When you think of the largest automobile company in Korea, you immediately think of Hyundai Group. It is the largest automobile company in Korea, and there are many interesting stories about Hyundai Group other than related cars. Now Hyundai Groom is famous for its automobiles, but its main management was Hyundai E&C! For a while, it was a larger group than the Samsung Group, and it was one of the top conglomerates in Korea in the 20th century!.

History of Hyundai Group

The founder of the group, Chairman Chung Ju-young, established Hyundai Engineering & Construction in 1947, merged with Hyundai Motor Company in 1950, and reorganized it into a joint stock company. Established Hyundai Motor Company in 1967 and Hyundai Chosun Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, respectively in 1967, entered the automobile and shipbuilding industries, leading the heavy chemical drive, and established themselves as a representative group of companies in Korea. As Hyundai built a factory in Ulsan, Ulsan, which was just an ordinary city, became the 7th largest city in Korea and the largest industrial city with the largest shipyard on the Korean Peninsula. Without Hyundai, there would be no Ulsan Metropolitan City today!

Korea's largest conglomerate in the 20th century

In Korea after the 21st century, Samsung has an overwhelming position in terms of scale and influence, but after the construction boom in the Middle East in the late 1970s and until the 1990s, the largest corporate group in Korea was the Hyundai Group!. Relations between Samsung and Hyundai were amicable until the 1970s. Unlike Samsung, which focused on light industries such as distribution (department store), food, electronics, trade, and chemicals, Hyundai had no competition because it focused on heavy industries such as construction, automobiles, and shipbuilding. However, the relationship began to deteriorate from the Hyundai-JoongAng Ilbo media war in 1979, and especially since the 1980s, as Hyundai entered the electronics, department store, and petrochemical industries, and Samsung entered the heavy industry and construction industries, the competition between the two intensified.

Hyundai Group today

Hyundai Motors It is a well-known Jado car across the borders of Korea and around the world. Speaking of Korean cars, not only Hyundai but also Kia comes to mind. But maybe many of my friends don't know this. Currently, Kia Motors belongs to Hyundai Motors! Merged with Hyundai Motor Company in 1999!. Hyundai Group is famous in many fields besides automobiles in Korea. Hyundai elevators are also very popular. I've heard a lot about Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai Card. It is a group that has been successful in those fields as well. According to the current official romanization system, 'modern' becomes HYEONDAE. Nevertheless, the reason why the English notation is HYUNDAI is that in the past, before the English notation was established, the English notation of 'large' was mixed with 'DAE' and 'DAI'. Later, after it was decided to be 'DAE', the notation has already been hardened for decades, so it is risky to change the name now, so I decided to keep it as it is.

Interesting story related to the group

It is a self-made company founded by the founder with his bare hands, and as can be seen from the fact that its main industries are construction, automobiles, and shipbuilding, it is famous for its very enterprising, adventurous, rough and masculine corporate culture. It can be seen as a company that symbolizes the spirit of “you can do it” and “if you can’t do it” of the Korean economy!. Thanks to these corporate cultural characteristics, Hyundai Group affiliates, which were non-unionized (excluding Incheon Steel), were able to form the strongest labor union during the period when the labor movement in Korea was boiling after the June 1987 protest, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Motor Company, and Hyundai The unions of Hyundai Group, such as Jeonggong, which were established in Ulsan, literally became icons of the labor movement.

The Hyundai Group is bigger than I thought. Haha In addition to the Hyundai Motor Company, financial companies, and department stores that many people know, there are too many related fields and companies. Do you know now that they were Korea's biggest conglomerate, and that they were a bigger group than Samsung? Haha It's fun to find out about the big groups in Korea~~~.