Huawei's 20 Years in Korea: "Contributing to Realizing Eco-Friendly Digital"

"Recognized for Computing and Energy Solutions This Year... Supporting Korean ICT Talent Development"
"Cybersecurity Is More Important Than Any Business Benefit"

Son Lu-won, CEO of Huawei Korea. Photo by Huawei

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Huawei announced that it will continue to contribute to the advancement of the Korean information and communication technology (ICT) industry next year through digital transformation, carbon reduction, and talent development. Regarding security concerns, the company expressed confidence, stating that it has gained the trust of Korean customers.

Son Lu-won, CEO of Huawei Korea, held a media event on the 15th and stated, "We will contribute to realizing a better eco-friendly digital life together with Korea."

Marking its 20th anniversary in Korea this year, Huawei unveiled its major business achievements in 2022 and strategic directions for 2023 at the event.

CEO Son said, "In particular, computing and energy-related product solutions are increasingly recognized by many customers, which will enable us to more actively support the digital transformation of Korean customers and partners."

Entering its 21st year in Korea next year, Huawei's goal is a "better eco-friendly digital life." Recently, a global consensus on carbon neutrality has been formed, and ESG (environment, social, governance) has emerged as a core management keyword, increasing the importance of digital technologies for low-carbon eco-friendly development day by day. Huawei Korea plans to contribute to the achievement of high-quality services and carbon reduction goals of Korean mobile carriers by providing innovative wired and wireless connectivity, data storage, and energy-related products and solutions that support carbon reduction.

However, Huawei's business environment in Korea is not easy. The exclusion of Huawei equipment in the U.S. due to national security threats has made global business expansion difficult. CEO Son emphasized Huawei's security excellence. He said, "Over the past 20 years, we have maintained excellent cybersecurity levels in Korea based on the principle that cybersecurity is more important than any business benefit and through a steadily optimized management mechanism, which has earned the trust of our customers."

He also quoted a line from the popular Korean drama Jaebeoljip Maknae Adeul (The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family), saying, "In the drama, Chairman Jin Yang-cheol said that before shrimp get caught in a whale fight, they need to grow bigger." He added, "Huawei is innovating by deploying about 100,000 R&D personnel to grow bigger." Last year, Huawei invested approximately $22.4 billion (about 29 trillion KRW), accounting for 22.5% of total sales, in R&D.

Huawei plans to continuously advance the Korean ICT industry. Since 2016, it has discovered over 3,000 ICT talents in Korea through MOUs with major domestic universities and institutions for talent development, scholarship support, training at Huawei headquarters, and support for ICT online education platforms.

CEO Son stated, "We will cooperate with universities and the ICT academic community in an open and inclusive manner to nurture Korean ICT talents and continuously create and provide opportunities for more Korean students to participate in Huawei's ICT talent development programs."

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