First Korean among 100 richest in U.S.

Forbes Magazine ranked Anam Semiconductor chairman James Kim (Kim Joo-Jin), who also is chairman of its U.S. subsidiary Amkor Technology, as the 94th richest person in the United States.

The magazine reported that Kim has US$2.7 billion in assets.

When Anam Semiconductor was placed in Korea¡¯s corporate workout program because of financial trouble in October 1998, Kim went to the United States and concentrated on management of AmKo. Later, he sent about US$2.1 billion to Anam Semiconductor, thus getting the company out of the workout program.

Forbes said that Kim has established Amkor in Pennsylvania for marketing in the United States of the products manufactured by Anam Industries, which was founded by his father, Kim Hyang-Soo, in 1968. It noted that Kim has expanded Amkor's business to semiconductor chip assembly, processing and testing, and succeeded in winning contracts with leading companies such as Texas Instruments, Intel and Motorola.

Amkor's 1999 net profit amounted to US$76 million on sales of US$1.9 billion.

Lee Byong-Ki eye@donga.com