– The first memorial ceremony for the late Shin-kwon Kim, the founder of the company who took the lead in advancing the Korean pharmaceutical industry

– with the Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy renovation, LIFE Gallery will open, and IT based programs such as beacon service and augmented reality will be adopted through the donations of the late Shin-kwon Kim.

The first memorial ceremony of the late Shin-kwon Kim, the founder of Handok, and the re-opening ceremony of Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy was held in Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy in Eumseung County, North Chungbuk Province on April 30^th.

Founder Kim was the first generation leader in advancing the Korean pharmaceutical industry. Born in Uiju County, North Pyeongan Province 1922, he dedicated his life to the development of the pharmaceutical industry for 70 years since he opened his own drug shop in Manchuria China when he was 20 years old. He founded Handok in 1954 to provide advanced pharmaceutical goods, promote public health and develop the Korean pharmaceutical sector. He also started a global business, forging technological partnership with German company Hoechst for the first time in the Korean pharmaceutical sector in 1957 and forging a joint venture in 1964. As a result, he is evaluated to have greatly contributed in advancing Korean medicine and pharmacy by about 10-20 years by producing leading pharmaceutical goods in Korea.

Founder Kim, who used to do business in Uiju County, deeply contributed in developing Handok as Korea’s leading pharmaceutical company based on ‘trust management’. He put great value on humanity, and in this regard, the company provided welfare services to employees, such as fully providing employee’s children’s university tuition from 1978 (up to two children), and introducing a 5-day workweek system in 1985, as the first pharmaceutical company to do so.

He especially emphasized labor-management relations, as we can see from the anecdote that he was the one who recommended to employees to establish a labor union in 1975. Thanks to the deep trust between labor and management, Handok never had to go through labor-management disputes.

He established the Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy in 1964, the very first corporate museum and a specific museum, in order to preserve historical records and materials. He has also worked on scholarship projects and supported medical research activities by establishing Handok Jeseok Foundation in 2006.

The memorial ceremony, attended by former and current employees and personnel from the museum and pharmaceutical sector, was held together with the re-opening ceremony of Handok medical museum. Handok medical museum marked the 50^th anniversary last year and re-opened after 20 years with the donations from the bereaved families in accordance with the late Kim’s will.

With the re-opening, the museum newly created LIFE Gallery that exhibits not only domestic and foreign relics, but also contemporary arts about the four phases of human life – birth, aging, sickness and death – and now the NFC (Near Field Communication) service and beacon service is available to allow you to listen to the explanation about the relics through your cell phone. Also, you can experience making digestive medicine through augmented reality technology, and even get postcards where you can experience relics through augmented reality. There’s more to experience, such as ‘photo zones’ to take photos with great historical figures, and get relic stamps.