Doosan (Y.H. Park, Chairman) held a “celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Doosan Founding Chairman the Late Too Pyung Park” at the Doosan Art Center in Jongno 5(o)-ga, Seoul on October 6. In attendance at the event were more than 500 people, including former Prime Minister Lee Hyeon-jae, and current and former Doosan executives and staff members, including Honorary Chairman Yong-gon Park and Chairman Y.H. Park of Doosan.

At the commemorative ceremony that followed the inaugural ceremony for the late Chairman’s statue, former Korean Prime Minister Lee said, “Chairman Too Pyung Park was a business leader who consolidated entrepreneurs during times of economic hardship by serving as the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and spearheaded the era of private sector-led growth,” adding, “He was strict in following his principles, but was a soul who possessed highly gentle and warm leadership skills.”

The late Founding Chairman, who was born as the first son of Doosan’s founder Seung-jik Park in 1910, joined the management of the Park Seung-jik Store in 1936. Later, in 1951, he changed the store’s name from Park Seungjik Store to Doosan Mercantile Company, opening a new era for Doosan.

Chairman Too Pyung Park was a gifted intellectual who graduated from Gyeongseong Advanced School for Commerce (Currently, Seoul National University College of Business Administration), a rarity at that time. He expanded the scope of business by establishing the Oriental Brewery in 1952, Doosan Industries in 1953, and Doosan Engineering and Construction in 1960, while introducing modern management systems.

Chairman Park regarded human resources management as the most important value, a teaching that has been handed down to the present day under the motto “People are the Future.”

The late Chairman Park served as Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1967 to 1973 and made far-reaching efforts to enhance Korea’s economic development, such as increasing productivity through technological innovation, improving the business structure, and defining the guidelines for the rationalization of different industrial sectors. In 1970, he became the first Korean to be elected Chairman of the Federation of Asian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and made major contributions to elevating the status of Korean enterprises, securing a bridgehead for Korean businesses advance into international markets.

Chairman Park underwent lung cancer surgery in November 1972, but returned to his office soon after the surgery. He was inaugurated for the third term as Chairman of the Chamber in July 1973, a month before his passing and said, “Even if I collapse tomorrow, I will make the utmost effort to spur the development of Korean companies and the Korean commerce and industry sector,” a testament to his dedication for Korea’s economic development.

In his commemorative speech, Doosan Group Chairman Y.H. Park said, “My father, the late Chairman Too Pyung Park, laid the foundations for Doosan’s present establishment. He was an entrepreneur who personally put into practice corporate’s social responsibility to assure the nation’s economic development,” urging, “Remembering my father’s endeavors and spirit, let us redouble our efforts to ensure the success of Doosan’s new century.”

Meanwhile, on October 5, Doosan instated the first “Yonkang Art Awards,” a program designed to support young artists in honor of the late Chairman Park’s philosophy of human resource-focused management. Doosan also published a biography of the late Park’s images and stories, entitled, “The Path with People.”