Entrepreneurs with NK roots come to fore
2024-09-20 20:47:52
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| AmorePacific Group Chairman Suh Kyung-bae |
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| SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in |
By Yoon Ja-young
As South and North Korea take steps toward economic cooperation, entrepreneurs who have their roots in North Korea are expected to play a role. Having contributed to economic development with diligence and vitality symbolizing people from the North, they now expect to contribute to their hometowns.
With the establishment of a totalitarian regime in the North that doesn't approve of personal wealth, many entrepreneurs chose to go south. There are thus many businesses here whose founders came from the North.
The most widely known entrepreneur with roots in North Korea is late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung. Born to a poor farming family in 1915 in what is currently North Korean territory, he built up a global business empire and became an entrepreneurial legend. He got attention by donating a herd of cattle to North Korea in 1998, and Hyundai Group has continued leading inter-Korean economic cooperation projects even after his death.
SPC Group, the country's leading confectionery company, also has roots in North Korea. Hur Chang-sung, late father of SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in, was born in Haeju, South Hwanghae Province in the North. After working at a Japanese-run bakery during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of Korea, he opened his own shop. Following the founding of the regime, however, he left his hometown and moved to Seoul. He modernized the bakery into Samlip Food, which his son further developed into SPC.
AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics company, also has roots in North Korea. Before Korea's liberation from Japan, Suh Sung-whan, the late father of AmorePacific Group Chairman Suh Kyung-bae, sold facial cleansing water and camellia oil for hair with his mother in Gaeseong. The family later moved the business to Namdaemun Market in Seoul, which grew into Pacific Chemical Industries. The current chairman led another leap forward of the group by advancing into overseas markets, giving birth to AmorePacific.
Another cosmetics brand, Hankook Cosmetics, has roots in Gaeseong. Its founder Lim Kwang-chung was born there and graduated from a commercial school there, but he came south during the Korean War. He started his business from scratch, nurturing it into a leader in cosmetics under the motto "diligence leads to blessing."
There are other founders from Gaeseong, which had been known as a hometown of merchants in Korea. Lee Hoi-rim, founder of OCI, was called "the last merchant of Gaeseong." He started as an apprentice at a silk company and opened his shop in 1937. After establishing an export company in the 1950s, he expanded his business to mining, cement and banking. He later launched Oriental Chemical Industries, which he nurtured into a global chemical firm.
There are a number of food businesses that have roots in North Korea. Lee Yang-gu, founder of Orion and Tong Yang Group, is from Hamju, South Hamgyong Province. He started a sugar wholesale business in Busan after fleeing to South Korea to avoid the communist regime, later expanding to cement and finance. Founders of Maeil Dairies, Samyang Foods, Sempio Foods and Ottogi were also born in the North.
（作者：汽车配件）
