With experience cultivated in Japan, he will raise the parking lot business in Korea.
NPD KOREA CO.,LTD. CEO
Pyll Gyu Jeong
Born in South Korea. After graduating from a Japanese university, joined NPD in April 2010. After experiencing area management, leasing and new sales, in July 2014, he will be appointed CEO of NPD KOREA. We are promoting business development based on the Korean parking lot consulting industry with market scale equivalent to Japan.
Overcoming differences
I was once homeless. Due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 I was forced to be separated from my family. After 3 weeks I quit my high school and I found myself in Japan.
When I received the draft for military service I was relieved. It meant that I didn’t have to worry about where to live and what to eat. I tried to stay in the military but was recommended to go to university, so I attended a Japanese university while working part time shifts. During my job hunting period I wanted to work in the real estate field since I knew how difficult it was to be homeless. It didn’t go as planned. The real estate industry is based on trust. I didn’t want to believe it but there was discrimination against me. That’s when I came across NPD. In my final interview, what Mr. Kawamura, our current Vice President told me, took me by surprise. “Everyone says discrimination does not exist, but to be honest you know it does, right?” I couldn’t believe there was a company that wouldn’t hide what everybody senses deep down. At that time there were no foreign employees in NPD, but that was the moment I knew that I could be myself here.
It was not easy at first to overcome cultural barriers. But I was appointed to improve the Gemba (Parking site) as a team. My goal was not to make situations worse, but to make a better environment. When we managed to share the same goal, we were able to surpass our differences and become a stronger team. Looking back at my time at the Gemba, I am 100% confident that it was necessary. It would be impossible to present new services to a client or building owners without such experiences. That’s where I gained what I have today, including team members that look up to me. I am grateful for that.
For my “Sikgu(食口)”
NPD KOREA now has 15 members including myself. I think of them as my “Sikgu”. (In Korean the literal translation is “mouth to feed”, meaning “family members”) Most of my employees are young but I want all of them to have a family and live a happy, fulfilling life. I am building a company where everybody can work while being satisfied with their life. Of course business competency is important, but my employees always come first.
To accomplish my goal, I am working tirelessly to shape a more energetic business in a country where the parking business is not high in the social hierarchy. To be socially recognized, I will keep contributing to society with what learned in Japan and aim to become a publicly listed company.
NPD KOREA has a “Ten-year plan” that marks our journey to become publicly listed company. We have set a high goal with the vision of all of our 15 employees becoming Board Members or General managers of a listed company.I learned the importance of money the hard way experiencing poverty. With all my soul, I want to complete my lifework for all my “Sikgu”.