A survey conducted by a university revealed Monday that Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee was chosen by university students as the person they most wanted to emulate.
The poll, conducted on 250 students by Kim Jae-won, a professor at the College of Economics and Business Administration, showed that the 59-year-old entrepreneur received 15.2 percent of the votes cast.
The results also highlighted the growing interest of college students towards economics, management, and the information technology sector, with four out of the top five most popular living males being in the business community. There was generally a lack of enthusiasm shown for political figures.
Relatively young chief executive officers like Ahn Chul-soo, of Ahn's Anti-virus Research Institute got 12.2 percent of the votes, followed by Lee Jae-woong of Daum Communications Corp. and Jhun Ha-jin 0f Haansoft, ranking forth and fifth place respectively.
Third place went to Korean baseball star, Park Chan-ho, who garnered 7.7 percent.