Daekyo D&S

Daekyo D&S is the investment and operating-services arm of Daekyo Group, South Korea's largest education and publishing company, founded by Kang Young-joong. While Daekyo Group generates revenue from its core education business — branded internationally as Eye Level — D&S manages the group's diversified assets, including real estate, golf resorts, solar power projects, and venture investments. The entity sits inside the group's consolidated structure rather than operating as a legally separate family office.

Kang Young-joong, the founder of Daekyo Group, serves as Chairman and is the ultimate decision-making figure. His two sons hold executive roles in related entities: Kang Ho-jun is CEO of Daekyo, and Kang Ho-chul is CFO of Daekyo Holdings. D&S, as a subsidiary, operates under this family-controlled governance model, with investment decisions aligned to the group's broader balance-sheet strategy.

Unlike a standalone single-family office that separates family wealth from operating-company assets, D&S is embedded inside Daekyo Group's corporate entity. It holds operating businesses — golf clubs, property management, solar development — alongside venture investments on the same balance sheet. This hybrid structure means D&S manages both corporate P&L and family wealth simultaneously, without the legal separation typically seen in Western-style family offices.

D&S allocates across three broad categories: leisure and commercial real estate (including two golf resorts and Daekyo Tower in Seoul), renewable energy (solar power development projects), and Korean venture-stage companies. The venture mandate covers early-stage, startup, and expansion rounds, though the firm does not publicly disclose its startup portfolio. Real estate and operating assets appear to dominate the allocation.

There is no public record of club deals or GP co-investments reported in English-language sources. Korean corporate venture investors of D&S's profile typically invest through domestic venture fund structures rather than Western-style direct co-investment syndicates, but the firm has not disclosed its specific fund-commitment posture.

The family's wealth originates from Daekyo Group, which Kang Young-joong built into South Korea's dominant education-services company through its Eye Level learning-center franchise and publishing operations. Daekyo went public on the Korea Exchange, and the family's controlling stake provides the liquidity base that D&S deploys into real assets and venture investments.

Philanthropic activities operate through three separate foundations — Bong-Ahm Educational Foundation, Daekyo Culture Foundation, and World Youth and Culture Foundation — rather than directly out of D&S. These foundations partner with South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare on programs supporting multicultural families. The foundations sit outside D&S's investment balance sheet but remain under family control, consistent with Korean chaebol governance norms.