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Lee Charm, president of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), is not a typical Korean chief _ not because of his naturalization or appearance, but because of the way he runs the tour promotional agency.
Lee is far from bossy. He tries to persuade employees with logic to get the job done, rather than scolding or pressurizing them. For instance, he replaced the monthly gathering with all employees with an irregular tea-time meeting. Previously at the gathering, they had to listen to their chief’s boring lecture but under the new format, they causally talk over a cup of tea.
Lee looks comfortable with his job. He casually exchanges jokes with his public relations officials. His subordinates also say they think of and treat him just like any other Korean.
He is also encouraging employees to take a two-week leave and he himself will do so next month. A two-week leave is almost unthinkable for any presidents of state-invested public corporations here.
He emphasizes the importance of holiday. “If people take leave more often and freely, they will travel more and it will provide a big boon to the tour industry,” Lee said during an interview at his office.
He said senior managers should use their authorized leave to make it easier for their subordinates to follow suit. “If senior managers cannot take leave because of work, it means the system is malfunctioning. The system should be blamed, not their leave.”
Lee plans to travel around the country during his holiday. Isn’t it another form of work for the chief of the tour organization? Nope, he says.
Lee is well-versed with the Korean culture _ maybe more than any ordinary Koreans do. When he talks about tourism, he sounds so passionate about the beauty of Korean culture and its natural beauties in the countryside.
He itches to promote its hidden attractiveness not only to foreigners but to Koreans as well. “Many Koreans say that there is not much to see in Korea. But it’s not true. That’s simply because they haven’t travelled enough. If you go to a village in the countryside, you will be surprised at the beauty. We have lots of places that will appeal to foreign tourists.”
Lee, the nation’s first ethnically non-Korean chief of a public corporation, can see the strong or weak point of the Korean tourism with the perspective of foreigners or consumers.
He sees a huge potential in the Korean tourism and expects the G20 summit in Seoul in November will provide a fresh catalyst for the world to know more about the country.
He says the Korean culture is full of charms. To make it more appealing to foreigners, he called for the government and the private sector to make a greater investment.
“We must recognize the importance of the tour industry. As Korea’s IT industry became globally competitive on huge investment, we must invest more in the tour sector,” Lee said.
At the same time, he pointed out that efforts should be made to rediscover the beauty of Korea, as its “identity” has been buried in the process of decades of industrialization.
“We must rebuild this identity. If we revive it and make it a brand, it will enthrall both foreigners and young people,” Lee said, citing the recent popularity of “makgeolli” as a case in point. “The more it is shown, the more it will be loved.”
