Hwang Chul-joo, CEO and Chairman of Jusung Engineering, emphasized innovation beyond imitation and a transformation in leadership as new conditions for growth for Korean companies. Speaking at the 'Herald Business Forum 2026' under the theme 'New Standards Create New Growth,' Chairman Hwang addressed the growth challenges facing the Korean economy and its companies, delivering the message that firms must break away from quickly following existing technologies and instead create new standards themselves and generate differentiated value.

From Follower to Pioneer

The core theme Hwang presented was the shift from follower to pioneer. Korea has grown by rapidly acquiring and developing knowledge and technology first secured by other countries and companies. While this strategy played an important role in industrialization and economic growth, Hwang's concern is that the same approach alone will make sustained growth difficult going forward. He emphasized that the time has come to move beyond conforming to standards set by other companies and to directly create new standards and benchmarks.

The Leader's Role: From Avoiding Risk to Overcoming It

In particular, he argued that leaders must be at the center of this change. While past management focused on reducing uncertainty and avoiding risk, in the new era of growth, the ability to overcome risk and drive innovation is what matters, he explained. Chairman Hwang said that the responsibility of overcoming the uncertainty and risk an organization faces cannot be left to individual members alone, and stressed that solving these problems and opening new paths is the role of the leader.

Work Is Not Suffering

His message extended beyond how companies grow to how work itself is perceived. Chairman Hwang emphasized the need to distinguish between work and suffering. According to his explanation, after the Third Industrial Revolution, technological advancement separated work from suffering. In his view, work is a process in which individuals exercise their capabilities and achieve accomplishments, while suffering is unnecessary pain. He believes that working a lot and working well can be a source of happiness. In contrast, he pointed out that the attitude of accepting suffering itself as valuable labor, or confusing work with suffering, needs to change. The implication is that modern society must reduce unnecessary suffering and focus more on valuable work.

"1% Innovation Over 99% Imitation"

Another theme Hwang emphasized was the difference between knowledge and technology. He explained that knowledge is a domain whose value grows the more it is shared, and that universities are spaces for forming knowledge and philosophy. In contrast, he distinguished technology and innovation as areas where companies must secure competitiveness through differentiation. Here, Chairman Hwang presented the contrast between 99% imitation and 1% innovation. If the majority focuses on following existing technologies and methods, creating new value becomes difficult, he argued. Innovation by the few who challenge areas others have not attempted can be the starting point of differentiated competitiveness, he explained. He especially stressed that what companies should pursue is not merely improving existing technologies, but creating unique value that competitors cannot easily replicate.

These remarks also draw attention as the management philosophy of Chairman Hwang, who has spent his career in the semiconductor equipment industry. Jusung Engineering develops equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. Given that it belongs to an industry where technological competitiveness and differentiation are crucial, the innovation Hwang presented aligns closely with the company's business domain. However, this lecture focused not on announcing specific product development achievements or new order plans, but on presenting direction for corporate management and industrial competitiveness.

Collaboration, Not Just Cooperation — Balancing Innovation and Trust

Chairman Hwang also emphasized the need for change in how organizations operate. The concepts he distinguished were cooperation and collaboration. What is needed, he said, is collaboration that combines each person's best capabilities to create new outcomes, going beyond mere cooperation in which tasks are divided and performed within hierarchical relationships. This is interpreted to mean that organizational members must move beyond simply fulfilling their own roles and combine different expertise and capabilities to produce results that would be difficult to achieve individually.

He also addressed the relationship between innovation and trust. Chairman Hwang acknowledged that achieving innovation and trust simultaneously can be difficult, and explained that a structure is needed in which the two can complement each other. Innovation that attempts new things carries uncertainty, but trust is also important for an organization to operate stably, so both elements must be considered together, he said.

A Place That 'Creates' Happiness, Not One That 'Enjoys' It

His remarks on the meaning of companies and workplaces also drew attention. Chairman Hwang emphasized the need to move away from viewing a company merely as a place people visit to enjoy happiness. A company should be a place where members create happiness through intense effort and accomplishment, he said. This perspective connects happiness to the outcomes of work and carries the message that work itself should be seen as a process of growth and achievement.

The Questions He Left Behind

The theme running through this lecture is ultimately the question of what the starting point of new growth is. Chairman Hwang emphasized that simply repeating past growth methods will make it difficult to secure future competitiveness. Leadership that creates new standards, technological innovation that breaks free from imitation, and collaboration that combines individual capabilities must work together, he said. In particular, his message that companies must choose the 1% challenge that others avoid rather than 99% imitation is worth pondering in industries where technological competition is fierce.

The new standards of growth presented by Jusung Engineering Chairman Hwang Chul-joo place weight not on how quickly one catches up with the existing order, but on whether one can create a new order. Whether Korean companies can move beyond pursuit and create their own technologies and industry standards, and what role corporate leaders will play in that process, are the important questions this lecture leaves behind.

[This article was written based on the key contents and a chronological summary of Chairman Hwang Chul-joo's lecture at the provided 'Herald Business Forum 2026.' The lecture content was restructured around its core message and not presented as direct quotations. AI assistance was used in writing this article.]