30 Years Obsessed with the Three Kingdoms, CEO Kim Gab-yong Creates Living History on Ganghwa Island

Hello! Have you ever wondered why the Three Kingdoms is gaining renewed attention these days? More and more people are turning back to history from 2,000 years ago to find answers on how to lead organizations and develop talent in the AI era. The Three Kingdoms is not merely a tale of wars, but a story of organizations that solve problems in uncertain environments, connect people, and create results.

This article tells the story of one person who invested 30 years to move beyond simply reading the Three Kingdoms in books and instead create an experience of actually touching, seeing, and feeling it. Let's explore how the Three Kingdoms artifacts directly collected by CEO Kim Gab-yong and field-based learning that unfolds at the Doyuan Kyeol-ui Cafe in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon City has grown into a platform that nurtures future talent for the AI era.

Why do we keep re-reading the Three Kingdoms? Many people remember only characters and battles, but what truly matters is relationships and structure. Who forms alliances with whom, how resources are deployed, what justifications drive action—the principles of organization hide within these relational networks.

Kim Gab-yong, CEO of the Three Kingdoms AI Talent Research Institute, was not satisfied with "only explaining through books." Over 30 years, he has directly collected and accumulated books, artifacts, and records related to the Three Kingdoms, aiming to transform the Three Kingdoms into a living case study of organizations.

* Content that recreates not simple Three Kingdoms commentary, but relationships and decision-making structures from the field
* Questions asking why Zhuge Liang was excellent as an individual but failed as an organization
* Attempts to find the problem-solving capabilities that future talent in the AI era must possess in the characters of the Three Kingdoms

The Doyuan Kyeol-ui Cafe on Ganghwa Island is not just a simple cafe. This is an exhibition space and learning platform where you can actually feel the relationships and structures that appear in the Three Kingdoms. Artifacts, records, and related books directly collected by CEO Kim Gab-yong are arranged here, and visitors reach new understanding by seeing stories from books with their eyes and touching them with their hands.

Who visits this place? Executives and organizational leaders, corporate managers considering AI transformation, job seekers who aspire to become future talent, and general readers who want to properly experience the depth of the Three Kingdoms.

* Thirty years of accumulated Three Kingdoms-related materials and artifacts are arranged throughout the space
* Zhuge Liang's strategies read in books are explained alongside the Rong Zhong Daji map
* Organizational principles such as Cao Cao's talent portfolio and Lu Su's alliance design can be directly experienced

"Samminam (三迷男)" means "men obsessed with the Three Kingdoms." This goes beyond interest or hobby, embodying the will to connect field problems and the Three Kingdoms based on long-term accumulation and research.

Samminam TV is the result of a meeting between CEO Kim Gab-yong (handling the depth of Three Kingdoms content) and CEO Shim Jae-woo (handling the interpretive framework of the AI era). Rather than a simple Three Kingdoms commentary channel, it is a knowledge channel that re-reads Three Kingdoms figures and events through AI-era organizational strategy and future talent.

The core questions addressed on Samminam TV are as follows:

Why was Zhuge Liang the best individual but failed to complete an organization that continuously produced problem-solvers like himself?

If Cao Cao were a modern company's interviewer, what kind of people would he hire?

Was Guan Yu a loyal talent, or was he a high-performing, high-risk talent that endangered the entire organization?

Why did Ma Su have abundant knowledge but fail in the field?

How did Fang Tong design multiple execution paths rather than a single answer?

* Not viewing Three Kingdoms figures simply as "who was exceptional"
* Setting "what our organizations and individuals today must learn from them" as the core question
* Finding the conditions for FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer) type talent in the AI era in the Three Kingdoms

In an age when AI generates answers, we need not simply people who use tools well, but people who define problems in the field, connect people and data, and create results. This is called FDE-type talent.

FDE is an abbreviation for Forward Deployed Engineer, originally stemming from a role at Palantir, but now meaning integrated problem-solving capabilities needed across all industries.

The five competencies of FDE-type talent are as follows:

* Problem-Definition Power: The ability to accurately define important problems
* Field-Penetration Power: The ability to discover context and constraints beyond documents
* Relationship-Translation Power: The ability to connect different languages of field, technology, and management
* Experimentation-Execution Power: The ability to quickly prove value with small MVPs
* Learning-Institutionalization: The ability to accumulate experience as standards and organizational assets

Among Three Kingdoms figures, there are those with such capabilities. Zhuge Liang redefined the problems of Liu Bei's forces and designed the relational network of the world through the Rong Zhong Daji. Cao Cao composed a talent portfolio by looking at role fit rather than background. Lu Su translated the interests of Wu and Shu. Deng Ai found impossible paths in the field.

What do we miss when reading the Three Kingdoms? Not simply the character and actions of individuals, but why they are connected that way.

Ontology is a way of thinking that sees "what connects and why." It structures how people and events, resources and goals, actions and results are connected by rules and relationships. This is a very important ability in the AI era. Because in order for AI and humans to see the same world and judge by the same standards, those relationships and contexts must be explicitly structured.

The strategies of the Three Kingdoms already operated through networks:

* Zhuge Liang's Rong Zhong Daji: Connecting terrain, forces, talent, justification, alliances, and time into one long-term strategy
* Lu Su's Wu-Liu alliance: Redefining enemy and ally not as fixed attributes but as relationships between goals and circumstances
* Cao Cao's Tun-tian: Designing agriculture, households, military supplies, administration, and talent as one operating system
* Sima Yi's prolonged strategy: Managing resource consumption, political trust, succession structure, and time rather than battles

When connecting the Three Kingdoms to modern organizations, many people get confused. Here are the most frequently asked questions:

Q1: If Zhuge Liang was the best, why did Shu collapse?

A: This is the core question. Zhuge Liang was the best individual FDE, but he failed to transform that capability into a repeatable organizational system. As knowledge, authority, succession candidates, and systems concentrated in one person, Shu rapidly weakened after Zhuge Liang's death. This shows the typical danger of today's "organizations dependent on ace talent."

Q2: Then how should organizations operate?

A: Look at Cao Cao's case. Cao Cao did not view one type of talent but saw diverse talented individuals as a portfolio. He trusted and deployed Xun You's operational ability, Xiahou Dun's military capability, Cheng Yu's strategy, and Mai Yuan's execution power, each respectively. So even though Cao Cao as an individual was not exceptionally strong, the organization remained continuously strong. The key is converting individual excellence into repeatable organizational capability.

Q3: Why is this more important in the AI era exactly?

A: In the past, organizations could survive with experienced executives, exceptional planners, and developers who solved all problems. But in the AI era, the pace of change accelerates, data multiplies, and field problems become more complex. If one genius holds all judgments in their head, the moment that person disappears, the organization disappears with them. That's why we must shift from "an organization searching for Zhuge Liang" to "an organization that works without Zhuge Liang."

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Step-by-Step Organizational Diagnosis Based on the Three Kingdoms

Assess Current State: Is judgment and execution concentrated in one person in our organization?

Redesign Talent Portfolio: Does our organization need a single specialist or people who solve problems integratively?

Clarify Decision-Making Standards: Are the "criteria for important decisions" in our organization structured?

Build Execution and Learning Systems: Are challenges and trial-and-error experiences remaining as organizational assets?

Develop Successors and Delegate Authority: Are we giving key talent opportunities to experience actual responsibility?

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Do I have to read the Three Kingdoms to become future talent in the AI era?

A: The Three Kingdoms itself is not the goal. However, the Three Kingdoms is a case study containing principles of humans and organizations validated over 2,000 years. If you understand why Zhuge Liang failed, how Cao Cao connected diverse talent, and why Sima Yi survived the longest, you'll see how today's organizations and individuals should operate.

Q: Is FDE-type talent needed in all job categories?

A: Yes. FDE is not a job title but "a role of discovering ambiguous field problems and connecting technology, data, and people to create actual results." It is needed in all fields: sales, planning, development, operations, and education.

Q: How can I best utilize Samminam TV or the Doyuan Kyeol-ui Cafe on Ganghwa Island?

A: At the Doyuan Kyeol-ui Cafe, you can directly experience the relationships and structures of the Three Kingdoms. On Samminam TV, you watch broadcasts that reinterpret each character from the perspective of future talent in the AI era. When books, videos, and on-site experiences come together, the insights deepen.

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Comparison Table: Zhuge Liang Individual Capability vs. FDE Organizational System

| Category | Zhuge Liang Individual (Individual FDE) | FDE Organization (Organizational System) | Difference |
|----------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|------------|
| Decision Concentration | Concentrated in one person | Shared among multiple people | Distributed responsibility vs. concentrated risk |
| Knowledge Management | Tacit knowledge (in mind) | Explicit assets (recorded) | Experience loss vs. accumulation |
| Successor Development | Limited opportunities | Intentional authority delegation | Succession vulnerability vs. stability |
| Decision-Making Speed | Fast (individual) | Systematic (organizational) | Agility vs. sustainability |
| Organizational Continuity | Strong short-term, weak long-term | Sustained mid-to-long-term | Dependent on individual vs. system-based |

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"If individual excellence is not transformed into repeatable organizational capability, genius becomes the organization's greatest risk." This is the most important insight accumulated over 30 years by the Three Kingdoms AI Talent Research Institute.

In the AI era, we don't simply need smart people. We need FDE-type talent who define problems, understand the field, connect people and data, and leave execution results as organizational assets. And it is essential to develop such talent not just individually but in groups, and to establish ontology-based organizational design that preserves their experience and decision-making criteria within the organization.

The Doyuan Kyeol-ui Cafe in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon City, and Samminam TV are platforms where these principles can be experienced and felt in the field, not just explained in books. Through the figures and events, strategies and failures of the Three Kingdoms, you can discover the image of future talent you must develop.

Is your organization searching for Zhuge Liang, or is it building a system that works without Zhuge Liang? That question is precisely where competitive advantage in the AI era begins.

For more detailed consultation and on-site experience, contact 010-2397-5734 or jaiwshim@gmail.com.