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Hyundai Group First-Generation Professional Manager Lee Chun-rim, Former Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman, Passes Away

Hyundai Group First-Generation Professional Manager Lee Chun-rim, Former Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman, Passes Away


[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Lee Chun-rim, former chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries and a first-generation professional manager of the Hyundai Group, passed away on the 16th at the age of 91.


According to the industry, the late Lee was born in 1929 in Hamheung, Hamgyeongnam-do. He graduated from Gyeonggi High School and the Department of Architectural Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering, and joined Hyundai Group in 1957 as part of the first recruitment class of Hyundai Construction.


During his time at Seoul National University’s Department of Architecture, his relationship with his father and the late Honorary Chairman Chung Ju-yung led him to assist in building military barracks and churches, which established their connection.


Based on his extensive field experience, he laid the foundation for Hyundai Construction’s overseas expansion. He served as president of Hyundai Construction, then president and chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries, and president and chairman of Hyundai Corporation, leading major affiliates within the group.


He was well known for his technical skills and drive gained through long field experience, as well as his meticulous and thorough style in all matters. Especially, his style as a field commander who arrived at the site at 6 a.m. earned him the nickname "Bengal Tiger" among executives and employees.


It is a famous anecdote that Honorary Chairman Chung Ju-yung, along with then Hyundai Construction executive director Lee, visited the Yokohama shipyard in Japan in 1966 and decided to build a shipyard in Korea. Eight years later, in 1974, the world’s largest shipyard was established off the coast of Ulsan.


When Hyundai Group entered the full-fledged second-generation management era in 1995, he stepped down from the front lines of management along with other first-generation executives and served as an advisor to Hyundai Group and a director of the Asan Social Welfare Foundation.


The late Lee, a living witness and hidden worker of the "Hyundai myth," was known to have been close friends with the late Chung Se-young, Honorary Chairman of Hyundai Development Company and younger brother of Honorary Chairman Chung, also known as "Pony Chung."


The funeral is being held at Seoul Asan Medical Center Funeral Hall (02-3010-2000), Room 30. The funeral procession will depart at 8:10 a.m. on the 18th.


© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.

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