
This book is the story of a man who was born as the eldest of 11 children in a poor rural village and fought to escape from poverty that he was destined to be trapped in. The formative years of Kim Jae-chul, the founder of Dongwon Group and Korea Investment Holdings, were the mid-1950s to the 1960s. This was a period in which Korea began to rise from the ashes of the Korean War. There are many stories about great entrepreneurs in this world, but the biography of Kim Jae-chul holds a special kind of value. While the majority of entrepreneurs remain firmly rooted on land, deep sea fishing in the vast ocean is a completely different story. A person who has escaped many brushes with death will naturally come to hold a unique worldview. Kim Jae-chul earned himself a reputation as ‘Captain Kim’ while working as the skipper of vessels in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans during his early 20s. He is an integral part of the history of Korea’s deep sea fishing industry, and his life story is not limited to events of the past. This story also speaks to the present and the future. This book is not simply an account of the growth of one man, but also a record and appraisal of the sacrifices made by the previous generation to make it through an era of hardship and build a livable country. I hope that those living in the present era will also renew their resolve to build a better country in the future.