President Lee Jae-myung expresses his thanks on Dec. 12 after Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong picked up the lunch tab at the cafeteria of Samsung Electronics’ Onyang campus in Chungcheong. Photo courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
President Lee Jae-myung visited a Samsung Electronics cafeteria for lunch with employees after attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chungcheong mega-project. During the meal, the president expressed interest in Samsung’s “myungjang” master craftsman system and listened to requests from company officials, instructing his staff to develop measures in response.
Lee had lunch with Samsung Electronics employees at the Onyang Campus cafeteria in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on the 12th, after the groundbreaking ceremony and the fourth review meeting for the mega-project. Attendees included Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, Kim Ju-woo, the first master craftsman in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) mass production, Joo Jae-hong, who has 20 years of experience in manufacturing and production, and Jung Ui-chang, an expert in advanced HBM research and development, along with other employees recognized for expertise in their fields.
Before the meal, the chairman thanked the president for the groundbreaking, saying the company had cut more than eight months off the timeline and that the Gwangju project would likely move even faster because the president was overseeing it personally. The president praised Samsung’s bold investment and execution.
The chairman then introduced Kim, the first master craftsman in HBM mass production, explaining that Samsung has many employees who entered with a high school diploma and that anyone who works for more than 20 years can become a master craftsman. The president asked whether high school graduates could also become master craftsmen. Kim replied that workers who graduated from meister high schools perform well and handle artificial intelligence capably.
When a Samsung official said the company was struggling to find skilled workers for pipe installation at construction sites, the president instructed Presidential Chief of Staff Lim Kwang-hyun to look into ways to train more pipefitters.
There were lighter exchanges as well. When the president asked whether the food was always this good, employees replied that it was usually better and that the day’s meal was actually below par, drawing laughter. The lunch menu included thinly sliced beef brisket, multigrain rice, soybean paste stew and steamed eggs.
President Lee Jae-myung and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong speak at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chungcheong mega-project held at Samsung Electronics’ Onyang campus construction site in Chungcheong on Dec. 12. Photo by Kwon Wook
The groundbreaking ceremony also produced a moment that drew laughter from both the president and the chairman. A university student from the Chungcheong region, speaking as a presenter, mentioned in front of Samsung’s top executives that the student had a job interview with Samsung Electronics the following week.
After the chairman’s welcoming remarks and a progress report by Chief Executive Officer Jun Young-hyun, a student majoring in semiconductor convergence at Chungnam National University took the stage to represent young people in the Chungcheong region. The student described the difficulty of finding a job and said the student had been able to build a range of skills through 130 hours of process training, an overseas program in Australia and a total of 26 extracurricular activities under Chungnam National University’s semiconductor specialization program.
The student then said that thanks to those opportunities, the student had been fortunate enough to secure a job interview with Samsung Electronics the following week. Laughter suddenly broke out in what had been a subdued venue. The president was shown on screen smiling as he spoke to the chairman.
At the ceremony, the president said he was deeply grateful to the chairman and Samsung Group executives and employees for deciding on bold investment and carrying it out swiftly, and to residents of the Chungcheong region for helping make the groundbreaking possible. He pledged that the central and local governments would act as one team and take full responsibility to the end for permits and core infrastructure such as power and water, so that investment plans in the Honam and Yeongnam regions, as well as Chungcheong, could proceed without disruption.