Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo was awarded a high-level decoration from the French government on June 27 for his contributions to bilateral exchanges between Korea and France, and to the aviation industries in both countries.
Park received the Legion of Honor (Legion d’honneur) from French Ambassador to Korea Fabien Penone at the French diplomat’s official residence in Seodaemun-gu, central Seoul.
At the ceremony, Penone expressed respect for Park’s achievements, calling him a “businessman, a patron of the arts and a friend of France.”
Park was recognized for working for two decades to create the Incheon-Paris route on Asiana Airlines, contributing to travel between the two countries. Chairman Park worked strenuously for over 20 years to open the route for Asiana and finally got permission from the French government in 2008 for Asiana to fly the air route. Asiana Airlines also flies planes produced by French-based aircraft maker Airbus. Asiana has some 50 Airbus super jet passenger planes in service now or in order.
The award also recognized Park’s efforts to increase cultural exchanges between Korea and France. Park also won the highest Vietnamese Medal, the Friendship Medal, from the Vietnamese government in 2014 for his contributions to the Vietnamese economy and social services.
Upon receiving the award, Park said, “It is a great honor to receive this award from France on the 130th anniversary of Korean-French relations.” He added that he will continue to work hard toward building friendship between the two countries.
The Legion of Honor is France’s highest decoration, first created by Napoleon I in 1802. Past Korean winners of the medal include the late Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Choong-keun, Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, former Daewoo Group Chairman Kim Woo-choong, and the late POSCO founder Park Tae-joon.
Established in 1946, Kumho-Asiana Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Korea, with affiliated companies/subsidiaries in the aviation, construction, surface transport, logistics, manufacturing, civil engineering, finance and leisure sectors.
Kumho Asiana Group, together with its subsidiaries, engages in construction, tire, aviation, land transportation, leisure, and IT businesses in South Korea. The company operates bus service routes in Korea; operates vehicle rental terminals in South Korea; manufactures and exports tires to countries worldwide; engages in infrastructure projects, including housing, civil engineering, construction, and SOC; operates airlines from South Korea to various international destinations; constructs and operates information integration systems in the areas of aviation, construction, manufacturing, logistics, finance, and leisure; and operates resorts in Korea and China.
Kumho Asiana Group promoted the group's heir-apparent Park Se-chang, vice president of Kumho Tire, to CEO of the group on January 29, 2016. The move will allow Park to take part in decision-making processes in management at the group level. The 40-year-old new CEO, the only son of group chairman Park Sam-koo, will jointly lead the group's strategic management unit with current CEO Seo Jae-hwan. He joined the group in 2002 after leaving A.T. Kearny.
Kumho Asiana Group reached an agreement with creditor banks including Korea Development Bank to buy back a controlling stake in Kumho Industrial Co., Ltd. ending its years-long effort to regain control of its affiliate. Creditors, led by Korea Development Bank, said recently that they notified Kumho Asiana that the final price of a 57.7 percent stake in Kumho Industrial was 722.8 billion won or 41,213 won per share. Group Chairman Park Sam-koo accepted this and will sign a deal with the creditors soon.
Kumho Asiana Group chairman’s long-awaited dream to reunite his business empire back under his control is likely to be realized, with his reacquisition of Kumho Industrial, the de facto holding firm of the group, getting close. “As creditors haven’t found any other buyer, they will likely wrap up the deal with Park as early as the end of the year,” a source familiar with the matter said. It was a major step in the months-long negotiation as the price gap between the two parties was high — as much as 400 billion won.
Park needs to inform the creditors whether he wants to exercise his stock buyback option for 50 percent and one share in Kumho Industrial at the suggested price by Sept. 30, 2015.
The chairman has been eager to buy back the builder because it controls the country’s second largest carrier Asiana Airlines and other key affiliates of the group.
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