Chung Ju-yung or Jung Joo-young (; 25 November 1915 â 21 March 2001) was a South Korean entrepreneur and the founder of Hyundai Group, one of the largest chaebols in South Korea.
Chung Ju-yung was born into an impoverished family on the 25th of November, 1915 in Tongchon County, Korea, Empire of Japan (now Kangwon Province, North Korea).
Chung graduated from Songjun Primary School in March 1931. After that, he attended his grandfather's Confucian school while working at his parent's farm. In 1993, at the age of 18, he left for Seoul to find work, and became a stevedore at Jinsen Harbor (Incheon, currently in South Korea). He left his job to be a construction laborer in the construction of Korea University. After that, he became a starch syrup factory worker for a year.
Chung became a delivery man at Bokheung Rice Store. He received a promotion after six months of working, and became a bookkeeper for the store. In 1936, he was married to Byun Joong Suk. In 1937, the store owner became ill and gave the store to Chung at the age of 22. He then renamed the store to Kyungil Rice Store.
At 1939, the government, occupied by the Japanese at that time, outlawed Korean ownerships on rice shops. Chung lost his job and returned home.
After he lost his ownership of his rice store, Chung returned to his village and remained there until 1940, when he decided to try again in Keijà Â. 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. He left and returned to his village with 50,000 yen in savings.
In 1946, after the liberation of Korea from Japanese control, Chung went back to Seoul and launched Hyundai Auto Service and Hyundai Construction Company. 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. Once Seoul was retaken by UN forces, Chung reestablished the company and continued to obtain more work from the United States.
He created the Ulsan shipyard. He introduced the Hyundai Pony in 1976 and the Hyundai Excel in 1986.
From the 1980s until recently, the Hyundai Group was split into many satellite groups. Chung was the first civilian to cross the Korean DMZ since the division of Korea. He was also the first to propose the Geumgangsan sightseeing excursions. He founded the Hyundai Heavy Steel Company.
In 1982, Chung received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
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.
Chung died on 21 March 2001, at the age of 85, from pneumonia after receiving at-home treatment for other long-term illnesses. He was buried in accordance with Buddhist and Confucian customary rites. His wife, Byun Joong-Seok, died on 17 August 2008, at the age of 88, due in part to long-term heart complications. She was buried in a family cemetery in Hanam, alongside her husband and their son.
Chung Ju-yung had five brothers and one sister; he had eight sons and one daughter with his wife. 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.
via Chung In-yung (1920âÂÂ2006)
via Chung-Soon-yung (1925âÂÂ2015)
via Chung Se-yung (1928âÂÂ2005)
via Chung Shin-yong (1931âÂÂ1962)
via Chung Sang-yung (1936âÂÂ)