Once Jim Rogers, one of the global renowned investors such as Warren Buffett and George Soros, expressed his concern about the Korean society, when heard that most Korean university students crave to get jobs in the public sector to secure a life-long career of stability. As he acknowledges the historical success which Koreans had made since the 1970s, he might feel deplorable that the competitiveness of the country is not proving its real worth.
Failures which Koreans went through could lead to further growth and constant challenges and innovation in Korea today. The past growth was driven by major conglomerates, but now is the time that small and medium-sized enterprises should actively grow and lead the national economy. To that end, Centers for Creative Economy & Innovation (CCEI) is established in 19 different provinces to foster these small enterprises and startups.
In Korea, North Jeolla province is an area where large companies account for a lower proportion compared to other regions. Therefore, the Jeonbuk CCEI in the province pour its efforts to create a start-up boom, to support companies to enter the market safely, and to help them continue to grow. The center is fostering startups – particularly local strategic industries such as carbon materials, food technology, IT and financial big data. Since its opening 7 years ago, the center has discovered and supported about 684 startups, thereby creating more than 1,600 jobs and achieving cumulative sales of supporting companies of about 630 billion won.
Since 2019, it has been playing a role as an accelerator to expand its competitiveness as a hub for start-up in the province. Currently, it is strengthening support for the growth stage to help nurturing companies continue to grow, and plans to create an additional 53 billion won for its own venture funds to secure additional investment resources.
Kwang-jin Park, the head director of the center, has been working for large companies for more than 10 years and since his early 40s has been supporting and growing companies in the public sector. Director Park knows well what a company needs for a company through his own experience. So, he feels rewarded with what he is doing now and accepts it as a calling and mission for his entire life.
Kwang-jin Park, head of the Jeonbuk CCEI, delivered his own management philosophy and message with a gentle smile: The three – People, resource, and exchange – bring together an amazing synergy. The most important thing Park emphasizes is “People”. “No matter how good the system and organization is, it is people who work and people who produce results in the end. In particular, people who work in the public should basically be polite and have a good attitude.”
Leading Company of Telescopic seating and Stadium seating system: N-SEATING Co., Ltd
In the time of pandemic, group gatherings for sports events or concerts have been restricted. There is one company which ardently hopes that the public performance industry returns to prosperity. N-SEATING in South Korea has developed an innovative seating system for the stadium with the combination of manufacturing experience and edge-cutting IT technology.
N-SEATING designs and manufactures the solution of seating systems for Telescopic seating, Demountable seating (Temporary or Permanent), and Stadium seating. Telescopic (Retractable) seating is a type of seating that can be folded away to the width of a single row when not in use. It is ideal for multi-purpose or small venues as it can be stored in a portion of the given space. Every venue requires different seating needs. Based on decades of experience with technical expertise. N-SEATING is capable of providing customized solutions to your places.
Demountable seatings are temporary or permanent steel structures for spectators at sports stadiums or other event areas. N-SEATING’s demountable solution is a versatile and cost effective structure which allows the audience the custom-built to meet the exact requirements. N-SEATING’s modular system ensures fast and safe installation, ease of use and safety, and durability of the structures.
The company has supplied seatings for the FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, and Asian Games. Starting with the delivery of 500 million won worth of prefabricated seats to Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Stadium in December 2017, it has achieved sales of about 2.7 billion won over the past two years, including 230,000 dollars to Qatar and Taiwan. Last year, the company won a contract to supply seats of about 1 billion won at the 2019 Gwangju World Swimming Championships, solidifying its position as a global company. Based on such achievements, CEO Kim plans to expand its business coverage to Vietnam and Singapore.
In addition, technology development is still ongoing. The move is aimed at innovating the second industry, the Ferris wheel manufacturing industry, into the fourth industry, and the company aims to adjust and service seats at overseas stadiums in Korea beyond the automation system currently being promoted.
Golf Wear Made of Sustainable Fabrics: Cool Bears Co., Ltd
Cool Bears, a fashion tech company, has launched its own premium golf wear brand “Aven” of eco-friendly fabrics. Aven’s golf clothes were developed with high-quality and eco-friendly materials to increase the sustainability of resources and fulfill its responsibilities to nature and society. As the popularity from the MZ generation in the Korean golf market is increasing, which used to be centered on the existing middle-aged, Aven’s design is made with a simple and classic design to target the young generation. By compensating for the shortcomings of existing tight and colorful golf wear, it has differentiated itself into a lineup of products which can be worn in everyday life.
Compared to existing golf wear being made of chemical synthetic materials that cause environmental pollution, Aven is also pursuing to take the lead in environmental protection using eco-friendly regenerative fabrics: Polar Ice™, Recycled Polyester, Recycled Nylon, and Organic Cotton. “Polar Ice™” is an eco-friendly material developed through its own knitting technology and is gaining popularity as a representative product line because it has excellent hygroscopicity and air permeability to cool down even in hot summer.
In addition, “Recycled Polyester” is an eco-friendly fabric certified by GRS (Global Recycle Standard) by recycling plastic PET bottles. 21 plastic bottles are recycled when manufacturing a pair of tops and 6 plastic bottles are recycled when manufacturing a hat. Aven has joined the global environmental protection network “1% FOR THE PLANET” and is donating some of its sales to organizations to improve the global environment.
As the demand for environmental protection and climate change response increases after COVID-19, global fashion brands are also developing products using recycled materials, said Lee Min-jae, CEO of Aven. “As awareness of the pen environment grows around young people, we will grow into differentiated golf wear brands.”
Innovative Technology for Hydrogen Fuel Cell: TerraLIX Co., Ltd
World’s leading countries are pouring their efforts into building a net-zero ecosystem which means that any carbon emissions are balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere. It is in response to climate policy showing that in order to mitigate climate change, carbon emissions have to stop – reducing them is not sufficient.
Hydrogen is now firmly at the heart of the global race to achieve carbon neutrality. Hydrogen can play a major role alongside electricity in the future low-carbon economy. Once produced, hydrogen generates electrical power in a fuel cell, emitting only water vapor and warm air. Instead, chemical energy is turned directly into electrical energy, much like a battery. It can also power fuel cells that convert hydrogen into clean electricity directly, with the versatility to provide heat, transport and power system services. These cells can be used in place of a combustion engine in vehicles – even ships, trains or airplanes – or instead of petrol or diesel generators without producing CO2 emissions. This feature will trigger a revolution in portable, urban and autonomous power over long distances.
Hydrogen fuel cells are suitable for air-cooled one which is suitable for a small capacity stack of less than 1.5kW and water-cooled one which is suitable for a bigger stack of more than 5kW. The air-cooled stack has a problem in that durability and performance are low due to the drying of the electrolyte membrane in the stack and the corrosion of passive carbon due to the open-cathode structure of the electrode to which air is supplied. To overcome the limitations of the existing air-cooled stack structure, TerraLIX Co., Ltd (CEO Tae-Young Kim) designed a stack with a closed-cathode structure that can operate at all times, by using a 0.05 T thick ultra-thin metal separator.
The company’s vision is to become an innovative leader in the fuel cell industry and provide the best performance, best durability, and maximum convenience needed for the industry.
Recently, it has developed a drone equipped with a fuel cell power pack that can fly for an hour. To realize this, Terrrix is taking the lead in developing air-cooled fuel cell modules and water-cooled fuel cell modules with top experts in the field of fuel cell stacks and systems.
Beyond guilt-free driving, the technology of TerraLIX may enable the low-carbon economy to respond to the global demand for solutions as the world embarks on a transformational energy transition.
Kayla Hong
Asia Journal
