I believe that corporations whose founders' philosophy, pursued with conviction, lives and breathes throughout—like a fine work of art achieving harmony and balance—can contribute to all." (the late Cho Choong-hoon, founder of Hanjin Group)
Hanjin Group, which started with a single truck right after liberation and grew into Korea's leading transport and logistics group, marked its 80th founding anniversary on the 1st. Hanjin Group, led in succession by Cho Choong-hoon, Cho Yang-ho, and Cho Won-tae, said it will leap forward as a 100-year innovative corporations spanning from aerospace to artificial intelligence (AI).
At the 80th anniversary event held on the 23rd at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae said, "We have ceaselessly pioneered new paths in logistics under the founding chairman, the late Cho Choong-hoon's management philosophy of su-song-bo-guk (serving the nation through transport), and the dedication of the late former chairman Cho Yang-ho," adding, "Based on the Hanjin Group heritage shared by each affiliate, we will establish ourselves as the world's top integrated logistics corporations loved even after 100 years and beyond."
Hanjin Group took its first step into the transportation business on Nov. 1, 1945, three months after liberation, hanging out the signboard of "Hanjin Sangsa" at Haean-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon. In the hands of the 25-year-old founder Cho Choong-hoon were only one truck and an office. Five years after starting the business, Hanjin Sangsa had grown into a logistics company with about 40 employees and around 30 trucks.
A new opportunity for challenge came to Hanjin Group in 1969. Then-President Park Chung-hee asked it to acquire the state-run Korean Air Lines (KAL), which was suffering chronic deficits. Although it experienced ups and downs due to the Middle East wars and the oil shock, the acquisition of Korean Air became a springboard for Hanjin Group's rise as it overcame the crisis by actively introducing aircraft and opening international routes.
After the founder Cho passed away in 2002, Hanjin Group sought growth under former Chairman Cho Yang-ho, focusing on aviation, logistics, tourism, and hotels. It established the low-cost carrier (LCC) JIN AIR in 2008 and strengthened its logistics business by opening the Hanjin Incheon Container Terminal (HJIT) in 2016.
Hanjin Group took another leap after Chairman Cho Won-tae took office in 2019. A crisis arrived as the COVID-19 pandemic broke out right after his inauguration, but Cho proposed using Korean Air passenger planes as freighters, yielding big profits while the global airline industry reeled. In December last year, Korean Air succeeded in acquiring Asiana Airlines and is aiming to become a top-10 global carrier.
Hanjin Group also unveiled a new corporate image (CI) that reinterprets the group's symbolic "H" mark. The soft rising curve expressing the H embodies flexibility and dynamism, and the open circular design surrounding it conveys an open attitude and cooperation toward the global market, Hanjin Group said.
Hanjin President Cho Hyun-min (Emily Lee Cho) said, "We are proclaiming 'Group Vision 2045,' a future strategy for another leap toward the next 100 years," adding, "We will leap forward as integrated logistics corporations encompassing aerospace, future mobility, and e-commerce, and lead logistics technology innovation through AI-based hyper-autonomy."