Posted June. 21, 2012 05:41,
Park Tae-joon, the late founder of Korea`s largest steel maker POSCO, was named one of the worlds eight Steel Hall of Famers along with Andrew Carnegie, the company said Wednesday.
American Metal Market, a U.S. trade magazine specializing in the metal industry, selected Park as one of the most influential leaders in the global steel industry. Launched in 1882 and the oldest among steel-related publications in the world, the publication established the Steel Hall of Fame this year to honor the achievements of steel pioneers.
Others named to the hall were Carnegie, founder of Carnegie Steel; Henry Bessemer, who discovered the method that bears his name of blowing air through molten pig iron and revolutionized the steel industry; Elbert Gary, founder of U.S. Steel; Kenneth Iverson, former chairman of Nucor; Yoshihiro Inayama, founder of Nippon Steel; Willy Korf, founder of the Korf Group; and Charles Schwab, former president of Bethlehem Steel.
The magazine said the selection of the eight figures was made through two rounds of voting by its Hall of Fame committee of academic and industrial experts in steel.
Nicknamed Iron Man, Park dropped out of Waseda University in Japan and finished his army career as an major general. Taking over POSCO in 1968, he made the companys slogan, Make steel, serve the country. After serving as a lawmaker and prime minister, he died of lung disease in December last year.
POSCO said it will form a committee to honor Park`s contributions to Koreas economic development and his entrepreneurialism.