Lee Sang-sup is the CEO of the Global Firefighting Innovator (GFI) company. He leads the way in building a pioneering fire prevention system worldwide. After graduating from Chung-Ang University, he worked as an outstanding employee at the trade business in a large company for a while. After that, he decided to go to law school in Russia. After studying and working as a lawyer in Russia for about 20 years, he established GFI Co., Ltd. in Korea. GFI Co., Ltd. is a company that focuses on firefighting and safety technology. Now, they are leading the fire safety industry and making new ground with innovation. Let's find out more about Lee Sang-sup, who pioneered his own way and said: "Go!" "Just Do It!" rather than “Worry.”

“The Beginning of the Challenge”

1. Can you introduce yourself to Chung-Ang University students and the people reading this article?

Nice to meet you. I am Lee Sang-sup. I entered the School of Economics, Chung-Ang University in 1989. Now, I am the CEO of GFI, the World Leading Company for Firefighting System Technology.

2. How did you choose to major in Economics?

My family had financial difficulties when I was young, and I could not have a chance to get advice about which university and specialty to choose. I heard that if I major in Economics, I can get more possibilities to get a job. So, I majored in Economics. However, I never regret this choice because, at university, I could meet many good people, and I could learn about the side of the new world that I did not know.

3. Did you have any special memories or experiences at Chung-Ang University?

When I went to school, many people participated in the democracy movement in the late 80’s. At Chung-Ang University, there was also a demonstration, and I remember some scenes of that time. I also had pleasant memories with my friends. On vacation, my friends and I left to travel to friends' hometowns without any money. One day, when we visited my hometown, Yeongju, we went to Sobaeksan. I still cannot forget the beautiful night sky and stars that I saw there. I also remember after that we went back by taxi from the top of the mountain.

4. Do you have any knowledge or activities you have learned at Chung-Ang University that are helpful until now?

I think all learning is needed. Though you think that the knowledge you learn now is useless, that will help you someday. So, I want to tell students that even if they feel studying is hard and unpleasant, try to do their best. Then it will be a good foundation for you.

"Going on to the Next Step, Make New Ways for Himself"

5. You worked after graduating from Chung-Ang University and decided to go to overseas law school. We think this choice was hard. So we’re curious, what made you go to an overseas law school?

After graduating, thankfully, I entered a large company named Hyosung, and I also worked at the core department. However, I wanted something that I wanted to do by myself. Thus, I searched for a new path. I worked in the field of trade and export. While I was working, I wanted to study abroad. So I looked into many countries, such as the United States, China, Japan, etc. But I thought they didn’t fit with me. Then, when I found out about Russia, I found that Russia has lots of resources, and their basic science is good, but manufacturing facilities and management are not. Also, there were not many Koreans living in Russia, and I thought it would be good to be a "Russian expert." That's why I decided to go to Russia. Then, I decided to go to law school to learn more about Russia.

6. How was your experience in the legal profession abroad? How did the experience at that time affect the current you?

It was hard to learn about many laws in Russian. Russian has a feminine form and a masculine form. There are so many words, and rules. It is also very different from Korean. Law is also a very precise study because it should not be lax, and the application of the law could vary depending on how you interpret it. At first, I could not understand the lectures properly at all. And I wanted to give up every day. But I thought, "What should I do tomorrow if I give up today?" So I did not give up and instead lived like mad to adapt to Russia and my studies. For the first two years, I madly made desperate efforts, and I tried to talk to people passing by, get my pronunciation checked, and talk to them more. Later, I tried to learn the language of various ages and areas by talking to diverse people such as students, professors, and old people. I think the life that I lived so fiercely still had a positive impact on my life. I also could meet many good people while studying in Russia and working as a lawyer there for 20 years.

7. You've worked in many fields, including economics, law, and engineering, how do you have the motivation to keep challenging?

Well, I think it is just "life." How you live your life is your choice. I think I choose to do something valuable rather than sleep. I try to do what I want to do by myself continuously.

"Lee Sang-sup and GFI Co., Ltd"

8. GFI Co., Ltd. is a company that creates a safe society from fire. Can you introduce GFI Co., Ltd. to readers of Chung-Ang Herald?

GFI Co., Ltd. is a global pioneer company that is leading the safety industry and firefighting technology. We focus on safety, using materials, polymers, and eco-friendly technologies. We intend to develop into a beacon for the safety industry that upgrades safety technology to the next level, protects the lives and safety of the people. GFI makes microcapsule-based fire extinguisher technology using nanotechnology. Our technologies actively detect and extinguish early fires quickly and respond preemptively to prevent the spread of large-scale fires and social disasters. Therefore, we try to create a new paradigm in the global economy. Now, we cooperate with Samsung SDI, other various industries, and public institutions.

9. Why did you develop and establish a company especially related to "early firefighting" among the various fields of science and technology?

There were not many preventive techniques for fire in the world. Usually, the global firefighting system is a passive firefighting system. What we could do was turn off the power of an unused socket to avoid fire. So the whole world focused on "how fast they extinguish the fire" if it started. Therefore, I thought it was important to respond to fires from the beginning and develop an anticipative fire system, as well as an active fire system. I also learned about the microcapsules for fire extinguishing, which was variable. Thus, I learned a lot about chemistry and physics. Then, I established GFI Co., Ltd.

10. We heard that technologies used for GFI’s innovative products such as AEGIS, an ultrafine capsule fire extinguisher using nano-technology, change the paradigm of fire prevention. Where do these brilliant ideas come from?

I experienced various things while changing my job several times, living in another country, and doing part-time jobs. Also, if I have any thoughts, I talk about those with other people. I always think a lot. I write down thoughts that come to my mind. These things have helped me a lot. In addition, if you are familiar with one thing, it is easy to learn something else. If you do something to the end, the rest will also be easy. So if you study one thing very well, it means you have already studied something else 40%. If you go all the way to the end, you’ll know the principles. Then it is easy to adjust.

11. GFI has received many awards and certificates, including the Certificate of Green Technology, the Certificate of Technical Achievement, and the award from the Korea Invention Promotion Association. What is the secret to the great growth of the company?

If our employees want to unite and work together, there should be trust built between one another. They should also be sure that they will be rewarded if the company goes well. Most small and medium-sized enterprises aren’t like that. That’s why no progress is made. We reward our employees if they work hard. So they work hard. They should get benefits from their work. I shouldn’t eat delicious food alone. We all should eat together.

12. You said that you named the company GFI because you set the goal in the global market from the beginning. What kind of competitiveness do you think the company should have in order to survive in the global market?

Global Firefighting Innovator. We changed ‘Industry’ to ‘Innovator’ recently. We will revolutionize firefighting worldwide. There are many countries that lag in firefighting technology, especially Korea. It is devastating, and there is no technology. In fact, our company is the brightest in the firefighting industry. We even have our own technology that the rest of the world doesn’t have yet. We’ll try to change the world and be a representative firefighting company from Korea. Many foreign companies are interested in us. Being interested means wanting to buy our technology. It’s easy to sell, but that is no fun. I don’t think it fits the trajectory of my life. Also, I can never do it when thinking about our employees and the people with whom we strived together. Going back to the question, we should have the technology, and we’ll lead with technology, not just survive.

13. Who do you think are the right people for GFI? We wonder who you would like to work with.

People in every company should have dreams and passion. If they don’t have a dream, it’s like them having no soul and purpose. They should have things like dreams, hopes, and goals. Also, passion is needed for them to move on, not only thinking about their dreams. They have to just do it and not think too much. If people say they couldn’t make it even though they tried, it means that they didn’t try their very best.

14. When do you feel most rewarding while doing this job?

Everyday. The most rewarding thing is that I’m alive and doing work that is helpful to the world. If our products prevented a fire in a house with children, that means we saved those children’s lives. It’s a meaningful life to be able to save even one person’s life. I always tell our employees to make products with no defects. Actually, there has never been a defective product so far. Moreover, I tell them to make no mistakes in any of the products because those can save people’s lives. We must sell a lot because a lot of people can then be saved. Not only people but also property and pets can be saved.

15. If AEGIS products are supplied to more places, damages caused by fire are expected to decrease a lot. If students use the products, how should they use them?

We are planning to release diverse products. We are having various idea meetings. The first one is a power strip. Power strips sets on fire too often. If our product is in a power strip and the power strip sets on fire, the product puts out the fire. It is not released yet, though, we've made samples. We are going to donate those to associations for the handicapped. Companies are showing a lot of interest. It will be the first product in the world. It will be released soon. If you need anything or have a good idea, please let us know. We’ll take it into consideration and make it. We have 30 employees, but our collective intelligence is even smarter. We listen to other people a lot.

16. Do you have any goals you want to achieve in the future?

Our company’s objective is to change the world’s firefighting paradigm and become a Korean company that is outstanding in the world. Then we can save people not only in Korea but also abroad. Fires occur especially where poor people, vulnerable to safety, live. Fire does not really occur at a place that is big and clean. There are more poor countries in the world. Those countries have bad quality electric utilities. Many people are suffering. So we can save humanity if we go abroad and export many of our products. Being a company of great help to humanity will be worthful. I also want to be healthy so that I can move around a lot and work.

17. If you have anything you want to tell university students, please feel free to tell them.

Life is really hard these days. It’s not easy to get a job. I understand since I have been through it, but I want you to have your own dream and go for it. It is a delusion if you only have a dream. You have to make a move and take action. For that, you need to be passionate. Those who challenge themselves are beautiful. Of course, you’ll fail sometimes. It will be no fun if you always succeed just after trying once. It is hard to have a dream because of cramming your education. Most people don’t know what they want. They wonder about that. We did, and I did, too. It was hard looking for it, but I think now I found it a little a time. It is hard, but try to find a dream and if you did, work hard to achieve it. Don’t be afraid even if you fail. I hope you do something you want. Even I’m afraid of making choices every moment. I lived a turbulent life. I almost died a few times, and I once could only eat one meal a day because of a lack of money. There are people who envy those who eat food. You should appreciate what you have and strive to have things that you do not have. The happiest thing is when you achieve something, even something little, with your dream. You should try. You shouldn’t think that you cannot make it before even trying. You can be a genius and the best in the world in a particular field. You shouldn’t be too modest. You will regret it later. You can live a life of less regret. Life is no big deal. It is foolish not to start because of the fear of failure. You can do anything.

With the interview with Lee Sang-sup, we could see how much he values his job. We could also know that he has been through a tough process for a long time to do this job. He always followed his heart. He didn’t keep his dreams only in his mind but always moved forward with passion. Now, it is not long before GFI becomes a global company. Just like him, let’s do our best every moment with dreams and passion. We must not hesitate because of concerns about failure. Why don’t we go for our dreams instead of worrying too much about our future?