SEOUL - Choi Won-suk, the former chairman of the now-defunct Dong-Ah Group, died on Wednesday due to a chronic illness at the age of 80.
According to a news release by Yonhap News Agency, Choi was instrumental in elevating Dong-Ah Group to become South Korea's 10th-largest business conglomerate during the 1980s. The group was heavily involved in construction projects in the Middle East, including the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya in 1983.
However, the group faced significant challenges following the collapse of a bridge built by its primary construction unit in 1994 and liquidity problems during the financial crisis of 1998. The group eventually declared bankruptcy in 2001.