Doosan chief selected as new leader of South Korea's biz lobby

Park Yong-maan, the chairman of Doosan Group, was selected to head the Seoul chapter of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the local business lobby said Monday. The Seoul chapter of one of the country's leading business lobbies approved his nomination earlier Monday, two weeks after he was named for the top post of the business lobby that speaks for about 140,000 big companies as well as small and medium enterprises. The nomination as the Seoul chapter head concurrently makes him the head of the KCCI as a whole. The business lobby is scheduled to officially select Park as its chairman next Wednesday. "I will make my best effort to do my job to ensure I will not undermine the achievements of former chairmen," Park said, noting he feels a deep sense of responsibility. Park's father and brother also served as the head of the KCCI. The selection came weeks after Sohn Kyung-shik quit the top job of the KCCI to lead CJ Group, whose chairman was detained on charges of creating secret funds and evading taxes. Park is credited with transforming Doosan, a maker of consumer goods, into a company that has businesses ranging from power generation and desalination to engines and machine tools.