Life Summary
Woo Oh-heun is the chairman of Samra Midas (SM) Group.

He was born on November 6, 1953, in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, as the seventh of eight siblings.

He graduated from Gwangju Commercial High School and earned a degree in architectural engineering from Gwangju University. He also obtained a master’s degree in moral education from the Graduate School of Education at Chosun University.

As a high school student, he began his business career by starting a poultry farm. In 1988, he founded Samra Construction, the predecessor of SM Group, and entered the construction industry.

Through aggressive mergers and acquisitions, he elevated the company to the ranks of mid-sized conglomerates, reaching over KRW 10 trillion (US$ 7.2 billion) in assets and climbing to 30th place in Korea’s business rankings.

He has presented a vision of transforming SM Group into a global shipping and diversified corporation, aiming to play a key role in revitalizing Korea’s shipping industry and growing into a logistics hub in Northeast Asia and beyond.

He has been called “the prodigy of the business world” and “a master of mergers and acquisitions.”

However, he faces significant challenges, including financial and governance weaknesses, volatility in core industries, and uncertainty over succession.

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