Cho Il-hwan, left, chairman of Koman Sportswear, and Khym Dae-won, right, president of Wicked Fashions. By Nam Jeong-ho

NEW YORK - Two New Jersey-based Korean businessmen, with a history going back 31 years, opened their pockets recently to help Korean students.

Meet Cho Il-hwan, chairman of Koman Sportswear, and Khym Dae-won, president of Wicked Fashions.

In December, Khym gave Cho a surprise gift: a $1 million donation. All he asked of Cho was that the money be put to "something meaningful." Cho said he planned to use that contribution for scholarships, "in particular to help students of religion travel abroad for research and training,"

Cho had already established a scholarship fund under his name, and donated $500,000 to the Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang campus of Dongguk University.

Cho was grateful for the gesture, but Khym said it was the least he could do. "I am just paying respect to my mentor in life and business for all those years," Khym said.

Cho and Khym first met in 1978. Khym had just joined Cho's company Koman. For the ensuing five years, Cho took Khym under his wings and taught him business know-how, prudence and the value of a work ethic.

In fact, Cho acted as a mentor for several other employees, so much so that the company was also known as "Koman School," helping his employees launch their own businesses. When a clothing shop or brand went up for sale, Cho used his own money to help his juniors purchase it, and even supplied them with clothes. Khym was one of the beneficiaries.

By 1991, Khym founded the casual wear brand Wicked Fashions, thus entering competition with Cho. But that didn't prevent Cho from providing help when necessary.

Today, Wicked Fashion, known for its flagship brand Southpole in the U.S., boasts $500 million in annual sales. And even after the success, Khym showed his appreciation toward Cho through the donation.

The two businessmen have long been active donators. Cho once gave $300,000 to Cornell University to help purchase books for its Korean studies program. Khym runs a charitable institution called the "Khym Foundation" and grants scholarships to students. In 2005, Khym told the Web site of the consulting firm KWR International that he launched his foundation in recognition of the help he received as he advanced from a low-level employee in a small retail store in Queens to become the founder of a major U.S. apparel company.

"By providing scholarships to local students and donations to select charitable organizations," Khym said, "my hope is to allow others the same opportunities that I enjoyed since emigrating to the U.S. from South Korea almost 30 years ago."

As for the latest deeds, Cho said he hopes their acts can "provide hope and inspiration to people struggling through the global economic recession."

Khym said he is still learning from his old mentor. "From Chairman Cho, I learned how much entrepreneurs can give back to society," he said.

By Nam Jeong-ho JoongAng Ilbo [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]