Park Tae-joon | |
---|---|
박태준 | |
32nd Prime Minister of South Korea | |
In office 13 January 2000 – 19 May 2000 | |
President | Kim Dae-jung |
Preceded by | Kim Jong-pil |
Succeeded by | Lee Han-dong |
Personal details | |
Born | Fuzan, Keishōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan | October 24, 1927
Died | December 13, 2011 | (aged 84)
Alma mater | Waseda University (dropped out) Korea Military Academy 6th Dankook University |
Occupation | Founder & Chairman of POSCO, Republic of Korea Army General, Prime Minister |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 박태준 |
Hanja | 朴泰俊 |
Revised Romanization | Bak Taejun |
McCune–Reischauer | Pak T'aejun |
Art name | |
Hangul | 청암 |
Hanja | 靑岩 |
Revised Romanization | Cheongam |
McCune–Reischauer | Ch'ŏngam |
Park Tae-joon (Korean: 박태준; October 24, 1927 – December 13, 2011)[1] was a South Korean business tycoon and politician who briefly served as the 32nd Prime Minister of South Korea in 2000.
His most renowned accomplishment includes founding of POSCO and growing it into one of the world's largest and most successful steel companies during his multi-decade tenure as chairman and CEO. For this, he was often called the "Korean Andrew Carnegie". Earlier in his life, he served in the South Korean Army and led several platoons during the Korean War and eventually reaching the rank of Major General. He also founded POSTECH (leading research university in Korea),[2] the Pohang Steelers soccer team,[3] and the POSCO TJ Park Foundation which was preceded by the Steel Scholarship Foundation.[4][5] His pen name was Chungam.
The day before the steel mill first started its operation (July 3, 1973), the late Chairman Park established the predecessor of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation, the Steel Scholarship Foundation, in January 1971 with seed money of KRW 60 million that was given to him as a rebate by an insurance company, to nurture the talents that our society needs.