Paik Jongwon's The Born Korea Soars on KOSPI Debut
Nov 06, 2024
|
Dubon Korea, listed on the stock market (KOSPI) on the 6th, closed at 51,400 won, up 51.18 percent from 34,000 won.
Dubon Korea shares held by Jongwon Baek stood at 8.792,850 shares (60.78 percent), with the value of Jongwon Baek's holdings standing at 451.95 billion won based on closing prices, and the highest intraday price exceeding 567.1 billion won.
In September, Dubon Korea submitted a securities report to the Financial Services Commission and began a full-fledged KOSPI listing process.
It also pushed for a listing in 2018, but after delaying it due to the spread of COVID-19, it tried to list again to mark its 30th anniversary this year and hit the jackpot.
It was not easy for CEO Baek to enter the restaurant industry by opening the 「Original Ssambap Restaurant" in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul in 1993 and establishing Dubon Korea in 1994.
During the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financial crisis, he left for Hong Kong after deciding to make an extreme choice due to debts amounting to 1.7 billion won, but he recovered his will to do business after eating delicious food there.
After that, he returned to Korea and knelt down to his creditors and promised that he would pay off his debt if he gave him a chance.
In his book 'The Story of Jongwon Baek's Business', he said "1.7 billion won is a huge amount in terms of the value of money now, and it is difficult to pay it back in youth" but there was no way to change the situation except to go back to the beginning and do what you could. I endured by doing what I liked to do,' he recalled at the time.
Since then, CEO Baek has managed a ssambap restaurant and bar by sleeping only four hours a day, and succeeded in making a comeback by introducing 25 restaurant brands in succession, including Hanshin Pocha, Paekdabang, Hong Kong Banjeom, and Saemaul Restaurant.
Currently, CEO Baek's franchise brand has about 2,900 stores in Korea.
As for the secret to his success, he said, `When it comes to restaurant business, fighting against yourself comes first. You have to repeat things every day that you can't even tell. Something you can't do if you don't like it."
In addition, regarding the franchise business he has achieved, he created a restaurant brand that maintains a price range that ordinary people can enjoy comfortably"So it's not easy to raise the price. I'm satisfied with our brand's function like that, and I'm not greedy to make a lot of money from the franchise business."
narusi@sportschosun.com
