Marking its 100th anniversary, Yuhan produced a webtoon about the life of its founder, the late Dr. Yu Il-han. Why would a drugmaker focused on new drug development create cultural content?
In business circles, some say the narrative of Dr. Yu conducting independence activism and returning his wealth to society is being used like a form of intellectual property (IP). Using a webtoon, which is familiar to younger generations, also piques interest in corporations.
The Dr. Yu Il-han webtoon, by Misaeng creator Yoon Tae-ho, is serialized on KakaoPage under the title "NEW Il-han" from this month through on the 19th of next month. The story follows webtoon protagonists preparing a drama production announcement event as they trace the trajectory of Dr. Yu's life.
The webtoon has eight episodes in total, with about 18,000 views and around 3,900 comments. Reactions include, "I've become curious about a figure who was both an entrepreneur and an independence activist." A Yuhan official said, "We planned the webtoon to convey the founder's spirit and achievements," adding, "Rather than portraying the founder's life heroically, we unpacked the dilemmas and choices an individual faced at the time."
Dr. Yu's life dovetails with the spirit of the times. Born in 1895, he went to study in the United States at age 9. In 1919, just after the March 1 Movement, he drafted and read a declaration for independence at the Korean Liberty Conference in Philadelphia.
After running a bean sprout business, Dr. Yu returned in 1926 and founded Yuhan. His reasoning was that citizens' health was essential to regaining sovereignty. He later went back to the United States, led the creation of the Maengho Unit, an armed anti-Japanese independence force, and also took part in the U.S. military's anti-Japanese plan, the "NAPKO Operation." The operation was not carried out due to Japan's surrender and Korea's Aug. 15, 1945, liberation, but related details became partly known through U.S. National Archives documents in the 1990s.
Business circles say Yuhan's governance structure reduces the burden of leveraging the founder's story as content. When Dr. Yu died in 1971, he did not pass management control to his family. He left $10,000 to his 7-year-old granddaughter and donated his Yuhan equity to the Yuhan Foundation, a social welfare foundation, and to the Yuhan school foundation.
As of the year-end business report last year, the Yuhan Foundation holds 15.87% of common shares and 0.04% of preferred shares in Yuhan. Board Chair Lee Jung-hee holds 0.07%, and President Cho Wook-je holds 0.03%. The company is run by professional managers instead of the founder's family. Powered by its lung cancer drug Leclaza, Yuhan surpassed 2 trillion won in consolidated sales last year.
Meanwhile, the musical "Swing Days, Codename A," which tells Dr. Yu's story, will run from next month through July. It is an original musical based on his involvement in the NAPKO project. Yuhan made a form of partial investment in the production process, and actors Yoo Jun-sang, Shin Sung-rok and Jung Sang-hoon appear. This is the second staging of the musical, following 2024.
Business circles see Yuhan as experimenting with using a corporate story as a content asset. An industry official said, "It's similar to a one source multi use (One Source Multi Use) strategy that expands a single story into various content such as webtoons and musicals," adding, "It appears to be an attempt to naturally communicate the corporation's philosophy to younger generations."