KOREA TRADE NEWS

October 16, 2023

「Contributing to improving human health through ‘water science’」

  Trader of the week, Kim Young-gwi, CEO of KYK Co., Ltd.

‘44 years.’

This is the period of time that KYK CEO Kim Young-gwi, studied water until this year. 

This is why CEO Kim has the trademark ‘water expert.’

It has been recognized by many people for decades and its pride is high. 

“There are not many people in the water field who have both academics and technology,” CEO Kim said.

●   Why does he consider ‘water’ important?

  CEO Kim mentioned "Korea's poor times a long time ago when food was scarce in Korea."

“When I was young, I often experienced “hunger.” At that time, Korea was poor and food was scarce, 

so it was a very difficult time. When I grew up, I wanted to solve the pain of hunger.

However, after I became an adult, the pain of hunger disappeared, 

but the pain of diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure became very severe.

From then on, I thought I had to solve adult diseases. 

Why is it difficult to cure adult diseases? 

Why can’t Western medicine and Oriental medicine solve the problem? 

According to my research, this is because it goes against the laws of nature.”

CEO Kim began studying natural medicine. 

This was the late 1970s. Representative Kim surveyed people in representative longevity villages. 

What he had in common was ‘water.’ 

There are many people who live in good air and eat good food, 

but the water in longevity village was particularly good. So, what I set out to find was ‘clean water.’

●     Clean and pure water, however

He wanted to create ‘clean and pure water’ attached to leaves in well-protected areas through modern science.

In the early 1980s, reverse osmosis equipment was imported from the United States at a high cost. 

He then created “super pure water” by boiling distilled water and then cooling it. 

And he put it to the test in his real life.

The target is bean sprouts. 

It was expected that if bean sprouts were grown with super pure water, they would grow very well.

The result was the opposite.

The bean sprouts grew quickly, but were thin and weak.

He placed iron in water and observed that it soon rusted.

He realized.

Super pure water is not suitable for laboratory or industrial use.

It's not suitable for humans.

What he found next was this water. 

He researched the paper. 

So what was discovered was the separation of water molecules (H₂O) to realize reducing power energy.

In other words, it separates hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O).

The water developed through this is alkaline water with reducing energy (-mv), that is, ‘alkaline hydrogen water.’

●    “Word of mouth” KYK alkaline hydrogen water =

KYK first launched alkaline water ionizers in the late 1990s.

At that time, CEO Kim expressed difficulties in sales, saying, 

“Because we were unable to properly invest in marketing, many consumers misunderstood the KYK alkaline ion water ionizer as a water purifier.”

But the market gradually changed.

In the 2000s, sales volume began to increase along with word of mouth that alkaline ionized water was good for the body.

He said, “People who trusted me and used it consistently felt it, and as they introduced the product to their friends, sales increased.”

Afterwards, in 2008, the alkaline water ionizer received medical device approval from KFDA. 

KYK alkaline water ionizer has been recognized as a medical device.

As this news became known, the product was launched on TV Home Shopping. Sales were higher than expected.

He said, “We received favorable reviews, receiving more than 1,000 orders in 60 minutes during the first morning broadcast,” 

and “I learned how many customers want an alkaline water ionizer.”

●    Russian Local Seminar “Passion and Best Memories”

   KYK alkaline water ionizer has entered the overseas market since 2008. wife

The fastest selling country was Russia.

“I went to a local seminar at the invitation of the Russian Partner. 

After the lecture, there were too many questions and answers. 

The situation continued for 6 hours. 

I received numerous questions about the principles of the product and other questions, and I answered them in detail. 

They studied hard like high school seniors. That was their marketing power. ”

The company has put a lot of effort into proving its technological excellence. 

There are 16 awards received at international invention competitions.

“We submitted two patents to the 2010 German International Invention Competition, and both received gold medals. 

At that time, I had a very high awareness of German technological prowess. 

However, I felt very proud that the technology of an unknown Korean company was recognized.”

In 2014, clinical trials were completed with approval from the Seoul National University Clinical Research Ethics Review Board (IRB).

He said, “As I emphasized the excellence of water, I heard a lot of people calling me a businessman. 

He said, “I had a lot of doubts, so I decided I had to prove it medically, so I got Seoul National University IRB approval.” 

He continued, “It is very difficult to receive Seoul National University IRB clinical trials with water that is not a medicine. 

“It is a historic event for us,” he emphasized.

●    Branded with the founder’s name initials for ‘trust’

The alphabet KYK in the company name are the English initials of the developer and CEO. He said, “It is an expression of confidence in the product.

CEO Kim, who set the goal of an initial public offering (IPO) within three years, said, “Everyone cannot survive without drinking water. “Water is that important to our bodies,” he said. “I hope that KYK Returned Marshal Kim Young will be remembered as a company that provides health to people through specialized research in water science.”

Reporter Kim Jun-bae