Where attitude becomes capital

I believe the fundamental answer to the gaps and conflicts between generations, regions and classes lies in social capital.

My interest in social capital began in the mid-1990s, while writing my doctoral dissertation at USC. Studying how public green spaces in large apartment complexes were maintained, I found that the decisive factor was not income or property value, but trust, reciprocity and networks among residents.

Throughout my public career I kept asking why Korea, despite remarkable compressed growth, still did not feel like a truly advanced country. My answer was intangible social capital: civic awareness, mutual consideration and trust. As Chairman of the Local Finance Mutual Aid Association I founded the Forum on Local Finance and Social Capital, chaired it 25 times, and invited Harvard’s Professor Robert Putnam to an international conference.

The field taught me one more thing: social capital starts not with grand institutions but with one person’s attitude — diligence, integrity, humility, empathy and consideration. The more AI levels knowledge and skills, the more these attitudes become personal competitiveness, organizational trust and social capital.

The Korea Social Capital Research Center was founded on this belief. We will keep finding, practicing and sharing that answer.

Lee In JaeDirector, Korea Social Capital Research Center