Day 5:

We started off the day with a company visit to Naver. Naver can best be described as the “Google of Korea”. It is the most popular search engine here, and also offers other services to its users like translation, shopping, news, etc. We had a chance to visit their headquarters, where we were first given a presentation on how they are applying smart systems and AI in their company. They have been able to create smart programs than can, for example, take a video which contains multiple people talking at once and isolate one person’s voice, and a program that can make cameras follow one person around a stage without the camera needing to be manually controlled. These are just a few of the advancements they have made, but it shows that Naver is successfully applying smart systems in their company. After the presentation, we were given a tour of their facility, which was basically a city in itself. Not only did it have work space for all its employees, it had a food court, gym with personal trainers, a doctor, a convenience store, a post office, and many other amenities. The prices were also very low for the employees, because the company runs all of the mentioned things at a loss in order to support its employees. However, some of the stores, like the coffee shop we saw in the building, have all of its proceeds go to charity instead of being cheaper. Overall, Naver is a very advanced company, and definitely earns its comparison as the “Google of Korea”.

In the afternoon I had the opportunity to go to a taekwondo class, which as really fun. We got to learn the correct form for kicking and punching, and put it in to practice by ending the class with breaking aboard. I wasn’t that good at it, but I tried my best. Despite that it was still a great workout and a good way to burn off some calories from all the great food I have been having here in Korea. Overall, the trip so far has been great and I can’t wait for it to continue!