Jun-Ki Kim, the founder and Chairman of Dongbu Group, was born in Gangwon-do on December 4th 1944. He graduated from the distinguished Korea University in Seoul, where he earned a degree in economics.

As the eldest son of the wealthy and famous Jin-Man Kim, a former deputy speaker in the Korean Parliament, Chairman Kim received a good education and had various opportunities that he could have pursued for his future. However, when he visited the United States and Japan for 40 days as the member of the Advanced Countries Observation Team, after fulfilling his military duties, he realized that a country could not grow without the development of its enterprises. He then decided to establish a company rather than going abroad to pursue further studies. It was his firm belief that duilding a company, the symbol of capitalism, was the best way to develop the country and society. He also believed that it was the most suitable way to contribute to Korea's modernization movement, which was launched by the Government's Economic Development Plans of the 1960s.

Following these beliefs, on January 24th 1969 at the age of 24, Chairman Jun-Ki Kim founded Miryung Construction Co., Ltd. (presently Dongbu Corporation) with KRW 25,000,000(equivalent to US$ 25,000) capital and two employees. Right from the beginning, his philosophy for the Company was based on working toward establishing an "Excellent Company". "Miryung" is a Korean word that means "rising beautifully" and clearly represents the Chairman's ambitious aspirations.

The "Excellent Company" that Chairman Kim has envisioned since establishing Dongbu is based on the following: 1) A company with good human resources; 2) A company that is dedicated to improving consumers' lifestyles; 3) A stable company; 4) A company that realizes shareholder value and provides good benefits to its employees; and 5) A company that gives something back to its customers and to society.

Chairman Kim's ideals are firmly established as Dongbu Group's administration philosophy today, and they remain the fundamental driving force of Dongbu Group in both overcoming challenges and achieving even greater accomplishments.

"When I established Dongbu Group my goal was to create a qualified company, that is, an 'Excellent Company' where good people can work hard. An 'Excellent Company' should secure the trust of its shareholders and customers through sound and stable business activities; it should also generate maximum profits by creating added value, and it should aim for continuous development through constant reinvestment and technological development. Also, all employees should form a unified community with trust and love to create an ideal workplace; therefore, it is vitally important to establish a desirable welfare system for employees and a sound labor-management relationship. A company that has all of these qualities is an 'Excellent Company', and we shall put forth constant efforts to make Dongbu an 'Excellent Company'. "
- Chairman Jun-Ki Kim

Besides the aforementioned motivation for the establishing his company, the administration philosophy of Chairman Jun-Ki Kim can be better understood by examining his general views toward administration, in other words, his administration vision.

Chairman Kim regards a company as the symbol of capitalism and the core of democratic and capitalistic development. Moreover, he believes that a company is not only the subject of the economic activities entailed in production for profit, but it's also a cultural body that actively contributes to creating cultural values and better lifestyles while in the process of producing and supplying products. Appropriately, his company has created a harmony between profit-making and social justice

Chairman Kim believes that "a businessperson should nurture people with true hearts in the same way a farmer plants seeds and grows them, always thinking and devoting himself to his work with the spirit of an artisan, and maintaining a reasonable mindset." In particular, a businessperson in today's age of spontaneous competition should have clear career objectives in order to generate accomplishments based on efficiency, and a philosophical and long-term vision. In order to do so, a businessperson must undergo endless self-development, suffer self-sacrifices and, above all, possess self-management.

Chairman Kim also emphasizes the ability to adapt to changes and develop administration skills, integrity, and insight in choosing righteous personnel as essential virtues of a business administrator.

Chairman Kim views a company as an organization that not only simply produces and sells products, but also creates human beings, emphasizing that one of the major roles of a business administrator is to nurture personnel.

The personnel Dongbu aims to nurture consists of those who have righteous values, special talents, and humane hearts, and those who make an effort to realize the administration philosophy.

(1) A Businessman Who Values Philosophy and Vision

Chairman Kim boldly chose his life path as a businessman because he firmly believed that companies are the symbols of capitalism and that contributing to the development of society by running a company would not only be a realistic contribution but also a royal summons given to him as a young man in a poor country.

Chairman Kim thought the tourism and leisure industry would be the most suitable to attract foreign currency, considering Korea's limited land and scarce natural resources. Accordingly, he then established Dongbu Corporation to obtain and develop real estate, Dongbu Express to develop tourist's attractions and provide transportation for the tourists, and Dongbu Trust Bank to manage housing and traveling funds.

Foreseeing the degradation of the construction market in the Middle East, while it was still flourishing in the 1970s, Chairman Kim stretched his business into three separate fields - construction and transportation, steel and chemicals, and finance and insurance - investing all of the foreign currency he had obtained in the Middle East. Dongbu Group's business stretch was not a simple expansion, but rather Chairman Kim's strategic plan aimed at developing key industries to contribute to the national economy.

(2) A Businessman Who Values Reality

Chairman Kim has been exerting constant effort to emphasize and implement a "righteous administration" based on his administration principles, and to abide by the essential roles of the Company.

While other companies that had entered into the Middle Eastern market concentrated on investing in real estate, Chairman Kim always stayed on a righteous path, maintaining his own pace to implement what he thought was valuable--like reinvesting in domestic industries for the multi-expansion of business. Rather than attaching to external growth, Chairman Kim stabilized internal growth and demonstrated his insights into the future, developing Dongbu Group into Korea's leading stable company in spite of the many risks involved.

Chairman Kim does not like those who pretend to know what they do not know or those who do not attempt to learn what they do not know. He prefers those who have flexible attitudes to continuously pursue further studies and who are willing to think rather than stubbornly attaching to undesirable decisions.

(3) A Businessman Who Values Personnel

From the beginning of the Company's establishment, Chairman Kim has always employed only those who were absolutely necessary for the success of the organization. He has demonstrated his passion and ability to express his ideals and ambitions many times over, ultimately persuading those who needed a little persuasion.

Chairman Kim often quotes the epitaph of A. Carnegie's (1835~1919) 『The Gospel of Wealth』, which made a big impression on him when he read it during his school years. The epitaph reads, "Here lies one who knew how to get around him men who were cleverer than himself." He continues to apply his impressions from the epitaph to his business administration principles today.