Hyundai founder paves way for inter-Korean business ties

By KH디지털2

Published : Nov. 25, 2015 - 17:34

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One of the biggest achievements of late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung in his lifetime was his commitment to inter-Korean relations.

Tycoon Chung was the first mover in developing and launching inter-Korean economic projects, including the tour program to the scenic Mount Geumgangsan in the North.

Many Koreans still remember Chung’s historic visit to the North via the Demilitarized Zone with a herd of cattle in 1998, three years before he passed away. The watershed event gave a boost to economic exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas in the late 1990s.

As a refugee from the North himself, Chung, who had long dreamt of peace on the Korean Peninsula and progress toward reunification, explained his motivation behind the event.

“A 17-year-old boy, who hated poverty, ran away from home with little money raised by selling his father’s cow. That one cow has now become 1,001 herd of cattle. I will return to my hometown to repay the debt,” he told the press before crossing the border for the delivery event in 1998.

The gesture of peace was also recognized by the whole world enjoying the detente era after the end of the Cold War.

Hyundai Group honorary chairman Chung Ju-yung poses in a ceremony to deliver a herd of cattle to North Korea at the border village of Panmunjeom in 1998. Hyundai Motor

In the same year, backed by the Kim Dae-jung government’s “Sunshine Policy,” Hyundai’s honorary chairman launched the first inter-Korean business project -- the Mount Geumgangsan tour program -- after an agreement with the North Korean government.

“It was logical for him to choose the tour program first, which aimed not only to promote inter-Korean economic relations, but also to expand people-to-people exchanges,” Chung Tae-hun, a professor of Korea University, said.

“Chung thought easing tension and building trust in the North was the precondition for more economic projects in the North.” The first inter-Korean economic project went well until 2008, when a South Korean tourist was shot and killed.

Hyundai Asan, created by the late Chung exclusively for inter-Korean economic projects in 1999, has continued to make efforts to resume the suspended tour business.

Even after the death of Chung in 2001, despite low profitability, Hyundai Asan under the roof of Hyundai Group has developed continuing economic projects, including the first industrial complex construction project in Gaeseong in the North.

‘The late Chung wanted to be a long-term investor in the North. He thought ultimately the company could take economic benefits from inter-Korean cooperation, based on the synergy effect in the combination of the capital and technology in the South and cheap labor in the North,” the professor said.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)

Following is the third in a three-part story featuring the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung’s leadership and his management philosophy on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. --Ed.

Hyundai founder paves way for inter-Korean business ties

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