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A D V E R T- S E M c- N T
B
HYu N
DAI GROU F
A. Locomotive Puliing the South Korean Economy Ahead
- ' -~ - . yundai, South Koreas top
<strong>business</strong> conglomerate, is proud to have
played the role of a locomotive pulling the
cotmrr,vs economy ahead in irs phenomenal
development in Ihe last three decades,
accotding to Chairman Chung Se-Yung .
-Today it is a major global corporation
producing a wide spectrum of goods ranging
from computer chips to passenger cars
<strong>and</strong> ships to super tankers, with annual sales
over $60 billion .
By emphasizing technological development,
Hyundai has developed the 64M
DRAM chip, the next-generation automobile,
the Moss-[ype LNG carrier <strong>and</strong> a
futuristic magnetic levitation vehicle .
"Hav~ing secured such leading-edge technologies,
we are full of hope for Hyundai's
further development on a higher plane in
the future," says Chung .
Hyundai was born 48 years ago when
Chung's elder brother, Chung Ju-Yung, now
80, opened a construction firm in Seoul,
which became the nation's biggest engineering
<strong>and</strong> construction company by riding a
domestic construction boom in the '60s
<strong>and</strong> undertaking big projects in the Middle
East in the'70s .
Ar the same time, Chung built an auto
plant in Ulsan in the mid-1960s, which
today produces some 1 .2 million cars a year,
with about 500,000 of them exported to
160 countries around dte world .
"Our goal is for Hyundai to become one
of the world's best automobile manufacturers
<strong>and</strong> one of the top ten in the world by
the year 2000," Chairman Chung says confidently.
A bold decision by founder Chung in
the early'70s to build the world's biggesr
shipyard has become legend, since at that
time no one believed a developing country
like South Korea could successfully operate
a big shipyard . Today Hytrrrdai has grown
to become one of the most competitive <strong>and</strong>
advanced producers of all types of vessels .
And in the'80s, H}vndai exp<strong>and</strong>ed into
the petrochemical <strong>and</strong> electronics industries .
In June it announced an ambitious Plan to
build the
world's
iargestscale
semiconductor
plant on
206 acres in
Eugene,
Oregon, at a cost
of $1 .3 billion-rhe ~
largest foreign investment
a South Korean firm
has ever made .
The plant, which will produce 64M
DRAIvi (megabvte dynamic r<strong>and</strong>om access
memory), is scheduled to begin commercial
production in March 1997 <strong>and</strong> to generate
annual turnover of $1 .6 billion by 1999 .
Hyundai's electronics firm is also comr
centrating on the development of new
media products such as state-of-the-art
audio/video systems <strong>and</strong> high-defrnition
televisions applying digiral-data-compression
technologies after having developed
high-capaciry ODDs, high-speed G4 facsimile
equipment <strong>and</strong> digital switching systenu
for ISDN.
Hyundai also runs an oil refinery capable
of processing 110,000 barrels of crude
a da}; <strong>and</strong> an iron-steel plant in Inchon producing
three million tons a year . The company
manufactures construction equipment
<strong>and</strong> heavy electrical products, builds power
<strong>and</strong> nudear plants, <strong>and</strong> is the largest aluminum
producer in Korea . It also runs a
securities company <strong>and</strong> a marine- <strong>and</strong> fireinsurance
frrm .
"It's too bad rhat Hyundai has been generally
known in America <strong>and</strong> Europe only as
an automaker since Hyundai's Pony/Excel
subcompact car was named beso-selling
import car of the year in the U .S . in 1986,"
says the younger Chung, who took over dre
chairmanship from his older brother when
the company founder decided to adopt the
title of honorary chairman .
Hyundai is stressing the growth oF its
heavy industry, electronics, automobile,
"Hawng
secured
leadingedge
technologies,
we are
full of
hope for
Hyundai's further
development on a
higher plane .°
petrochemical <strong>and</strong> machinery operations to
strengthen its international competitiveness
<strong>and</strong> make Hyundai, as Chung says, the
world's top enterprise by the turn of the
century.
AS for automobiles, Chung says that its
subcompact car of the new generation,
Accent, made with 100°,~o Hyundai technologies
including its engine <strong>and</strong> transmission
s,vstem, is selling well in the U .S .
He is very hopefui that when another
new compact sedan, Avante, makes its
debut in the U .S . early next year, it will
stimulate another big take-off for Hyundai
cars in the North American market .
Chung says that Hyundai cars have technologies
<strong>and</strong> performance comparable to
cars produced in the advanced nations .
He adds that Hyvndai is concentrating
on research <strong>and</strong> development of advanced
technoloyry for low firel consumption, low
pollution <strong>and</strong> low noise as well as substitute
fuels . "For this purpose, we plan to increase
R&D investment to 7% of Hyundai
Momrs' annual sales by the year 2000,"
Hyundai Group's total sales last year
amounted to 50 trillion won (about $62 .5
billion), including export sales of 510 billion,
which accounted for 10% of South
Korea's total exports . This year, its sales are
expected to rise by 20% .
~ 2046673362a
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/agf97d00/pdf