斗山그룹의 형성 과정, 1952~1996년

The historical formation of Doosan group of companies, 1952~1996

Doosan Group of Companies was the 12th largest chaebol with 26 member companies when it marked the 100th anniversary in 1996. Back in 1986, Park Sung-Jik began to sell textiles at a small shop in Seoul. He well dealt with the era of Japanese colonization(1910~1945) and successfully made his business to grow into one of the most important mercantile houses in the city by the early 1920s. Park Doo-Byoung joined his father in the late 1930s, but it was in 1952 that he paved the way for a new start by acquiring the Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd, Either establishing new companies or taking over existing ones, Park had operated 13 businesses in all until he died 1973; two of them were absorbed into other member companies in 1972. In 1973, the control of ‘OB Group’ was handed over to Chung Soo-Chang, who was a close friend of Park and became the chairman of the Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd, the hub of the group. in 1969. At that time, Park’s eldest son Yong-Kon was 37 years old and was responsible for a main subsidiary. Chung’s era lasted only for seven years, but he made an enormous contribution to the group, incressing the number of member companies from 11 in 1973 to 19 by 1980. As business interests rapidly enlarged, Chung constituted a governing committee in 1975 and, three years later, began to use the name of ‘Doosan Group of Companies’ with the intention of integrating a large number of member companies more tightly and efficiently. In 1981. Park Yong-Kon eventually took overall charge of the group, while Chung was appointed president of Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd. A graduate from Washington University, Park worked for the Bank of Korea for several years and joined his family business in 1963. When he became the group chairman at the age of 49, the Korean economy was in turmoil because of the second oil crisis;his group was also facing a difficult time. However, Park successfully overcome the difficulties and had pursued aggressive diversification. By 1994, 19 enterprises in all were newly added to the group and member companies stood at 26, which increased from 19 in 1980. Park handed over the control of the group to his brother Yong-Oh in 1997, a year after the group’s th anniversary.