Chinese food too greasy.
"South Korean people prefer healthier, lighter tastes," he said.
In 1991, he moved to Shanghai because his fabrics import-export company wanted to expand its business in the city. While tending to that commerce, he pursued the idea of starting a restaurant.
The eatery opened in 1993 with about 100 wait staff, bankrolled by Lee, two cotton mills in Shanghai and a packaging plant in Hunan Province. The initial investment was US$200,000.
It was the first South Korean restaurant in Shanghai, according to Lee, and was located on Jiangsu Road N. because the area has good prospects for future development, convenient transportation and plenty of nearby hotels catering to foreign tourists.
In the absence of any real competition, the restaurant thrived, with long queues at mealtimes.
In 1998, Lee's fortunes turned. The boss of the Hunan company was arrested for financial crimes, and his successor meddled incessantly in the operation of the restaurant even though he had little grasp of the business, Lee said.
Exhausted by all the travails, Lee eventually closed the restaurant.
Down but not out, Lee went on to serve as chairman of a construction and interior design company established in Shanghai by one of his friends.
Most South Korean companies, he said, are privately owned, giving the principles a much stronger say and sense of responsibility than exist in state-owned Chinese companies.
Despite heart transplant surgery in 2000, Lee remains remarkably fit and energetic. He stepped down from his board chairmanship and became a consultant to the construction and design company.
He now lives in Hongqiao Town because of its tranquility and proximity to Hongqiao airport.
The first place he lived, in Minhang's Hanghua area near the Huqingping Highway, was too ridden with mosquitoes, he said.
About half of Hongqiao Town's 23,750 expatriates are South Korean, making it the biggest concentration in Shanghai.
Lee recalls when there were only about 50 South Korean people in all of Shanghai in the early 1990s. That number has risen to between 40,000 and 50,000 now, he said.
Lee's early exposure to China started when he was only five years old. One of his teachers had lived in China for a long time and recounted some of his experience. He also taught Lee Chinese characters.
That introduction blossomed into cultural admiration. In Lee's office hang Chinese calligraphy works and paintings, and dolls in traditional Chinese costumes sit on the shelves.
Lee said he never studied Chinese formally, but he has picked up a lot of the language just from daily conversation. He speaks simple Shanghai dialect.
South Korean and Chinese share a lot of culture, including veneration of the philosophers Confucius and Mencius. The two cultures also share similar traditions, such as marriage and funeral customs, he said.
Like many South Korean people, Lee is patient, humble and polite. Lee has a South Korean wife and two children. He said he enjoys close ties with Chinese friends and plays golf in his spare time.
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