Jung Wook Seo, who served as IEEE Region 10 director from 2003 to 2004, passed away on January 11th at the age of 70.
While working at Korea Telecom, the IEEE Life Fellow led the development of the TDX-1 digital telephone switching system. He then worked on the commercialization of code-division multiple access methods for encoding data sources. CDMA, also known as 2G, allows data to be transmitted on a single radio frequency carrier by one transmitter, or multiple transmitters can use a single RF carrier frequency.
Mr. Seo also held leadership positions in several departments of the South Korean government, including the Defense Development Agency and the Korea Communications Agency.
Early days of defense technology
After earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University in 1957, Mr. Seo joined the Republic of Korea Air Force Academy in Cheongju as a communications and electronics engineering instructor. Three years later, he left for the United States to attend Texas A&M University in College Station. There he earned his master's and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering in 1963 and 1969, respectively.
He returned to South Korea in 1969 and joined the newly established Defense Development Agency in Daejeon as a section manager. There he developed military technology such as two-way radios, telephone link systems, and handheld calculators. Mr. Seo continued to work his way up the ranks and was eventually appointed president of the electronic communications division.
He dropped out in 1982 and enrolled at Seoul National University, where he taught for a year as a professor of electromagnetic field theory.
In 1983, he joined Korea Telecom (now KT Corp.) in Seongnam, where he served as senior vice president. He is responsible for research and development of digital switching equipment and quality assurance systems. During his tenure at the agency, he led the development of Time He Division Exchange (TDX-1), a digital exchange system that was introduced across the nation's telecommunications networks in 1984.
Korea's telecommunications industry leader
In 1991, Mr. Seo was appointed Minister of Science and Technology by the South Korean government. In this role, he approved government funding for research and development.
Two years later, he retired as chairman of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, where he led efforts to commercialize CDMA technology. Seo and his team of KIST researchers developed his CDMA technology for mobile phone networks in collaboration with Qualcomm. In 1996, the Korean mobile operator began offering his CDMA wireless service, becoming the first private operator in the world to apply this technology.
In addition to his leadership at KIST, Mr. Seo also served as president and vice chairman of SK Telecom, a wireless carrier and former film distributor in Seoul. He was the chief executive of the Korean Accreditation Commission, which operates certification programs for management and system certification based on international standards.
A lifetime member of IEEE–Eta Kappa Nu, Seo was named Distinguished Member, the highest level of membership in the honor society, in 2012.
The Korean government awarded him several honors, including the Industrial Merit Medal, the Civil Merit Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal.