My experience as a former banker taught me how to do that. Instinctively, I know from how someone spea.ks, acts, and carries himself or herself if he or she is say, sincere in asking for a loan. The slightest beha.vior or detail can give away a dishonest or unreliable person.

How much power are you willing to delegate?

Once I trust a someone, I am willing to delegate the finance and marketing functions. But I will never hand over my right as CEO to recruit staff.

Aside from skillful management of people, what else is key to running your company?

Skillful management of customers, and doing better than the rest when it comes to customer care. While my competitors visit customers once a month, I do so every week. That\'s crucial to building long-term relationships.

Which achievement are you most proud of?

Spotting steel foam—a material that\'s temporarily \"pasted\" on the structure of a building under construction—as a growth area, and subsequently pouring a lot of money into developing it. Initially, the response was wea.k because steel foam proved more expensive than the labor-intensive, traditional wood foam. But the surge in labor costs in the late 1980s led to a strong acceptance of steel foam as a viable alternative.

From which failure did you learn the most?

Every time I tried businesses other than what I\'m adept in, I always ended up being empty-handed. For example, flush with the money I earned from steel foam, I entered a ginseng-processing factory as a joint venture, which eventually failed due to management differences. From then on, I resolved to never jump into the unknown. I am a \"steel man\" who must not \"flirt\" with other industries. I\'d rather turn around a faltering business I know much about or create synergies among related businesses, than venture into the unknown.