Sunil Safe Chairman Kim Young-suk: 'Relentless innovation is the secret to growth'

"Innovation means doing what others won't. There is no point in simply following the crowd. It is hard to do what no one else is doing — but that is the only way to move forward."

For more than 50 years in the safe industry, Kim Young-suk, chairman of Sunil Safe, has lived by one guiding principle: innovation. She built the company alongside her late husband, founder Kim Yong-ho, and took sole charge of management after his death in 2004. Since then, she has driven the company's transformation together with her two daughters — pioneering a design-led safe market and now pushing into smart security appliances that combine AI and Internet of Things technology.

Speaking at Sunil Safe's headquarters in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Kim said the company must "keep innovating to be first and best," adding that her goal is to build Sunil Safe into a century-old company passed down through generations.

Founded in 1972, Sunil Safe is one of South Korea's longest-running companies in the safe industry. It currently exports to more than 100 countries and holds roughly 80 percent of the domestic safe market. The biggest transformation Kim has led is repositioning the safe — from an industrial fixture used in offices and banks to a home interior product for everyday consumers.

"In the old days, if you gave someone a safe as a gift, it ended up in a supply closet or a dark corner," Kim recalled. "I kept asking myself: why are safes only available as black office equipment?" She said she wanted to prove that a woman's touch could make a difference. "The idea was to make safes beautiful enough to display proudly inside a home."

At the time, safes were used mainly by corporations, government offices and financial institutions. Kim believed that because people store not just cash and valuables but also family photos and important documents, a safe could become a product that harmonized with living spaces.

That thinking gave rise to Lucell, an interior design safe brand launched in 2008. The line applied a range of colors and patterns to conventional safes and incorporated fine-art imagery and decorative elements — turning the safe from something to be hidden into a piece of furniture that could sit comfortably in a living room or bedroom.

At the time, the idea of applying design to a safe was unfamiliar to the market. "When we first unveiled Lucell, people asked how on earth we expected to sell something like that," Kim said. "So we took matters into our own hands and started selling directly through department stores."

The results were positive. After the design safe launched, the customer base expanded to households and individual consumers, and the distribution network widened to include department stores and home shopping channels.

"The biggest achievement was creating demand that simply did not exist before," Kim said. "In the past, if you asked someone where to buy a safe, they would think of Cheonggyecheon. Now it is a product you can find in department stores."

Kim's drive for innovation is also rooted in pride in the technical foundation her late husband built. At a time when South Korean financial institutions were importing Japanese safes, the founder traveled abroad to master safe-making technology and developed domestically produced models with certified fireproof performance.

That fireproof capability gained national recognition during the 2005 fire at Naksansa temple in Yangyang, Gangwon Province. A Sunil Safe unit survived the intense blaze and protected the rare books stored inside, even as the temple's bronze bell — a national treasure — melted in the heat. The incident cemented the company's reputation for technical excellence.

Kim has focused on building on that technical and quality legacy by adding design innovation to open new markets. Her view is that, just as home appliances have evolved with the times, safes must also keep advancing.

Even after more than 50 years in the industry, Kim has faced her share of crises. A factory fire in April 2024 destroyed more than 75 percent of the company's production facilities and equipment, halting the production line at a time when export and domestic home-shopping orders were backed up.

Kim chose to treat the fire as a springboard rather than a setback. She rebuilt the aging factory and expanded production capacity, raising monthly output from 7,000 units before the fire to 15,000 units this year. The company plans to reach 20,000 units by year-end and 30,000 units next year.

"I took it as a sign to make a fresh start with a factory we had used for more than 50 years," she said. "Because this is a company meant to be passed down through generations, I rebuilt it with the future in mind."

Technology innovation is another engine of growth. The company's vision is to combine its core fireproof and anti-theft capabilities with digital technology to evolve into a smart security appliance.

Sunil Safe has been developing IoT-enabled safes in partnership with domestic mobile carriers. The company has introduced features that let users monitor the area around a safe via smartphone and detect unusual activity, and has strengthened security functions with cameras and proximity sensors.

More recently, the company has been pursuing integration with Samsung Electronics' SmartThings smart home platform. The plan is to enhance existing security features — such as sending smartphone alerts when a safe is moved — and to make those smart security functions available to overseas customers as well.

"A company cannot grow without investment," Kim said. "In technology, just as in design, you have to do what other companies have not done yet."

Premium apartments represent another new market. Demand is growing for built-in safes installed in walk-in closet units within upscale residential complexes developed through reconstruction and redevelopment projects. Sunil Safe is also pursuing a business that would place rental safe boxes exclusively for residents in apartment community facilities.

The company is also accelerating its push into overseas markets, combining its proven fireproof technology with differentiated design to compete globally. "Just as design safes changed the domestic market, I want to lead a new wave of change in the world market," Kim said.

Kim's management philosophy is already being passed to the next generation. Her two daughters currently handle production and technology, and sales and administration, respectively.

Kim said the most important thing in a family business succession is not simply handing over the company, but developing the next generation's ability to run it.

"Not just anyone can manage a company," she said. "Even in a succession, the next generation must have the character and the management ability to lead."

The value she most wants to pass on is innovation. "To be first and best, you have to innovate even when it is hard," Kim said. "Nothing in this world is free. Thinking alone is not enough — you have to act and follow through to get results."

Kim's vision for Sunil Safe goes beyond being a simple safe manufacturer. Her goal is to grow the company into a smart security appliance brand that delivers peace of mind to consumers through its products.

"Even after I step back from day-to-day management, my goal is for this to remain a company that innovates and grows on its own — a true century-old company," she added.

Kim Young-suk was born in Paju in 1955 and joined Sunil Safe in 1976. She completed an advanced industrial policy program at Korea University's Graduate School of Industry in 1997, followed by the Advanced Management Program at Yonsei University in 2004. She was appointed chief executive of Sunil Safe in 2005 and completed the Global Leadership Program at Seoul National University in 2007. She became chair of the Paju Women Entrepreneurs Committee in 2017, chair of the Paju City Happiness Scholarship Foundation in 2023, and chair of the Paju Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2026.