Hello, this is Healing Santa Kim Ji-yu. I believe Chairman Kim Seok-mun, who has lived a successful life connected with self-esteem, is also someone who practices an integrated life.
Today, in 2026: moved by the chairman’s passionate learning at the forum of Nammyeong Academy run by Professor Kim Ki-chan, who came into my life like a gift, I visited Chairman Kim Seok-mun, Simhyang (心香), at Shinil Pharm Glass in Gongju.
Knowing the unseen power, he generously shares with those around him the fruits of success given by our Father in heaven, and lives a beautiful life of humble service. I am grateful that I can learn from him.
His pen name (號) is 心香, Simhyang, “the fragrance of the heart.” The more I see him, the more I feel how well the name suits him.
1. Forty years of devotion in a single ampoule
Shinil Pharm Glass, founded in 1986, is a company specializing in medical glass ampoules and vials. With its headquarters and factory in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, it is a strong small company, first in its industry, making 240 million ampoules and 120 million vials a year.
The chairman founded the company after fifteen years at an ampoule company, gaining experience in everything from production and sales to purchasing and accounting.
Words the chairman is said to tell his staff again and again: “If the quality is bad, I would not trade even with my own father or son.”
On a day when products were returned, he is said to have broken every product in front of the staff so they would take the weight of quality to heart together. Even into one small glass bottle that holds an injection, he put a heart that treats human life with care.
2. “Let’s start with our company”
In spring 2026, when I carefully mentioned that I would like to write a paper on how PuNolChi healing work affects productivity at work, the chairman said without hesitation:
“Let’s start with our company.”
And in April, as I was about to leave after a meeting at the Gongju site, he said, “Just a moment,” and washed my car himself, carefully, by hand.
I was moved, and honored. Like a flower that blooms quietly and catches the eye where it stands, I felt that his humility had made the Shinil Pharm Glass of today.
3. The chairman’s confession, met in his book
Listening to him at our first meeting, I wondered whether he had written an autobiographical essay, and I received as a gift the book he published in 2017.
In the prologue, “Confession,” the chairman wrote:
“No tree grows alone.”
“I will not forget that my today comes from the sacrifice, consideration and heartfelt prayers of many people.”
“Grateful for the love and grace I have received, I will become a CEO who spreads hope.”
A book that, even while talking about success, first says thank you to family, colleagues and benefactors. The fragrance of that confession spread deep in my heart even on the KTX.
4. Dreams planted in Kenya’s children: the Simhyang Foundation
After first setting foot in Africa on mission and relief work, the chairman saw hungry children and, with his own money, founded the Simhyang Foundation, named after his pen name.
Starting a seminary in a rented house in Kenya in 2003, he took part in the construction himself until Bridge World College was completed in 2011, and he is said to have built an elementary school as well.
I also hear stories of a volunteer group that makes dolls by hand with North Korean defectors to donate them, and of sharing masks to create jobs for people with disabilities.
And on the last page of the book there was this sentence:
“It’s your turn.”
It read like an invitation to now pass on the love I have received to someone else.
5. Bungeoppang of love, a happy “bap-sa”
The chairman built Simhyang Church inside the workplace and worships there with the Shinil family and foreign workers. When I first joined that service in April, I felt a gentle grace, like the fragrance of wisteria blossoms.
One day in May, the chairman baked bungeoppang (fish-shaped pastries) for us himself.
Saying, “You have to put in lots of red beans for it to taste good,” he filled them generously, so the whole first batch came out stuck together like brothers. Haha!
A person who treats others to meals and shares his heart — to me the chairman is a happy “bap-sa” (a play on “baksa,” doctor: one who buys others a meal).
6. A birthday celebrated together by the Han River
In June, on the day I was volunteering with the PuNolChi healing experience at the Kakdang Welfare Foundation’s Volunteeum Han River, the chairman also stopped by the booth. It happened to be his birthday, so we all celebrated together.
7. Living, loving and sharing, learned from Chairman Simhyang
Let me put into my own words what I have learned by his side.
One.
In the end, it’s people.
Business and life do not collapse when they leave people behind.
Two.
Quality is honesty.
Even into one small ampoule goes a heart that treats life with care.
Three.
The one who gives first gains in the end.
One car wash, one batch of bungeoppang opens people’s hearts.
Four.
Let the grace you have received flow on.
From Gongju to Kenya, love grows greater the farther it goes.
People with firm self-esteem make others shine rather than showing themselves off. Watching the chairman’s humility, I learn this again.
Today’s five-minute mind table
One. Think of someone who said “Just a moment” to you today and opened their heart.
Two. On a plate, make one flower that resembles that person bloom in food.
Three. Beside it, place one small gift you will give someone today.
Four. Say to yourself, “Now it’s your turn.”
Closing
Chairman Kim Seok-mun, Simhyang, who quietly shares the fragrance of the heart: thank you deeply for always showing the way with humility. With both hands together I pray that health and peace will always be with you, the Shinil family, Simhyang Church and the children of Kenya.
Who has remained in your life as a gentle fragrance?
Healing Santa Kim Ji-yu
This story was first posted in the Healing Santa's life of learning, loving and sharing of the healing space Haengbok Yeolgi cafe.