By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
When Hynix Semiconductor Chief Executive Kim Jong-kap had a ``samgyeopsal'' dinner with a group of employees last week in Seoul, he was surprised that about a half of them are living in Icheon, not Seoul.
``I had thought that most of them would have homes in Seoul,'' Kim said. ``Then one man said, ``Mr. president, I couldn't afford a house in Seoul because I lost a lot of money from company stock options. So please let them go up this time.'''
The stock options were issued to employees in 1999 at what was later seen as a bubble price. Some employees were thrown into debt as the stock value shrank to less than one hundredth by 2003 from the 1999 price. Despite such bad memories, the firm offered more stock options to employees this month.
``Having had the experience, the workers now know the risk of the options. But I think they will all sign up this time because we are a completely different company from what we were then,'' Kim said.
Hynix was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2003 but has successfully rebounded to become one of the largest and most profitable semiconductor makers in the world. Kim, a former government official, took over the CEO job in March from Woo Eui-je, a former banker, with a mission to lead the firm into its next stage of growth.
Hynix is now threatening Samsung Electronics dominance in the memory chip market. The company this year expects a 20-percent gain in revenue and has the goal of becoming one of the three largest players in the semiconductor industry along with Intel and Samsung by 2010.
Meeting The Korea Times last week, Kim, the former vice minister of commerce, industry and energy, said that he is now focusing on improving Hynix's information technology (IT) systems.
``Hynix went through a tough time so we couldn't spend enough on our information infrastructure. Under the current system, when someone raises an issue in China the information doesn't reach Seoul.'' he said. ``It will take some time to fix it all, but I and other employees are confident that we will make it happen.''
He also said Hynix needs to forge more strong partnerships with subcontractors, schools and rival makers be it Korean or foreign firms.
``You can see the big picture when you are sitting in the government. Compared to the size of the nation's economy, South Korean firms are very weak in cooperating with each other and with schools,'' he said. ``In the United States, high-tech industries are led by the Silicon Valley. South Korea has no such thing.''
Kim started his career by passing the national public administration exam in 1976. He went on to hold numerous key positions in trade and industry departments in the government.
When the board of major shareholders of Hynix hired him in March, Kim became the subject of controversy because he was the first senior government official to have a powerful position in a private company. But the shining achievements in his 31-year career as a public servant silenced the opposition.
``Personally, the experience at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) was most memorable. I reshaped the organization into a profit-driven company,'' he said. During his short tenure from 2004 to 2005, he injected various reform measures such as the Six Sigma program and Balanced Score Cards, and the patent handlers achieved the world's fastest patent registration system. Before 2002, it used to take 22 months on average for a technology patent to be filed, but Kim reduced it to less than nine months.
Lee Dong-geun, general manager of Samsung Electronics IP team, recalls that Kim was a good listener and a fast actor as the KIPO chief.
``Korea had the highest patent registration fee in the world at the time. I told Mr. Kim about it and he immediately fixed the law. That saved 30 percent of the registration costs,'' Lee said.
For a man of his generation, Kim has a well-built body and always wears a friendly smile. One thing he feels uncomfortable is crooked front teeth. When he poses for photos, he joked that the photographer should make it better by using computer imaging tools.
``This is because my generation grew up eating dirt,'' said the 56-year-old who was born in the middle of the Korean War. ``When I graduated from university, there were not many job choices. To work at the Bank of Korea, or to become a public servant or to join a conglomerate which were starting to grow at the time. I chose to be a public servant. In the 1970s, government workers had a kind of pride and responsibility in building the country.''
Kim said one of his joys these days is to talk with one of his two sons, who is studying advanced semiconductor technology at the graduate school of Harvard University.
``Before coming to Hynix, I had trouble understanding what he was talking about. But now I can stay in tune with him on the phone when he talks about Intel, AMD and other firms,'' Kim said. ``Maybe he can join Hynix later, but he must be good enough. Hynix will not let just anybody in.''