In Jinju, collaboration, culture, and compassion are redefining innovation for a new era.
By Ki-Chan Kim
Chairman, International Council for Small Business (ICSB)
JINJU, South Korea — On a calm October morning, 28 national flags waved in front of Centennial Memorial Hall, each one carrying a story of a nation’s dream. Inside, entrepreneurs, scholars, and policymakers gathered to discuss not the next technological revolution, but the next human one.
The Jinju K-Entrepreneurship International Forum has, in just two years, become a touchstone for a new global idea — Human-Centered Entrepreneurship. It is an idea born from Korea’s history, built on its culture of respect, and now shared with the world through partnership and purpose.
“No player is greater than the team,” we remind ourselves at ICSB. “And when the team is guided by purpose, there are no limits to what it can achieve.”
The Birth of a Human-Centered Vision
The origins of this movement go back to 2023, when Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy, President and CEO of ICSB, published “The Origin of Korean Entrepreneurship.” In that essay, he connected Korea’s economic miracle to its moral foundation — inhwa, harmony; jeong, compassion; and gong-ik, public good.
Moved by this reflection, Dr. Tarabishy proposed to Mayor Jo Kyoo-il that Jinju — the cradle of Korean entrepreneurship — host an annual global forum to explore how innovation could once again begin with the human spirit. The mayor agreed. What started as a conversation has since become a cornerstone of global entrepreneurship thought.
Today, Jinju stands proudly as the home of the Human-Centered Entrepreneurship Movement, an effort to balance technology and ethics, growth and empathy.
From Local Spark to Global Light
This year’s forum brought together representatives from 28 countries — a mosaic of perspectives that turned Jinju into a crossroads of ideas. Yet what makes this forum special is not the number of attendees, but the continuity of its impact.
After the sessions closed, the collaborations began:
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Hong Kong University initiated discussions for research partnerships.
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HELP University Malaysia announced the K-Entrepreneurship Education Program, inspired by Jinju’s model.
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In the United States, academics began work on an English edition of K-Entrepreneurship and on joint research papers linking culture, innovation, and ethics.
These efforts have transformed the forum from an event into an ecosystem—a living platform for shared knowledge and sustained cooperation.
Teamwork and Leadership
Behind this year’s success lies nearly ten months of patient preparation and coordination led by Ambassador Oh Joon, whose diplomatic leadership brought together Jinju City, the K-Entrepreneurship Foundation, and ICSB into seamless harmony.
There were moments of challenge, yet as we often say, teamwork turns difficulty into discovery.
“It always seems impossible until it is done,” Nelson Mandela once said. In Jinju, it was done beautifully.
Education for the Next Generation
The Nammyung K-Entrepreneurship Academy recently celebrated its first graduating class, marking a milestone in the education of future-minded, ethical entrepreneurs. The second program, launching in December, will expand globally, enrolling more than 500 participants through online sessions.
In Seoul, a new Breakfast Course is being prepared to continue this conversation — intimate morning gatherings where entrepreneurs and scholars exchange ideas over reflection and dialogue.
Education is the bridge between imagination and implementation. It ensures that Human-Centered Entrepreneurship is not just taught, but lived.
From the Pearl of Korea to the Pearl of the United Nations
Jinju has long been known as the Pearl of Korea. Today, it gleams more brightly — as the Pearl of the United Nations.
From this city, the message of Human-Centered Entrepreneurship is spreading outward: that innovation guided by empathy can create jobs, heal communities, and restore faith in the promise of progress.
“Entrepreneurship begins with purpose — with the courage to innovate for people, not just for progress,” said Dr. Tarabishy. “The United Nations reminds us that it all starts with ‘We the People’ — the first harbor for Peace and, more importantly these days, Hope.”
A New Model for the World
For ICSB, the Jinju Forum represents more than an event — it is proof that the human spirit is the world’s most powerful innovation engine.
When I walked through the hallways after the closing session, I saw participants exchanging business cards, laughing, and sharing ideas — people who arrived as strangers, leaving as collaborators. That, I realized, is the true success of Jinju.
“The strength of entrepreneurship lies not in competition, but in cooperation,” I told the delegates. “When we innovate with empathy, we lead with purpose.”
Jinju has shown that entrepreneurship is not merely an economic act — it is a moral one.