Hyundai Corporation Group announced on the 30th that it held a ceremony to commemorate its 50th anniversary. The event took place on the 29th, two days before the founding day (October 1), at the Seoul Grand Hyatt Seoul. Approximately 600 attendees participated, including domestic and international employees and global staff.
At the commemorative ceremony, a special congratulatory video of founder Chung Ju-yung, restored using AI (artificial intelligence) technology, was unveiled. In the video, Chairman Emeritus Chung Ju-yung emphasized his entrepreneurial philosophy of “earning money outside to fatten the inside,” expressing gratitude for the efforts of employees who have traveled around the world in search of new opportunities. He also urged them to embody the Hyundai spirit of challenge and pioneering by stating, “What matters is whether you challenged again despite countless failures. If there is no path, just create one.”
In his commemorative address, Jeong Mong-hyeok (Chairman) said, “Our past 50 years have not been merely a time of growth, but a period in which we changed and overcame many difficulties.” He added, “While many companies have disappeared into the annals of history, we have transformed ourselves to build today’s Hyundai Corporation.” He continued, “The flexibility and resilience accumulated through this process are the greatest assets left to us,” emphasizing, “The company I want to build is not one that temporarily takes first place, but a top-tier enterprise that can change and grow on its own in any environment and remain sustainable for a long time.”
Jeong (Chairman) presented two growth directions to lead the next 50 years. The first is “Co-integration of Trade and Manufacturing.” Hyundai Corporation plans to evolve into a business model where trade and manufacturing capabilities are organically combined by expanding its value chain deeper and more diversely into the manufacturing sector, based on its existing trade capabilities and global network. Following last year’s acquisition of automotive parts company “Lucinova,” the company decided to continue pursuing acquisitions of mid-sized domestic and international manufacturing companies within the next five years. In the long term, it also plans to challenge itself to secure large-scale manufacturing enterprises with influence in the global market.
The second is “Co-governance of NEST Function Innovation.” NEST is a global regional collaboration system that Hyundai Corporation has operated since 2021. It was introduced to bundle overseas hubs into regional units to jointly discover business opportunities. The company decided to develop this one step further, nurturing each region (NEST) to perform the role of a “second headquarters” by independently discovering businesses, investing, and growing like the Seoul headquarters. First, it will turn the NESTs in Singapore (Southeast Asia), Los Angeles (North America), Frankfurt (Europe), and Tokyo (Japan) into global headquarters within three years. Subsequently, the goal is to build a system where 10 NESTs worldwide, including China, Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia, South Asia, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), and Latin America, each perform headquarters functions.
Jeong (Chairman) stated, “If the past 50 years were a history of challenge and pioneering, the next 50 years will be the time to make the dream of becoming a 100-year-old company a reality.” He added, “This path cannot be walked by the thoughts and strength of one person alone. Therefore, we will open up the next 50 years of Hyundai Corporation by challenging together and overcoming difficulties together.”
Meanwhile, Hyundai Corporation Group was established in 1976 under the name Hyundai General Trading Company, based on Chairman Emeritus Chung Ju-yung’s philosophy of export-import (立). It has achieved results such as developing the Drayton coal mine in Australia and the Marib oil field in Yemen, and pioneering Northern Trade. After experiencing trials such as the foreign exchange crisis and corporate workout, it returned to the Hyundai family in 2009, and Jeong Mong-hyeok (Chairman) took office in 2010, opening an era of second founding. In 2016, through a spin-off from affiliates, it newly launched as another independent management group within the broader Hyundai family. Recently, it has continued its growth trend by setting new records for operating profit for four consecutive years.
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