Dr. Yung Duk Kim

Dr. Yung Duk Kim was elected to a two-year term as chairperson of the board beginning in July 2003. He previously was vice chairperson of the board, which he joined in 1998.

Born in Korea, Dr. Kim has held many leadership positions with Asian and Asian American businesses and nonprofit organizations since moving to the United States in 1974. His accomplishments have included contributing to the growth of the Hyundai Group in the United States; increasing cooperation and understanding among people, companies and nations; and broadening social and economic opportunities for Asian Americans.

Dr. Kim served as president and chief executive officer of the Hyundai Corporation (USA), the trading and financing arm of the Hyundai Group in North America, for 10 years until his retirement in 1997. In that post, he oversaw such diverse functions as marketing, financing, technology-transfer operations, and project and contract negotiations. Earlier, as senior executive vice president of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., he founded and built that unit’s Off-shore Engineering and Development Division into a world leader in deep-sea gas and oil exploration and production. Dr. Kim continues to serve as an adviser to Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Among his current business endeavors, Dr. Kim is an independent consultant on corporate management, technology transfer, financing and restructuring. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of Woori American Bank. He also advises the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industries in the U.S. (KOCHAM), of which he is a former chairman of the board, and the Korean American Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Greater New York.

Before joining the Hyundai Group in 1976, Dr. Kim managed major international projects for engineering consulting firms based in Toronto and New York. Prior to entering the private sector, he designed and supervised construction of port facilities as an officer in the Civil Engineering Corps of the Navy of the Republic of Korea.

A longtime contributor to nonprofit institutions, Dr. Kim played a key role in establishing The Korea Society and has helped it promote relations between the United States and South Korea as a member of its board of directors since 1987. Dr. Kim also serves on the executive committee of the board of Korea Forum International, which fosters U.S.-South Korea cooperation and understanding, as well as on the board of the Korean American League for Civic Action, which provides leadership training for Asian Americans. In 2003, he was elected chairperson of the board of the Korean American Association of Greater New York, which represents Korean Americans in the New York metropolitan area.

Dr. Kim holds a B.S. from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario, both in civil engineering.