Chung Ju-yung MP
정주영
Chung in 1998
Born	(1915-11-25)25 November 1915 Tongchon, Korea, Empire of Japan
Died	21 March 2001(2001-03-21) (aged 85) Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea
Occupations	Politician Chaebol
Known for	Founder and honorary chairman of Hyundai
Political party	Unification National Party
Spouse	Byun Joong-seok
Children	11 (8 sons and 3 daughters)
Korean name
Hangul	정주영
Hanja	鄭周永
RR	Jeong Juyeong
MR	Chŏng Chuyŏng
Art name
Hangul	아산
Hanja	峨山
RR	Asan
MR	Asan

Chung Ju-yung or Jung Joo-young (Korean: 정주영; 25 November 1915 – 21 March 2001) was a South Korean entrepreneur and the founder of Hyundai Group, one of the largest chaebols in South Korea. Under his leadership, Hyundai became the world's largest shipbuilder, while Hyundai Motor Group expanded to become the largest automobile manufacturer in Korea and the third-largest worldwide.^[1][2] He is considered a pivotal figure in the development of the South Korean economy.

Chung Ju-yung was born into an impoverished family on the 25^th of November, 1915 in Tongchon County, Korea, Empire of Japan (now Kangwon Province, North Korea).^[3]

In March 1931, Chung graduated from Songjun Primary School. His principal studies were Chinese history, poetry, calligraphy and music. Chung dreamed of being an elementary school teacher, but given his family's impoverished state, he could not afford the necessary advanced education, which was available for the rich.^[3]

Instead, Chung continued to help his father on the fields. For some time, he joined and attended his grandfather's Confucian school, whenever he was not working on the family farm.^[3]

Being the eldest child out of five brothers and a sister, he was expected to follow his father's footsteps, remain on the farm in Asan village to support the family. However, Chung came to detest farming and wanted a better life.^[3]

Chung would occasionally take trips to the market towns to sell wood to help support his family. During these trips to town, he would see well-dressed people who made money without toiling on the land. He would also read articles depicting opportunities and adventures around the world.^[3]

In one newspaper article, Chung learnt of two new construction projects in the industrial port city of Seishin (Chongjin, currently in North Korea) near the border with the Soviet Union. He begun looked up the location of Seishin on a map and learnt it was a 4 day boat ride. Since he didn't have any money, he planned to cover the 250 km journey on foot, taking two weeks.^[3] Apprehensive of travelling such a great distance alone, he invited his friend^[3]. After a 15-mile (24 km) trek through the most dangerous parts of the Paechun Valley, the pair reached the town of Kōgen, where they found work in construction.^[3] Chung and his friend continued working for two months until his father learned of their whereabouts.

The journey to Seishin deepened Chung's interest in civil engineering and instilled a strong sense of personal accomplishment. Upon returning to his home village of Gasan-Dong in Tsūsen-gun, Chung began planning another attempt to leave, this time with the goal of reaching Keijō (formerly Hanseong, currently Seoul). In April 1933, Chung departed for Keijō with two companions.^[3]

However, Chung and his remaining companion were deceived by a man who promised them employment but instead stole their money. Chung's father eventually located them, bringing the attempt to an end at his grandfather's nearby residence.^{[citation needed]}

Chung returned to Asan, where he spent a year assisting his father on the family farm, but eventually found another opportunity to escape poverty. To finance his journey, he sold one of his father's cows and purchased a train ticket for 70 won.^[3][4] Once he arrived in Keijō, Chung enrolled in a local bookkeeping school with the aim of starting an accounting career. His father found him after two months, and he returned to Gasan-Dong.

In 1933, at age 18, Chung decided to make a fourth escape. He left during the night with a friend who was trying to escape a forced marriage. Once Chung reached the capital, he took whatever work he could find. He worked first as a laborer at Jinsen Harbor (Incheon, currently in South Korea), as a construction worker at Boseong Professional School, and as a handyman for a starch syrup factory.^[3][4]

After working at the factory for nearly a year, Chung secured a job as a deliveryman at the Bokheung Rice Store in Keijō.^[3][4] Chung's new job offered room for advancement, and he decided to stay in a full-time role. He was allowed to manage the store's accounting after six months on the job.^{[citation needed]}

In 1937, the store owner, having become ill, decided to give the store to Chung. At age 22, Chung became the owner and renamed the business the Kyungil Rice Store.^[3][4] The store remained profitable until early 1939, when the Japanese government, to secure rice supplies for the military, imposed a rice-rationing system that forced Korean businesses, including Chung's, out of the rice trade.^[4]

Chung returned to his village after his business failed and remained there until 1940, when he decided to try again in Keijō. Due to restrictions imposed on Koreans in certain industries by the Japanese Colonial Government, Chung entered the automobile repair business. Using a service garage he purchased from a friend, Chung started the A-do Service Garage with a 3,000 won loan. Within three years, the number of employees grew from 20 to 70. In 1943, the Japanese colonial government forced the garage to merge with a steel plant as part of the war effort.^[3][4] Chung returned to Gasan with 50,000 yen in savings despite the Japanese shutting down his businesses.^[3]

In 1946, after the liberation of Korea from Japanese control, Chung launched Hyundai and Hyundai Civil Industries, anticipating post-war reconstruction and Industrialisation. He obtained government contracts and became responsible for building much of South Korea's transportation infrastructure, including the Soyang Dam in 1967, the Gyeongbu Expressway in 1970, the world's largest^[5] shipyard in Ulsan, and the Kori Nuclear Power Plant, among others. Chung also won contracts from the United States Forces Korea to build facilities for their personnel, leveraging his younger brother's proficiency in English and good relationship with US Army engineers.^[6]

During the North Korean invasion of 1950, Chung abandoned his construction projects and fled with his younger brother to Busan for safety. His son, Chung Mong-joon, was born there. Chung continued to build the company by gathering any kind of work he could get from the United Nations Command and the Korean Ministry of Transportation.^[3] Once Seoul was retaken by UN forces, Chung reestablished the company and continued to obtain more work from the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Chung continued to grow and diversify the company into one of South Korea's chaebols. He created the Ulsan shipyard; the first vessel was completed in three years (rather than the expected five) as Chung had the shipyard and vessel built simultaneously. He introduced the Hyundai Pony in 1975 and the Hyundai Excel in 1986. With the assistance of European and Japanese technology and facilities, by the early 1990s, Hyundai had become "the only company in a developing country with the ability to design and manufacture its own engines".^[7]

In 1977, Chung founded the Asan Foundation with a scope of activities comparable to those of the Ford or Rockefeller foundations. The foundation was organized into four areas of service: medical support, social welfare, research and development, and a scholarship fund. The foundation established nine hospitals throughout South Korea, built Ulsan Medical College, and funded the Asan Life Sciences Research Institute. The foundation also initiated cooperative arrangements between industry and academic institutions by supporting such academic research as the Sinyoung Research Fund.^[8]

From the 1980s until recently, the Hyundai Group was split into many satellite groups. In Seosan City, he carried out a reclamation project, using a decommissioned oil tanker as a cofferdam.^[9] In 1998, he herded 1,001 cows through the Korean Demilitarized Zone to North Korea, which he claimed was a repayment 1,000 times over for a cow he took to afford his ticket when he left his father's farm.^[10] Chung was the first civilian to cross the Korean DMZ since the division of Korea.^[11] He was the first to propose the Geumgangsan sightseeing excursions.^[9] He founded the Hyundai Heavy Steel Company, which developed a non-dock ship-making method.^[12]

In 1982, Chung received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.^[13]

Chung is credited with successfully lobbying for South Korea to host the 1988 Summer Olympics. In 1992, the International Olympic Committee awarded Chung an IOC Medallion for his contributions to sports as a vehicle of international understanding.

Chung ran unsuccessfully as a Unification National Party presidential candidate for the 1992 South Korean presidential election. During this time, he was estimated to have a personal wealth of $4 billion, making him the richest man in Korea, though later estimates have placed him considerably lower.^[14]

Chung also worked to normalize relations between the two Koreas. In 1998, at the age of 82, he worked with the South Korean government to provide economic assistance to North Korea. President Kim Dae-jung wanted to provide a $100 million donation as a way to jump-start economic development in North Korea under his Sunshine Policy. However, Kim could not find a legal way to transfer the funds. He persuaded Chung, who was already negotiating a large program with the North, to increase his investment by $100 million with money from secret loans provided by the government-controlled Korea Development Bank. The historic 2000 inter-Korean summit took place, with Chung traveling across the border in a motorcade containing some 1,001 "unification cows" as a gift to the North Korean people.^[15]

Chung died on 21 March 2001, at the age of 85, from pneumonia after receiving at-home treatment for other long-term illnesses.^[16][17] He was buried in accordance with Buddhist and Confucian customary rites.^[18] His wife, Byun Joong-seok, died on 17 August 2008, at the age of 88, due in part to long-term heart complications.^[19] She was buried in a family cemetery in Hanam, alongside her husband and their son.^[20]

Considered one of the most recognized and admired businessmen in Korean history, Chung's identity still pervades modern Korean society and industry. Business-related events emphasizing creativity and innovation have been named after him.^[21] Chung's ideals are credited with much of Hyundai's current success, and the contemporary Hyundai leadership vowed to uphold them.^[22]

• Trials May Not Fail (시련은 있어도 실패는 없다)
• Born in This Land (이 땅에 태어나서)
• Your Lips Need to Burn: If You Plan to Succeed (입이 뜨거워야 성공할 수 있다)^[23]

Chung Ju-yung had five brothers and one sister; he had eight sons and one daughter with his wife.^[24] In addition, he had two daughters with a younger woman, with whom he started a relationship in 1973; these daughters were not acknowledged until after his death.^[25][26]

• Chung In-yung [ko] (1920–2006). After leaving the Hyundai Group, he founded the Halla Group, whose interests included Mando Machinery, Halla Cement, Halla Construction, Halla Heavy Industries, and Halla Climate Control Corp.^[27][28]
• Chung Soon-Yung [ko] (1925–2015). After working for Hyundai Engineering & Construction, he left the company, taking Hyundai Cement with him to form the Sungwoo Business Group, which includes Hyundai Cement, Hyundai Welding, and Sungwoo Automotive.
• Chung Se-yung (1928–2005). He founded Hyundai Motor. He later left the Hyundai Group, taking control of Hyundai Development Co., Ltd., a major housing builder in Korea.^[29][30]
• Chung Shin-yung (1931–1962). Died in a car accident in Germany while working as a journalist for a Korean newspaper company. His only son, Chung Mong-hyuk, ran Hyundai Oilbank, the third largest oil refiner in Korea.
• Chung Sang-yung [ko] (1936–2021). Founder of the KCC Chemical (Keumkang) group, a major South Korean manufacturer of paints and glass products.

• Chung Mong-pil [ko] (1934–1982). Died in a car accident in Gimcheon, in a Hyundai-built Ford Granada,^[31] on the Gyeongbu Expressway leaving two daughters.
• Chung Mong-koo (1938–). Head of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the second largest business group in Korea. Assumed control of Hyundai Engineering & Construction in 2011.^[32]
• Chung Mong-kun [ko] (1942–). Chairman of the Hyundai Department Store Group, one of the largest retailers in South Korea.
• Chung Kyung-hee (1944–). The only daughter of Chung Ju-yung and Byeon Joong-seok.
• Chung Mong-woo [ko] (1945–1990). Died by suicide, leaving three sons. His oldest son Chung Il-sun is the president of BNG Steel, a member of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.
• Chung Mong-hun (1948–2003). Former chairman of the Hyundai Group and heir apparent to his father before he died by suicide in August 2003; this left his wife Hyun Jeong-eun (1956–) in control of the Hyundai Group.
• Chung Mong-joon (1951–). Politician and de facto owner of Hyundai Heavy Industries,^[32] the world's largest shipbuilding firm, as well as vice-chairman of FIFA.
• Chung Mong-yoon [ko] (1955–). Chairman of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance,^[33] Korea's third largest non-life insurer.
• Chung Mong-il [ko] (1959–). Former chairman of Hyundai Merchant Bank and Kangwon Bank.
• Chung Chung-in (Grace Jeong; 1979–), actress.^[25][26]
• Chung Chung-im (Elizabeth Jeong; 1981–), advertiser.^[25][26]

via Chung In-yung (1920–2006)

• Chung Mong-guk.
• Chung Mong-won. Chairman of Halla Group. Recently reacquired Mando Machinery.

via Chung-Soon-yung (1925–2015)

• Chung Mong-sun. Chairman of Sungwoo Group (Hyundai Cement).
• Chung Mong-suk. Chairman of Hyundai Welding Co., Ltd.
• Chung Mong-hoon. Chairman of Sungwoo Hyokwang International Co.
• Chung Mong-yong. Chairman of Sungwoo Automotive.

via Chung Se-yung (1928–2005)

• Chung Mong-gyu. Former Chairman of Hyundai Motor. Current Chairman of Hyundai Development Co., Ltd.

via Chung Shin-yong (1931–1962)

• Chung Mong-hyuk. Former President of Hyundai Oil & Hyundai Petrochemical; current chairman of Hyundai Corporation.

via Chung Sang-yung (1936–)

• Chung Mong-jin. Chairman of KCC.
• Chung Mong-ik. Vice-chairman of KCC.
• Chung Mong-yeol. President of KCC Construction Co., Ltd.

• Lee Byung-chul (Founder of Samsung)

• Kirk, Donald (1994). Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9789627160304.
• Steers, Richard M. (1999). Made in Korea: Chung Ju Yung and the Rise of Hyundai. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 9780415920506.

• (in Korean) Chung Ju-yung
• (in Korean) Chung Ju Yung Cyber Museum
• Schuman, Michael "Chung Ju Yung". Time.
• "Hyundai Group's Honorary Chairman: Autobiography"