Middle-Aged South Korean Men Find Career In Start-Ups While Waiting For State Pension

South Korean Kim Hyeong Keon has decided to change his career after realizing that he is not getting any younger. Kim left his sales job at Hyundai Card and puts on a new persona as a chef.

The 44-year-old South Korean recently opened his own Italian restaurant in Seoul a year after he left Hyundai Card, Financial Times reported on Oct. 15.

"I didn't want to stay with the company until my energy ran out," Kim says.

His former employer reportedly helped him while he was planning with his restaurant business. Kim was allowed by Hyundai Card to use up six months on full pay preparing for his start-up.

Kim used the given time to go to different places to learn different cuisines. In addition, chefs from Hong Kong and Japan helped him develop the menu for his restaurant.

According to reports, middle-aged salary men find new careers in start-ups, with most of them targeting the restaurant and shop sectors. Like Kim, some South Korean men leave their jobs to try start-ups while waiting for the state pension.

South Korean must be at least 60 years old to enjoy the state pension, therefore, some of these people either try start-ups or work in coffee shops or small stores.

A report by Reuters published on July 23, 2012 revealed that most of the country's baby boomers or those who were born between the years 1955 to 1963 had made no financial plans before they reached their retirement.

According to a survey conducted by South Korea's welfare ministry, most of these baby boomers get financial support by opening small businesses on borrowed capital.

"So many people, once they retire or quit from their regular paying jobs have nowhere to go but to start up their own businesses," says Samsung Economic Research Institute researcher Kim Sun Bin.