Chairman Lee Kun-Hee’s “great decision” in making a topnotch corporation
“Chairman Lee, the population of the United States is 270 million.”
This was totally out of the blue. Chairman Lee raised his head and looked at me with a confused expression, wondering why I was suddenly talking about the US population. I had succeeded in changing the subject and grabbing his attention, so I hurriedly continued my explanation.
“Even though the US has the world’s largest economy, and it leads in technology and culture, its population isn’t only made up of brilliant and talented people. There are also many people who are a burden on its society. But it’s still the strongest country in the world.
Within this 256M DRAM that we made, there are the same number of cells as there are people in the US population. But if just one of these 270 million cells is defective, we won’t be able to sell the 256M DRAM.”
Chairman Lee then smiled at me brightly, glanced over at the group of presidents, and broke into laughter saying, “That’s a great analogy.”
--- p.23~p24

It takes passion to ask questions
Thinking back, I was probably the only engineer/manager who liked posing questions to partner companies. I was practically obsessed with wanting to know what our clients’ demands were, and where the market was heading. And that’s why I always met with our clients’ CTOs. Our sales division staff wanted me to meet CEOs and purchasing department executives, but I knew who among my counterparts could answer my questions. I needed to hear from the CTOs to read the technological tea leaves and be prepared for the future before anyone else.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the development of “mobile DRAM,” one of Samsung Electronics’ most successful products in the mobile era, began after a meeting with the CTO of a client. The partnership between Samsung Electronics and Nokia remains strong to this day ever since the former began supplying f lash memory to the latter in 2002. I was very fortunate to have had a conversation with Nokia’s CTO about a smartphone developed by that company.
--- p.143

“Create what you want it to be, not what it is.”
Several CEOs come to mind when talking about the nomad spirit. I have met many people privately and as a business manager, and have learned much from them. They also motivated me to write this book.
One of them is Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.
(...)
I was not able to engage in lengthy conversation with Marc Benioff at the WEF. Nevertheless, I had the impression that he dealt with people without concerns over their status and accepted his counterparts with an open mind.
He approached me during the break and told me he was interested in 5G and had looked into it. He said my speech earlier reaffirmed its importance and then thanked me. I answered by inviting him to come to my office if he ever found himself in Korea. A few months later, he really did come to visit my office.
Initially, Marc Benioff’s liaison officer contacted me and said that Mr.Benioff was scheduled to participate in a 20th anniversary ceremony in Japan and then head straight back to San Francisco in his private jet.
However he wanted to visit KT in Seoul. I answered that he would be welcome anytime. The next day, he came to my office with a bright yet serious expression on his face. Greeting them like old friends, I took him and other Salesforce members who were with him on a tour of our 5G facilities and demonstration site.
--- p.181~183

An encounter with an ardent believer in and early adopter of technology
My relationship with Klaus Schwab, also known as the “president of the global economy,” started in 2017. I visited the WEF headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to give a presentation on KT’s project to prevent infectious disease globally.
At that time, KT attracted public attention with its GiGAtopia strategy and “5G will be the power that changes the world” declaration.
KT was making a quantum leap as a telecommunications technology company by leaving behind its old image.
I was truly excited about the meeting with Klaus Schwab. Klaus is widely known for founding the WEF in 1971 and developing it into an independent global organization. He has long endeavored to build a venue where global leaders can share agendas and have neutral and fair discussions. He introduced himself in several media as “an ardent believer in and early adopter of technology,” and emphasized his firm conviction that technologies would contribute to the advancement and development of humanity. I was deeply impressed by his activities and philosophy, and I expected that his ideas would be similar to mine.