VANK, led by Park Gi-tae, announced on Aug. 25, 2026, that it is launching a campaign to recommend the late Yoo Il-han, an independence activist and founder of Yuhan Corp., for the honorary title of “Honorary Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Korea.”
On the same day, VANK posted the policy proposal on its national policy platform, Woollim, and released a promotional video highlighting Yoo’s life and achievements.
The campaign was designed to honor Yoo’s entrepreneurial spirit, which connected business success not simply to the accumulation of personal wealth but to the growth and well-being of society, and to present his example as a new standard of economic leadership in contemporary Korea.
Yoo founded Yuhan Corp. in 1926 and played a leading role in providing high-quality medicines to the public. In 1941, he also took part in the Napko Project, a secret operation organized by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to infiltrate the Korean Peninsula, dedicating himself to Korea’s independence.
After Korea’s liberation, Yoo continued to promote honest tax practices and transparent management and introduced a professional management system.
In particular, he believed that “the profits earned by a company should be returned to the society that helped the company grow,” and devoted his entire personal fortune to society and education.
Ma Ji-yoon, a VANK youth researcher who planned the campaign, said she hoped it would remind young people that success is about more than money and fame and encourage them to consider what their achievements can contribute to society and future generations.
“We hope this campaign will encourage young people to think not only about what success means to them personally, but also about what their success can leave behind for society and the next generation,” Ma said.
Park Gi-tae, the head of VANK, said that as Korea’s economy has grown into a global force, the country must also consider how the benefits of that growth should be shared.
“I hope this campaign can serve as an opportunity to move from an economy focused on owning more to one focused on sharing more,” Park said.