WEDNESDAY MAY 8TH

Companies was the center of focus today. We toured Samsung Biologics, Seoul City Hall, and the Seoul Global Startup Center. One thing I felt that connects these very different companies is their emphasis on embitterment, innovation, and self-improvement.

Starting off with Samsung Biologics, we were given a better idea of what biologics is and how the company is a head front in the industry. Biologics is a type of drug that is made from organic organisms versus using chemical drug. The industry of biologics is a billion-dollar industry and the industry can vary from research, extracting useful proteins and substances for living organisms, etc. Samsung Biologics focused on the filtration and reproduction of a biologic material in order to mass product the final product. It was quite interesting company model that is rapidly improving in quality and sanitation control. Although I am a mechanical engineer, it was a great thing to experience.

Seoul City Hall was a whole different environment. It wasn’t a business visit, but it did allow me to see the history of Seoul in the eyes their people. The city hall was two buildings, the old city hall and the current one. The old city hall was constructed during the Japanese government and after winning independence, the city hall remained to run in the old building, After some time though, they constructed a new City Hall to represent how much the city has flourished since the time they were controlled by Japan. The old city hall which couldn’t be destroyed because it was historical building was turned into a public library for the people. The highlight of the town was the botanical garden inside of the new city hall and the rooftop of the old city hall.

The global startup center was interesting because that was the first company that was specifically catered for immigrants in Korea. It was nice to hear that they are encouraging design, innovation, and the cultivation of ideas. One thing one of the tour guides mentioned was that its important to have a diaspora of company input into Korea’s GDP. For instance, Samsung contributes to approximately 25% of Korea’s GDP, so if it were to ever fail or go bankrupted, it would immensely impact the country’s economic flow.