Something that is quickly becoming apparent in South Korea is that chaebols, or family-owned conglomerates like Hyundai and Samsung reach across a broad range of industries. This morning we were able to visit Samsung BioLogics, a division of Samsung I wouldn’t have expected to exist before coming to Korea because at the time the only thing I really knew Samsung for was electronics.
It was fascinating to learn that the clean rooms Samsung uses for their technological development transfers to another area in which protecting against contamination is crucial — biologic products. Biologic products are medical products synthesized from living organisms, as opposed to chemicals.
Samsung Biologics is a contract manufacturing organization, which develops its clients’ drugs for large scale manufacturing. At 362 kL, the company has the largest bioreactor size in a single facility. They have also won the CMO Awards in all six categories – capabilities, compatibility, expertise, quality, reliability, and service – for three years running including 2019.
After the morning at Samsung BioLogics, we went to Seoul City Hall. The new city hall was built right behind the old one from 2008-2012, and the old city hall, built in 1926 during the Japanese invasion, was turned into a public library featuring a museum of the old hall on the top floor and a rooftop garden. Made of three layers of glass, the new city hall included a massive vertical garden and a sky café! Both city halls seemed to be a wonderful way for citizens and community members to connect with the local government.
Our last stop of the day was Seoul Global Startup Center, or Seoul GSG. Founded in 2016, Seoul GSG offers startups an incubation platform to foreigners. Their services include office space, co-workery and café, seed money, education and consulting, and crowdfunding. Our presenter mentioned that one of the biggest challenges faced by companies working there was that very specific visas are required to do business in Korea and so a lot of people cannot come to Korea to start a company, but in the end with the right idea it could be worth it. ffffffff
