Tuesday July 2

After a very restful night at the Kyungju Ramada (Lamada), I woke up at 5:30 and spent a long time sifting through notes and photos. We had a relatively late start this morning, leaving the hotel at 9:00, bound for Pohang City and the POSCO steel company.

I would have never imagined that a visit to a steel company could be so exciting, but it was such an eye-opener into Korean culture and how this nation has undergone such a dramatic transformation in one generation. My only regret is that we could take pictures only in the company museum. For the rest of the tour our cameras and other devices were sealed in bags and our sternly efficient company minders were on sharp lookout for any suspected industrial espionage.

We started in the company museum, which admittedly contained a lot of PR and corporate propaganda. It was an inspiring story nonetheless, summed up by the slogan that appared on a huge sign across the 6 lane plant entrance (sorry, no photos) "Resources are limited. Creativity is unlimited." This is an apt metaphor for Korea's economic development as a whole. Korea lacked the iron and coal necessary for steel production, but by investing in its human capital and starting with the dream of this company in 1945, they have developed into a global economic power.

POSCO is now among the top 5 global steel producers. Another motto is "We move the world in silence." Meaning, everyone knows the name of the end product - Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, LG, etc - but few know who made the steel to begin with.

The museum had an impressive scale model of its plants (no pictures!) at Pohang and Gwangyang, built on land reclaimed from the sea. Both plants contain import and export ports, rail yards, worker dormitories, and stadiums for their professional soccer teams. In Korea, professional sports teams are sponsored by corporations, and we saw the stadium for the Pohang Steelers at POSCO.

Most exciting was driving around the factory. At one point our bus drove past a truck carrying a fresh steel slab, and we could feel the blast of heat through the bus. It was intense. We also got to do a brisk walk through a mill. We walked about 300 yards on a catwalk above the machinery that mills a steel plate from about a 25 cm thickness to 1.2 mm. This will likely be used in home appliances. It was loud and incredibly hot (well over 100°).

Along with the school visit, this was a unique and memorable stop so far on this trip.

The rest of the day: tombs, burial mounds, museums, buffet lunch, kalbi (beef rib) dinner, seminar until 10:00. Zzzzzz ...