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GS Group checks on biz trends in key exec meeting: Chairman Hur receives honorary doctorate from St. Louis University

GS Holding Chairman Hur Chang-soo presided over a meeting of the group'top executives totaling some 150 at GS Tower in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul May 18.
The meeting is held once in every quarter in a year mainly to exchange information on the group's management plans and their progresses and listen to an invited speaker to talk about current management trends in a seminar type setting. Chairman Hur opened the gathering this time and invited speaker was Lee Jong-seon, president of Image Design Consulting Co. Executives discussed current issues facing each of affiliates of the group.
Chairman Hur told the meeting that they should check up on the impact the KOR-US FTA will have on business in the country, especially, on their companies and be prepared for the changes to be caused by the free trade agreement which will further open the economy to foreign countries.
The chairman said the group has been able to meet its targets during the Q1 and encouraged the executives for doing their best to achieve the targets. But he went on to warn that they should pay attention to the changing management environment rather than feeling relaxed over the Q1 results.
He said as he glance over the business conditions ahead, he found that they seem harder than first imagined in the early in the year, mentioning China's restrictive policies to grip on inflation and unstable U.S. property market, causing its financial market to tremble.
Hur said part of domestic indicators have been improved, but many experts agree that there still remain the danger of market changes in high stages. He also said the projections for oil prices and interest rate boosts in major countries don't seem to be normal in outlining the risk factors facing the management environment.
The chairman also warned that various unstable factors could undermine the growth of the world economy including the U.S. economy, adding that domestic demand is being contracted in general with real estate market cooling. Despite the concerns, the new economies like those of India and China continue to grow sustaining its growth attained last year and political situations in northeast Asia show signs of improving including the relations between the U.S. and North Korea, touching on positive changes in the business environment.
Commenting on the FTA with the U.S., he said the agreement opens virtually every sector of the economy except some areas, therefore, it could considered a substantially high-level one. The negotiations on direct investment have been able to hammer out an advanced result much more so than expected, for example. He felt, he said, competition and liberalization were highly intensive issues in our time as shown during the FTA negotiations.
In the meantime, Chairman Hur received an honorary doctorate from St Louis University. The university located in St. Louis, Missouri, said Hur, who earned a MBA at the university, said he set up a core management vision and ideals in a short time since the GS Group separated from the LG Group in Mach, 2005.
As the head of the new conglomerate, he actively involved himself in running the group's affiliates, establishing the group engaged in a wide-range of business areas, including energy, distribution, and service in a short period of time, the university said in citing Hur's achievement, which was good enough to earn the kudos.
The university also cited Hur's charity work to help the poor, contributing funds to various charities with his own funds. He set up the Namchon Welfare Fund to help the low-income families to build a base for them to find means to sustain their livelihood and provide free medical services, education, and scholarships to do his social work as a successful business executive.
Hur also spoke at a MBA awarding ceremony, about what he felt when he got the MBA from the university and his experiences as a leading business executive in Korea.
Hur recalled that the Korean economy has had to overcome a number of crises in the past to be where it is today, the world's 10th largest economy. It had to grapple with the oil crisis in the 1970s, the labor strife in the '80s and the financial crisis in the '80s, adding that Korea was able to tide over the crises thanks to its abundant talented manpower. He said training manpower has been so that they can create values has been a key work for Korea. "We should always share courage with them by giving them praises and encouragement in order to foster a talented pool of manpower,"he said. nw

Chairman Hur Chang-soo of GS Group.