Former Korea Mechanical Equipment Construction Association Chairman Park Jong-hak died on the 6th. He was 81.
After graduating from Seoul Technical High School and Hanyang University College of Engineering, Park founded Dongsan Tech in 1971 and entered the mechanical equipment industry. He later served as the Seoul chapter head of the Korea Mechanical Equipment Construction Association and as the association's 6th chairman from 2005 to 2008.
During his tenure, he led the separation of indoor mechanical equipment works for bidding at the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) and pushed for the introduction of a joint prime contractor system for local public corporations. Building the association's online certificate issuance system, which laid the groundwork for online civil services, is also cited as a key achievement.
In particular, during discussions on lifting the ban on concurrent operations between general and specialized construction, he secured a four-year grace period for the mechanical equipment construction business, helping protect the industry's scope of work. He also improved the system to reflect the four major social insurance premiums, including the National Pension and health insurance, in construction costs, a result viewed in the industry as meaningful.
He also expanded the industry's scope into new areas by promoting work such as system air conditioners, geothermal heating and cooling, automatic remote metering, and installation of intelligent control systems, broadening the growth base of the mechanical equipment industry.
For these contributions, he received a commendation from the Board of Audit and Inspection chief, the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, and the Construction Industry Development Achievement Award.
The wake has been set up in Special Room 1 at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital funeral hall. The funeral will be held at 5 a.m. on the 9th, and the burial site is Cheonan Park Cemetery. He is survived by his spouse, Cho Ok-hwan, and children, Park Sang-soon, Park Joo-hyun, and Park Soo-hyun.