Led technological developments, such as in engineering plastics and lithium secondary batteries
Displayed great leadership to foster the Technology Institute of LG Chemical to become a globally accredited one
(Late) Yeo Jong-kee
President, Technology Institute, LG Chemical (1946~2012)
- Academic background
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1970
B.S., Seoul National Univ. (Chemical Engineering)
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1976
M.S., Graduate School, SNU (Chemical Engineering)
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1980
Ph.D., Graduate School, Lehigh Univ., USA (Polymer Engineering)
- Professional career
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1981 ∼ 1995
Research Fellow, Lucky Central Institute, President, Polymer Institute, LG Chemical
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1996 ∼ 2004
President, Technology Institute, LG Chemical
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2005 ∼ 2005
Head of Division, LG Chemical (President)
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2011 ~ 2012
Vice President, Korea Academy of Engineering
- Awards
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1985
Technology Award, Korea Chemical Engineering Society
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2001
Federation of Asia Chemistry Society Award
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2002
Technology Award, Korea Science and Technology Award
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2004
Gran Prix, Korea Academy of Engineering
President Jong-Kee Yeo is a self-made person who enhanced the technological competitiveness of the Korean chemical industry to the level of the world by active works for fostering the company institutes and leading the technological development of polymer chemistry.
He made a choice different from that of other scientists and technologists. After graduating from the Chemical Engineering dept. of the SNU, he joined the KIST in 1970. That is, he chose his career not in a university but at an industry-related institute. In 1980, after receiving a Ph.D. at Lehigh Univ., USA, he joined a private sector company to perform research on the application development of the polymer chemistry that he majored in. This means he took up the role of a path finder at a company’s institute where research environments were extremely poor at the time.
The first to be said of his achievements is the development research on polymer chemistry he led at LG Chemical Institute since 1981. As the leader of the project, he led the advancement of the Korean petrochemical area, the core Korea chemical industry. He proceeded with the development of engineering plastic (EP) with high functional capabilities in front of research groups in Korea and succeeded to develop PBT resin, as a new plastic material in 1983, PVC shock supplementary material using acrylic additives in 186, and later, reactive flame retardant ABS (heat-resistant, weather-proof, echo-friendly), which provides flame resistance to plastic for the first time in the world. Helped by this, EP Division, the core of LG Chemical, was independently established in 1988.
Another one in the conversion of the R&D he proceeded with was when he took up the presidency of the Technology Institute of LG Chemical in 1996. He referred to his research experiences and focused on discovering new industry technology via material innovations more than common-base technologies, processes, or designs, and rather than product development. Among others, he selected bioscience and information electronic material areas as strategic areas to make focused investments and R&D efforts in. As a result, he succeeded to develop Lithium-ion secondary batteries and polarizing plates for TFT-LCD for the first time in the world in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Following this, he also made outstanding accomplishments of supporting and developing fluorescent body for PDP, Lithium polymer batteries, Factive antibiotic, recombined protein, and organic EL core materials.
During his ten-year term as the president, LG Chemical Technology Institute became a globally renowned institute with R&D personnel amounting to 1,600. He stressed superior brains and teamwork more than any others, and paid attention to the organized realization of capabilities of the researchers. LG Chemical transformed into an innovative company with a very high percentage of R&D personnel among the employees. The innovative technological developments at the institute made LG Chemical grow into a leading global company in the areas of engineering plastics, batteries, and displays. Especially, LG Chemical’s global competitive edge in the area of the future’s new industry technologies is totally attributable to the outstanding R&D activities at the institute.
With these achievements, he won the Technology Award from the Korea Chemical Engineering Society in 1985. This is because he led the R&D on engineering plastics in Korea and made excellent accomplishments. Also, he won the Federation of Asia Chemical Societies Award in 2001, the Korea Science and Technology Award in 2002, and the Korea Engineering Academy Grand Prix in 2004. These awards show that they recognized that he especially created a state-of-the-art material industry and created higher value adds to the existing petrochemical industry. At LG Chemical, he became the president of the institute and CTO, the first such case in the Korean chemical industry.
Therefore, president Yeo has been an on-site oriented engineer devoted to the pragmatic development research, which may help the industries differently from other scientists and technologists. As his R&D motto, “Think big. Aim high!” shows, he indulged in R&D for new changes. For this purpose, he always stressed the importance of basic study. His struggles for R&D and distinguished vision led the Korean chemical industry to develop technological capabilities of an advanced nation.