New Class of Movers, Shakers Emerges

A group of new power elites is emerging in 21st Century Korean society. It is expected to bring fundamental changes to the power structure of existing Korean elites, whose realms have been confined to polities and the economy.

New power elites are in their 30s and 40s. What they have in common is that their influence on society is expected to continue to grow, even though they have just gained their powers.

Dong-A Ilbo and a group of advising professors selected a score of power elite groups who are expected to increase their influence on Korean society in the 21st Century.

Dong-A Ilbo will run a new series of reports to offer analysis on how emerging power elites have made their debut and gained powers in Korean society. In the first installment, we will take a closer look at foreign companies’ consultants.

There are five keywords describing the new power elites: global, digital, soft, fusion, and network.

Foreign companies’ consultants and international lawyers have appeared as new power elites, mainly because Korean society was forced to embrace global standards as it opened its market dramatically. And the financial crisis in the late 1990s was the catalyst for this change.

Many global consulting firms such as Mckinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company have already solidified their positions in Korea. They have been increasing their influence, by participating in major M&A projects and formulating management strategies for large local conglomerates.

These new power elites characteristically have global minds, think flexibly by embracing various values, and develop their capacity in their networks.

Suk-Min Hong smhong@donga.com sublime@donga.com