The Hanjin Group is a South Korean chaebol. The group has various industries covered from transportation and airlines to hotels, tourism, and airport businesses, and is one of the largest chaebols in Korea. The group includes Korean Air (KAL), which was acquired by the founder Cho Choong-hoon in 1969, and was the owner of Hanjin Shipping (once the largest shipping company in Korea) before its bankruptcy. In 2013, Hanjin Group officially switched from cross ownership to a holding company structure with the establishment of Hanjin KAL Corporation. The group is controlled by descendants of Cho Choong-hoon, and many construction chaebols are the major shareholders of Hanjin KAL.
History
Hanjin started at the end of World War II, in November 1945. Early on, its biggest customer was the U.S. Army, providing the transportation of material to both Korea and Vietnam. The company signed a major contract with the US 8th Army in November 1956, and another contract in March 1966, with all of the U.S. armed forces in Vietnam, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force with cumulative profits reaching at the $150 million mark over a 5-year period [1966-1971].[1] In November 1969, Hanjin made its entry into the containerized shipping business signing a deal with