Special Interview with O.H. Kwon, VP & President of Qualcomm Korea

 From the 2021 4Q AMCHAM Journal 

 

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey to your current position?

I am O.H. Kwon, VP & President of Qualcomm Korea. My full legal name is Oh Hyung Kwon – Oh means “five”, Hyung means “go well” and Kwon means “power” so my name itself means 5G goes well powerfully. What a perfect name for Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G! I was born in Seoul in 1971 and moved to Overland Park, KS, in 2001 with an American dream to be successful in the wireless industry with a solution to make regular PDAs function just like today’s smartphones with both cellular voice and data connections. My dream came true with getting the U.S. citizenship in 2011, and I moved back to Korea in 2012 as an executive of Qualcomm, the true global leader of the wireless industry from 2G to 5G.

 

It wasn’t an easy path for me at all due to my non-engineering educational background (I got my bachelor’s degree in education from Yonsei University in Seoul and have a teaching license in ethics) and lack of verbal English communication skills in the beginning of my career. I had to cover my weaknesses through extra-long working hours studying new technologies and engineering issues in English and taking online MBA classes at the University of Phoenix for Technology Management while moving around in the U.S. coast to coast. My family and I lived for three years in the East Coast (Cliffside Park, New Jersey), four years in the Midwest (Overland Park, Kansas), and five years in the West Coast (San Diego, California). I thank God and my family for their strong support throughout my amazing career journey.

 

  

In my current role since January 2019, I have an overall business and operational responsibility for Qualcomm Korea, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) Korea, and Qualcomm Korea RFFE, which closely work with Samsung, LG, HKMC, and other Korean SME customers for Mobile, Compute, Infra, RFFE, Connectivity, Networking, IoT, and Automotive. I joined Qualcomm San Diego headquarters in 2007 as a regional sales manager for Korea and I was relocated to QCT Korea in 2012 to serve as senior director of Mobile and IoT Sales. I was promoted to VP of Sales at QCT Korea in 2017 and I have been instrumental in leading a strong engagement with key Korean OEMs, driving new business opportunities and establishing an excellent sales track record with my Korea organization during my 14-year tenure at Qualcomm. Before joining Qualcomm, I was working as overseas sales manager for LG Electronics for the U.S. and Japan (from 1995 to 2000), VP & GM for the U.S. and Latin America at Yiso Telecom (from 2000 to 2005) and Handset Vendor Manager at T-Mobile (formerly, Sprint from 2005 to 2007). I have been happily living in Seoul with my beautiful family for over nine years now. I hope all AMCHAM members stay safe and healthy with their families during this prolonged COVID-19 pandemic situation.

 

 

2. You are currently Vice Chair of the AMCHAM Board of Governors and have led several events and efforts through AMCHAM. Can you tell us about your experiences so far? Do you have any goals you would like to achieve through the AMCHAM platform?

 

 Source: OBS News Line

 

I think one of AMCHAM’s critical roles is serving as the promotor of U.S. companies’ contributions to Korea. This is critical to U.S. companies that usually have limited access or opportunity of such local communication. Let me take Qualcomm for example. While our business in Korea has numerous interactions with business partners for product and solution development to compete in the global market, it also cuts across very different sectors like government policy implementation.

 

The essence is that 5G is not just faster smartphones, but a tool to bring intelligence and connectivity to many more devices and areas near the “edge”. With our 5G technologies, Qualcomm can support the government’s economic and industrial policy initiatives. The Korea Digital New Deal is transitioning the country to a digital economy, and our 5G and AI technologies can be used to build the Data.Network.AI (D.N.A) ecosystem and accelerate Digital SOC (Social Overhead Capital.). Fast, reliable and low latency features of 5G will replace the wire to make more flexible and configurable operations in the road transportation infrastructure, public emergency response systems, power utilities, and many more. 5G also helps build smart government by using the extremely high radio frequency called “mmWave” which will greatly help improve the efficiency and security of government operation.

 

Under COVID, online schooling became the lifeline of education so that no students are left behind from essential education opportunities. The government is constantly improving the public online education system, and our innovative computer platform for laptops and Chromebooks will greatly help allow students to access classes and online learning tools anywhere, anytime. I believe many U.S. companies have made a profound impact on government policy, industry, and people’s day-today lives. Such expansive roles shouldn’t go unnoticed, and I hope AMCHAM will effectively promote them for due recognition and finding new opportunities.

 

 

3. In particular, Qualcomm was instrumental to creating the AMCHAM SME Collaboration Seminar in 2020. Can you tell us more about how Qualcomm strives to cooperate with and boost small and medium partners in Korea?

 

Cooperation with domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is one of the most important initiatives for Qualcomm. Since 5G has been commercialized, various types of devices beyond smartphones have become connected, creating new business opportunities for SMEs in Korea.

 

  

 

Qualcomm is supporting various forms to help SMEs with new concepts and competitive products enter overseas markets. To name a few, Qualcomm annually hosts the Smart Cities Accelerate at the San Diego headquarters. By inviting various types of ecosystem partners such as leading manufacturers, operators, and distribution channels around the world, Qualcomm's SME customers have been provided the most effective and practical opportunity to enter overseas markets. This year, a Korean SME company that provides smart city-related devices and services joined the event, and Qualcomm will help them build out progressive smart city deployments with streamlined end-to-end capabilities.

 

Second, Qualcomm is using its own global business development organization to support domestic SMEs to advance into overseas markets. By sharing real-time data on the products and technologies manufactured by Qualcomm Korea's SME customers with Qualcomm's business development organizations around the world, SMEs are able to supplement product development and accelerate time to market.

 

In addition, we are continuing our efforts to further solidify the structure of growing together with domestic SMEs, such as the establishment of a Qualcomm design house that enables the development and commercialization of Qualcomm products that require relatively large amounts of resources and periodic technical training.

 

 

4. At their first summit in May of this year, President Biden and President Moon singled out semiconductors as a top priority for bilateral cooperation. How do you foresee the U.S.-Korea partnership in semiconductors evolving?

 

Semiconductors are key to a wide range of economic sectors from automotive to healthcare, telecommunications, and many more. The impact of current supply constraints spans across multiple aspects, and we need to work together to address this, minimize the impact, and establish a resilient supply.

 

Our two countries have a long history of close collaboration in semiconductors and delivering leading node processes and technologies. I believe we have ample opportunity ahead to further enhance this collaboration and continue to lead in digital transformation. In that context, I find the two governments’ agreement to collaborate very encouraging, as well as the fact that each country is working to build greater capacity and incentivize R&D and facility investment in semiconductor areas.

 

The bilateral roundtable discussion also mentioned batteries, automotive, and vaccines, and joint R&D of critical technologies such as 5G / 6G, Open RAN, and so on. Given their wide ramifications, it is very important to continue to explore opportunities in these areas. Qualcomm attended the U.S.-Korea Business Roundtable and raised the issue of the need for enhanced bilateral collaboration on advanced technologies. We will be happy to offer our support in the area whenever needed.

 

 

5. Qualcomm also supports education in diverse ways – one example is the Korea Robot Championship that Qualcomm sponsors to help Korean youth develop problem-solving skills. Can you tell us more about your CSR programs?

 

Qualcomm’s corporate responsibility priorities include four areas where we believe we can make the greatest impact — Purposeful Innovation, STEM Education, Responsible Business and Our People.

 

In Korea, we focus our efforts on leveraging our technology for good, through our Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ program and Science Technology Engineering, and Math or STEM education programs. STEM is the foundation for everything Qualcomm does. STEM supports the brainpower behind the breakthrough technologies and inventions we bring to life. As a leader in technology, Qualcomm is committed to providing future innovators with the skills and knowledge to solve global challenges.

 

That is why we funded STEM organizations like FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) who, before the pandemic, typically reached 650,000 students across nearly 110 countries globally each year. Korea Robot Championship is the local partner of this global program, which we have sponsored for six years in a row.

 

In addition, Qualcomm has other STEM programs for college students. We host the “Qualcomm IT Tour” for a group of 25 outstanding Korean undergraduate and graduate students majoring in science and engineering. Launched in 2003, the Qualcomm IT Tour was designed to nurture and inspire young leaders in science and engineering fields by providing them with firsthand access to a leading global corporation headquarter, its executives and its cutting-edge technologies and products, as well as connecting their interests and talents to real-life scenarios and experiences. We plan to resume this program next year after it was paused due to COVID.

 

Also, the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship is a form of an applied paper contest for students currently in master’s and doctoral degrees. The program aims to encourage science and engineering students to pursue autonomy and expertise in research activities and to help them derive creative ideas. There is also a place for knowledge exchange where the participants can interact with researchers of Qualcomm and obtain advice.

 

I am very pleased that we support our youth to participate in the program that I hope to inspire them to join the next generation of inventors.

 

Meanwhile, Wireless Reach brings advanced wireless technologies to people and communities who need it most. These programs demonstrate pioneering uses of our company’s mobile innovations to help drive human and economic progress in underserved areas globally. Our programs have benefited more than 20 million people in 49 countries on five continents since 2006.

 

In Korea, we have a history of implementing programs that enhance the delivery of healthcare, enrich teaching and learning, and most recently started collaborating to provide aid in public safety. Earlier this year, we launched the Smart City Safety Net, a program that introduced a Smart Cities solution to promote public safety. Leveraging smart wearable devices, participating beneficiaries can immediately alert authorities about emergency situations and obtain timely and effective responses. At Qualcomm, we understand that mobile technology has an important role to play in helping address society’s biggest challenges, and we are excited to establish a holistic government emergency response system to make communities safer.

 

  

 

 

6. What can we expect from Qualcomm in the next year?

 

As of July 1, Cristiano Amon took up his post as the CEO of Qualcomm. Under his strong leadership, Qualcomm is moving beyond mobile into areas such as Automotive, Infrastructure, Robotics, XR and IoT with a comprehensive roadmap portfolio across all products. Also, Qualcomm will contribute to the acceleration of “Digital Transformation” where an ever-increasing number of intelligent edge devices are connected to the cloud with proven technologies, including 5G mmWave and on-device AI.

 

  

 

 

5G is not just the next generation of fast internet but the solution that binds everything to always be connected in the cloud. Industry will benefit from massive 5G opportunities for Automotive, industrial IoT and the connected enterprise. Qualcomm Korea is fast-moving into this trend and actively working with various partners, including both SMEs and global players. Since 5G, which will play a pivotal role for Digital Transformation, can be most impactful when we take full advantage of its capabilities including mmWave, efforts on nationwide 5G mmWave commercialization and its supporting devices should continue in Korea, and we will continue to endeavor to expedite its realization.

 

Last but not the least, Qualcomm strives to build a community for Snapdragon Insiders (fans for Snapdragon). In Korea, we communicate with our Insiders on Instagram (@snapdragon_kr) and YouTube (@snapdragonkr). We share the latest information and provide extra perks for our fans. Those activities will continue and become stronger next year.

 

 

7.  You have been with Qualcomm for over 10 years and now serve as President. Can you tell us about your proudest moment?

  

When the United States President visited South Korea in June of 2019, I was truly honored to attend his business roundtable with other corporate leaders of Korea and the U.S. with help from Qualcomm’s strong leadership with 5G and support from the U.S. Embassy and AMCHAM Korea. My dad, who passed away early this year, was so proud of me when I shared the list of attendees, and my mom almost cried when she saw the photos I took with them – I can say that was the proudest moment of my Qualcomm career so far.

 

At that very event, AMCHAM Chairman & CEO James Kim personally introduced me to multiple Korean C-level executives, and I was able to build new business relationships. I appreciate his support for me and Qualcomm. Serving as Vice Chair at AMCHAM is also a great honor and it will surely be one of my proudest titles.

 

 

O.H. (Oh Hyung) Kwon is vice president and president of Qualcomm Korea YH. In this role, Mr. Kwon has an overall responsibility for Qualcomm Korea operations, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) Korea, and Qualcomm Korea RFFE. Mr. Kwon joined Qualcomm in 2007 as a regional sales manager for Korea. In 2012, he moved to QCT Korea and served as senior director of Mobile and IoT Sales, and most recently as vice president of Sales. During his tenure at Qualcomm, he was instrumental in leading a strong engagement with key OEMs, driving new business opportunities and establishing excellent sales track record with his team. 

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