Dongwon’s Kim Jae-chul recounts a life built on the ocean in autobiography

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Dongwon’s Kim Jae-chul recounts a life built on the ocean in autobiography

Published: 21 Aug. 2025, 18:25 Updated: 22 Aug. 2025, 10:23

PARK EUN-JEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

The cover of Dongwon Group founder Kim Jae-chul's autobiography "Sailing Through Life's Storms" [DONGWON GROUP]

From modest beginnings as a fisher on a deep-sea vessel, Kim Jae-chul built Dongwon Group into a formidable player in the global seafood industry.

After acquiring the U.S. tuna brand StarKist in 2008, the Korean conglomerate has since claimed the title of the world’s largest producer of canned tuna.

In “Sailing Through Life’s Storms,” the founder and honorary chairman of Dongwon Group depicts his dramatic journey and moments of critical choices that transformed a small fisheries company with 10 million won ($7,151) of initial capital into an industry giant.

Kim Jae-chul, founder of Dongwon Group, delivers a lecture marking the publication of his autobiography on April 23. [DONGWON GROUP]

An English edition of the book was published on Aug. 21 following its initial Korean release in April.

The first chapter deals with pioneering his career centered on the sea over a stable path. He forwent Seoul National University for the National Fisheries University of Busan, inspired by the advice of his teacher, which “stirred something deep” within his mind.

He then started off as an unpaid trainee officer on a distant-water fishing vessel — an experience that propelled him into building his own company.

The second chapter explored how Kim expanded Dongwon Group into Korea’s major enterprise, spanning fisheries, finance, and manufacturing. Even as the company grew, he remained present in the “field” of the business, venturing into other business sites and oceans.

He recounts that his relentless curiosity and wide reading have sparked new business ideas, while his imagination has translated them into reality. He is still busy formulating new business ideas, such as land-based salmon farming.

He also emphasizes “destination management,” where a person sets a clear goal first and plans backward from the endpoint, and the need for “adaptive management,” the ability to respond swiftly to changing environments.

Another avenue of focus is principled management that complies with ethical and legal standards. His life path somewhat speaks for itself because he is a rare chaebol chief without any record of financial crime.

The autobiography ends in a question and-answer format, an excerpt based on actual lectures given to young people. He states that his intention in releasing an autobiography is to empower and encourage younger generations.

Kim champions a spirit of challenge, the courage to find one’s own path, the importance of human relationships and the value of meaningful failure.

Born in 1934, the author earned his bachelor's degree in fisheries engineering from the National Fisheries University of Busan.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [[email protected]]