Having been certified in such fields as electrical engineering, firefighting equipment and engineering, Master Kim’s expertise is both broad and deep. That experience and technical know-how, along with his tireless dedication to mentoring the other members of the electrical maintenance team, were what led to Kim being named one of this year’s three new POSCO Masters of Korea.

The title POSCO Master of Korea is reserved for the best of the best field technicians, those with not only incredible skills, but who also lead their co-workers by example and help contribute to the competitiveness of the company.

Let’s take a look at Master Sungnam Kim, and how four decades of dedication have made him a legend on the electrical maintenance team.

Dreaming of POSCO While Still in School

Sungnam Kim had grown fascinated with POSCO, even before he finished high school. Having grown up in a 12-person family in a small home, he was always a tinkerer, often taking apart radios or other electronic devices. With such a large family, he had to go to a vocational high school, where he first learned about electronics and machinery, and thanks to his inquisitive nature he excelled in his studies.

Back in the 1970s in Korea, there was a popular TV series titled Blooming Corners of Korea, which featured the wife of a POSCO employee who played a significant character. The drama even had scenes that were filmed in front of POSCO’s main gate. Because of that, Kim says he grew more aware of POSCO and began thinking about one day working there. More importantly, with his interest in electricity and machines, he thought the company made a great fit.

His dreams soon came true. On January 20, 1978, he started work at POSCO, just two days after graduating high school. At first he found the transition very difficult. Even though he had studied mechanical and electrical subjects in high school, the real-world field conditions at POSCO were very challenging.

POSCO was a very different company back then, just starting its dramatic growth into one of the world’s leading steel companies, and working conditions could be difficult. However, Kim was fortunate to work under Huicheol Choi, the manager of equipment repairs and a legendary mentor from that period. Choi would teach workers mathematics in the mornings, as well as electrical engineering and practical subjects.

“I remember that first day, he took out his electrical engineering book, and in his thick southern accent he said ‘I still study every day. I want you to study every day’,” Kim recalls. He says he took that advice to heart and vowed to always keep learning.

Learning Through Adversity

Sometimes learning came from terrible circumstances. In December 1980, POSCO suffered an infamous accident in one of its old ironworks. There was a major fire, but Kim discovered that his team was unprepared to deal with it properly. It took around-the-clock work for 20 days before the ironworks was able to restart.

“When the sooty, silent plant finally restarted, the noise of the equipment resuming operations was genuinely touching,” he says. “The sound of working equipment for a repair technician is the most pleasing sound there is.”

Following that accident, he grew obsessed with gaining field experience and real-world know-how. “I followed my seniors everywhere, learning all I could. Electrical fires, transformer damage, main motor breakdowns—I wanted to know everything,” he says. “I wanted experience solving all types of problems, big and small.”

Since then, safety has been a major concern for Master Kim, in particular preventative maintenance. Fixing broken equipment is important, but it is even more vital to ensure everything is working properly to avoid accidents and dangerous situations from beginning.

“I feel that POSCO’s maintenance and restoration processes are the best in the world,” Kim says. “Technicians should always feel a duty to give 100 percent, to ensure everything is well maintained.”

Awarded ‘Master’ in Recognition of a Lifetime of Service

Kim’s lifetime of dedication to safety and maintenance of electrical equipment at POSCO led to his being honored at a POSCO Master of Korea. In addition to his many technical certifications, Master Kim has also been awarded for seven outstanding proposals and three registered patents over the years, along with honors by the president and head of ironworks. In fact, his co-workers like to say, “Sungnam Kim exists wherever there is equipment.”

Throughout his interview, two words repeatedly came up: curiosity and passion. Even while a child, those were the traits that most defined him. And those are the traits that underlie the best of the best field technicians. Approaching his work with that vibrant spirit helps Master Kim stay young at heart.

Furthermore, for Master Kim, building knowledge isn’t just about learning. It is also about passing along that knowledge. “There’s a divide between the knowledge of someone with 20 years’ experience and someone with just one or two years. And advances in technology are not enough to bridge that divide.”

In the end, the goal is about more than just techniques and equipment. It’s about really knowing the entire operations, as thoroughly as a doctor understands the human body. “A technician should be a doctor for the equipment, listening carefully and regularly checking its status,” he says. “I want the next generation of engineers at POSCO to think past the details and look at the big picture, so they can all be true masters.”

After 38 years in electrical equipment maintenance, Sungnam Kim knows the big picture like few others. As a POSCO Master of Korea, we look forward to learning from him how to see that bigger picture, too.

Meet the Newest POSCO Masters of Korea

‘The Equipment Never Lies’: POSCO Master of Korea Chajin Kim

Never Afraid of Failure: POSCO Master of Korea Seungcheol Shin

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Among the latest Masters was Chajin Kim, a man who has earned a legendary reputation for his work in the POSCO furnaces.

From Poverty to POSCO

Master Kim was born in 1958, at a time when Korea was still recovering from a devastating civil war. Growing up in the countryside near Gyeongju, in the southeast of Korea, his family often struggled just to put enough food on the table. His father had gone to Japan at the age of 19 to work in an iron works, and when he returned to Korea he had a hard time readjusting. To help the family out, Kim had to gather firewood when he was in fourth grade, carrying huge bundles of wood to sell during the day, then working late into the night on his school work.

Thanks to his great work ethic, though, Kim was able to go to Gyeongju Technical High School, which helped prepare him for a career where he could use his hands and his endless diligence. He soon began to take notice of one particularly enticing option – POSCO. Then called Pohang Iron & Steel, POSCO was located relatively close to his hometown, and back in the 1960s and ’70s it was one of Korea most prestigious and fast-growing companies.

Upon starting at POSCO, Kim was surprised at more than just the size of the company. The quality of the employee meals were a revelation, too, with plenty of high-quality rice and a rich array of dishes. “When I saw that, I wanted to spend my whole life at POSCO,” he recalls.

Hard Work, Big Machines

Repair and maintenance in a blast furnace can be tough work. It involves huge metal machines, and moving a piece just a few millimeters can require hitting them repeatedly with a big sledgehammer. But Kim was used to working hard from an early age, so he never complained; he just got to work.

Kim told a story that illustrated his focus on always putting 100 percent into his job. “We had a policy that you can get new safety shoes after a certain period of time, but you need to show your worn-out shoes to your supervisor to get approval,” he says. “However, my shoes kept wearing out so quickly, one day my supervisor told me that I was allowed to just change my shoes any time I wanted, without limit.”

That dedication also led to promotions. In fact, he earned so many promotions so much faster than usual, that a manager once had to go to his home during Chuseok (a major autumn holiday in Korea, like Thanksgiving). The manager was tasked with doing a thorough check on Kim, because he was supposed to be too young for that promotion.

Dedicated to Innovating

As Kim rose up the ranks and got better and better at his job, it sometimes led to friction, too. He wanted to make the machines as safe and efficient as possible, rather than just making the same repairs over and over again. For example, with the pig casting machines, the round bar on the safety gap equipment used to need replacing about once every four days because the heat would cause the bar to bend. But Kim got the idea of changing the round bar to a square one, which was about 20 times stronger. He also came up with an easier way of making the change. Kim’s innovation passed a stringent set of tests, and POSCO was so pleased that it sent Kim and his whole family on a special vacation.

Kim also has long been concerned with workplace safety. He used to see about 20 accidents each month at his worksite. But as a result of improving processes and machinery, that rate dropped to just one accident a month. Other proposals and patents earned him a series of awards and certifications. Between 2002 and 2006 along, he earned five third-class improvements and five patents.

“Even though the machinery is not alive, if you give it your love and attention, it gives you better results,” he says. “You can tell machines recognize the small and warmth of people because the devices that people take care of don’t break down. You may not believe it, but I do. I’m sure of one thing: the equipment never lies.”

Earning the Title ‘Master’

Despite earning the prestigious title of “Master,” Kim remains focused on modestly doing his job. “To be honest, I am not that smart or flexible,” he says. “What I am good at is limited – where I can add value to my job. That’s why I always need to be focused and at my best to perform well, even if that means getting less sleep.”

Kim finds joy in simple luxuries: buying a nice car for his mother, along with a little more farm land for his family. He has also lived in the same villa provided by POSCO for 26 years.

“I have become the POSCO Master of Korea thanks to the help of my coworkers and the equipment of the blast furnace plant. I was lucky to work here. I will keep working hard and never forget the moment I became a Master.”

Now that Chajin Kim is a POSCO Master of Korea, we look forward to learning from his lifetime of expertise. Master Kim’s know-how makes him a mentor that can help lead POSCO into an even brighter future.

Meet the Newest POSCO Masters of Korea

Always Remembering the Big Picture: POSCO Master of Korea Sungnam Kim

Never Afraid of Failure: POSCO Master of Korea Seungcheol Shin

Be sure you never miss any of the exciting steel stories from The Steel Wire by subscribing to our blog.