Hyosung honorary chair Cho Suck-rai dies aged 89

Industry

Published: 29 Mar. 2024, 19:54 Updated: 31 Mar. 2024, 16:08

Hyosung honorary chair Cho Suck-rai dies aged 89

Hyosung Honorary Chairman Cho Suck-rai [HYOSUNG]

Cho Suck-rai, the honorary chairman of Hyosung Group, died at the age of 89 on Friday.

The eldest son of the Hyosung Group founder Cho Hong-jai, he served as the chairman of the chemical and textile conglomerate from 1982 and stepped down from the post in 2017 after 35 years.

Known for his eye for product quality and technological prowess, the junior Cho established Hyosung’s corporate technology research lab in 2017, the first of its kind for a private company in the country.

As an eminent figure in the business realm, the late chairman also served as chief the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) from 2007 to 2011. He was acclaimed for his achievement in private diplomacy regarding Japan and the United States, as well as for fostering connections for Korea within the global business community.

A graduate from Waseda University in Japan with a bachelor’s degree in applied chemistry, Cho proceeded to earn his master’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in chemical engineering and was on track for a Ph.D. course before joining Hyosung in 1966.

He spearheaded the foundation of some of the group's key subsidiaries, including Hyosung Heavy Industries.

His leadership is considered to be the deciding factor behind the global market success of Hyosung’s flagship products, including the spandex brand Creora.

Hyosung Group Honorary Chairman Cho Suck-rai shake hands with former U.S. President George W. Bush at Jeju Summer Forum in July 2009. [HYOSUNG GROUP]

Moreover, Cho was a firm advocate of stronger global ties within the business circle between Korea and Japan, as well as with other countries including the United States and China. During the negotiations for the Korea-U.S. free trading agreement, Cho took part in private diplomacy with officials of the U.S. government and Congress.

He was awarded the Korea-Japan Forum Award for his contribution to improving bilateral ties and leading economic growth in 2023.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and his mother Hong Ra-hee visited the funeral altar at 2p.m. Saturday, which was held at the Sinchon Severance Hospital's funeral home in western Seoul.

Lee stayed at the funeral for about 30 minutes, and quietly left without taking questions from the local press.

Ties between the Hyosung and Samsung Group go back decades in history. The late Hyosung founder Cho Hong-jai and the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul jointly founded and operated Samsung Trading Corporation, which is now known as Samsung C&T, in 1948. The late Cho broke away from the company to establish his own company now known as Hyosung in 1962.

Lee and the incumbent Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon studied together at Keio University for their master’s degrees.

Hong stayed for nearly for three hours to comfort Cho’s wife Song Kwang-ja. Hong and Song are alumni from the Seoul National University’s College of Fine Arts.

Cho's funeral procession will be at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, LEE JAE-LIM [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]