What i learnt Reading The Autobiography of Chung Ju-Yung:Born of This Land
3 main points stood out while i read the book, Born Of This Land, about the Founder, Chung Ju Yung, of the South Korean Conglomerate, Hyundai.
Innovation, Hard Work, Hiring A-players!
- Innovation
I mean let’s repeat it again, How did an Obscure peasant, Chung Ju Yung, From a Developing Country, South Korea, Constantly build Groundbreaking companies and a conglomerate that directly competed with Multinational Corporations?
- He built the Hyundai Cars in 1967
- Hyundai Shipyard in 1972, that established South Korea as a Shipping Base.
- He outbid American, British Firms for a mammoth $1B contract to construct Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Port in 1976.
- Reclaimed 155 square metres of wetland & established Seosan Farm, South Korea’s biggest Farm
South Korea had a GDP of $3.1B in 1967 compared to the United Kingdom’s $110B & The USA’s $850billion
In 1985,South Korea’s GDP had quickly risen to $88B compared to the United Kingdom’s $630B & The USA’s $4.2trillion
How did He achieve all of this Without any significant Patents to his name? Moreover, in a country with such a low per-capita income?
He constantly Innovated…
- Hyundai built a fuel efficient Car named, Pony, after Oil Price’s quadrupled in 1974 that sold over 500,000 units in Britain and directly competed with British Firms.
- He adopted a design and build strategy that enabled him to simultaneously construct the world’s largest Shipyard in 1974 alongside ships!
i.e. He built a ship while he was simultaneously constructing a shipyard, side by side!
- He constructed Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Port in 36 months by installing Beams alongside Jackets , yetany mistake could have cost millions of dollars, The traditional way was Jackets first, then beams saving time & a shitload of money!
What was His Framework?
He said
“people who are slavish to conventional thinking will never come up with good ideas. If you only think in accordance with what you learned through academic books, your imagination will be limited to that .”
“I am someone who believes that if a person limits themselves to the fixed ideas inherent in common sense, they will not be very creative. People with a strong will to succeed have unlimited potential and creative abilities. By bringing together all of this potential, the collective energy of a people can be unleashed”
- Hard work, Grit, Determination!
Hyundai Construction completed The Jubail Port in Saudi Arabia within 42 months, from June 1976 to December 1979, 10 months ahead of schedule!!!
Hyundai commenced construction of the Ulsan shipyard in March 1972 and completed it by June 1974, totalling approximately 26 months. Yet, a similar project would take over 5 years in a developed Country!!!
Chung Ju Yung said;Foreign entrepreneurs and specialists in economic policy always ask me the same question: “How did Korea manage to achieve such rapid economic growth without natural resources or capital?” My response to this question is always clear and simple. ‘This was made possible by the Korean people, who are among the world’s most outstanding and industrious workers”
- Hiring A-players in Management
- Kim Young-joo
When Chung Ju-yung set out to build the Ulsan shipyard, he didn’t have deep pockets or shiny new machinery. In fact, he was so strapped for cash that he had to rely on old, second-hand construction equipment — the kind most people would send to the scrapyard.
But here’s where it gets wild: one of his crew, Kim Young-joo, managed to dredge 4,500 cubic metres a day using this worn-out gear.
> Quick explainer: Dredging is basically scooping up mud, sand, and debris from the bottom of a water body to make it deeper and suitable for building harbors or ports. It’s messy, slow, and physically demanding work — and essential when you’re building something massive like a shipyard.
Now here’s the jaw-dropper: Kajima, a top-tier Japanese shipyard with brand-new, high-tech equipment, could only dredge 3,000 cubic metres a day!
With rusted machines and raw determination, Hyundai was already outworking world-class competitors.
- Kim Seyung
In 1973, Hyundai shocked the business world by terminating its partnership with Ford—yes, Ford, one of the most powerful and valuable companies on Earth at the time. Chung Ju-Yung had the audacity to walk away from the deal.
The pressure of building cars from scratch nearly broke him. At one point, Chung even considered giving up on car manufacturing altogether.
But then came Kim Se-Yung, a determined executive with a bold idea:
Instead of giving up, why not build a Korean domestically manufactured car?
Se-Yung proposed partnering with a lesser-known but nimble Japanese firm—Mitsubishi—to co-develop an engine.
He, Se-yung, then hired Giorgetto Giugiaro, one of the world’s top automobile designers, and flew to London to recruit George Turnbull, the former president of British automotive giant Leyland Motor Corporation—a behemoth of its time.
Se-Yung didn’t just propose a plan—he executed it with surgical precision.
The result? The Hyundai Pony—South Korea’s first domestically produced car and a breakout success in global markets, including the West.
South Korea’s rapid Transformation & Hyundai’s Growth could be summarizedin one Quote
“If at first you don’t succeed, Try Hardwork
William Feather
You can listen to Our Podcast on Chung Ju Yung on:
Apple Podcast:
Pocket Cast:( Use Pocket Casts if Spotify isn’t available in your region)
Spotify :
pca.st/v366xnh6