Qualcomm names new regional leadership

By Kim Yoo-chul

Qualcomm, the global titan in telecom chips, said Thursday that it has promoted two vice presidents to be vice president and general managers of divisions of the company’s Korean unit.

The Korea affiliate of the San Diego-based outfit said that John Kim, vice president of sales at Qualcomm Korea, was named the vice president and general manager of the Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Korea.

Lee Te-won, chief of Qualcomm Korea’s R&D Center, was promoted to vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Korea.

Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Korea Operation head Kim joined Qualcomm Korea in February 2000 after working at Intel Korea between 1999 and 2000.

Before his contract with Intel Korea, Kim worked at Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor division from 1993-1999, the statement said. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering at Kyung Hee University in Korea.

“The promotion of Kim was a result of his commitment to expand Qualcomm’s business in Korea based on solid partnerships with Qualcomm’s main clients in the country. Kim will focus on building partnerships with local clients,” said the statement.

Qualcomm Korea research center president Lee has been leading the research center since its establishment back in 2010. At the center, Lee handled developments of technology, marketing strategies and new business projects, according to the statement.

Lee was the founder of an audio solution startup - Softmax - in 2002. Qualcomm acquired SoftMax in 2006 and that resulted in Lee joining Qualcomm Korea.

“Lee will handle the external affairs of Qualcomm Korea and manage Qualcomm Korea’s new business projects,” said the statement.

Lee earned a Ph. D with an electronic engineering major at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1997.

He was a professor at the Institute for Neural Computation at UC San Diego between 1999-2007.