"For me, corporate management is 'of people, by people and for people.'" It is the last sentence of Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae's keynote speech at a forum hosted by the United Nations (UN) and the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) last year.
It is an indication of the "humanitarian stakeholder management" Chairman Shin seeks, which honestly represents the footsteps Kyobo Life has taken over the past 60 years.
Celebrating the 61st anniversary of its foundation on Aug. 7, Kyobo Life has published a book on the "60 years of Kyobo Life," which includes the growth history over the period.
The book was compiled to shed light on the history of Kyobo Life, which has been on the path of life insurance by practicing its stakeholder management. Based on the founding concept of "national education promotion" and "ethnic capital formation," the book contains a 60-year journey that has been striving for joint development with stakeholders.
Kyobo Life Insurance's birth dates back to 1958. Shin Yong-ho, founder of Kyobo Life Insurance, established "Daehan Education Insurance Co." to showcase the world's first education insurance, "Jinhak Insurance."
It also contributed greatly to the growth of the Korean insurance industry into the world's eighth-largest by developing retirement and cancer insurances for the first time in Korea and opening the era of contractor dividend payments.
When it was established in 1958, it started with a capital of 200 million "whan" (about 20 million won), but now it has become a large life insurer with its total assets exceeding 112 trillion won.
"We wanted to record the footprints and achievements of the company over half a century through the publication," a Kyobo Life Insurance official said, adding, "We will share our 60-year history of challenge and innovation with our staff and stakeholders to prepare for the future."
