Proud Koreans

Korean businessmen such as U.S. Paco Steel and Engineering President Baik Young-jung, who have been working in businesses overseas, came together. Twelve thousand Korean businessmen from countries around the world will attend the Third World Korean Business Convention. The convention is scheduled from October 26 to October 28 in Jeju Island and will include 30 “leading CEOs.” In this year’s convention, attendants are expected to discuss how to extend exchanges among Korean-owned companies at home and abroad.

Kwon Yeong-ho, president of Inter-Burgo Group, became famous for his good deeds. In 1990, he bought maestro Ahn Eak-tay’s residence in Spain—maestro Ahn Eak-tay is the composer of the Korean national anthem—with his own money, and he contributed it to the Korean government. In 1978, he worked for the marine product company Daerim Corporation in its Las Palmas office in Spain. With his experience working there, he has successfully grown one of largest shipping companies in Spain. Inter-Burgo Group, founded in 1982, now has 22 affiliates including hotels and shipping companies from five nations.

Asia Pacific Space Center (APSC) founder Kwon Ho-gyun has a satellite launching company in Australia. Kwon first started his career as a ticket boy at Daejeon train station. Later, he went to Australia to study and started to make money performing cleaning services. He invested in an Australian satellite launching company, which led him to enter the satellite launching business. Spending $350 million, APSC is working on a project to construct a 5,700 acre private satellite-launching site on Christmas Island near the equator line of the Indian Ocean.

CEO Lee Jong-mun of Ambex Venture Group is a role model of the American dream in Silicon Valley in the U.S. Lee, a younger brother of the founder of the pharmaceutical products company Chong Keun Dang, Lee Jong-geun, immigrated to the U.S. and, at the age of 55 in 1992, established Diamond Multimedia Systems, a computer graphic card company. Twelve years later, President Lee turned the company over to his employees and established Ambex Venture Capital, continuing his working experience. He was then 69 years old.

President Choi Yu-ri of Dosta Holding Group of Kazakhstan visited Korea in 1988 for the first time. He was leading the national boxing team of the former USSR. President Choi was deeply impressed with the development of his mother country and ever since then, he has been leading economic exchanges between the two nations such as inviting Korean businessmen to Kazakhstan. In the 1990s, his company had grown from a trading business between Almaty—then capital of Kazakhstan—and Seoul. The company became an enterprise with affiliates in flour milling, electronic product assembling, pharmaceutical products, liquor manufacturing and banking. He also led the Korean Association in Kazakhstan.

In Indonesia, Wisma Korindo’s president, Seung Eun-ho, and his family members are running 30 affiliates in jungle areas, and now Wisma Korindo is representative of a Korean-owned company that successfully survived in competition with major Chinese businesses. In 1950, Seung’s father established the Dongwha Lumber Company and later, the corporation, in Indonesia. It was in 1965 when his son, Seung Eun-ho, came to Indonesia to join his family business and expand the company, extending its business scope to plywood and paper manufacturing.

bonhong@donga.com