The Korean government on Monday awarded 31 people, including four foreigners, for their special contributions in helping Korea boost exports, days after the country logged more than $1 trillion in annual trade for the first time.

On top of the list of awardees was Scotsman William John Duncan, a shipbuilding engineer who provided technical assistance to Hyundai Heavy Industries in the 1970s.

The late Duncan was awarded the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit for his contributions to the Korean shipbuilding industry, and his son Andrew Duncan came to receive the accolade in Seoul Monday.

As technical executive of United Arab Shipping Company, Duncan came to Korea in 1975 to head technical guidance for Hyundai Heavy after it won orders from the Middle Eastern shipping line to build 15 multipurpose vessels.

Duncan helped Hyundai Heavy win four UASC container ship orders in 1978 by tipping off a rival Japanese company’s bidding price.

Hwang Sung-hyuk, a shipbroker who was then a member of Hyundai Heavy’s sales team, remembered Duncan as a humorous man who was a perfectionist on the dock.

Duncan traveled between Ulsan and Kuwait to teach shipbuilding and designing knowhow to Hyundai Heavy for about five years before finally leaving Korea in 1980. He died of stomach cancer in 1981.

The ministries of knowledge economy and trade and the European branches of Hyundai Heavy looked for his family for over two months, requesting the British police agency’s help and running ads in local newspapers.

Duncan was one of two people who were given top honors of the Gold Tower Orders.

A Bronze Tower Order went to the late Ariga Toshihiko, former auditor of Nippon Steel Corporation who assisted in the construction of Korea’s first steel mill.

POSCO was established in 1967, but most of its executives had not even seen a blast furnace. Ariga arranged Koreans’ visits to Japan to inspect steel mills and lived in Pohang for three years to provide technical guidance for POSCO’s first blast furnace.

Ariga passed away at age 90 in 2007.
 
An Iron Tower Order was awarded to Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro who designed Hyundai’s Pony, the first Korean car to be exported in 1976.

The designer of Volkswagen’s Golf and Japan’s Isuzu cars went on to design a number of Korean cars such as the 1985 Hyundai Sonata, 1998 Daewoo Matiz and 2011 Ssangyong Korando C.

Starting with five vehicles exported to Ecuador, the 1975 Pony recorded exports of 92,000 units by the time Pony 2 hit showrooms in 1982. The new Korando C that he designed has been logging exports of more than 3,000 units each month since June.

Giugiaro, 73, received his award Monday at the ceremony hosted by the Korea International Trade Association.

Ui Mikio, a Japanese senior researcher at S&T Dynamics, also won a medal.

The Korean awardees included people who led the research and development of AMOLED display, served 41 years in the molding industry and developed Samsung’s mobile phone Anycall.

President Lee Myung-bak thanked the industrial work force for their contributions as Korea celebrated becoming the ninth country to break the $1 trillion mark in annual trade.

“Trade has been the driving force behind Korea’s economic miracle as well as the source of income and jobs,” Lee said during his biweekly radio address Monday.

“I deeply thank you all, businessmen and workers who have sweated day and night until today.”

About 1,200 businesspeople and government officials including Lee attended the ceremony hosted by KITA Monday to celebrate the record trade volume in COEX, southern Seoul.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)