POSCO honorary chairman Park dies at 84

SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- Park Tae-joon, honorary chairman of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO, died of lung disease on Tuesday. Park was 84. Park has been regarded as the godfather of the country's steel industry since he spearheaded a project to build Pohang Iron & Steel Co., POSCO's predecessor, in the southeastern port city of Pohang. Park left POSCO in 1993 after his political opponent Kim Young-sam took office as president. Despite industry skepticism, under founder Park's leadership, POSCO began production in 1972 just four years after the company's inauguration in April 1968. Park, who was regarded as an icon for the country's economic growth drives and industrialization, entered the political arena by winning a parliamentary seat in 1981. Since then, he served as a four-term lawmaker. The veteran politician also served as prime minister in 2001 under the Kim Dae-jung administration. He is survived by a wife, one son and four daughters. (END)