Park becomes Man U ambassador

Retired Korean football star Park Ji-sung has become the ambassador of his former club, Manchester United of the English Premier League, the club announced Sunday. 

Marking his appointment, the former midfielder stepped onto Old Trafford’s hallowed turf once again, before the kick-off at the team’s home fixture against Everton on Sunday. 

Joining him at the stadium was his former coach and another club ambassador, Alex Ferguson. 

Former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung (left) shakes hands with former coach Alex Ferguson as Park is introduced as the new ambassador for the club before the team’s English Premier League soccer match against Everton at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Sunday. (AP-Yonhap)

As the ambassador, Park will attend various events and functions on behalf of the club, promoting the work it does within the community and with its partners, sharing anecdotes from his time at Old Trafford, Manchester United said in a press release. 

Park played for the renowned U.K. club for seven years from 2005-2012. In May this year, at age 33, he retired from the game after a long struggle with knee injuries. He is widely recognized as the most successful footballer that Korea, and all of Asia, has ever produced. 

“Some of the best moments of my life and career were spent here and I will never forget the great support I had from the club and the fans,” Park said. 

“I am looking forward to once again representing United and sharing some of these memories with our global fanbase.”

With Park’s appointment, the club has a total of six ambassadors ― most of them former players. 

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)

[Graphic News] Half of major firms’ board members come from SKY, overseas schools

Almost half of the executives at affiliates of the nation’s top 10 companies were found to be graduates of South Korea’s leading three universities or from schools abroad, according to Chaebul.com, a website devoted to conglomerate data. 

Up to 594 ― or 23.9 percent ― of the 2,483 surveyed executives were graduates of Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University, while another 22.6 percent were from overseas universities as of last year. 

Among the executives, 10.2 percent were from Seoul National University, while another 7 and 6.7 percent were from Korea and Yonsei Universities, respectively.

Following were executives from Pusan National University, Hanyang University, Sungkyunkwan University and Kyungpook National University. Only eight graduated from two-year vocational colleges, while another 11 were high-school graduates. 

The companies included in the survey were Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK hynix, LG Electronics, Lotte Shopping, POSCO, GS E&C, Hyundai Heavy, Korean Air and Hanwha Chemical.

Korean shipbuilders nudged out by Japanese rivals

South Korean shipbuilders fell behind their Japanese rivals in winning new orders for the third time this year in September, disadvantaged by the weakening Japanese yen, an industry tally showed Friday.

Chinese shipbuilders ranked No. 1 in September, followed by Japanese players and South Korean companies, according to data by global market researcher Clarkson Research Services.

South Korean shipbuilders lost to Japanese competitors in April and June this year as well. 

Local shipbuilders obtained new orders totaling 421,528 compensated gross tons in September, securing 20.7 percent of the global market share. Chinese shipbuilders took 922,800 CGTs, or a 45 percent share, and Japanese shipbuilders won 551,850 CGTs, equal to 27.1 percent. 

Market watchers said the increase for Japan is attributable to the narrowed gap between the prices of ships made by the firms of the three countries. (Yonhap)