Interview with Lee Hye-Joo

CEO of Sejong Technology Transfer & Commercialization Center

Question: What makes Sejong unique as a company?

Answer:  Sejong has focused all of its attention on establishing a network for effective technology transfer and commercialization. We have the expertise and the range of partners to quickly and accurately assess all the needs for a new technology and get the necessary patent and technical certification done fast. In today's competitive world, that speed is important.

Our technical and business expertise is complemented by a very open architecture within our firm. We have a lean and mean team with a strong sense of teamwork. We are all in this together and our staff exhibits the most remarkable coherence and commitment under pressure. That élan is what put Sejong on the map the last few years and what I take the most pride in.

Others may think us small, but we think that having a simple hierarchy and focused team is extremely effective for quick responses to the concerns of tech experts and venture companies. If you have a problem, we will put together a working team in an hour and get right on it. That responsiveness and flexibility means a lot to some companies and they are loyal to us.

Q:  Why are you located in the Daedeok Valley?

A :  Daedeok Valley is taking off as a world-class technology cluster. Every day, we see more companies and researchers coming into Daejeon to set up shop. The foreigners are increasing in number as well.

The big draw is the sophistication of the firms here; their technology, from robot and laser technology to nuclear power and telecommunications, is second to none. Above all, Daedeok is a center for innovation. We have researchers constantly peeling away from national research institutes to start venture companies here. That ability to put together a small, disciplined, response to an opportunity is a major advantage. Japan and Korea may have larger economies, but they cannot respond so quickly to change.

We feel that Daedeok Valley has all the assets in place to be a major center in the years to come. Some people compare it to Silicon Valley, but the truth of the matter is that although our scale is a bit smaller, we are more diverse in our technologies. These days, we have more vitality and creativity than Silicon Valley, or at least that is what your friends over there tell us.

Q: What are Sejong's future plans?

A: We have made a strong niche for ourselves as advisors and planners for technology transfer and commercialization for Korean firms. We can walk the technology experts through all the steps of technology transfer from patents and finance to marketing and manufacture.

These days, however, we are stepping out into the international market. We are starting to make matches between investors and venture capitalists around the world and Korean firms with technologies that deserve attention. We believe that if Korea can just get the financing it needs, we can go toe-to-toe with any competitor. Our technology is that good and we are that innovative.

So we are expanding our ties in India and the United States. We have ties with China and we are making a concerted effort in the Middle East. In fact, we will bring through a group of investors from the Middle East in the near future to look at our technologies.

That is why we have Dr. Lakhvinder Singh, founder of the Indo-Korean Business and Policy Forum, and Dr. Mezyad Alterkawi, CEO of the Riyadh Technology Incubation Center (RTIC) at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, as regional advisors. We are serious about understanding what the Middle East and India need and responding to it. We also have Dr. Alp Malazgirt, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and Emanuel Pastreich, an expert in international relations, on our team as well. We want to move up to the next level as a professional and international technology company. Our clients in Korea and around the world need that sort of support to survive in this global environment.

We intend to find close partners around the world and eventually open overseas offices. First, we need to serve as a bridge between our outstanding technology experts and the institutions internationally they will turn to for finance and marketing help.

We will focus on commercialization and international marketing strategies in our work going forward. We think we can make some real progress. And at the same time, we want to keep hammering away at the R&D element. Korea is doing some excellent work today and proving those wrong who said that Korea does not have enough basic science to be a global competitor. Now, with our global posture, we can go even further.

Q:  What are the strengths of the Sejong team?

A: All of our senior team members have long experience in technology and business, so we are not easily thrown off track by sudden shifts. We can assess the value of a technology and stick with it. Moreover, each member of our team is a shareholder who has a real stake in our effort. That sharing of responsibility and reward has served to build a strong sense of corporate commitment.

At the same, Sejong recognizes that it cannot do everything in house. We are constantly turning to a wide range of experts in specific technologies who can give us the best opinion. We may not have everyone in our offices, but we have managed to maintain strong ties over time with people who matter in Korea. The same is true for our international advisors as well.

There are some aspects of Sejong that are hard for the outsider to grasp. We are a small company with a very flat hierarchy that can respond to opportunities and challenges faster than anyone else. At the same time, we maintain the proper ties with the government and have official agreements for commercialization with technology leaders like KAIST and KIGAM, a research institute for geosciences and materials. That means we are both compact and agile and at the same time tied into the old-boy networks and standard industry-academic-government programs.

Q:     Why is Korea, and Daedeok Valley in particular, making headlines today?

A:  Just last year, people were down on Korea's prospects, but we have leapt back into prominence in a very short time. Korea is not a place to make things cheaply. It is a center for innovation in technology and a country that is unmatched in the number of start-ups created every day. We see Korea as the innovation center for the next century. When we start to get a few more internationals on board, Daedeok Valley will really take off globally. This little town is going to be the hub of Asia for technology. Mark my words.

Koreans are highly educated and highly motivated. Moreover, they are extremely flexible in their response to new challenges. In a nutshell, they have what it takes to respond to today's challenges better. We see that Koreans are striving to adopt global standards and reach out to partners around the world. That trend will continue.

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