This day was entirely comprised of visits throughout Seoul. We met at 7:20 am to drive to Samsung Biologics. When I first heard we were visiting them, I was surprised that Samsung reached into the bio-pharmaceutical industry. However, after more research I found how far Samsung reaches into every field of industry including housing, refrigerators, and chemical production. Biologics is the creation of products using a living organism. A large part of the industry is drug production through mammalian cells. Samsung Biologics is considered a CMO or contract manufacturing organization which is a company that mass produces a product for a client. Samsung currently has 10 clients creating over 45 products currently.

The next visit was to Seoul City Hall. These buildings are absolutely gorgeous. There are two main parts to the City Hall. The first is the old building built in 1925 during the Japanese occupation. Over time this building grew decrepit and the Korean government decided to build a new modern one to replace it. However, instead of replacing the old building, the new one was built behind it and the old building was turned into a public library. The new building was built in 2008 to showcase how Korea had grown to become a powerhouse in the global economy. It features areas for citizens to gather and enjoy the building as well as provides easy access to government facilities. It’s extremely interesting how the City Hall is accessible to all citizens as well as how it was able to integrate its historical building into the structure of the City Hall as a total.

The last place we visited was Seoul Global Startup Center or SGSC. This company is owned and run by the South Korean government to provide funds and resources for foreigners to start a business in Korea. South Korea saw a need for more accessible resources for foreigners because without the extra help, very few foreigners could create a start ups let alone make a highly successful one. SGSC currently has 45 companies incubating for the new batch. It includes companies that delve into Korean beauty, the housing market, and even cybersecurity. It’s extremely impressive how this model is being used to provide much needed services and how it could potentially fix some of the problems that Korea is facing.