"Steel King" Tae-joon Park of POSCO Died

Tae-joon Park, one of South Korea's best known business leaders and a founder of giant steelmaker POSCO, died.

He was 84 years old. Dubbed the "Steel King," Park led a team of 34 men to build the company in 1968 on the sandy coastlines of Pohang, considered a miracle at that time. POSCO has since grown to become the world's third-largest steelmaker by production. Despite the skepticism, POSCO was established under Park's lead as a joint venture between the Korean government and TaeguTec, the Korea Tungsten Company. POSCO, which is now backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, trails ArcelorMittal and Baosteel and produces more than 10 Mt/a each in its plants in Pohang and Gwangyang. Park worked at POSCO until 1993 as the first chief executive. He was also an honorary chairman of the company (12/2011).