By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter


SEOUL—Chung Ju Yung, a onetime construction worker who built Hyundai Corp. into a worldwide conglomerate symbolizing South Korea’s economic miracle, only to see it suffer through a family succession battle and a severe financial crisis at the end of his life, died on March 21. He was 86.

Chung, who had reportedly been suffering fatigue and weight loss for months and was hospitalized March 2 with pneumonia, had difficulty breathing March 21 afternoon and died several hours later at a company-owned hospital in Seoul.

In the latter years of his life, Chung forged South Korea’s most significant economic ties with North Korea, where he was born, meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il three times. The business detente helped forge the summit in June between leaders of the two Koreas, divided more than half a century ago.