DL Group, Dawn of the Donuimun Era... Holding Company System Launching Next Year

Relocation from Daerim Building, Susong-dong, Gwanghwamun to D Tower Donuimun
Built 81 Years of Innovation and Growth Starting from Bupyeong, Incheon
Group Companies Unite to Pledge Leap as a Global Developer

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] DL Group (formerly Daelim Group), which will launch as a holding company system in January next year, has opened the Donuimun era.

On the 22nd, DL announced that it will use the D Tower Donuimun Building located at 134 Tongil-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul as its headquarters. Employees of DL E&C who worked at Daelim Building in Susong-dong, Jongno-gu, and D Tower Gwanghwamun, as well as employees of affiliates such as DL Chemical and DL Energy who worked at the Namdaemun Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have moved to D Tower Donuimun.

D Tower Donuimun is a building with 7 basement floors and 26 above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 86,224㎡. Six DL Group affiliates and about 3,000 employees will work there. DL plans to focus the group's capabilities in the new headquarters to continuously innovate and pioneer new markets, aiming to leap forward as a global developer.

Founded in 1939 as 'Burim Sanghoe' in front of Bupyeong Station in Incheon, DL has repeatedly innovated and grown while relocating to Yongsan-gu Dongja-dong and Gwanghwamun in Seoul over 81 years. DL has been seeking the optimal timing to pursue independent growth strategies for its construction and petrochemical businesses. Through corporate division, it aims to pursue individual growth strategies tailored to each industry's characteristics and enhance shareholder value and maximize shareholder profits through corporate value re-evaluation. Additionally, it plans to transition to a holding company system to establish transparent corporate governance. To support this, the existing internal transaction committee will be expanded and reorganized into a governance committee composed entirely of outside directors. To operate the board of directors centered on outside directors, a senior outside director system representing outside directors will also be introduced.

The existing Daelim Industrial will be reorganized into a governance structure centered on the holding company, with construction and petrochemicals as the two main pillars. It plans to actively discover and promote developer businesses optimized for the competitiveness and capabilities of each business. The holding company, DL Co., Ltd., will focus on supporting and coordinating independent growth strategies for each affiliate. DL E&C plans to innovate productivity by integrating digital innovation technologies and grow from a traditional construction company focused on orders into a total solution business operator centered on developers. DL Chemical plans to expand production facilities for existing general-purpose products and diversify production bases, while entering high value-added specialty businesses such as lubricants and medical new materials, aiming to become a global petrochemical company.

▶ Starting as Burim Sanghoe in front of Bupyeong Station, Incheon

DL began on October 10, 1939, when Chairman Jaejun Lee, the founder, opened Burim Sanghoe in a thatched house near the rotary in front of Bupyeong Station on the Gyeongin Line in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon. At that time, most of the Bupyeong area was a quiet agricultural region. However, Chairman Lee believed that Bupyeong, located at a midpoint connecting Incheon and Yeongdeungpo industrial complexes and crossed by the Gyeongin Line railway and national roads, would soon become a core area of the Gyeongin industrial zone, which led him to start the business. Burim Sanghoe began as a building materials business handling lumber and hardware, achieving remarkable growth through establishing a sawmill and producing raw wood. Within about five years of its founding, the company grew from a capital of 40,000 won to 4 million won, employing about 150 full-time employees and 3,000 to 4,000 workers including site laborers and hired hands.

▶ Launch of Daelim Industrial, opening the Seoul era

In 1947, the company changed its name to Daelim Industrial and officially entered the construction industry. It opened a Seoul branch in Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, and began expanding its construction business based on its main business of lumber. In 1954, it completed and moved into a four-story building at the Dongja-dong Seoul branch site, which was considered a high-rise building in Seoul at the time, and began using it as its headquarters from 1967. After liberation and the Korean War, reconstruction projects began in earnest, and Daelim participated in restoring national facilities and public buildings as well as constructing plants and other key national infrastructure. Through the economic development plans starting in 1962, it excelled in various fields such as roads, railways, dams, ports, power plants, and residential-commercial complexes. It also quickly ventured into overseas construction markets. On January 28, 1966, it won a contract worth $877,000 for pile driving work at the Lach Gia port in Vietnam, ordered by the U.S. Navy Facilities Engineering Command, and in early February of the same year, it transferred the construction advance payment to the Bank of Korea, setting the record as the 'first overseas construction foreign currency earning.' In November 1973, it established a branch in Saudi Arabia and won a contract worth $160,000 for an oil refinery plant ordered by Aramco, achieving the 'first overseas plant export.' Subsequently, on September 1, 1975, it won a contract for an oil refinery plant construction in South Africa, becoming the first Korean construction company to enter Africa.

▶ Opening of the Susong-dong era, achieving a history of innovation

In October 1975, construction began on a new headquarters at 146-12 Susong-dong, Jongno-gu. In December 1976, the 'Daelim Building' in Susong-dong was completed and occupied, marking the start of the Susong-dong era. At the time of construction, the Daelim Building was a state-of-the-art building with 3 basement floors and 12 above-ground floors, covering 20,000㎡. The building was expanded in 1984 and remodeled in 2002, serving as the headquarters for 44 years.

Daelim Industrial has continued crisis management and innovation activities based on fundamentals and principles as Korea's oldest construction company. Since the construction company performance evaluation system was introduced in 1962, it has maintained its status as one of the top 10 construction companies for 59 consecutive years. In 1980, it established the first technology research institute among construction companies and achieved domestic localization of cable-stayed and suspension bridge technologies, as well as commercialization of the first building in Korea fully self-sufficient in heating and cooling energy, marking a history of construction technology innovation in Korea. In the housing sector, it launched the first apartment brand, e-Pyeonhansesang, in 2000, opening the era of branded apartments, and recently has led the high-end residential brand market with projects such as Acro River Park and Acro Seoul Forest.

In 1979, it entered the petrochemical business by acquiring Honam Ethylene. Honam Ethylene was merged in 1987 and launched as Daelim Industrial's petrochemical division. In 1991, it established the Daedeok Research Institute for petrochemicals. In 1993, it developed its own polybutene manufacturing technology, and in 2007, it succeeded in the commercial production of metallocene polyethylene for the first time in Korea. In 2015, it was recognized for its technology by exporting a license (polybutene) to the U.S. market, the first among Korean petrochemical companies. In 2019, it accelerated portfolio expansion and overseas market entry by acquiring the Cariflex division of Kraton, a U.S. company producing surgical glove latex, for $530 million (about 620 billion won).

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