Vice president Choi Sun, head of the Chemicals R&D Center, was granted the 13th Dasan Technology Award, which is organized by the Korea Economic Daily, on September 24, 2004.

The Dasan Technology Award was created in 1992 to honor the ideology of pragmatism spearheaded by ‘Dasan’ Jeong Yak-yong. The award is presented in three fields such as large company, SME and the public sector each year. SK Corp. has received the prize in the large company category.

The award was granted due to the contribution that the prize winner and his organization have made to the company and national industrial development. They succeeded in developing relevant technologies necessary for petrochemical product production such as ART catalyst/process technology, SMB process technology and SK-SIV absorption/separation technology. These new technologies are currently applied to several plants in Ulsan CLX, boosting company profits.

Meanwhile, professor Kim Byeong-sik of Dongguk University, who heads the judging committee, says in the evaluation review, “This award highly regarded not only the achievement of an individual researcher but also the efforts of SK Corporation as a company. SK Corp. has been eager to develop new technologies for Korea’s technical independence in the petrochemical field, which has been heavily dominated by overseas technologies, and along the process, it has longed to become one of the top-notch global companies.” He explained that this is the background of how the prize went to an individual and the company at the same time.

Besides, the technologies developed by SK Corp. have been held only by global majors for a long time. The winning of the prize has proved the technological expertise of SK Corp. at home and abroad. It has also paved the way for technology licensing in the global market.