We are in South Korea as part of our international immersion module. Despite an exhausting flight journey, we were enthusiastic about our first day here. As promised, we were treated to a grand breakfast buffet at the Gangnam Family Hotel, with a variety of dishes. After that, we travelled from the south side of Han River to the north, where KAIST College of Business is located.
We were welcomed by Heeseok Lee, Associate Dean, and Betty Chung, Professor at KAIST College of Business. After a welcome address by Chung, who detailed the immersion programme, we started with the lectures. The first lecture was on Korean history and its implication to industrialisation by LeighAnne Yuh, Assistant Professor at Korea University. This gave us a glimpse of the different events that led to the industrialisation of South Korea and the parallel history of North Korea.
The second session was by Zong Tae Bae, Professor at KAIST College of Business, who explained the journey of innovation and entrepreneurship in Korea — from imitation to innovation. The third session was taken by Nayantara Dabariya, Commercial Officer at Indian Embassy, who provided us new perspectives of work done by the Indian government and the embassy to improve trade relations with Korea.
The day ended with sumptuous dinner buffet at Todai, where we interacted with students of KAIST College of Business, after which we returned to our hotel.
(This story was first published at Business Line on Campus: https://www.bloncampus.com/b-school-corner/imitation-to-innovation-koreas-business-journey/article24697022.ece )
