An interview with Chun Hyung-kyu, CEO of Chul Woo Engineering, a man who since 1980 has personally committed himself to playing a very personal role in the development of the creative economy.
In commemoration of 70th Anniversary of Korea's Independence, Korea IT Times is featuring a series of 10 inspiring stories that focus on the development of the Korean economy. From accounts of hard times lived under Imperial Japanese rule to tales of life in the wake of the Korean War, Korea’s Vietnam War to accounts of working in Germany as a coal miner, the series follows the lives of fearless individuals who have contributed much towards Korea’s currently thriving economy.It is a journey that has taken its protagonists through Brunei, Iran, Libya, and Malaysia, and yet further afield, and tells of a lifetime commitment to devolving the Korean economy...Ed
On May 12 this year, Korea IT Times sat down with Chun Hyung-kyu, the CEO of Chul Woo Engineering. Chun has spent his entire professional life in pursuit of the development of a truly creative Korean economy. His quest began in the wake of the Korean War, and has taken him far along the road to fulfilling his dreams.
Korea IT Times: Please tell us a little about Chul Woo Engineering and the principles it was founded upon.
Chun Hyung-kyu: “It all began with my childhood fascination with trams and trains. Even as an elementary school child, I used to ride trams and I recall carefully observing the how the engineer worked the controls. I realized that the makers of these trams appeared to be Japanese, and I began to wonder why Korea was not able to produce machines like them."
“I asked adults whom I knew why Korea seemed to lack the capacities to make trains and trams, but they were not able to give me anything in the way of a satisfactory answer. Perhaps they just assumed that there was no way that Korea could produce machines like this, and felt it was only natural – in such a case – to import."
“In fact, the name Chul Woo is derived from the old Chul Woo Assembly, a plant near the place where I lived as a boy, and a haunt for retired railway engineers. As someone who has a deep fondness for everything connected to the railway, trains and so on, I decided to use the name Chul Woo as a sort of homage when I founded my business. The result is the present-day Chul Woo Engineering. I prefer not to think of myself as some sort of ivory-tower hands-off CEO type. I like to stay active and remain at the forefront of the company’s creative growth.”
Korea IT Times: The 1980s were a time of rapid economic growth in Korea. How did that effect you and your professional life
Chun Hyung-kyu: "I recall that in 1981 I was working at small trading firm. Business took me to North America and to Libya. At the time, there were very few Korean products on sale abroad.
“I decided to take a rather assorted selection of 100 samples of goods, as I was not sure just what products buyers would be interested, and that is how I first ended up in the sales market. Selling goods was not easy at first. But as a result of my continued efforts, I was able to succeed and I ended up trading US$3 million, at the time a very large figure, and a performance rate that was not even achievable by major Korean firms at the time. The Korea Trade Promotion Corporation (KOTRA) even cited me as an example of how to play an important role in developing emerging markets."
Korea IT Times: “You must have felt a sense of achievement as a result of this experience. What was your next step”
Chun Hyung-kyu: “I realized that I had something of a knack for sales, so I went on to join Kolon Corporation. There were a lot of challenges ahead, however. I remember on one occasion hearing the company’s president Lee Dong-chan making a New Year speech in the run up to the Seoul Summer Olympic Games of 1988. He announced that we would need to publicize the Kolon Sports brand during the Olympics. It was the first I had heard of this, despite the fact that I was a junior manager at the time.
"I somehow ended up in charge of the project. I was at loss at first as to how to come up with an effective strategy. I was not aware of the fact that sponsorship programs and other state-sponsored resources, but I was quite unsure of proceedings at first. “That was the turning point for me in terms of how I saw the creative economy. I devised a complete set of plans that centered on the idea of sponsoring athletes from a variety of other countries to wear Kolon-banded sportswear, in the hope of getting publicity through television coverage.
“The result was quite successful. I managed to get some 50 percent of the Korean athletes to wear Kolon sportswear products, and I then travelled to eight different countries and succeeded in getting athletes from all eight countries to wear Kolon sportswear at the Olympics.”
Korea IT Times: “It seems you have had no shortage of success in this field. What was your next move”
Chun Hyung-kyu: “After this, I was transferred to the business development department. In 1990, I learned from the Procurement Service that some US$1 billion of the budget was being allocated for foreign purchases by the National Assembly. Of that, about US$750 million was being used on the railway budget. It was then that I recalled my childhood fondness for the railway industry.
“At the time, US$52 million of taxpayer money was being put aside to pay for the Seoul Subway’s Line 5 substation facilities. Domestic firms failed to qualify for the project due to their lack of performance records, meaning that all the orders were awarded to overseas firms."
“For this reason, I decided to get involved in this sphere of business. I spent a year carefully studying the intricacies of the industry, and eventually won a major contract. I achieved a record of US$17.99 million in sales. I have since gone on to develop further, and have received commendation for completing the subway systems in Gwangju and Daeju under budget to the tune of US$34 million.”
Korea IT Times: A lot of things have changed since Korea gained its independence 70 years ago, many of them for the better. However, are there any things that you think still need to be changed
“In a way, it is a bit of a pity to see certain perspectives alter so quickly. Back in the old days, the amount of money you were worth was not a competitive issue in Korean society. That has all changed now, though. Comparing yourself with others is unhealthy and actually harms creativity, and that eventually has a knock-on effect on the creative economy. The constant urge to compete really needs to be stemmed somehow.”
Korea IT Times: Please tell us what you think the future will look like for you and your enterprise.
Chun Hyung-kyu: “My story does not only end with the realization of my childhood dreams. I am fleshing out more dreams in the present. I have recently obtained a new exclusive domestic sales rights contact based on my 17-year experience with a company called Ritz for burst-proof potential transformers."
"It is my goal to build an enterprise that plays an active role in the creative economy –without forsaking that all-important personal touch.”
By Lee kyung-ho (lkh@koreaittimes.com)
