[Edaily Reporter YU JIN-HEE ] “Only a healthy people can reclaim their lost homeland.”

Exactly a century ago, in 1926, the words of a young entrepreneur that echoed across the bleak, colonized land of Joseon—where the people had lost their nation and were wandering in exile—were a kind of “declaration of independence” that transcended the logic of capital. The late Dr. Yoo Il-han had already achieved tremendous commercial success by founding a food company in the United States. When he left behind a life of guaranteed comfort to return to his barren and arid homeland and establish a pharmaceutical company, the world may have viewed him as a reckless idealist. However, the single willow tree he planted has grown, 100 years later, into the mightiest tree supporting South Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

The core values that define the identity of Yuhan(000100), which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, are deeply rooted in the very life of its founder, Dr. Yoo Il-han. The launch of Yuhan Corporation was not merely the birth of a profit-seeking enterprise, but an extension of a fierce movement to save the nation by establishing public health sovereignty for a people in distress.

From the Boy Soldiers’ School to Operation Napco… Carrying On the Legacy of the Independence Movement

The keyword that runs through Dr. Yoo Il-han’s life is “action.” In 1904, at the age of nine, he traveled to the distant state of Nebraska in the United States with itinerant missionary Park Jang-hyun and was entrusted to the care of two Baptist sisters, marking the beginning of his arduous life as a student abroad. The countless hardships he endured at a young age in a foreign land did not break him; rather, they instilled in him a profound sense of responsibility for the reality of his homeland. At the age of 14, he enrolled in the Korean Boys’ Military School, founded by Mr. Park Yong-man—a leading figure in the independence movement in the United States—where he underwent rigorous military training and internalized the nation’s will for self-reliance with every fiber of his being.

Just how firm his national pride was is clearly illustrated by an anecdote from his high school days at age 16, when he voluntarily changed his name from his birth name, “Yoo Il-hyeong,” to “Yoo Il-han” to clearly express his Korean identity. During his youth spent in a foreign land, he constantly agonized over what role he could play for his suffering compatriots. The result of these reflections was finally proclaimed as a concrete vision at the “Korean Freedom Convention” held in Philadelphia in 1919. Standing before the assembly, he emphasized, “For our nation to achieve independence, we need economic strength that allows us to stand on our own, education, and, above all, healthy bodies free from disease.” This was a profound insight: that public health and economic self-reliance must come first for a nation stripped of its sovereignty to become self-sufficient.

This patriotism was not limited to words and writing. A prime example is Dr. Yoo Il-han’s participation as a special agent in “Operation NAPKO,” a covert intelligence operation led by the U.S. Army’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the 1940s. This proves that he was not merely a capitalist or a patron, but a practical independence activist who risked his life on the front lines. His unwavering resolve—evidenced by his acceptance of a mission into enemy territory where he could have lost his life at any moment—later became the foundation of the most powerful management philosophy guiding Yuhan Corporation.

This vision is fully embodied in the company’s name, “Yuhan.” By combining his given name, “Yu” (柳, meaning “willow”), with “Korea” (韓), the name carries the intuitive meaning of “a store selling Western goods (medicines) founded by the Korean Yu Il-han.” Particular attention should be paid to his choice of the term “Yanghaeng” (洋行), which was highly unconventional for its time. “Yanghaeng” originally implies “heading toward the West.” This signaled, from the very beginning, a grand global ambition: not to settle for the small market of a colonized nation, but to go beyond simply introducing superior Western pharmaceutical technology to eventually export our own products worldwide.

The Wisdom of the Willow Tree Bestowed by Dr. Seo Jae-pil... Shaking Up the Market with “Trust and Enlightenment

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Yuhan Corporation’s iconic “Willow” logo was born out of a deep connection with independence activist Dr. Seo Jae-pil. Dr. Seo Jae-pil, who served as chairman of the Korean Freedom Congress in Philadelphia, highly valued the foresight of the young Yoo Il-han and became his steadfast mentor. When Dr. Yoo Il-han announced his plan in 1926 to return to his homeland and establish a pharmaceutical company, Dr. Seo Jae-pil specially commissioned his daughter, a sculptor, to create a wooden carving in the shape of a willow tree as a token of support. “The willow possesses a tenacious vitality—it grows back no matter how many times it is broken and takes deep root even in the driest of soil. Just like this willow, become a company that provides cool shade and hope to the Korean people,” he urged solemnly. Dr. Yoo adopted this “Willow Brand” spirit as the soul of his company and took the first step toward establishing a national enterprise in Jongno, Seoul.

At the time, the public health conditions in Korea were dire. Infectious diseases and malnutrition were rampant, but due to the exorbitant profits of the pharmaceutical market—monopolized by Japanese pharmaceutical capital—the common people often lost their lives without ever receiving proper treatment. Dr. Yoo Han stated, “While education that teaches reading and writing is important, public health—saving those who are dying right now—is the most urgent task,” and staked his very life on the localization and modernization of pharmaceuticals.

Yuhan Corporation’s marketing and communication strategies were innovations that shook the very foundations of contemporary capitalist market practices. The company’s inaugural advertisement, published in a daily newspaper at the time of its founding, offered a refreshing departure from an era dominated by list-style product descriptions and exaggerated “cure-all” claims. Instead of listing the product’s efficacy at length, the company attempted a visual branding strategy by prominently featuring the “Willow Mark” logo—a gift from Dr. Seo Jae-pil—large and center on the page. This was a sophisticated strategy designed to imprint the company’s authenticity as a “haven for the nation” in the public’s mind, rather than pursuing short-term profits.

In particular, Yuhan boldly challenged the highly opaque pharmaceutical distribution practices of the time. It transparently disclosed the exact ingredients of its medicines in advertisements and abruptly introduced a “fixed-price system” to prevent counterfeits and exorbitant markups. In a market rife with distrust, Yuhan’s “Willow Brand” instantly established itself as a guarantee of “honesty” and “trust.”

By the 1930s, Yuhan Corporation’s approach had evolved beyond mere corporate promotion into “enlightened academic marketing” that led the way in public health. Prior to launching its tuberculosis treatment, Yuhan toured underserved regions nationwide, holding lectures on tuberculosis prevention to disseminate public health information. Advertisements for “Neoton Tonic,” a nutritional tonic, included detailed illustrations explaining the product’s scientific and medical mechanisms of action, thereby raising the public’s health literacy to a new level.

The most iconic example was the advertising series titled “Your Doctor Is Your Best Friend.” Rather than encouraging misuse to boost sales, the campaign advised people to take medication safely only after receiving an accurate diagnosis from a medical professional. This marked the culmination of Yuhan Corporation’s unique management philosophy, which prioritized the public’s right to health and life over corporate profits.

From Import Dependence to Self-Reliance... The Sustainable Foundation Supporting a Century of Growth

In its early days, Yuhan Corporation built trust by importing and selling advanced American pharmaceuticals, but Dr. Yoo Il-han’s vision was always focused on “technological self-reliance.” In 1936, he made a bold decision to recruit Dr. Valette—a world-renowned chemist from Vienna, Austria, who was residing in Shanghai, China at the time—as the chief technical officer of the company’s domestic manufacturing plant. Having acquired advanced technological expertise from this distinguished international scholar, Yuhan Corporation began producing high-quality pharmaceuticals at its Sosa Plant in Gyeonggi Province that surpassed products from the United States and Japan. This marked the most monumental achievement in the history of Korea’s pharmaceutical industry: a decisive victory in the colonial pharmaceutical market—which had been monopolized by massive Japanese capital—achieved through the technical prowess and quality of the Korean people.

Yuhan Corporation’s philosophy of communication—which began 100 years ago in a small office in Jongno, where the company proclaimed its sincerity with nothing but the “Willow” logo—continues to this day through strategies such as the selection of advertising models. Rather than relying on star marketing driven by public recognition or sensational issues, the company thoroughly evaluates whether the image of diligence and dedication embodied by models—such as soccer player Son Heung-min—aligns with the trust the company has built over the years.

Yuhan Corporation’s founding spirit—“Let us produce the best products to help our nation and our people”—has never been relegated to a relic of the past. The secret to its unwavering growth—even 50 years after the founder’s passing—lies in sharing profits with the community and establishing a professional management system, all made possible by the strong roots of this philosophy of mutual prosperity. The heart of national self-reliance, established with a conviction to save the nation, now beats for the people of the next century.