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Like a fairy tale! The incredible story of Hyundai's founder

2025-01-05 21:02:39Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Like a fairy tale! The incredible story of Hyundai's founder
How a simple man from North Korea became a billionaire in South Korea

The scene couldn't be more surreal. It's 1998, October 27th to be exact. A black luxury car carrying Chung Ju-yung leads a line of trucks as if it were a procession to the afterlife. Dozens of Hyundai vehicles, specially designed to carry up to ten fat cows each, follow the black luxury car on a route no one expected would ever be approved.

The destination: the infamous “Demilitarized Zone,” a barren wasteland that marks the border between North and South Korea. After the formalities, the cars cross from south to north. The screen doors of 50 trucks open and 500 cows are released into a nearby pasture. Chung, then 82, smiles with satisfaction just before turning around. This was the second “installment” of his debt, which was repaid a thousandfold. He was the first citizen to cross from south to north since Korea was divided into two states.

A story like a fairy tale

In Korean, the word "chaebol" is used to describe tycoons, that is, families that control a large percentage of the country's economy.

Like a fairy tale! The incredible story of Hyundai's founder

The story of how Chung Ju-yung rose from humble beginnings as a poor farmer to become a chaebol may sound like a fairy tale, but it is true. And it is a triumph of willpower, hard work and efficiency. Born in 1915 in the small town of Cushen in North Korea, at a time when the entire peninsula was under Japanese military occupation, Chung faced a life of deprivation. Being the eldest of seven children born to his farmer father meant that he had a lot of responsibility.

From a very young age he helped with farm work and his dream of getting an education and becoming a teacher was dashed early. He only just finished his basic education, not in a normal school, but in a religious school (called Confucian) that belonged to one of his father's brothers.

From his early teens, Chung had a tendency to run away. And he was so persuasive that he would always entice other villagers of his age to leave with him for the developed capital of Seoul. Not once, but four times in three years, from the ages of 15 to 18, he tried to leave. First on foot, then by sneaking into a cart, and finally by stealing a cow from his father, which he sold to buy a train ticket. As he sold the cow, Chung promised himself that one day he would repay his debt a thousandfold. And he kept his promise, even if his donation ended up with unknown farmers rather than his family.

In his last attempt to escape, when he was already 18 years old and had fulfilled his obligations to his family (according to Korean custom), he found himself a small employee – a janitor in a shop that sold rice. His skills were such that within six months he was in charge of the shop. He took the initiative himself and, in addition to carrying, made sales and deals with middlemen. He seemed to have great prospects, but the Japanese occupation interrupted this spurt in his fortune. The Japanese imposed strict food controls and forbade Koreans from running such businesses.

Determined to succeed, Chung returned in 1940 to the few remaining fields left by the Japanese and ended up repairing automobiles. He built his first garage with a loan from his former boss, which he paid off within the first year. His business started with 20 employees and within eight months had 70.

Three years later, and when it seemed that the Japanese would not win World War II, Chung's business had expanded due to the war effort. However, he himself slept on the workshop floor with his poorer engineers and shared the same food with them. He saved all the money he earned in an old mattress. When in 1943 the Japanese administration demanded his business for use in the war, Chung had already saved over 50,000 yen – a good monthly salary at that time was no more than 40 yen.

Creating a colossus

Three years of hardship gave Chung the capital he needed to think about what to do next. In 1946, after the peninsula was liberated from Japan, it didn't take him long to decide which way to go. Although he was originally from North Korea, he moved with his family to Seoul and decided to work in construction.

In fact, to enter the top ranks, he engaged in meetings with the American authorities (who ran the southern part) and proposed to them that he himself finance the major projects that were needed until the relevant government loans were approved, so that there would be no delays. No one else would have wanted to and could not do this. He had the courage and did it. For this reason, Chung became the favorite of the local UN authorities and the first South Korean governments, which undertook the reconstruction of the country. Therefore, a company was needed. And he did it the following year, in 1947, with a name that meant a lot to him.

Hyundai in Korean is a compound word made up of two characters and means “Modern Era”. Its first activities were the construction of asphalt roads, but it soon expanded and specialized in large buildings and other constructions. For almost 20 years, Hyundai built almost the entire road network of the country and more than half of the country’s major buildings, from nuclear power plants to sports stadiums.

Chung's main characteristic was that he was not afraid to expand into an area where he had no experience. So in 1966 he decided to go into car manufacturing and in the early 1970s he took on the government's responsibility to build the world's largest shipyards in the Ulsan area, despite having no experience at all.

Like a fairy tale! The incredible story of Hyundai's founder

The history of the shipyard is unique. After starting work in 1973, it signed a contract to deliver the first ship five years later. And yet, it delivered it in three years, in 1976. Chung moved to Ulsan and supervised the work every day, even developing a pioneering program where the shipyard buildings were built together with the first ship. This event essentially opened the doors for him to be trusted by the international fleet, as he proved that he could do the same good job faster than others.

Like a fairy tale! The incredible story of Hyundai's founder

Now the Hyundai Group is divided into three major companies, dealing in retail, heavy industry and automobiles. Chung placed members of his family (he had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, from his long marriage) in key positions, but also gave outstanding employees opportunities for promotion, just as he had when he was young.

Today, Hyundai Motor Group has grown into one of the world's most successful automobile companies. Starting with simple models like the Pony in 1975 and the Excel in 1986, it has introduced models that were affordable for mass sales but reliable in the automotive industry. The company sells approximately four million vehicles worldwide, has a turnover of 224.1 billion dollars and employs approximately 293,000 people.

Like a fairy tale! The incredible story of Hyundai's founder

Chung was the first South Korean chaebol to look to the North, understandable given his origins. He believed that only through the economic development of North Korea could the unification of the two countries become a reality. From the 1960s he still had contacts with the North Korean regime, with the aim of undertaking development projects. He was one of the ardent supporters of the “Sunshine Policy”, as the peaceful approach of the two countries was later called. His idea for the development of tourism on Mount Kumgan in the north became a reality a year after his death, in 2001. His company took over the entire construction of the tourist infrastructure.

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