Dongbu Chairman Kim Jun-ki

By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

When two dozen reporters were squeezed onto a tight minibus for a two-hour drive down south to Dongbu Steel's new mill, they weren't talking about the company's accomplishment. Instead, journalists in the know about Dongbu's finances echoed each other that the low-budgeted ride closely reflects the firm's money problems.

Battling with dire cash shortages, the steel maker's parent Dongbu Group was one of the first local firms to be put on the government-backed restructuring list in May. Since then, the conglomerate has been scrambling to unload some of its key assets to raise cash.

But Dongbu Group's founding chairman Kim Jun-ki apparently had a different take on the situation. And he made sure to get his point across to the press in his first news conference in 37 years.

``Our cash shortage is only temporary, largely resulting from the steel mill construction. There is no business that runs without borrowing from banks,'' said the 65-year-old in unscheduled comments that ended up lasting for one-and-a-half hours.

Kim spoke almost non-stop ― from telling his childhood story to pouring out his business philosophy ― but his long-winded answers always somehow wrapped up with remarks fending off concerns surrounding Dongbu's financial standing.

This is only natural for the traditional hands-on entrepreneur who was closely involved every step of the way to grow the mid-sized conglomerate, now covering everything from construction and finance to semiconductors.

Kim is known to be expansionary and driven, like many of the country's top entrepreneurs. But the difference with him is that he comes from a well-to-do family. His father Jin-man was a famous and wealthy politician, and was the National Assembly's former speaker at one point in his career.

Still, none of this meant he was easy when it comes to doing business. Tough and stingy are how people label the Dongbu chief, all of which should make today's reality harder for him to swallow.

But Kim's elaborate and openhearted speech downplaying market concerns actually had observers wondering if the chairman has a full grasp of the situation.

Despite the fact that the company's semiconductor subsidiary Dongbu HiTek has been making a loss for almost a decade, Kim expressed no intention to fold the business. Instead, he hinted that other assets such as the firm's real estate and Ulsan petrochemical plant will be sold off to support the failing unit.

Following the chairman's remarks, analysts immediately renewed their concerns that the top boss isn't aware of the long-running, fundamental problem dragging down the entire conglomerate.

``Not knowing the problem ― that's the real problem,'' said one local credit analyst.

As such, skepticism continues to mount, but at least for Kim, who has a strong vision for steering Dongbu, continuous expansion is the way to go. And the media-shy chairman wasn't scared to tell it as it is.

In fact, he wasn't afraid to talk frankly about how he felt about public officials in the government.

``South Korea is a country of public officials,'' he gushed, ``but companies should be run by businessmen, and what we need now is to foster more entrepreneurs.''

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr