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| ▲ Haedong Group / Chairman Chanho Kim | ||
Haedong Group is famous for its landmark buildings such as Haedong World Tower, Haedong Central Tower, and the Twin Building. Based in Yongheyon-dong, Uijeongbu City, the construction company has expanded its cope of business to textile and trade and achieved remarkable sales figures in both domestic and overseas market. Taking the momentum, Chairman Chanho Kim pushed forward successfully a number of buildings that raised the capability of the company further: Haedong Bon Tower, Haedong Two Tower, Haedong Three Tower, and Haedong One Tower (ongoing).
From a country boy to a successful businessman
Kim jumped into construction in 1994 by engaging in the remodeling of Dongjin Textile. He was born in Jeongeup City in North Jeolla Province and made a fortune in textile, trade and construction industries. He visited Seoul where his brother was studying and decided to stay there when he got a job at a textile company. Though humble he was at the beginning, his philosophy in life made the man he is today: “Do your best with passion, then you will get what you want”.
Helping people in need
Having witnessed his dream come true, he started engaging in various volunteer activities home and abroad by taking the wheel of the Korea Disaster Relief on 1st March, 2014 to which made a donation of 200 million won. Right after inauguration, he met with the sad and shocking news of the Sewol ferry sinking into the sea. He immediately packed up with his team and ran down to Paengmog Harbor on 16th April and joined a relief team providing daily necessities for the families of the victims. On January 2015, he led his team to the site of the great fire incident in Uijeongbu City and offered free meals to the affected alongside quenching the fire.
The volunteer activities of Kim not only have taken place in South Korea but also overseas: he donated 22 houses for poor people in Cambodia in August 2014; in May 2015, he rolled up his sleeve to sanitize dead bodies of those who lost their lives to the great earth in Nepal in an effort to prevent a disease spreading, alongside donating 200 bags of rice to the families of the victims; in the same month, he donated 170 boxes containing footballs, badminton rackets and balls to youths in the Hai Duong region in Vietnam.
Receiving the Order of Service Merit from Prime Minister of Cambodia
In recognition of his services and contributions to socially beneficial activities, Kim received the Order of Service Merit from Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, on 1st Stemptember 2014. The next year in January 2015, Kim received the Korean Wave Awards in the category of businessmen for his contribution to development Korean culture and in October the same year received a citation from the mayor of Uijeongbu City at the 44th Citizen’s Day ceremony. It is notable that he also received the best citizen’s prize of Jeongeup City on the occasion of the 21st Jeongeup Citizen’s Day.
Gathering these of his achievements and praises, Kim now is pouring his passion in building a mega scale commercial building of 6 floors underground and 49 overground in Uijeongbu City which is expected to be a new landmark of the city.
강진성 기자 wlstjdxp@naver.com
