From Romance of the Three Kingdoms Enthusiast to AI-Era Educator — Why 20 Years of Content Curation Meets Future Talent Development
Immersed in Classics for 20 Years, Finding Answers in the Real World Have you ever reread a favorite book and wondered, "Is this really just an old st...
Immersed in Classics for 20 Years, Finding Answers in the Real World
Have you ever re-read a favorite book and wondered, "Is this really just an old story?" The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is an ancient classic, yet the choices of its characters, the structure of its organizations, and the execution methods in the field directly mirror the problems facing modern enterprises and individuals today. This article traces the journey of Kim Gap-yong, the CEO who has accumulated Romance of the Three Kingdoms content for 20 years in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, and explores why in the AI era, we must learn the conditions for future talent from classical characters.
The more AI generates answers, the more critical becomes the person who judges where to apply those answers—they determine organizational competitiveness. The ability to define problems, understand the field, and connect people with data—this is precisely the core competency demonstrated by characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms not as mere historical tales but as case studies for modern organizational design and talent development has become essential.
Why Collect Romance of the Three Kingdoms for 20 Years? — "Classics Are a Mirror of the Field"
Those who read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as merely a novel and those who read it as an organizational textbook inhabit entirely different worlds. The reason Kim Gap-yong spent 20 years collecting books, artifacts, stone monuments, and records related to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was not to enjoy heroic tales. Rather, it was because the methods for finding talent, building alliances, deploying resources, and sustaining organizations in uncertain environments are all recorded there.
* Characters alone are insufficient—relationships and structures reveal the conditions for future talent: It's not Zhuge Liang's superior strategy that matters, but how he connected the field with management. Cao Cao's greatness lies not in his individual brilliance, but in how he bound talented individuals from diverse backgrounds into a single organization.
* The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a vast organizational database: What happened when someone made a particular decision? Why did that person fail? What did those who survived longer see differently? All of this is recorded.
* Converting content accumulation into an educational platform requires field interpretation: Books and artifacts alone are insufficient. The process of translating how these connect to today's organizational problems, changes in roles in the AI era, and team collaboration structures is essential.
Turning Classics Into Field Experience — Doyuanjieyiyi Café in Ganghwado
If collected content remains only on shelves, it stays as a personal hobby. CEO Kim Gap-yong transformed the Romance of the Three Kingdoms from mere text into a cultural space for direct experience by operating Doyuanjieyiyi Café in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon. This represents a fundamental shift in educational approach.
* Experience through exhibition and space: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms read only in books differs completely from one read while touching artifacts, seeing related relics, and sensing the context of that era—the way it imprints on the brain is entirely different.
* Shifting from learning to discovery: Visitors to the café are designed to naturally discover principles of organization and leadership without feeling they are "learning" about characters and events from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
* Expansion strategy combining content and media: Doyuanjieyiyi Café is not merely an exhibition space but the center of a content platform extending to publishing, YouTube, online education, and corporate workshops.
For Classical Content to Become Education in the AI Era — Reading the FDE-Type Future Talent Conditions
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is an old story, but the decision-making structures and field problem-solving methods it contains precisely align with the abilities organizations need in the AI era. The ability to define problems, translate the languages of different stakeholders, connect data with the field, and preserve execution-based learning as organizational assets—this is called FDE-type competency.
Zhuge Liang was not merely someone who formulated strategies. He entered the field and diagnosed the actual problems of Liu Bei's faction (Discovery), translated the possibility of alliance with Sun Quan into political, economic, and military language (Translation), and designed and executed concrete strategic bases in Jingzhou and Yizhou (Integration and Experimentation). This is precisely the talent profile modern enterprises seek.
* Shift from simple tool usage to problem definition: In an era when AI assists with coding and report writing, real competitiveness comes from the ability to judge "what problem needs to be solved."
* Understanding organization as a relationship network: Rather than simply evaluating characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as "who is talented," the perspective of "what synergy emerged when this person connected with that person" is ontological thinking and contemporary organizational design.
* The danger when individual excellence doesn't convert to organizational repeatable capability: Zhuge Liang was the finest individual, yet Shu Han failed to create a system that functioned without him. This is the greatest lesson for AI-era organizations.
From Content Accumulation to Media Expansion — Samnmnam TV and Platform Transformation
Rather than remaining in books and cafés, Romance of the Three Kingdoms content is now expanding to YouTube channel Samnmnam TV and online education. This is not mere channel diversification but a strategy adapting to AI-era education and content consumption methods.
Stage 1: Introduction — Empathizing with Field Challenges
Stage 2: Reframing Through Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Stage 3: Verification Through Field Execution
* YouTube channel Samnmnam TV: Watching content previously read in books through video adds visual and auditory senses, enabling deeper understanding.
* Online lectures and diagnostics: Diagnoses individual future talent competencies by comparing them with characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and clarifies which abilities need further development.
* Corporate workshop expansion: Moving toward directly applying Romance of the Three Kingdoms cases to organizational challenges.
Frequently Asked Questions by Beginners — Can Classics Really Become Field Education?
Q1: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is such an old and grand story—can it really align with modern organizational problems?
A: Yes, it can. While the era and context of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms differ, fundamental questions like "Who is needed in uncertain situations?", "How do we mobilize people?", and "Why do talented individuals sometimes become organizational liabilities?" remain identical 2,000 years ago and today. The discomfort and surprise felt while reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms—"Ah, that's why that person died," "That's why that strategy failed"—are the highest lessons to learn from the field.
Q2: I don't understand why we should learn classics in the AI era. Doesn't AI provide faster answers?
A: AI generates answers very quickly and accurately. However, AI cannot decide where to apply those answers, why this problem should be solved, or who will trust and act on this answer. This is precisely where field experience, relationship understanding, and human judgment become necessary. Learning classics is a process of developing such judgment capability.
Q3: As an individual, how can I become an FDE-type talent?
A: First, you must see context beyond documents. Second, you must think from others' perspectives and speak in their language. Third, you must quickly validate ideas through small experiments. Fourth, you must preserve both successes and failures in forms the organization can learn from again. The key is finding these four elements in examples of Romance of the Three Kingdoms characters and applying them to your own field.
| Item | Strengths of Classical Education | Difference from General Management Education | Considerations |
|------|------|------|------|
| Learning Method | Understanding through concrete cases and choices within stories | Theory and framework-centered explanation | Time needed for individuals to think themselves as protagonists |
| Memory Persistence | Stories are long remembered and naturally come to mind in the field | Useful immediately after training but fades over time | Repetitive approach and field application are important |
| Application to Organizational Design | Able to see complex structures of characters, relationships, and systems at once | Fragmented learning by each topic | Essential to include practice reinterpreting for one's own organization |
| Field Execution Power | Presents concrete situations and judgment standards, not abstract | Universal principle explanations | Ability to apply even in similar but different contexts |
Conclusion — Meeting Classical Content With Field Execution Creates Future Talent
CEO Kim Gap-yong's 20-year journey of collecting, researching, and exhibiting the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was not mere hobby collecting. It was a process of creating an educational platform that aligns classical wisdom with field problems and connects individual learning to organizational transformation. When classics are read not as dead text but as living cases, the competencies future talent requires—the ability to define problems, design relationships, and learn through the field—finally become visible.
The more AI becomes ubiquitous, the more organizational competitiveness shifts from tool-using ability to field-transforming ability. This is why the Three Kingdoms AI Talent Research Institute expands from Doyuanjieyiyi Café in Ganghwado to publishing, YouTube, and online education. When classical content meets field needs, education truly transforms into talent development.
Reconsider your own role from the perspective of connecting classics and the field. For detailed consultation and field diagnosis, contact 010-2397-5734 or jaiwshim@gmail.com.
The Three Kingdoms AI Talent Research Institute is advancing a project in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon that connects classical content, field execution, and organizational design as one for AI-era future talent education.
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