'1,000 Bowls a Day' Makguksu Specialty Restaurant... Telecom Companies Learn 'Customer Management'

'Gogiri Makguksu' Started in a Mountain Valley of Yongin
LG Uplus, CEO Kim Yoonjung Invited to Headquarters for Lecture
CEO Hwang: "Devoted to Basics... Thoughtful Consideration"

Hwang Hyun-sik, President and CEO of LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] "The owner of the ‘Gogiri Makguksu’ restaurant thoroughly dedicates herself to the basics from the customer's perspective and shows meticulous consideration for customers."

Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, who has emphasized securing ‘true fans’ since the beginning of his tenure, learns customer-oriented management from the small restaurant Gogiri Makguksu.

According to industry sources on the 24th, LG Uplus recently invited Kim Yoon-jung, CEO of Gogiri Makguksu, to give a lecture titled ‘Sincerity Toward Customers’ at the Yongsan headquarters, attended by about 20 executives including CEO Hwang Hyun-sik.

This lecture was specially arranged by CEO Hwang, who sympathized after reading Kim’s book, Learning Sincerity from a Small Shop: The Secret of Gogiri Makguksu That Makes Customers Regulars After One Visit. After reading the book in October, CEO Hwang shared his impressions directly with employees through the company bulletin board. He regarded it as a model of the ‘right mindset’ and ‘right attitude’ that people providing services to customers should have.

Starting with just eight tables in a remote mountain village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the small restaurant has transformed into a nationally renowned eatery selling 1,000 bowls a day in just over eight years. In her book, CEO Kim emphasized, "It is important to wholeheartedly provide the best product to customers while carefully observing what customers want and feel during the process."

The restaurant shows delicate consideration even in small details, such as providing an appropriate amount of side dishes like water kimchi whenever customers want, from the moment they enter the store. Chairman Ham Young-jun of Ottogi is also known for personally visiting the restaurant, taking a waiting ticket to enter, and first proposing the collaboration project for this year’s hit product, ‘Ottogi Gogiri Perilla Oil Makguksu.’ Along with regular customers like food critic Heo Young-man and actor Ryu Seung-ryong, Chairman Ham still often visits the restaurant to coincide with its opening hours.

LG Uplus, although in a different industry, judges that it shares the same trajectory in terms of strengthening customer service. CEO Hwang, who took office in March this year, has set ‘customer-centric management’ and ‘qualitative growth’ as core principles. As the wired and wireless telecommunications industry reaches saturation, he believes there is no room for growth without genuine dedication to customers. Efforts to improve customer experience include active partnerships with global online video services (OTT) such as Netflix six years ago and Disney Plus (+) this year, as well as the ‘Zero Complaints Campaign’ conducted nationwide at sales offices and agencies.

As the number of customers increases, so do the results. LG Uplus recorded a cumulative operating profit of 820.8 billion KRW through the third quarter this year, an 8% increase compared to the same period last year. It is evaluated that profits improved as the core mobile network operator (MNO) division benefited from 5G subscribers and new businesses such as media and B2B (business-to-business) settled in. Lee Seung-woong, a researcher at eBest Investment & Securities, said, "Operating profit is expected to exceed 1 trillion KRW for the first time ever this year."

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