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Meet the talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad

Place of residence: Seoul, South Korea

Position: Software engineer

Writer’s Note: Today, we introduce Seong Joon-mo, a software engineer at one of the fastest-growing fintech start-ups in South Korea. A passionate man of various interests who also runs his own YouTube channel, “Moverick,” we learn more about Joon-mo’s life as a developer and his personal life outside of work. 

As you have many side hustles, how do you explain your job when meeting someone for the first time?

I usually introduce myself as an “ordinary office worker” because I do not want to restrict my job to just a “developer”.  The word “office worker” is broad enough to cover whatever I am doing. When someone asks for more information about my job,  I say software development and video content creation. 

Tell us more about Banksalad, the company you are working with.

Banksalad is a company with a vision to “make a smarter world based on data, solving and revolutionising everyday problems beyond finance and health”. We offer data-driven asset management services to help people make reasonable decisions, like a feature that compares banks’ financial products or a remote health check-up service.

meet the talent
Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad

What are your responsibilities at Banksalad?

I am part of the health team, working on the development and maintenance of remote health check-up services. When developing service features, my duties start with participating in the project mapping stage and examining technical tools we would need to make them. After that, we moved on to the coding stage, where I was responsible for front-end development for two platforms, Android and Web.

As a developer working at a fintech start-up, are there any exciting industry innovations or trends you pay attention to?

I am most intrigued by the future that can be imagined with the help of generative AI these days. Many companies are launching and developing AI-powered services, and it feels like I am living through a singularity in human history. I want to know how fintech companies can utilise generative AI for their services. Perhaps there will soon be a day when you can order AI to conduct asset management autonomously and promptly.

Has your dream always been to become a developer?

Not always. I majored in computer engineering ; becoming a developer has not always been my dream. I think I was more drawn by the fun of computer programming to choose the major. It was only two years after my university graduation that I decided to become a developer. I hesitated between the two fields that I liked, sports and computer programming. Eventually, I proceeded with the latter, but even after I became a developer, I still had some aspiration to pursue sports left in me, which led me to obtain a diploma in physical training while working at a company.

How would you describe a day in your life?

My daily routines are repetitive and fixed. I am a developer by day and a YouTuber by night. I wake up at 6:40 A.M., get dressed, and head straight to the gym to work out. After exercising, I get ready to work by motorbike or subway. Right after work, I come back home and work on my YouTube channel, brainstorming ideas for my videos or editing clips. It may seem like a rather humdrum routine, but I find it enjoyable.

When did you feel most rewarded while working as a developer?

It was when I saw someone using my service in person. It was the day when we launched a service that I worked really hard on. I got onto the subway to return home, and there I saw a person telling their friend that they find the service fun to use. That made me realise that the service that I make is actually being used by someone out there in the real world. That felt so rewarding.

Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad
Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad

Then, what was your most challenging moment while working as a developer?

There once was a critical bug in our app that caused inconvenience to users. It was an issue related to self-identification, where users were asked to re-do a verification whenever they opened the app. As the verification process is quite troublesome, it could directly impact the app’s user experience. I felt pressured to fix it as soon as possible because the range of the bug was big enough to affect the entire app service, but it required a complicated solution to revise and redistribute the patched version. It was a difficult moment; feeling like I was under an immense burden.

How did the pandemic impact your work?

Through the pandemic, I believe “remote work” became more widespread in society. Few companies would adopt remote working if we did not go through a particular situation like the pandemic. It didn’t affect my career plans much, though, because I’ve yet to have a detailed plan for my career as a developer.

Let’s talk more about your YouTube persona. What is your channel “Moverick” about?

It can come across as a little personal, but it is a channel where I make “myself”. I have always enjoyed making something, like assembling a sharp pencil, programming a service, or working out to be in a better shape. One day, I realised that the end goal of any creative work is “creating the person who I am”. While exploring what kind of person I wanted to be, I wanted to document my journey through a social media platform like YouTube. I am growing to be a desired version of myself while sharing content with my subscribers, including episodes from start-ups, stories of developers, and travels.

Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad
Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad

I see that you enjoy riding motorcycles, too.

That’s right. I have been riding motorcycles since 2023. I have been fascinated by the idea of driving one of my own for a long time since I was a kid. Then, last year, I thought to myself: ‘I can make that dream come true if I want to, but what’s stopping me from doing it?’ Having my mind cleared up, I immediately got a license and bought a motorbike. I am still driving my motorbike around now and then – most recently, I went about 1,500 kilometres within a week, travelling around the country.

You must be busy with all the side hustles.

I am. Please save me. But I’m having so much fun doing them!

If you could choose one person to have dinner with, who would it be?

I choose the future me (because I know I will become famous soon).

Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad
Meet the Talent: Seong Joon-mo, Software Engineer at Banksalad

What are your goals?

My life goal is to have a positive impact on someone’s life. If you’re asking me about the next step of my career, I’d say achieving 1 million subscribers on my channel.

What would you like to say to aspiring developers?

A developer is a person who can realise something that can change the world through the power of technology. I will support and wait for you all to join our grand project to make the world a better place.

Sunny Um is a Seoul-based journalist working with 4i Magazine. She writes and talks about policies, business updates, and social issues around the Korean tech industry. She is best known for in-depth explanations of local issues for readers who need a better understanding of the Korean context. Sunny’s works appeared in prominent Korean news outlets, such as the Korea Times and Wired Korea. She currently makes regular writing contributions to newsrooms worldwide, such as Maritime Fairtrade, a non-profit media organization based in Singapore. She also works as a content strategist at 1021 Creative. A person who holds a Master’s degree in Political Economy from King’s College London, she loves to follow up on news of Korean politics and economy when she’s not writing.