Doosan chief offers to quit, taps nephew as successor

Doosan Group plans to elect Park Jeong-won, head of Doosan Corp., as the industrial conglomerate’s new chairman when it holds a shareholders’ meeting on March 25, group officials said Wednesday.

Park, 54, will replace group chairman Park Yong-maan, who also heads the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The officials said the board of Doosan Corp, the group’s holding company, recommended Park Jeong-won to lead the power equipment and construction conglomerate.

Before being elected to the chairmanship, Park will take office as chief of Doosan Corp.’s board of directors. Traditionally, Doosan Corp.’s board chair has served as the group chairman at Doosan.

The new chairman-designate, the oldest great grandson of group founder Park Seung-jik, is a nephew of the outgoing chairman.

"I think it is a right timing for the succession with my board membership at Doosan Corp. expiring,” Park Yong-maan said, adding that he has prepared for the replacement since last year.

After stepping down from the group chairmanship, Park Yong-maan plans to continue to serve as chairman of Doosan Infracore, one of the group’s key affiliates.

Group officials said the outgoing chairman will also continue to dedicating himself to the KCCI, the nation’s biggest business association, as chairman, to represent the interests of business circles.

Since Park Doo-byung, the group’s first chairman and the only son of the founder, passed away in 1973, the third-generation family members of Doosan have kept a tradition of the “management by brothers,” regularly replacing the board chair of the holding company.

“The emergence of Park Jeong-won means that the conglomerate will usher in the fourth-generation management,” said an industrial analyst.

One of imminent tasks ahead of the new Doosan chairman is to prove his managerial capability by turning the faltering group around, other industry observers said.

The growth of Doosan, whose main businesses are related to infrastructure construction and construction equipment, has been stagnant for years due to the prolonged global economic slowdown.

Park Jeong-won joined Doosan in 1985 and has served as president of Doosan Engineering & Construction.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)