Summary
Chung Ju-yung was the founder and the chairman of Hyundai Group, a South Korean conglomerate.
He was born in the village of Asan, located in what is now North Korea, in 1915. The first-born child of poor farmers, he fled home several times in his teens to escape poverty. When he was 17, he bought a train ticket to Seoul after selling one of his father’s cows and left his hometown for good.
He worked odd jobs, from railway construction to bookkeeping and dock work. His first experience as an entrepreneur came in 1938 when he ran his rice store. However, he was forced to close his business under Japanese occupation.
After Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, he started a car repair shop and a construction company. He merged the two businesses and founded Hyundai E&C, which eventually became Korea’s top engineering and construction company. Hyundai E&C expanded quickly by undertaking postwar reconstruction and infrastructure projects such as bridges, roads, and docks.
Chung then subsequently went into automotive, shipbuilding, and electronics businesses with great success. Hyundai Heavy Industries is now the largest shipbuilder in the world, and Hyundai Motor Group is the third largest automobile manufacturer. He is credited for laying the foundation of Korea’s industrialization. For a long time, Hyundai was Korea’s largest conglomerate before the company split into two in 2000 after his sons clashed over succession.
While he was successful as an entrepreneur, his venture into politics ended in vain. He finished third in the 1992 South Korean presidential election with only 16% of the votes.
In his final years, he worked to build ties with North Korea. In 1998, at 85, he traveled across the border to North Korea in a convoy of trucks containing 1001 cattle as a gift. His gesture marked the beginning of inter-Korean economic cooperation under President Kim Dae-jung’s Sunshine Policy. He died of natural causes in 2001.
Timeline
▲ November 25, 1915 = Born in Asan-ri, Songjeon-myeon, Tongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province, as the eldest of six sons and two daughters.
▲ March 1930 = Graduated from Songjeon Public Elementary School.
▲ 1934 = Employed at Bokheung Rice Store.
▲ January 1938 = Opened Kyungil Rice Store.
▲ January 1939 = Married Mrs. Byeon Jung-seok.
▲ 1940 = Acquired Ado Service, an automobile repair workshop.
▲ April 1946 = Founded Hyundai Motor Industrial Co.
▲ May 1947 = Established Hyundai Construction Co.
▲ January 1950 = Merged Hyundai Motor Industrial Co. and Hyundai Construction Co. to establish Hyundai Construction Co., Ltd.
▲ March 1950 = Established Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd.
▲ April 1953 = Began reconstruction of the Goryeong Bridge over the Nakdong River (completed in May 1955).
▲ September 1957 = Won the contract for the largest post-war single project, the reconstruction of the Han River Bridge.
▲ July 1962 = Broke ground for the construction of Danyang Cement Factory.
▲ September 1965 = Entered overseas construction market for the first time, winning the contract to construct a highway in Thailand.
▲ April 1967 = Began construction of the multi-purpose Soyang River Dam (completed in December 1973).
▲ December 1967 = Established Hyundai Motor Company.
▲ February 1968 = Commenced construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway.
▲ January 1969 = Took office as the Chairman of the Korea Community School Support Association.
▲ January 1970 = Established Hyundai Cement Co., Ltd.
▲ October 1970 = Began construction of Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1.
▲ February 1971 = Inaugurated as Chairman of Hyundai Group.
▲ June 1971 = Established Geumgang Development Co., Ltd.
▲ March 1972 = Groundbreaking of Hyundai Ulsan Shipyard.
▲ December 1973 = Established Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
▲ February 1974 = Established Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd. and Hyundai Motor Service Co., Ltd.
▲ April 1975 = Established Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd.
▲ March 1976 = Won the Jubail industrial port construction project contract in Saudi Arabia.
▲ March 1976 = Established Asia Merchant Marine Co., Ltd. (predecessor of Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd.).
▲ December 1976 = Established Hyundai Corporation.
▲ February 1977 = Inaugurated as Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (served five consecutive terms until 1987), became Chairman of the Ulsan Industrial Institute.
▲ February 1977 = Founded Asan Social Welfare Foundation and took office as its Chairman, established Hyundai Precision & Industries Co., Ltd.
▲ August 1978 = Commenced the Seosan Cheonsu Bay reclamation project.
▲ May 1981 = Took office as the Chairman of the Seoul Olympics Bidding Committee.
▲ July 1982 = Chairman of the Korea Sports Council.
▲ February 1983 = Established Hyundai Electronic Industries Co., Ltd.
▲ September 1983 = Acquired Dongbang Marine Fire Insurance (predecessor of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.).
▲ February 1984 = Seosan reclamation area dike construction (trial of oil tanker method).
▲ November 1986 = Established Hyundai Development Company.
▲ February 1987 = Honorary Chairman of Hyundai Group and the Federation of Korean Industries.
▲ September 1987 = Chairman of the Sejong Institute.
▲ July 1989 = Chairman of the Korea-USSR Economic Cooperation Association.
▲ January 1992 = Founded the National Unification Party.
▲ March 1992 = Elected as a Member of the 14th National Assembly (nationwide constituency).
▲ December 1992 = Ran for President.
▲ June 1998 = Visited North Korea with 500 head of cattle for unification.
▲ October 1998 = Visited North Korea with an additional 501 cattle and met former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
▲ December 1998 = Acquired Kia Motors Corporation.
▲ February 1999 = Established Hyundai Asan Co., Ltd.
▲ March 21, 2001 = Passed away.
