Entrepreneur and politician who founded Pohang Iron and Steel (POSCO); the 32nd prime minister
| Life | 1927 ~ 2011 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 밀양 박씨 |
Park Tae-jun (朴泰俊) was from Dongnae (present-day Busan), South Gyeongsang Province. After studying in Japan he joined the army and retired as a major general. Following a term as president of Korea Tungsten in 1968, he became the first president of Pohang Iron and Steel Company (now POSCO), and went on to lead the company for 25 years, up to the position of chairman.
Adopting "serving the nation through steel" (jecheol boguk, 製鐵報國) as his management philosophy, he built the Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks despite a lack of capital and technology, growing POSCO into a world-class steelmaker with an annual capacity of 20 million tons. This is regarded as a symbol of Korea's heavy and chemical industrialization.
Entering politics, he served four terms as a member of the National Assembly (the 11th, 13th, 14th, and 15th sessions) and was active in the Democratic Liberal Party, the United Liberal Democrats, and other parties. In 2000 he served as the 32nd prime minister. He died in 2011.
Section for national and social contributors at the Seoul National Cemetery (Dongjak-gu, Seoul)