[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] Kim Young-jae, Chairman of DaeduckElectronics, and Cho Ji-tae, Executive Vice President of LG Innotek, were awarded the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit and the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, respectively, for their contributions to strengthening the competitiveness of the electronics and IT industries.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 13th that it had honored 41 individuals for their contributions to industrial development—including two recipients of the Order of Industrial Merit and one recipient of the Industrial Medal—at the “21st Electronics and IT Day” ceremony held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Chairman Kim Young-jae, who received the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, was recognized for his contributions to the localization of advanced semiconductor substrates and the replacement of imports. He is credited with contributing to the stability of the electronics industry’s supply chain by leading the mass production and overseas market expansion of high-value-added products, such as ultra-precision package substrates that connect semiconductor chips to motherboards and ultra-high-layer printed circuit boards (MLBs).

Executive Vice President Jo Ji-tae, who received the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, was recognized for growing the smartphone and automotive camera module and semiconductor substrate businesses to world-class levels and for leading the establishment of smart factories based on Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX).

Executive Vice President Cho, who joined LG Innotek in 2004, is a production and yield expert who has held positions including head of the Vietnam production subsidiary, head of optical solutions production, and head of the Optical Solutions Business Division. By integrating AI into the entire process—from camera module development to mass production—he established an automated quality inspection and improvement system and increased production yield. As of last year, LG Innotek’s mobile camera module sales had increased more than 30-fold compared to 2010.

Since late last year, he has served as Head of the Package Solutions Business Division, leading the high-value-added semiconductor substrate business. While driving investments to more than double production capacity, he is also responsible for strengthening the competitiveness of existing products—such as Radio Frequency System-in-Package (RF-SiP) and Flip-Chip Chip-Scale Package (FC-CSP)—and expanding the Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array (FC-BGA) business. His decision to allocate approximately 80% of the investment in optical equipment to domestic equipment manufacturers—thereby contributing to the localization of equipment and the creation of local jobs—was also cited as a key reason for the award.

“I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of our employees, yet I also feel a heavy sense of responsibility,” said Executive Vice President Kim. “I will do my utmost to ensure we continue to grow as a global electronics and IT company representing South Korea.”

Kim Wi-heon, Senior Vice President and Head of the MLCC Manufacturing Technology Team at SamsungElectroMechanics, received the Industrial Medal for his achievements in the development and localization of ultra-compact, high-capacity multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs).