President-elect’s business network

Kim Sung-joo, left, chairwoman of Luxury bag maker Sungjoo Group, speaks during a press briefing in Seoul earlier this month. Kim is viewed as one of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s closest supporters from the business community. / Korea Times file

Park has links with POSCO, Hanwha, GS

With Park Geun-hye elected as the next president, market players are paying attention to how close her relationships are with domestic business leaders.

Park has an extensive network within the business world. Companies with ties forged with the President-in-waiting include Korea’s biggest steelmaker POSCO, Hanwha Group, GS Group and Byucksan Group.

The only firm she has a direct family connection with is EG Group, a small-sized steelmaker whose chairman is her younger brother Park Ji-man. The firm’s stock prices skyrocketed upon the opening of the market and hit a daily ceiling of 15 percent to close at 44,550 won ($41.5) on Thursday.

The President-elect’s ties with POSCO are largely attributable to her relationship with the steelmaker’s founder and former chairman Park Tae-joon, who died one year ago. Park Tae-joon was one of the closest aides of her father Park Chung-hee, the nation’s autocratic ruler in the 1960s and ‘70s.

The late POSCO chairman took care of her financially even after her father was shot dead by his spy chief in October 1979. Park Tae-joon put his weight behind Park Geun-hye when she entered politics in 1998 through the parliamentary elections. He is also said to have played a crucial role in putting her younger brother at the top of EG Group’s corporate hierarchy.

The President-in-waiting has openly expressed her gratitude for the POSCO founder’s help in media interviews.

Her extensive family circle has also brought Park ties with GS Group and Byucksan. Her cousin’s sister married the second child of Byucksan founder Kim Hee-chul. The founder’s wife is the elder sister of GS Caltex Chairman Hur Dong-soo. Hur is the cousin of GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo.

Many say Park may hold staunch ties with LG Group because GS Group was born through a spinoff from LG in 2005.

Luxury MCM bag maker Sungjoo Group is the latest addition to Park’s inner circle. Its chairwoman, Kim Sung-joo, forged close ties with the President-elect by joining her election campaign in October as a chief strategist. Kim is the third daughter of Daesung Group founder Kim Soo-geun, raising the possibility in a society where politics and business are still closely interconnected that the mid-tier conglomerate could show rapid growth grow during Park’s presidency.

Park’s academic background has given her personal ties with Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn. Both born in 1952, they graduated from the same elementary school in Seoul and have kept in touch with each other.

Kim’s younger brother Ho-youn, a former chairman of confectionary maker Binggrae, graduated from Sogang University, Park’s alma mater, and served as vice chief of the Park camp’s situation room during her campaign.

Binggrae’s incumbent CEO Lee Geon-young is also a Sogang graduate.

Other influential Sogang graduates in the business circle are Kim Young-tae, president of SK Holdings; Cha Hwa-youp, president and CEO of SK Global Chemical; Chung Jin-haeng, president of Hyundai Motor; Lee Hyo-yul, CEO of food maker Pulmuone; and Oh Kyu-sik, president of LG Fashion.

“It’s hard to see that people with the same alma mater as Park are all connected with her,” an industry insider said. “But in a country where academic backgrounds are viewed as a crucial element to building personal networks, they might at least have loose ties with the President-elect.” <The Korea Times/Park Si-soo>