Moon Kook-hyun

Education

Born in Seoul, Moon studied English language at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, graduating with a Bachelor in 1972, then took a postgraduate course in Business Administration at the Seoul National University.

Career

Moon began his career at Yuhan-Kimberly(유한킴벌리), a company manufacturing paper and woven fibre products. In 1983, he spent a year in the United States, taking some new management concepts. On his return, he developed the concept of "environmental management", focusing on digital printing technologies and the use of recycled paper.

In 1995, Moon became Chief Executive Officer of Yuhan-Kimberly.

In 1996, Moon was appointed committee director of the United Nations Environment (United Nations Environment Programme) of Korea Development Organization. Faced with a financial crisis in 1997, he developed a new shift system where workers worked twelve-hours shifts for four days running, then took four days official

In August 2007, Moon resigned from Yuhan-Kimberly to run in the South Korean presidential election, 2007. Moon is a Roman Catholic.

On April 9, 2008, Moon beat the close confidante of Lee Myung-bak (president) Lee Jae-oh (Gross National Product, Incumbent), by more than 11%.

Although the harsh loss of South Korean liberal candidates especially in Seoul at this 2008 election, his campaign against "the Grand Korean Canal" project boosted his popularity in his electoral division and across the nation.

Achievements

• In the election, Moon won 5.8% of the votes for fourth place.