[칼럼] My Story 4 - ● A Million-Seller Author Who Created the 'Georo English' Legend

(NewsKorea=Seoul) Digital News Team = My Story 4 - ● A Million-Seller Author Who Created the 'Georo English' Legend

As I neared the completion of my studies in Political Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, I found myself standing at another pivotal juncture.
Should I continue my studies, or should I return to my passionate life as an English instructor and author? I couldn’t bring myself to let go of academia just yet.

"Let’s take on another challenge—this time to Harvard Divinity School, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and the University of Toronto’s Graduate School of Political Science!" I applied and was accepted to all three institutions. However, the staggering tuition fees of these private universities gave me pause. That’s when an unexpected offer came from my alma mater, Stony Brook University: a full tuition waiver and a monthly scholarship of one million won. While the Ivy League allure was tempting, the offer from Stony Brook University too good to pass up.

As fate would have it, while pursuing my PhD in Political Science, I received surprising news from a senior colleague in Korea.
“Your books are starting to gain traction back here. Forget studying for now and focus on making money. This is your chance. You can always go back to Harvard later with the money you earn.”

The English textbooks I had written during my undergraduate years at Stony Brook University—Vocabulary Workshop and Reading Workshop—were making waves in the Korean university English market. Having been deeply invested in the idea of creating domestically developed English textbooks that would rival imported materials, I found myself at a pivotal moment. I decided to seize the opportunity and returned to Korea, leaving my studies behind. What awaited me was a whirlwind of nationwide university English programs and the birth of the "Georo Corps."

Within a year of my return, the English textbooks I had written during my summer and winter breaks as a student sold over one million copies and became essential books for university students in Korea. As an author of English textbooks, I had reached the pinnacle of success. Despite being a best-selling author and successful CEO, I taught English courses at prestigious institutions like Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University between 1991 and 1995. Being directly involved with students—the consumers of my English textbooks—allowed me to refine my understanding of their needs, ensuring the long-term success of my publications.

The launch of the "Georo Corps" signaled a new chapter in my career. I began recruiting talented instructors to teach using my books, forming a second-generation team of "Georo Corps" instructors who would conduct courses at 60 universities nationwide. Many of them went on to become stars in their own right, including Lee Geun-cheol of KBS’s Good Morning Pops, best-selling TOEIC author Kim Dae-kyun, UC Irvine linguistics professor Lee Nam-hee, and Kyungnam University English Literature professor Cho Young-kyo. At the height of the "Georo Corps," the term "Georo English Lectures" 
became widely recognized across campuses.

Managing an organization that operated English lectures at 60 universities was an invaluable experience, teaching me real-world economic principles and management skills. I also faced significant challenges. Having earned enough money, I began contemplating my true aspirations.

"My goal is to elevate Korean university English textbooks to an international standard. I will achieve 100% localization of English textbooks. This is my way of giving back to society as someone who gained both recognition and financial success from writing these books."

With this vision in mind, I planned the "Georo Workshop Series," a five-year project that extended beyond Vocabulary Workshop and Reading Workshop to include Idiom Workshop, TOEFL Workshop, TOEIC Workshop, Conversation Workshop, and over 60 supplementary titles. It was an ambitious undertaking, requiring a 2 billion Korean won investment in production alone. To my delight, many of these books became bestsellers. Notably, Georo Vocabulary Workshop and Georo TOEIC Workshop each sold over a million copies, cementing their status as million-sellers. One of the reasons for their success was the credibility I built by directly teaching at major universities and engaging with thousands of students who became loyal users of my books.

Over the course of more than a decade, I wrote English textbooks, often pushing myself to the brink. Writing Georo Vocabulary Workshop, including its extensive Roots Dictionary of over 1,500 pages, was an especially grueling task. I suffered burnout and even collapsed from exhaustion during the final stages of writing. However, my unwavering belief that this book was something only I could create gave me the strength to recover and complete the work.

While working on Georo Reading Workshop, I faced a different challenge. Although the content was solid, the book’s layout hindered readability. I experimented with a new structure: placing one reading passage and its questions on the left page, with explanations and translations on the right. This simple adjustment made the book far more user-friendly, resulting in a surge in popularity and sales.

Dreaming of creating something entirely my own—rather than copying foreign textbooks—was fueled by my sense of pride and determination. I believed it was time for Korea to develop its own English textbooks, free from dependency on foreign materials. This conviction led me to invest heavily in the localization of English learning resources, even at great personal and financial risk.

In June 2009, the Chinese translations of Georo Vocabulary Workshop and its Roots Dictionary were published by New Oriental, the largest education and technology company in China. These books became bestsellers and sparked a wave of interest in Korean-authored English textbooks among Chinese university students. Riding this momentum, my autobiographical essay "I Challenge the One Percent Possibility" was translated into Chinese and published by Shanghai Foreign Language University Publishing  House in 2010, touching the hearts of many readers.

Looking back, I take immense pride in my achievements as an author and educator. Although I didn’t amass astronomical wealth or enjoy widespread social recognition, I poured my heart, sleepless nights, and resources into creating textbooks that transformed the way English was taught in Korea.

Ultimately, English became a unique means to shape my life. While it sometimes felt constraining, it also became a reliable tool that enabled me to achieve independence. Today, I reflect on my journey with gratitude and pride, knowing that I didn’t merely follow a path—I carved my own.

☆ Author:  Atty Jeong-kee Kim ☆

● Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, State University of New York at Stony Brook
-  Doctor of Jurisprudence, Marquette University Law School
- Senior Executive Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Research Scholar in North Korean Studies, Peking University

● Experience
- Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
- Commissioner General for the Korean Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo
- CEO, Asia-Pacific Local Government Network for Economic and Social Development (CityNet)
- Secretary General, World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization(WeGO)
- Law Clerk, Milwaukee Circuit Court, USA
- Senior Attorney-at-Law, Dr & Aju LLC
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, World Economy Research Institute, Nanjing University
- Research Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies, Peking University
- Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Political Science, Kookmin University
- Chair Professor, Graduate School of Business, Dongguk University
- First President of Soongsil Cyber University

● Publications
- Georo English Studies Series for College Students [10 volumes] (Georo Publishing)
- I Challenge the Possibility of One Percent (Chosun Ilbo)
- The Art of Negotiation (Cheongnyonneongsin Publishing)
- Korea and the World (Chekmidum Publishing)