A centennial commemorative event marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Iri Agricultural and Forestry School, the progenitor of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), was held on May 5 at the JBNU Specialization Campus.

Opened in February 1922 as the nation’s first government-run five-year specialized educational institution, the Iri Agricultural and Forestry School served as the origin of Iksan College, which merged with JBNU in 2007. It also played a major role in the establishment of the Iri College of Agriculture and Forestry and can be considered one of JBNU’s roots.

The commemorative event was attended by Park Jong-gil, President of the Iri Agricultural and Forestry Alumni Association; Park Hyeong-sun, Secretary General; Jeong Byeong-ha, former President of the Alumni Association; JBNU President Kim Dong-won; Cha Yeon-su, Dean of the Graduate School; Acting Mayor of Iksan Oh Taek-rim; and other local political and civic figures and citizens, who celebrated the 100th anniversary together.

In particular, the ceremony also included the conferment of an honorary doctoral degree to Harim Chairman Kim Hong-guk. Chairman Kim, who founded Harim while attending Iri Agricultural and Forestry High School and rooted the company in Iksan, developed Harim into the country’s 27th-largest company. He is a living legend in Korea’s agri-food industry.

At the centennial ceremony, Park Hyeong-sun, Secretary General of the Iri Agricultural and Forestry Alumni Association, delivered a report on the centennial progress and presented a plaque of appreciation.

At the honorary doctorate conferment for Harim Chairman Kim Hong-guk, Cha Yeon-su, Dean of the Graduate School at JBNU, recommended the honorary doctoral degree, and JBNU President Kim Dong-won presented the degree plaque and insignia.

Following the centennial ceremony and the honorary doctorate conferment to Chairman Kim Hong-guk, the unveiling of the 100th-anniversary monument located on the JBNU Specialization Campus capped the event.

On the day, Chairman Kim Hong-guk said, "The honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree conferred on me reminded me anew that the truths of scholarship do not exist solely within the ivory tower of the university but can also be pursued in the field of industry," adding, "This honor, given on the school's 100th anniversary, is a blessing that should rightly be shared with my fellow alumni."

JBNU President Kim Dong-won said, "I sincerely congratulate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Iri Agricultural and Forestry School, and I extend my congratulations to Harim Group Chairman Kim Hong-guk on receiving an honorary doctorate from our university. Chairman Kim, who armed himself with innovation and creative challenge to develop Harim into a global agri-food group, is precisely the model that our JBNU members should emulate as leaders of South Korea's future."

'From Ten Chicks to a Company with 16 Trillion Won in Assets'
Kim Hong-guk, Recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from JBNU

Chairman Kim Hong-guk, who received an honorary Doctor of Business Administration from JBNU, is an outstanding entrepreneur who turned ten chicks, a gift from his grandmother when he was 11, into a global comprehensive food company with 16 trillion won in assets. Having founded the company entirely on his own ideas and efforts rather than inheriting a business foundation from previous generations, he grew Harim into the country's 27th-ranked company, earning him the epithet "Pioneer of Food & Agri Business (Food & Agri biz)."

While expanding the scale and scope of the business, Chairman Kim focused and specialized in food operations and ensured that all companies remained within a unified management framework. As a result, the Harim Group secured domestic leadership in the protein food sector—covering poultry, duck, pork, Korean beef livestock farming, compound feed, and meat products—and entered the comprehensive food market by newly developing various HMR (home meal replacement) products such as instant rice.

JBNU's conferment of the honorary Doctor of Business Administration on Chairman Kim was not solely in recognition of his business success. It was also in recognition of his exemplary corporate management as the only major conglomerate headquartered in the provincial city of Iksan, practicing balanced regional development.

Harim established its comprehensive food production base in Iksan, completing a state-of-the-art food processing plant with a 500 billion won investment starting in 2018, and invested an additional 200 billion won in the National Food Cluster.

His path was not without setbacks. He faced existential crises several times, including livestock scandals, the IMF foreign exchange crisis, major fires, and avian influenza. Rather than giving up, he relied on the power of positivity, saying that enduring crisis strengthens people and matures companies, and that tremendous opportunities remain open in the world today.

Pursuing his school-time dream, Chairman Kim chose the vocational high school Iri Agricultural and Forestry High School, where he was recognized for his leadership from adolescence through activities in the Young Farmers' Student Association and received a ministerial citation. He was later selected as a "New Korean" (1993) and a "New Intellectual" (1999), recognized for pioneering new ideas and a spirit of challenge shaping the future. In 2006, in recognition of his contributions to agricultural industry development, he became the first farmer to receive the Gold Tower Industrial Medal. He also served as a member of presidential personnel advisory committees, a policy committee member of the Inter-Korean Agricultural Cooperation Promotion Council, and a member of the National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee, contributing to national and social development through the experience he accumulated in business.

The business community also highly praised his entrepreneurial spirit and management capabilities. In 2016 he won the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Master Award—often called the "Oscar" of entrepreneurs—and received KMA's Korea Manager Award (2019), the Human Sangnoksoo Award (2017) established by the Sim Hun Sangnoksoo Memorial Association, and the Honam Person of the Year Award (2018) conferred by the Honam Future Forum.

Actively returning profits to society, he has served as chairman of the Harim Foundation since 2006, providing hundreds of millions of won annually to promote agri-food advancement, scholarships for outstanding talent, and support for disadvantaged farmers. Since 2018 he has served as chairman of the Jaegyeong Jeollabuk-do Residents' Association, leading various support projects for regional development while expanding the network of residents from the region who reside in the Seoul metropolitan area.