Chairman Kim Jae-chul of Dongwon Group won the 2016 1st Honam Future Forum Award of the Economic and Commerce Sector.
The coveted award is presented to persons annually in recognition of their contribution to the development of Korea and the boosting of its name and to elevate the pride of the Honam men and their social statues.
Chairman Kim set up Dongwon Group in 1969 with the founding ideal of “realizing social justice through sincere entrepreneurial activities.”
The chairman’s unique and outstanding business group foundation ideal reflected his business view and it has been at the center of the group’s operation.
The chairman turned his eyes on the exploration of marine food resources around the world from the early years in his life when Korea was still a poor country and made a great contribution to earning foreign exchange and upgrading the quality of the lives of people in Korea. His company, Dongwon Deep-sea Co. developed new deep-sea fishing technologies and used them at the new deep-sea fishing grounds in the North Pacific and African seas.
A number of new and diverse companies followed thanks to his managerial skills, including Dongwon Industries Dongwon F&B, Dongwon Systems and Dongwon Securities, all at the top of their industries. Starkist, the famous U.S. canned fish firm, was added to the list of the group’s numerous affiliates. Dongwon Securities was sold to Korea Investment Securities.
Chairman Kim’s managerial ideals are well known. They are: walk straight, abide and uphold ethics embedded in his philosophy, business management and in everyday life. He not only tried to be honest and transparent in business management, but also wanted to share his profits with society through the Dongwon Educational Foundation, which he set up to provide scholarships for promising students in all levels of education.
Kim has also not neglected his contribution to the national economic development, taking time out to run the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) to boost the country’s exports. While managing KITA, he introduced private company management techniques to the association to instill a management mindset so that it would be a service organization for its member companies and a strong structure to support the export industry in Korea.
Other public organizations he served include the National Economy Advisory Council vice chairman; chairman of the Corporate Management Structure Reform Committee; member of the Administrative Reform Council; member of the Regulatory Reform Committee; chairman of the Korea-U.S Economic Council and chairman of the 2012 Yeosu World Exposition to make a great contribution to the country.
The most notable contribution he made was to the establishment of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to take control of matters related to fishing and maritime affairs to boost the country’s understanding of the exploration of marine resources, including deep-sea fishing, through systems and administrative dealings and having one government ministry take responsibility for the matters related to oceans and deep-sea fishing.
Other winners of the Honam Future Forum Award are film director Im Kwon-taek and Chancellor Lee Gil-ya of Gacheon University.
The award is given to the three people born in the Honam area, who grew up or are long-time residents, selected on the bases of trust, fairness, and impartiality to secure the national public support by the Committee of Selection Judges chaired by Chairman Lee Yong-hoon, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with the support of a special committee.
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