[THE INVESTOR] Starfield Hanam, an enormous shopping and entertainment mall, has become the new hot spot in the past month.
Located in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, southeast of Seoul, the shopping mall attracted more than 1.5 million visitors within 10 days of its Sept. 9 opening.
Equivalent to 70 soccer stadiums combined, the massive mall is a collaboration of South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Group and US shopping mall centers management firm Taubman Centers.
Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin and Taubman Centers CEO Robert S. Taubman pushed to set up the mall’s operating firm Hanam Union Square, with a 51 percent stake held by Shinsegae Group and the rest by Taubman Asia, an Asian unit of Taubman Centers.
Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin(right) and Taubman Centers Ceo Robert S. Taubman at the Sept. 9 opening ceremony for Starfield Hanam in Hanam, Gyeonggi Provice. The Investor |
At the opening ceremony, Taubman said the project was thoroughly promoted by Chung, and praised his persistent spirit.
However, the two business leaders share more than just a mindset on running the mega-sized shopping mall.
Chung and Taubman each have a degree in economics from a US university. Chung studied economics at Brown University, Taubman at Boston University.
Both joined their family business in their 20s and later reached chairmanship. Chung, then a 27-year-old, entered Shinsegae in 1995 as the group’s strategy and planning team director. He was promoted to vice chairman in 2006. Taubman was a 23-year-old college graduate when he started his career at Taubman Centers in 1976. He spent 35 years there and was appointed chairman in 2011.
The two are father to four kids as well. Chung has two kids from a previous marriage with famous actress Go Hyun-jung and twins with his current wife, flutist Han Ji-hee. Taubman has three sons and one daughter with his wife, author Julia Reyes Taubman.
Chung is Korea’s 48th wealthiest man, at 683.9 billion won ($601.9 million) in assets, including a 9.83 percent stake in E-mart, a discount chain under Shinsegae.
Taubman holds 5.37 percent of shares in Taubman Center, worth 900 billion won.