The "2025 Jinju K-entrepreneurship International Forum" opened on the 26th across Jinju, including at the 100th Anniversary Hall (Gyeongnam e-sports arena) of Gyeongsang National University.
The event, themed "The role of entrepreneurship in an era of global transition," is hosted by the Jinju K-entrepreneurship International Forum Organizing Committee. More than 1,000 people, including entrepreneurs, scholars, experts, and university students from around the world, including about 200 foreigners, are participating. It will run for three days until the 28th.
The organizing committee has built cooperative partnerships with the United Nations Committee of the Presidents of the General Assembly (UNCPGA), the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) in Columbus, Georgia, the United States, Columbus State University in the United States, the University of Utah Asia Campus in the United States, HELP University in Malaysia, Gyeongsang National University, the Korean Academy of Management, and other domestic and international institutions and organizations.
The forum will discuss wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, deglobalization, the trade war sparked by the United States' new tariff policy, the intensifying climate crisis, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the shift to a digital economy including AI (artificial intelligence) and Bitcoin, and widening social and economic inequality.
On the 26th, domestic and international participants took part in a K-entrepreneurship pilgrimage to sacred sites, cultural tours, and a welcome dinner, where they could directly experience the essence of K-entrepreneurship, the driving force behind the miracle of the South Korean economy.
At the opening ceremony on the 27th, former Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, Jan Kavan, the 57th president of the U.N. General Assembly, Winslow Sargeant, former chief counsel for advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), David Sprott, dean of the Peter Drucker School of Management, and Park Jun-sung, LG vice president, will deliver keynote speeches.
On the 28th, sessions will follow in sequence: world entrepreneurship experts, the creativity and innovation roundtable, the Korean Academy of Management, and the ITAM Society session.
In the world entrepreneurship experts session, speakers will include Ayman El Tarabishy, ICSB president; Winslow Sargeant, former chief counsel for advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); Ahmad Osman, ICSB Cairo president; and Stanley Au, chairman of Delta Asia Financial Group.
Jeong Young-su, chair of the Jinju K-entrepreneurship Foundation, said in opening remarks, "The spread of protectionism, instability in global supply chains, and deepening economic and social inequality are making cooperation and coexistence between nations more difficult. We must revisit the spirit left by the founders of world-class corporations Samsung, LG, GS, and Hyosung, who started in Jinju about 100 years ago," and added, "We hope the Jinju K-entrepreneurship International Forum will become a venue to gain insights and foresight to open a new future from leading scholars and global leaders."