[Opinion] Kim Young-mo Bakery Model

At the “Kim Young-mo Bakery,” founder Kim Young-mo bakes bread with his son. The 26-year-old son is not a bookworm-type student. It was no use trying to make him study even with some well-known private tutors. He often said reading gave him headaches. However, the father pleaded that he needed to at least get a high school diploma. As a high school dropout himself, he knew the disadvantages of being “less-educated” more than anyone else. Nevertheless, he could not force his son to study. Then, one day, his son said, “I want to bake bread just like you do.” Baking over two generations was possible because his son simply decided that studying was not his thing.

Baking is not as easy as it sounds. After spending a year at his high school, Kim Young-mo decided to work in a bakery instead of going to school because his family could not make ends meet. On top of that, he was hoping to eat lots of leftover pieces of bread. However, working in a bakery was not easy. He sometimes wanted to quit altogether. Fortunately, his rage and despair began to disappear as he restored peace in his mind while rolling out dough and learned patience while waiting in front of the oven.

His son had much more passion for baking than his father had expected. Baking was a way of having ‘fun’ for his son, unlike for Kim who had to bake for living. His son never complained even when he had blisters on his hands.

Kim sent his son to a professional baking school in France immediately after he graduated high school. As a result of his hard work, and despite an accident where he almost cut off four of his fingers, he won a bronze medal in the 2003 World Skills Competition, the first time a Korean baker finished that high. The father began to realize that it is better to leave children to decide their future on their own instead of forcing them to study. It was a valuable lesson he learned from raising his son.

Kim now owns four branches of the “Kim Young-mo Bakery,” including one located in Tower Palace, Dogok-dong, and employs some 130 workers. He is no longer an owner of a corner bakery. He is an eminent baker in Korea and was selected as national bakery master in 1998 and the “Monthly Skilled Korean” award winner for July. He has always been devoted to developing baking technologies to make tasty, visually aesthetic, and easy-to-digest bread. He said, “I want to make a bakery that lasts for generations just like those in Europe.” He is well on his way, putting new life into Korea’s bakeries.

Heo Mun-myeong, Editorial Writer, angelhuh@donga.com