Tour: Friday, May 27, 2011, 12:00–01:00 as listed. Venue: Samsung Electronics Giheung semiconductor site. Participants: twelve Oh-Hyun Kwon scholars and Professor Hong June Park. Activities: site visit, semiconductor production line tour, and dinner with President Oh-Hyun Kwon.
The scholarship was established with a donation from President Kwon of Samsung Electronics' Semiconductor System LSI Business and has operated since the second semester of 2005. The department named Engineering Building 2 Room 405 the Oh-Hyun Kwon Seminar Room. Each year two third-year undergraduates are selected, and fourth-year recipients maintaining a specified academic standard also receive scholarships.
Account of the Visit
On May 27, 2011, eleven scholarship recipients visited Samsung Electronics' semiconductor factory in Suwon at Kwon's invitation. After an introduction to the semiconductor business, we toured the exhibition hall and factory. Samsung's achievements and the automated plant, three to four times the size of a soccer field and operating around the clock, were astonishing.
Kwon told us he began the scholarship after then-President Chan-Mo Park suggested it during a POSTECH visit years earlier, to encourage students forging their paths despite hardship. He has supported four Electrical Engineering students annually for seven years. Although he had no direct connection to POSTECH, this chance encounter created a deep seven-year relationship.
Despite a busy day that included a trip to Japan, he gave us his valuable evening. Having risen to president through an engineering career, he shared thoughtful advice: maintain a balanced understanding of society, do your best in your circumstances, and consider other people's perspectives to live successfully.
He emphasized dialogue and trust. Asking whether someone who never talks at home would communicate at work, he urged us to value family conversations. He also stressed responsibility and the trust it creates. In management he has implemented trust-based, efficiency-focused smart work, achieving major results such as reducing the production process to one-third. His management practices and glimpses of family life showed the sincerity of his advice.
He gave us two books to convey further thoughts: Woongjin Group Chairman Seokgeum Yoon's “Positivity Creates Masterpieces” and Yale Professor Shinik Hahm's “Hamtoven.” It was a precious experience, returning with our hearts and hands full of his thoughtful intentions.
Written by Hwasook Cho.