About Eugene Kim 김유진

Eugene Kim has been called a steadfast ally of South Korea's restaurant industry. He has worked with food for more than thirty years, since 1994. A food-program TV producer and one of Korea's first-generation food columnists, he appeared on major TV and radio programs such as KBS's Achim Madang, SBS's Good Morning, and MBC's Find It! Delicious TV.

His real passion, though, is on the ground. For more than twenty years he has worked as a restaurant consultant alongside tens of thousands of small business owners. The industry says that if he notices you, you'll make it big, yet he always credits the owners' hard work before his own.

He has served as chief food-and-beverage consultant to the National Museum of Korea and as a small-business strategy adviser to local governments including Gwangju Metropolitan City and Mokpo City. Beyond the restaurant world, he has served on the Ministry of National Defense's policy advisory committee, and he lectures and advises owners for companies including Baedal Minjok (Baemin), Shinhan Bank, LG Uplus, and Class101.

His books have sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide. Among them, Your Price Is Wrong, Business Is Strategy, Famous, Business Is Content Now, and The Korean Master of Business have guided countless owners. More than 4,800 aspiring founders and owners have trained at the KYJ Academy's branches across Korea. As of September 2026, graduates of his regular courses run more than 7,000 stores, with combined annual sales approaching ₩2 trillion (about $1.4 billion).

His dream and newest challenge: “to build a Korean restaurant industry where owners can smile.”