Yoon Ja-young is in charge of articles translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. She is interested in improving the newspaper through AI.
Don't hesitate if you need hearing aid
Richard Shim, CEO of Starkey Korea / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Yoon Ja-young
By Yoon Ja-young
Most people don’t usually hesitate to buy glasses or contact lenses when they have problems with their eyesight. However, fewer are willing to get a hearing aid when one is needed.
“Data shows that around one in ten people have hearing problems. This means there are around 5 million people with such a problem in this country. However, only 500,000 people use hearing aids,” said Richard Shim, CEO of Starkey Korea, the top player in the hearing aid market here.
He said that while people in other countries accept hearing aids as readily as they do glasses, Koreans tend to think hearing aids are only for people with serious hearing impairments. “In the United States, for instance, former President Bill Clinton uses Starkey hearing aids, and so did former President Ronald Reagan. Both former Presidents George Bush and his son were users of Starkey,” Shim said.
He pointed out how Koreans used to have negative attitudes toward wearing glasses. “A couple of decades ago, some elder people scolded young people for being impudent when they wore glasses. Women also avoided wearing glasses due to the negative perception,” he said. Back then, some taxi drivers believed they would have bad luck for the day if the first passenger to get in to their taxi in the morning was a woman wearing glasses.
Richard Shim, right, poses with some of the Irish veterans who fought in the Korean War, at the “Thank You Banquet for Korean War Veterans” held by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in Seoul, Thursday. Shim donated 10 units of hearing aids to the veterans. / Courtesy of Starkey Korea
It isn’t so anymore. Shim expects that people will soon accept hearing aids as comfortably as they do glasses. “Today, some people wear glasses for fashion. People buy themselves glasses for minor problems with their eyesight. They don’t think wearing glasses means you are handicapped. The same will eventually apply to hearing aids,” Shim said, citing hearing aids for iPhone users the company will soon launch. “There will soon come a time when people will regard hearing aids as fashion item. They won’t have to hide that they are using such devices,” he said.
When one has a hearing problem, they should immediately seek help, Shim stressed. That’s why he donated hearing aids to the Irish veterans who fought for the 1950-53 Korean War, when they visited the country this week. “According to a research, hearing aids can help prevent dementia because they help stimulate the brain. It also delays further hearing loss. Some people believe that using hearing aids worsens hearing, but it’s quite the opposite.” He cited a quote by Helen Keller, the U.S. activist who overcame the adversities of being blind and deaf — “Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people.” “People don’t usually think that hearing problems are something serious and urgent, but as these people avoid conversation, they become alienated from others, suffer from depression and in some cases accelerating dementia in case of the elderly,” he said. “When you have a hearing problem, you should immediately seek treatment or use a hearing aid if it can’t be treated,” he added.
The modern version of hearing aids started with the development of transistors. Advancements in electronics technology made the devices smaller, according to Shim, who added that hearing aids are an aggregation of technologies. “Some of our products, for example, automatically soften noises while enhancing voices so that people can hear better. That’s what a human brain does. It’s like hearing aids have got artificial intelligence,” Shim said.
The prices of hearing aids vary from around 500,000 won to 6 million won. The models that are smaller and with more functions, of course, are more expensive. Around 120,000 are sold in the local market annually, and Starkey Korea is the biggest player with 35 percent market share.
Shim first encountered hearing aids while serving as a Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA). He served at Camp Casey in Dongducheon from 1979 to 1982. “I was serving as a medic, and first saw hearing aids there. That led me to start a hearing aid business after completing my service,” Shim said.
He opened an agency which deals in hearing aids of diverse brands, Starkey, Siemens, and Philips, etc. In 1996, Starkey headquarters in the United States suggested that he become CEO of Starkey Korea, the subsidiary it was to establish in Korea. This was because of the passion Shim has shown while doing business with them. “At that time, I worked until 2 a.m. to send faxes and make phone calls to the U.S. headquarters, due to the time difference,” Shim recalled. He has continued making achievements ever since, receiving best performance award from the headquarters.
He said he tried to live up to the company’s slogan “We never say no.” For instance, he gave new hearing aids to customers who lost them within the warranty period. He also provided repair services for other brands. His other focus was to establish an education program. He held workshops for doctors and other experts regarding hearing loss, and the workshop was open even to those who dealt with products of competitors.
Shim and Starkey Korea have been actively engaged in diverse social contribution activities, including support for parents of handicapped children as well as those with hearing loss. “We set up an association for those parents six years ago. They have a lot of trouble because they have to dedicate their lives to their children. We have seen many cases in which whole families are ruined. Supporting these parents is indeed support for the handicapped.” Shim also set up the KATUSA Veterans Organization six years ago, and is currently serving as its honorary president. He said he is grateful for KATUSA. “I came to know about hearing aids while serving at KATUSA, and could join the U.S. firm because I learned English and American culture there. Now I want to contribute to the friendship between Korea and the United States, which sacrificed over 30,000 lives here during the Korean War.”