On the first anniversary of the death of the late founder Noh-kwon Kwak, HANMI Semiconductor calmly paid tribute by presenting an animation about his life as a pioneer in the semiconductor equipment industry.

Noh-kwon Kwak, born in 1938, founded HANMI Mold (currently HANMI Semiconductor) in 1980 based on his 14 years of work experience since joining Motorola Korea in 1967. He is said to have elevated Korea’s barren semiconductor equipment technology to world-class level.

Chairman Kwak led the field for about 42 years until he stepped down from the management front. As a first-generation Korean semiconductor equipment entrepreneur, he put customer satisfaction as his top priority and devoted his life to providing differentiated products and services.

‘VISION PLACEMENT,’ developed by Chairman Kwak in 1998, has been the world’s No.1 market share since 2004 by applying core capabilities of HANMI Semiconductor, including more than 200 patents. And also, they have developed DUAL TC BONDER, a core HBM processing equipment for artificial intelligence semiconductors, laying the foundation for HANMI Semiconductor to leap into a global semiconductor equipment company with a market capitalization of nearly KRW 8 trillion.

HANMI Semiconductor won the top export award of $100 million in 2010 and $200 million in 2021. It has grown into a more competitive company overseas, accounting for about 77% of exports relative to sales over the past decade. For the third consecutive year from 2022 to 2024, HANMI Semiconductor was selected as one of the world’s top 10 semiconductor equipment companies by TechInsights, a global semiconductor research organization, along with ASML, RAM Research and Applied Materials.

Chairman Kwak was selected as an outstanding capital goods development merit in 2013 and received the Gold Tower Industrial Medal, the highest honor for an entrepreneur.

Chairman Kwak also took the lead in practicing social responsibility by sponsoring medical support, scholarship projects and education projects for vulnerable children.

“We will take over the will of founder Noh-kwon Kwak and maximize customer satisfaction based on constant efforts and technology,” an official from HANMI Semiconductor said, “We will strive to become a more advanced HANMI Semiconductor.”