'People must be at the center of technology,' Nexen Group chairman says in UN keynote

Nexen Group Chairman Kang Byung-joong delivered a keynote address at the 2026 UN International Forum on SME Day, introducing Korean-style entrepreneurship and calling for people-centered management in the age of AI.

The forum was held Friday at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber at UN Headquarters in New York. Organized by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) to mark the UN-designated International SME Day, the event was co-sponsored by the permanent missions of South Korea, Barbados, Kuwait and Switzerland to the UN.

This year's forum was held under the theme "Human-Centered Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI." Kang delivered his keynote on "Human-Centered Initiatives and K-Entrepreneurship," sharing his experience putting the values of Korean-style, people-first entrepreneurship into practice on the international stage.

"Even in the age of AI, people must remain at the center of technology," Kang said. "Entrepreneurship is not simply about expanding the scale of a business — it is a responsibility to respect people, pioneer future opportunities and share the fruits of that effort with society."

He said K-entrepreneurship "has viewed wealth not as a means of accumulating private gain, but as a vehicle for creating social value, developing on a tradition of nurturing talent and dedicating business to the nation." He also offered a vision in which "people-centered K-entrepreneurship can become a new global model contributing to sustainable development and inclusive growth in the AI era."

Kang introduced "Simcheongsadal" as a core value of Korean-style entrepreneurship. The term means "to clarify the mind and accomplish things rightly," and Kang said he has put it into practice through what he calls "management of emptying" — a philosophy of setting aside greed, listening to others and remaining open to new learning as the starting point for corporate innovation and the pursuit of future opportunity.

He also stressed the importance of embracing future challenges through his personal philosophy of "Wolseok." Kang said he gave himself the pen name — meaning "to harbor a grand dream" — after watching the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. It reflects an entrepreneurial will to pursue what seems impossible, a spirit also embedded in the company name Nexen, which stands for "Next Century."

Kang was born in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1939 and started a used freight truck import and sales business in 1965. He built Nexen Tire into a global tire company, moving through the transportation, retreaded tire and tire tube businesses along the way.

"Wolseok was the dream, Simcheongsadal was the way to realize that dream, and people-centered K-entrepreneurship was the direction that dream pointed toward," Kang said. "I hope K-entrepreneurship will become a global model that contributes to sustainable development and inclusive growth in the AI era."

Nexen Group operates through Nexen Tire, Nexen, KNN and three public-interest foundations. Nexen Tire supplies original equipment tires to global automakers including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.