"'Yakyeopboguk' Gochon Lee Jong-geun Chairman 29th Anniversary... Chongkundang Establishes Online Memorial Hall"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwanju] Chong Kun Dang held a memorial service on the 7th through an online memorial hall to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the passing of its founder, the late Chairman Lee Jong-geun, also known as Kochon.

The online memorial hall consists of online flower offerings, memorial speeches, a memorial gallery, and memorial videos, and anyone can pay their respects through the Chong Kun Dang website until the 9th. The memorial gallery exhibits photos of Chairman Lee and features a hologram video that restores his appearance and voice during his lifetime, allowing visitors to remember him. The memorial video includes the late chairman’s achievements, spirit of challenge, and spirit of sharing.

Kim Young-joo, CEO of Chong Kun Dang, said in the memorial speech, "Inheriting Chairman Lee’s spirit of 'Yak-eop Bo-guk (藥業報國)'?which means serving the nation through the pharmaceutical industry?who localized raw pharmaceutical materials and laid the foundation for new drug development to contribute to public health and establish pharmaceutical sovereignty, we will fulfill our mission as a pharmaceutical company by innovating pharmaceutical technology to overcome the current pandemic situation and until humanity is free from diseases."

The Chong Kun Dang Kochon Foundation also launched a mobile app called 'Virtual Kochon Hall' to commemorate Chairman Lee and carry on his spirit. 'Virtual Kochon Hall' is a space where visitors can remotely tour the Kochon Hall memorial museum located at Chong Kun Dang’s headquarters. Through virtual reality (VR) screens, users can experience the contents exhibited in Kochon Hall and listen to Chairman Lee’s voice restored by artificial intelligence (AI). The app is available for free download on the App Store and Play Store.

Born in 1919 in Dangjin, Chungnam, Chairman Lee founded Chong Kun Dang in 1941 and established the largest domestic raw material synthesis and fermentation plants in Korea during the 1960s and 1970s, achieving the localization of pharmaceutical raw materials that had been 100% imported. In 1968, he exported 'Chloramphenicol,' the first antibiotic approved by the U.S. FDA in Korea, to Japan, the United States, and other countries, leaving a great legacy in the modernization and globalization of the Korean pharmaceutical industry.

He also established the Chong Kun Dang Kochon Foundation in 1973 to promote scholarship projects and lead corporate social responsibility. In 1986, he was awarded the Mugunghwa Medal, a national honor, for his dedicated scholarship efforts. In 2006, in recognition of his contributions to tuberculosis eradication, the international 'Kochon Prize' was established jointly with the UN-affiliated International Cooperation Project for Tuberculosis Control. In 2010, the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation selected Chairman Lee as the 52nd figure in the 'Korea Person Series Medal' to honor his contributions to the development of the Korean pharmaceutical industry and issued a commemorative medal.

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