Korean becomes one 100 wealthiest in U.S.

The latest issue of Forbes Magazine, carrying the list of the 400 richest men in America, also contains the name of James Kim ranked as 94th richest in the United States with assets estimated at US$2.7 billion.

Forbes described Kim as the 64-year-old chairman of the semiconductor manufacturer Anam Group, Kim Joo-Jin. Other than those in Anam Group, none were aware James Kim was the chairman of Anam Group.

He had kept a low profile in Korea, as it might beget a degree of backlash for having the chairman of a group that had to request a government¡¯s corporate workout program to have more wealth than the chairman of another healthy conglomerate, Lee Kun-Hee of Samsung Group.

Chairman Kim¡¯s making the list of 100 wealthiest men was quite simple. With Anam Technologies¡¯ subsidiary Amkor, the U.S. affiliate of the group, making its entrance on the Nasdaq in 1998, Chairman Kim's 26 percent of stock helped him become one of the wealthiest men in the world.

Amkor conducts manufacturing and sales test drives of semiconductors and has Intel, Motorola and Texas Instruments as customers. In the Philippines, Amkor currently owns five factories.

Anam Semiconductor earned US$2.1 billion through its U.S. branch Amkor and was able to graduate from the government work-out.

Chairman Kim's father, Kim Hyang-Soo, 88, honorary chairman of the Anam Group, was the first man to take Korea into the semiconductor era. Serving as a congressman for the Fourth National Assembly, he put aside his political ambition due to the April 19 Revolution, and having learned of the future of semiconductors, launched Anam Group.

During the early period, as Anam Group faced obstacles, the eldest son, the current chairman Kim, resigned from his professorship post in the United States and established the U.S. affiliate Amkor. The affiliate started by the son saved the mother company started by the father. The son became one of the 100 richest men in America and exemplifies the adventurous business mentality embracing the globalization through two generations of father and son.

Hwang Ho-Taeck hthwang@donga.com