POSCO founder Park Tae-joon, who pioneered the steel sector in a barren tract of Korea, died on Tuesday at age 84.

His death came after a decade-long battle with a tumor in his lung. Park has been suffering from side effects related to a 2001 surgery, and had one of his lungs and pulmonary pleura removed on Sunday.

“Park will be remembered a big star in the Korean steel industry. Without his devotion and leadership, POSCO would have not been able to achieve rapid growth,” the company said in a statement.

Widely known as a perfectionist, Park was one of the masterminds behind Korea’s miraculous economic ascent.

Born in Busan in 1927 and raised in Japan, he returned home and joined the army in 1948, where he met Park Chung-hee, who later became president and the architect of the country’s long-term economic development program following a 1961 military coup.

At the onset of the second five-year package, Park Tae-joon launched an initiative in 1969 to build an integrated steel mill in Pohang, a port city at the country’s southeastern tip, with state and Japanese support.

With his slogan “make steel serve the country,” he transformed what the World Bank saw as an overly ambitious project into one of the world’s largest steel plants in little more than two decades.

The Pohang Iron and Steel Co. was privatized in 2000 and renamed in 2002.

POSCO made nearly 32.6 trillion won (28.3 billion) in sales and 4.2 trillion won in net income last year, churning out 37 million tons of steel. It now competes with global powerhouses such as Arcelor Mittal and Nippon Steel Corp.

Park entered politics after 25 years at the company and weathered many storms. He became prime minister in 2000 for the Kim Dae-jung administration. As his illness became serious, Park focused on social contribution projects at home and abroad.

Park remains honorary chairman of POSCO. The steel giant also runs a foundation named after him to nurture promising local scientists.

“As the proverb goes, life is short and the fatherland is immortal. There may be desperation but no absolute despair. Those were like guidelines for my entire life and I never regret the path I’ve chosen,” he said last year.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)