[Interview] Mr. Kim Hee Oog CEO of NAKED DENMARK in Copenhagen
Denmark.
NAKED DENMARK is a multifarious trading business consisting of a Korean restaurant, a media company, and a travel agency. I interviewed this young CEO through email.
Q1: You are currently the CEO of KOPAN and NAKED DENMARK. However, I have never heard your name until I read an article about a TV show entitled “Kim Hee Oog, a Hoddeok (a Korean pancake stuffed with sugar) Vendor in Copenhagen.” First of all, please briefly tell us about yourself.
A1: Hello, My name is Heeoog Kim in Korean and Bruce Kim as global name that is easy to remember for foreign friends. I am working at KOPAN as C.H.O (Chief Happiness Officer )
Q2: Well, thank you for your introduction. Why did you choose to go to Denmark? What made you go there?
A2: I came over to Denmark 8 years ago as an exchange student and it was the only country I could choose when I, as Transportation Engineering major student, tried to find a country good enough to enjoy exciting travels. I was not so excited here at first but Denmark made me curious about the happiness that people here were known to enjoy the most. The Danish had the reputation as one of the countries with highest standing in terms of Happiness Index.
Q3: I found a couple of key words related to you when I tried to get some information about you, such as “Hoddeok Vendor in Kopenhagen,” “Happiness Delivery Project,” “KOPAN RICE,” “NAKED DENMARK,” and “INSIDE DENMARK,” Please tell us about them respectively.
A3: Well, it is quite a long story, but first, let me tell you about Hoddeok Vendor and Happiness Delivery Project.
While living in Denmark, I found out that Denmark had sent medical ships to Korea when we were in the Korean War and they treated injured people and also made a donation to build hospitals in Korea. This story touched me and I wanted to find out a way that I could help Danish people in return for their hospitality. I hit upon an idea that I could deliver happiness to people from two countries by food and its story. Since Denmark has a long winter season and they don’t have a relatively well-developed food culture, I was afraid.
One day some news company in Korea asked me to help their coverage about Denmark, a strange country to Korean people. I had chances to visit many organizations and talk with people here. I decided to start the Happiness Delivery Project when I found many Korean people were interested in happy lives of people here. I thought I should find a way to meet as many people as I could for the coverage and the project as well. I decided to sell some Korean food to Danish people and hoddeok was the best menu for me as I didn’t have enough money. After several twists and turns, I opened a street stall here in Copenhagen in 2014. And then, in 2015, I had the opportunity to set up a stall in front of the Torvehallerne Market, where the Korean Kimchi Festival was held. My hoddeok was very popular with Danish people and young people who liked K-pop. The stall was expanded and got the name of KOPAN RICE as a regular Korean restaurant.
Let me tell you about NAKED DENMARK and INSIDE DENMARK. In 2015, I met my business partner, Mr. Ahn, and started the first professional media company in Korea which was specialzed on Denmark. I decided to run a travel agency INSIDE DENMARK because I needed to have a profit-making business.
However, these are all not only for making money, but for letting Korean people understand Denmark’s reputation as one of the happiest people in the world.
Q4: It is very impressive that all those businesses seem to be not just for earning money, but for some other special purpose of delivering happiness to people. It might be connected to your vision as CEO of your businesses. Can you tell us about that?
A4: I believe firmly the genuine purpose of business is to create the values on what people really need, and earning money is crucial to continue the business. Through the project “Delivering Happiness,” I found out the values I mentioned above. I realized that is what makes the big difference in the happiness index between the countries, and that is why Denmark has been often called one of the happiest countries in the world.
Q5: You might have felt some differences culturally and in many aspects of life while living in Denmark. What do you think are most typically different in comparison to ours?
A5: Denmark has lots of differences and also similarities considering the historical background. I found the obvious difference is the way of pursuing the happiness. I think, the Danes try to find happiness in their own self-satisfaction and also in the time they have with the people whom they love, whereas Koreans seem to try to find it from their own possessions, wealth or what they have.
One more thing is that during the Master program at university, I was shocked by the educational difference between two countries. As you know, in Korea, we are under the pressure of the fierce competitive situation. on the contrary, students here enjoy the atmosphere of cooperation in general here in Denmark.
Actually, I have a very shocking memory when I took the first test after I came here. I got a zero at the test. When I asked about this unexpected miserable result, the professor told me, “I asked for your thought about the question. You didn’t tell me anything about it, but just what I myself told you about it in class.”
Q6: Can you leave any message for our readers, especially young Korean readers?
A6: I do not have any special message to Korean readers. However. I’d like to tell this to them: There are always many good things for us to try when we look around the world. I’m sure precious opportunities for us to try those good things will be naturally given some day. So, I think, we should determine to try our best to pursue what we think the most valuable when we get the opportunity.
http://cafe.daum.net/weeklymonday/iSZz
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