Yang Jae-saeng vows to include 'businesspeople's independence movement' in Busan memorial hall

Yang Jae-saeng, chairman of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, delivered a keynote address Wednesday afternoon at a policy forum held at Busan City Hall to mark the 81st anniversary of Liberation Day. His presentation was titled "Busan's Future Competitiveness and the Value of Its Historical and Cultural Assets."

The forum, organized by the preparatory committee for the establishment of the Busan Independence Movement Memorial Hall, was convened to discuss the direction of the hall's construction and operation. About 200 people attended, including Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, Jo Chang-yong, co-chair of the Busan Civic Organizations Council, Jo Jeong-hee, its standing chair, and representatives from academia, civil society and the business community.

Yang proposed that the memorial hall feature the "independence movement of businesspeople" as a core element of its content. "The memorial hall should not be a warehouse storing the past, but a well from which we draw future competitiveness," he said. He argued that the hall should illuminate not only those who fought with guns and pens, but also local business figures who sought to reclaim the nation through commerce.

The Busan Gaekju Commercial Company — the forerunner of today's Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry — was founded in 1889 to protect Korean commercial interests from foreign capital. Baeksan Merchant Association, established in Jungang-dong in 1914, channeled trade profits to the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, serving as a vital source of independence movement funding. The case of Baeksan Ahn Hee-je, who used his company as a base for the independence movement, shows that Busan's business leaders were serving their nation and community long before the concept of corporate social responsibility was formally defined.

Yang also highlighted the life of the late Chairman Kang Seok-jin, who built Dongmyeong Timber into what was once the world's largest plywood company and used its profits to found schools, as well as the history of the founders of Samsung and LG Group, who laid the groundwork for their revival and entrepreneurship in Busan. He summarized the spirit of these Busan entrepreneurs as "self-strengthening, self-reliance and mutual prosperity," stressing that the independence spirit and the entrepreneurial spirit share a common root.

Yang also outlined three roles the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry would play in support of the memorial hall's construction. He said the chamber would work to ensure the hall features an exhibition on the independence movement of businesspeople, and would serve as a bridge between the hall and local companies by unearthing historical materials such as old ledgers, photographs and corporate histories. He added that the chamber would also explore ways to link programs so the hall becomes a space that passes on the pioneering spirit of Busan's business leaders to young entrepreneurs.