Dongkuk Steel 4th Generation Jang Seon-ik "Top Priority is Employee Safety and Eco-friendliness"

Promotion to Sangmu followed by reporting to Incheon Plant the next day

Photo by Jang Seon-ik, Executive Director of Dongkuk Steel Mill

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Jang Seon-ik, executive director and eldest son of Jang Se-ju, chairman of Dongkuk Steel, and the fourth generation of the founding family, emphasized his commitment to developing the Incheon plant as a representative site for eco-friendly manufacturing. Jang was promoted to executive director in the year-end regular executive personnel reshuffle and transferred to oversee production at the Incheon plant.

In an interview with Asia Economy on the 16th, Jang said, "The top priority is the safety of employees and a clean environment," expressing his thoughts upon taking charge of the site.

He stressed, "The Incheon plant operates large and heavy machinery at high elevations, which poses significant accident risks, making employee safety the most important issue." He added, "The Bukhang area, where Incheon Port is located, is an industrial complex, and we are working together with other companies to develop it into an eco-friendly industrial zone."

Jang is the great-grandson of the late Jang Kyung-ho, honorary chairman and founder of Dongkuk Steel. He joined Dongkuk Steel’s Strategic Management Office in January 2007, served as a resident officer at the U.S. and Japan subsidiaries?key export markets?and worked in the Legal Team in 2015 and the Strategy Team in 2016.

His appointment as head of production at the Incheon plant follows the tradition of the Dongkuk Steel owner family. Both his father, Chairman Jang Se-ju, and uncle, Vice Chairman Jang Se-wook, have hands-on experience at the plant. Notably, Chairman Jang worked in the steelmaking department at the Incheon plant just two years after joining the company in 1980 and was reassigned there again upon his promotion to executive director in 1991. At that time, he personally led the planning and installation of Korea’s first direct current electric furnace, drawing attention in the steel industry. It is a well-known anecdote that Chairman Jang often recalls the ramen he ate with employees on-site as the most delicious.

Since the day after his personnel appointment, Jang has been commuting to the Incheon plant and directly managing the site. The Incheon plant holds significant meaning for Dongkuk Steel. Its annual production capacity totals 4.4 million tons (2.2 million tons each for steelmaking and long products), making it the largest among major plants, with the long products division accounting for more than half of sales.

A Dongkuk Steel official explained, "Electric furnace steelmaking uses scrap metal to produce rebar and long products, which are the foundation of downstream industries, making the Incheon plant the closest to the essence of Dongkuk Steel’s business. For Executive Director Jang, the Incheon plant is a facility imbued with his father’s personal touch."

Regarding next year’s management plan, Jang was reserved, saying, "The business plan briefing has not yet concluded." Dongkuk Steel is known to focus on strengthening its fundamentals rather than large-scale investments in 2021.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.