[Chairman Lee Kun-hee's Passing] Huh Chang-soo, Former FKI Chairman, Eulogy: "A Business Leader Who Practiced Serving the Nation"

Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, is announcing the 'Urgent Economic Proposal' in response to the spread of COVID-19 at the Federation of Korean Industries building in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, on the 25th, upon hearing the news of the passing of Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Group, recalled, "He was a business leader who rooted the semiconductor industry in this land and practiced business patriotism by creating future growth engines for South Korea."

In his eulogy that day, Chairman Huh stated, "Having to send him off to a distant place, I cannot hide the deep sorrow and emptiness I feel in my heart."

Chairman Huh said, "I was waiting to see him rise from his sickbed in good health, but his sudden departure brings unbearable sadness and shock," adding, "He was a great elder in South Korea's economic community who showed the path our companies should take and embraced the pains of society."

He continued, "Now that we must send him off to a distant place, I cannot conceal the profound grief and emptiness in my heart," and explained, "Looking back, he was a business leader who rooted the semiconductor industry in this land and created future growth engines for South Korea, practicing business patriotism."

Chairman Huh recalled, "He was so familiar with countless electronic devices that he was the biggest purchaser and disassembler of electronic products in our country, realizing early on the importance of semiconductors," and reminisced, "After experiencing two oil shocks in the 1970s, he was convinced that the way for resource-poor Korea to survive was the high value-added semiconductor industry, and he decided to pursue the business."

He added, "However, since the business was highly uncertain and required enormous capital, making group-level promotion difficult, he personally invested his own fortune to acquire a small semiconductor company and pushed forward the business," emphasizing, "He explained the potential and necessity by saying that our people, with chopstick culture, have good manual skills and value cleanliness in living, making us suitable for the semiconductor industry."

Chairman Huh recalled that Lee Kun-hee demonstrated decisiveness and leadership at a crossroads of choice.

Chairman Huh said, "In 1987, when no one could decide whether to develop the 4-megabit DRAM by stacking circuits upward (stack) or etching downward (trench), Chairman Lee instructed to go with the stack method," adding, "He made the decision because the stacking method was simpler and easier to fix if problems arose."

He continued, "Subsequently, competitors who chose the trench method experienced yield drops during the transition to mass production, which became an opportunity for Samsung, then a latecomer, to leap forward."

Chairman Huh recalled, "I remember Chairman Lee's words that today is an era of invisible 'economic warfare,' where there is no helping hand or ideology to protect the loser," emphasizing, "There are no eternal enemies or allies anymore, and the increasingly strengthened protectionism of countries around the world causes our export economy to lose its way. The absence of the pioneer of crisis management, Chairman Lee, is felt even more deeply now."

Finally, Chairman Huh said, "The path Chairman Lee walked was an unyielding pioneering spirit, a relentless journey beyond a top-tier company toward a top-tier nation," and added, "Human life is finite, but companies can gain new life and perpetuate themselves through arduous efforts and transformation. I will never forget those words."

Full Text of the Eulogy by Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries

You are the eternal number one.

Chairman Lee Kun-hee,

Are you leaving so suddenly without even a farewell to say "take care"? I was waiting to see you rise from your sickbed in good health, but your sudden departure brings unbearable sadness and shock. You were a great elder in South Korea's economic community who showed the path our companies should take and embraced the pains of society. Now that we must send you off to a distant place, I cannot conceal the deep sorrow and emptiness in my heart.

Looking back, you were a business leader who rooted the semiconductor industry in this land and created future growth engines for South Korea, practicing business patriotism.

You were so familiar with countless electronic devices that you were the biggest purchaser and disassembler of electronic products in our country, realizing early on the importance of semiconductors. After experiencing two oil shocks in the 1970s, you were convinced that the way for resource-poor Korea to survive was the high value-added semiconductor industry, and you decided to pursue the business.

However, since the business was highly uncertain and required enormous capital, making group-level promotion difficult, you personally invested your own fortune to acquire a small semiconductor company and pushed forward the business. You explained the potential and necessity by saying that our people, with chopstick culture, have good manual skills and value cleanliness in living, making us suitable for the semiconductor industry. Your passion and effort toward semiconductors finally bore fruit in 1983 with Samsung's entry into the semiconductor business.

You were a gambler who demonstrated decisiveness and leadership at a crossroads of choice.

In 1987, when no one could decide whether to develop the 4-megabit DRAM by stacking circuits upward (stack) or etching downward (trench), you instructed to go with the stack method. You made the decision because the stacking method was simpler and easier to fix if problems arose. Subsequently, competitors who chose the trench method experienced yield drops during the transition to mass production, which became an opportunity for Samsung, then a latecomer, to leap forward.

In early 1993, you instructed to increase the wafer size for semiconductor integrated circuits from 6 inches to 8 inches for mass production. Although there was strong opposition due to the expected loss of over 1 trillion won if it failed, you said that success would double production and urged bold investment to leap forward to become number one in the world. In the same year, Samsung and Japanese competitors simultaneously developed 16-megabit DRAM, but based on the powerful production capacity of the 8-inch wafer, Samsung surpassed Japan and finally stood tall as the world's number one in the memory semiconductor field in October 1993.

You were a reformer who shouted, "Change to survive."

In June 1993, in Frankfurt, Germany, you declared the so-called "New Management Declaration," saying, "Change everything except your wife and children." You said that in the era of globalization, if you do not change, you will forever be second-rate, and held meetings with 1,800 executives and employees for 68 days. You made a cold self-assessment that even if a company is first-class domestically, it is far behind on the global stage, and urged to leap forward with a sense of crisis.

In June 2013, 20 years after declaring New Management, you said, "From now on, we must fight the crisis of being number one and the crisis of complacency. Do not stay still; run ahead." This was your pioneering spirit and elitism to widen the gap with competitors even after shifting from a follower to a leader.

Your steadfast advance toward the future continued with massive investment in research and development and talent discovery, which became the foundation for building world-leading advanced industries such as semiconductors, mobile phones, displays, and secondary batteries that lead the 4th Industrial Revolution on the Korean Peninsula, which lacks technology and resources.

You were a perfectionist who never compromised on quality.

The "burning of defective products" at Samsung Electronics' Gumi plant in 1995 is still vivid. When the defect rate increased due to rushing the release of wireless phone products, under your firm will to eradicate defects, 150,000 wireless phones were thrown into the fire. The expressions of the executives and employees watching showed solemn determination, and the public felt the company's thorough reflection and commitment to start anew.

You declared, "Now let's shift from quantity to quality," and instructed to focus on quality control, including halting production lines entirely if defective products were found. You said quality is the character of employees and an expression of respect for customers, and the driving force to become a world-class company. You showed strong responsibility and direction by saying you would bear losses caused by quality issues and that it should be the top priority.

You were a patriotic business leader who worked hard for building a better future nation and loved the country more than anyone else.

You said the only way for our economy to survive is talent development, and established a scholarship foundation to select overseas students on the sole condition that they "work for Korea." You said, "Talent development is not about getting apples but planting apple trees," creating a foundation to nurture talent in this land and gathering talent worldwide.

You emphasized the so-called "Trinity Theory" that the people, government, and companies must unite and move in one direction for the country to prosper. In 1993, you proposed 20 SOC projects, including the construction of an international free trade city, to the government, saying companies should find ways to contribute to enhancing national competitiveness.

As an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member for over 20 years, you helped raise Korea's profile worldwide and enhance national prestige. Especially, for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics bid, you traveled over 210,000 km?more than five times around the globe?over 10 occasions totaling 170 days. When the hosting of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics was announced in 2011, you shed tears. Your warm sincerity as a private diplomat with a mission to "work for the country" was deeply felt.

Chairman Lee Kun-hee,

I remember your words that today is an era of invisible "economic warfare," where there is no helping hand or ideology to protect the loser. There are no eternal enemies or allies anymore, and the increasingly strengthened protectionism of countries around the world causes our export economy to lose its way. The absence of the pioneer of crisis management, you, is felt even more deeply now.

The path you walked was an unyielding pioneering spirit, a relentless journey beyond a top-tier company toward a top-tier nation. Human life is finite, but companies can gain new life and perpetuate themselves through arduous efforts and transformation. I will never forget those words.

"Abandon the second-place mentality. You cannot survive unless you are the best in the world." We, your juniors, will cherish your great will and walk the path of number one.

Now, please lay down all your heavy burdens and rest in peace.

Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.