An event was held to honor those who have contributed to the Korean semiconductor industry, including Chairman Wonik Lee, who was awarded the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit on Semiconductor Day.

On the 27th, the 15th Semiconductor Day commemoration ceremony was held at the InterContinental Seoul COEX. Hosted by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, the event was attended by approximately 440 people including Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang and government and semiconductor industry officials.

On this year’s Semiconductor Day, Chairman Wonik Lee received the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit. Chairman Lee received this award in recognition of his contributions to the domestic production of semiconductor preprocessing equipment, continuous investment expansion, and active human resource recruitment. Wonik developed the highest-performance PE-CVD equipment in Korea and abroad, and contributed to the development of the first composite film deposition equipment (MOLD) in Korea and the selection of V-NAND Flash standard equipment.

In addition, Wonik received this award for contributing to joint growth and win-win cooperation with semiconductor front-end and back-end companies. We are taking the lead in building a semiconductor win-win ecosystem by continuously increasing the number of partners signing agreements due to business expansion, forming a partner council, and sharing technology and management know-how through regular meetings.

The Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit was awarded to SK Hynix Vice President Choi Jeong-dal in recognition of his contributions to the development of the world’s first 128-layer 3D NAND product and the advancement and exchange of global semiconductor technology, while the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit was awarded to Samsung Electronics Managing Director Koh Gyeong-min in recognition of his contributions to the development of the domestic image sensor industry and the commercialization of mobile camera products.

In addition, a total of 53 government awards including the Presidential Citation were presented to 83 people, making it the largest award ever. The Industrial Medal went to DB HiTek Vice President Kim Sang-kwon, who contributed to increasing production volume and overcoming the limitations of miniaturization, and Key Foundry Vice President Lee Jeong-hwan, who contributed to establishing the foundation for domestic semiconductor technology development and developing foundry processes.

△DSTECHNO CEO Ahn Hak-jun △Korea Institute of Technology Evaluation and Planning team leader Bong Chung-jong △LTH CEO Lee Hyeong-il △Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science director Kang Sang-woo △Nextin Vice President Yoon Sang-bok △KEC Managing Director Lee Jong-hong △PSK Vice President Ha Hyeong-chan △AD Technology VP Kim Seon-min △Samyoung S&C CEO Park Sang-ik presented various government awards, including the Presidential Citation.

In addition, in order to foster excellent human resources in the semiconductor field and contribute to the development of the national industry, a semiconductor scholarship award ceremony was held as a side event for 23 scholarship recipients. Since 2006, the association's member companies have been selecting semiconductor major students and providing scholarships worth 10 million won per student.

At the event, Kwak No-jeong, chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, emphasized that “semiconductor technology is a barometer that measures a country’s competitiveness,” and expressed his will by saying, “The government and companies, large and small companies, and industry, academia, and research institutes will join forces to make a leap forward as a semiconductor superpower.”