South Korea

Business Asia, Sept 13, 1999

Chung Ju Yung
(and family)
Honorary chairman,
Hyundai Group
Age: 83
Education: Completed 6th grade
Contact: (82 2) 746 1114

Chung is the Legend of Korea's Legendary chaebol, or conglomerates. While the chaebol are now under fire, Chung and his family still exert enormous power in Korean business and political circles. The patriarch of the family is making a new name for himself by acting as a bridge between Seoul and the volatile leaders of North Korea. The senior members of the Chung family -- Chung Ju Yung, Chung Mong Gu of Hyundai Motor, and Chung Mong Heon of Hyundai Corp -- are trying to liquidate holdings in some of the group's minor units, in line with government requests for the chaebol to refocus on core activities.

You Jong Keun
Economic advisor to the
President
Age: 54
Education: State University of New
York; Korea University

You is an important figure in South Korea's quest for economic recovery. A critic of Korea's conglomerates, You has supported the harsh economic medicine dished out by the International Monetary Fund. You taught for a decade at Rutgers University and returned home about six years ago to become the first elected governor of North Cholla province. You believes in market forces ruling the economy, and greater fights for shareholders. He is one of the new breed preaching greater accountability.

Jang Ha Sung
Finance professor,
Shareholder activist
Age: 45
Education: Wharton University (US)

Jang is challenging the once-sacred chaebol to reform. Head of the activist group, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, he is making conglomerates more accountable to shareholders -- and forcing them to stop fudging their books. He's had several court victories and likes to show up at annual meetings with sharp-edged questions. He's now taking on Samsung's Lee Keun Hee (see below) over alleged violations of tax reporting requirements.

Lee Keun Hee
Chairman, Samsung Group
Age: 57
Education: Waseda University;
George Washington
University

Lee is one of many conglomerate heads under siege in Korea. However, he has shown himself to be more committed to reform than most of his counterparts. Lee has agreed to make additional contributions from his personal assets towards the repayment of Samsung Motors' debts. Samsung and Lee remain extremely influential, but moves by creditors to refuse new loans to Samsung will test the chairman's power in the next year. Samsung is facing an important watershed. It has Long been regarded as the "best" employer in Korea. How it handles much-needed restructuring will shape its reputation in the new millennium.

ON THE RISE: CHIN DAE JE

Executive Vice-President, Samsung Electronics
Age: 47
Education: Stanford University (US)

Here's a name to remember -- for memory chips. If the 21st century is the cyber age, Chin is the man to lead South Korea into it. In the 1980s Chin turned Samsung into a world semiconductor leader, developing the revolutionary 16-megabit DRAM chip. A workaholic, Chin has not finished yet. He wants Samsung to become a leader in digital technology. Samsung Electronics will spend US$1.2 billion during the next three years to develop other wares. It wants to double output of non-memory chips by 2001.

Don't forget

Cho Choong Hoon, chairman and CEO of the Hanjin Group.

SOUTH KOREA: AT A GLANCE

Capital:                                       Seoul
Surface area:                           99,000 sq km
Population:                      46.4 million (1998)
GDP:                               US$295.3bn (1998)
GDP per capita:.                     US$6,400 (1998)
Exports of goods and services:            US$168.6bn
Imports of goods and services:            US$171.8bn