From over at the Times:

Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman and CEO, Shin Chang-jae won the 19th Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award for his long-time support of Korean literature.

Shin is a former professor at Seoul National University and now works for the Daesan Foundation (Kyobo). Daesan have created the Daesan Literary Awards, distributes creative writing funds, and supports translation of Korean literature into other languages. In 2007 Shin was also named as the 11th richest Korean, which can’t hurt. 😉

An excellent article detailing his ‘reluctant’ path to his position, can be found over at Forbes.

Shin Chang-Jae never wanted to be a businessman. He turned down his father’s offer to send him overseas to study business. Instead he stayed home in South Korea, went to medical school and became an obstetrician and university professor.