Park Seung-jik

Park Seung-jik (朴承稷, 22 June 1864 – 20 December 1950) was the founder of Doosan Sangheo, the origin of the Doosan Group. His art name was Maheon (梅軒).

Life

Born in Imae-ri, Dolma-myeon, Gyeonggi Province Gwangju County, Park Seung-jik entered Baeogae around 1890 under the trade name "Park Seung-jik Store." Beginning in 1916, following a suggestion from his wife Jeong Jeong-suk, he made and sold cosmetics, and in 1920 he registered them under the brand name Park Ga-bun.¹ Afterward, in 1925, he changed the business to a modernized accounting system and renamed it Park Seung-jik Store Co., Ltd.

After liberation on 15 August 1945, his son Park Du-byeong (朴斗秉) took over the business and founded Donyang Brewery. In 1946, the following year, he reopened Park Seung-jik Store as "Doosan Sangheo," thereby becoming the origin of the Doosan Group.²

Pro-Japanese activities of Park Seung-jik

³When the first Resident-General Itō Hirobumi was killed by An Jung-geun in 1909, the founder Park Seung-jik participated as a sponsor (41 in total) and a committee member (100 in total) of the "National Memorial Assembly" that mourned Itō Hirobumi.

This National Memorial Assembly was hosted by the Hanseong Bumin Association and promoted jointly by various organizations. The Hanseong Bumin Association was organized from the "Greater Japan (Empire) Crown Prince Welcome Hanseong Bumin Association," a semi-official, semi-private temporary organization that welcomed the Japanese Crown Prince's "tour of Korea" in October 1907, and was reorganized into the Hanseong Bumin Association the following year under the leadership of Yu Gil-jun (see Lee Yong-chang, "Studies on the History of the Korean Independence Movement").

Park Seung-jik's pro-Japanese activities continued throughout the colonial period. In 1919 he took part as a director of the Joseon Economic Association, a pro-Japanese organization founded by Park Yeong-hyo, Choi Jin, and others, and in 1922 he participated as a sponsor of the Joseon Industrial Club and served as an officer of its council. The Joseon Industrial Club was an organization founded in 1920 by prominent economic figures with the aims of friendship and "Japan-Korea harmony" (日鮮融和). The Pro-Japanese Encyclopedia also records that in April 1924 Park Seung-jik was appointed a council member of Dongmin-hoe (同民會), a pro-Japanese organization that advocated opposition to anti-Japanese movements and Japan-Korea harmony.