Item number: M448

Year: AD 1979

The results after XRF testing

Material: Copper Alloy

Size: 39.5 x 39.5 x 3.0 mm

Weight: 28.7 g

Provenance: Private Collector, USA, 2025

This is a commemorative medal issued by Daewoo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. of the Republic of Korea.

At the centre of the obverse is the corporate logo used by the Daewoo Group between AD 1978 and AD 1994. The original logo—an oval formed by two opposing capital “D” letters representing “Daewoo”, with two vertical bars at the centre—has been modified here so that the central bars are rendered as five erupting, jet-like lines. The background of the emblem is composed of densely arranged circular dots and is enclosed by a surrounding ring. Along the upper arc of the ring appears the Chinese inscription “大宇重工業株式會社”, while the lower arc bears the English inscription “Daewoo Heavy Industries Ltd.”; the two lines of text are separated on each side by a circular dot. Both the emblem and the inscriptions are finished with a mirror polish.

At the centre of the reverse is a horizontal English inscription, “1979 YOUNG CHUL SUH PRESIDENT”, referring to Suh Young Chul (徐英哲), who assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of Daewoo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in AD 1979. Above this is the arched word “WELCOME”, and below it the arched word “KOREA”, which, given that Suh Young Chul was studying abroad at the time, may be interpreted as “Welcome back to Korea”. The overall surface is sandblasted. The rims on both obverse and reverse are encircled by a raised border, and the edge is smooth and mirror-polished. Whether this commemorative medal was presented to Suh Young Chul personally or to employees of Daewoo Heavy Industries remains to be determined.

Suh Young Chul (서영철, 徐英哲) was born in AD 1931 in Chungmu City, Gyeongsangnam-do. He was educated at Gyeonggi Public Middle School and Masan University, and later obtained a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University. During his military service, he held the rank of artillery major. In AD 1963, he passed the Higher Civil Service Examination (Administrative Service, Grade III, Class A) and entered the Office of the President, where he was responsible for handling civil petitions, including complaints, representations, and appeals. In AD 1965, he served as an aide in the Special Task Force for Tax Administration, which had been established that year. In AD 1966, he was appointed Director of the Investigation Bureau of the National Tax Service; in AD 1967, Director of the Direct Tax Bureau; in AD 1968, Commissioner of the Seoul Regional Tax Office; and in AD 1969, he returned once more as Director of the Investigation Bureau. During his tenure within the tax authorities, he carried out reforms of the tax inspection system and achieved considerable results. In the same year, he travelled to the United States to pursue further studies at Harvard University, where he obtained a degree in law. In AD 1970, he returned to Korea to assume the post of Director-General of the Planning and Management Office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and from AD 1971 to AD 1974 served as Vice Minister (Assistant Minister) of the same ministry. In AD 1972, he was involved in promoting a joint venture agreement between the Daewoo Group and partners in Indonesia. He subsequently returned to Harvard University, specialising in international economics and obtaining a doctoral degree. In AD 1979, he returned to Korea to assume the post of Chief Executive Officer of Daewoo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Daewoo Group, likely in order to capitalise on his extensive overseas experience; during his tenure, he promoted cooperation with Japan, Malaysia, and Myanmar. He left the post in AD 1980, after which his subsequent career is unclear.

The Daewoo Group was one of the most rapidly rising and most risk-oriented conglomerates to emerge during the Republic of Korea’s post-war process of “catch-up industrialisation”. In AD 1967, Kim Woo-choong, a graduate of Yonsei University who had previously worked in a large textile enterprise, resigned from his position and founded Daewoo Industrial against the backdrop of the government’s export-oriented development policy. Through acute judgement of overseas markets and an aggressively expansionist management style, the company swiftly evolved from a trading firm into a diversified conglomerate. During the AD 1970s, under the impetus of the Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan and the policy of heavy and chemical industrialisation, Daewoo entered machinery, shipbuilding, automobiles, electronics, and finance through a series of acquisitions, forming a highly diversified corporate structure and becoming known for its flexible use of policy-based finance and foreign capital. Unlike many traditional conglomerates, Daewoo displayed a relatively weak form of formal family ownership; Kim Woo-choong even transferred his personal assets to the group to avoid direct family shareholding. Nevertheless, studies have noted that actual managerial control was highly concentrated within a “core circle” of individuals trusted by the chairman, among whom alumni of Gyeonggi High School—often referred to as the “cradle of chairmen”—were particularly influential. This group formed an informal power network based on shared educational ties and dominated the group’s planning and personnel arrangements. From the AD 1980s onward, Daewoo continued to expand in electronics, automobiles, and global operations, and in the AD 1990s, under the banner of “global management”, embarked on large-scale expansion into Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and other emerging markets. However, this development model—characterised by rapid expansion and high leverage—quickly revealed its structural fragility under the shock of the Asian Financial Crisis. As external debt pressures spiralled out of control, liquidity dried up, and government financial support policies shifted, the Daewoo Group collapsed entirely around AD 1999.

物件編號: M448

年代: 公元 1979 年

XRF分析結果:

材質: 銅合金

尺寸: 39.5 x 39.5 x 3.0 mm

重量: 28.7 g

來源: 美國私人收藏 2025

這是一枚韓國大宇重工業株式會社所發行的徽章。

徽章的正面中央為大宇集團於公元1978至1994年間所使用的商標。將原始商標中，以兩個代表「大宇」(Daewoo)的「D」，背向組合成的橢圓形，其中間的兩道豎線，改為五道噴湧的線條。商標底色為細密的圓點，外側以環圍繞。環外上方環列漢字「大宇重工業株式會社」，下方環列「Daewoo Heavy Industries Ltd.」，兩行銘文間於兩側各以一圓點相隔。商標與銘文均經鏡面處理。

背面中央橫列英文「1979 YOUNG CHUL SUH PRESIDENT」，指的是公元1979年就任大宇重工業株式會社執行長的徐英哲(Suh Young Chul)。上方環列「WELCOME」，下方環列「KOREA」，由於徐英哲當時旅外留學，或許可以譯為「歡迎歸韓」。整體經噴砂處理。正背面章緣為環，稜(edge)為光滑鏡面。該章是贈予徐英哲，或大宇重工旗下員工，目前待考。

徐英哲(서영철, Suh Young Chul)，公元1931年生於慶尚南道忠武市。曾就讀京畿公立中學、馬山大學，後於首爾大學行政大學院取得碩士學位，兵役期間任砲兵少校。公元1963年通過高等考試行政職三級甲，任職於總統府秘書室，負責民願業務(申訴、陳情、請願相關)。於公元1965年編組的「稅務行政特別調查班」中出任輔佐官。公元1966年出任國稅廳調查局長，公元1967年出任國稅廳直稅局長，公元1968年出任首爾地方國稅廳長，公元1969年再度回任調查局長，於稅務機關任內進行稅務查察制度改革，取得相當之成果。同年赴美國哈佛大學進修，取得法學學位，公元1970年歸國任商工部企劃管理室長，公元1971至1974年任商工部副部長(次官補)，公元1972年曾推動大宇集團於印尼的合資協議。後再度赴哈佛大學，專攻國際經濟學，取得博士學位。公元1979年歸韓任大宇集團旗下，大宇重工業株式會社的執行長，大概是為借重其海外經歷，任內曾推動與日本、馬來西亞、緬甸等的合作。公元1980年去職，此後經歷不詳。

大宇集團是韓國戰後「趕超型工業化」過程中崛起最快、也最具冒險性的財閥之一。公元1967年，出身於延世大學、曾任職大型纖維企業的金宇中辭去原職，在政府推行出口導向政策的背景下創立大宇實業，憑藉對海外市場的敏銳判斷與高度進取的經營風格，迅速由貿易公司發展為跨產業集團。公元1970年代，在第三次經濟開發五年計畫與重化學工業化政策的推動下，大宇透過一連串併購行動進入機械、造船、汽車、電子與金融等領域，形成高度多角化的企業結構，並以靈活運用政策性金融與外資引進著稱。與多數傳統財閥不同，大宇在形式上呈現家族統治相對淡薄的特徵，金宇中甚至將個人資產移交集團，避免直接家族持股；然而，研究指出，其實際經營核心高度集中於董事長個人所信任的「核心圈」，其中尤以畢業於京畿高中、被稱為「董事長搖籃」的同窗群體最具影響力，形成以學緣為紐帶的非正式權力網絡，並主導集團的企劃與人事配置。進入公元1980年代後，大宇在電子、汽車與全球化布局上持續擴張，公元1990年代更以「全球經營」為口號，大規模進軍東歐、中亞與新興市場；然而，這種以高速擴張與高度負債為特徵的發展模式，在亞洲金融危機的衝擊下迅速暴露出結構性的脆弱。隨著外債壓力失控、資金鏈斷裂與政府金融支援政策轉向，大宇集團於公元1999年前後全面瓦解。