Kim Man-deok

Kim Man-deok (1739–1812), also known as "Man-deok halmang" (Grandmother Man-deok), was a Korean merchant and businesswoman of Joseon. When a major famine hit Jeju Island, all of the rice she had bought on land was freed and donated to save the starving people of the island. After her death, contemporaries wrote her biography and poems in her honor.

She is regarded as Korea's first CEO and an example of philanthropism and pragmatism. She managed to achieve her position in Jeju thanks to the island's egalitarian and matrifocal culture, where women had greater economic and social independence than the rest of the country, whose Neo-Confucian ideology enforced strong female repression. and her mother was a yangmin from the Jeju Go clan. With two older brothers, she was the only daughter. She learned how to sing and dance, and lived as a gisaeng for a while; and, given the traditional location of the gisaengs' houses in the town center near the market, she also learned how to trade. and subsequently opened an inn for merchants as well as start a commission agency for port trade, acting as an intermediate between merchants from the mainland and from Jeju; The governor of Jeju petitioned the court to send bags of rice, but seven of the twelve boats sent were wrecked on the way and people died of starvation. Kim then used most of her fortune to import and distribute food, mainly rice, saving lives. Word of Kim's donation soon spread, resulting in King Jeongjo complimenting her and stating that he would grant her a wish. The king agreed and also granted her the honorary title and the position of nurse of the palace dispensary .

Death and legacy After her visit to the mainland, in 1797 Kim returned to Jeju, while the Chief State Councilor Ch'ae Chegong wrote the biography Man-deok jeon (Man-deok's story) which praises her virtue and her charitable work. and a museum built in Jeju in 1978.

Man-deok is a musical first performed in Jeju Art Center from January 26 to January 28, 2018. The musical was prepared by Jeju City, which had wanted to build up a representative culture brand, and depicts Gim Man-deok's life and her achievements.

Kim Mandeok is briefly mentioned in the novel The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See.