Eighty-five years in one table — from his birth at Imnang-ri in 1927 to his death in December 2011. Use the tabs above to read a period at a time, with photographs.
| Year | Age | Events |
|---|---|---|
| 1927 | – | Born in Imnang-ri, Jangan-myeon, Dongnae (today Jangan-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan), the eldest of six children of Park Bong-gwan and Kim So-sun (29 September by the lunar calendar). |
| 1932 | 5 | His father, Park Bong-gwan, leaves for Japan. |
| 1933 | 6 | He follows with his mother. He spends his childhood and school years in Japan. |
| 1945 | 18 | Enters the mechanical engineering department of Waseda University. |
| 1946 | 19 | Leaves Waseda in his second year. |
| 1948 | 21 | While in training with the Busan constabulary, selected as a cadet in the 6th class of the Korea Military Academy. There he first meets Park Chung-hee, then a company commander teaching ballistics. Commissioned a second lieutenant on 28 July after the six-month course. |
| 1950 | 23 | The Korean War breaks out. Ordered to withdraw from Miari south of the Han River, he retreats, and in August fights in the battle of the Hyeongsan River at Pohang. He advances north as far as Chongjin before joining the January 4th Retreat. |
| 1953 | 26 | Awarded the Chungmu, Hwarang with Silver Star and Hwarang with Gold Star distinguished service medals during the war. Enters the Army College after the armistice. |
| 1954 | 27 | Graduates first in his class and is appointed dean of academic affairs at the Korea Military Academy. Marries Jang Ok-ja on 20 December. |
| 1955 | 28 | Promoted to colonel. |
| 1956 | 29 | Enters the National Defense College; on completing the course, appointed professor in charge of its second programme, on national policy. Moves to the Ministry of National Defense in November as head of the personnel section. |
| 1957 | 30 | Meets Park Chung-hee again in October, then chief of staff of I Corps. |
| 1958 | 31 | As commander of the 71st Regiment, 25th Division, leads his unit in the Armed Forces Day parade. Appointed head of personnel administration at Army Headquarters. |
| 1959 | 32 | Visits the United States as head of a study mission. |
| 1960 | 33 | Serves as personnel officer to Park Chung-hee, commander of the Busan Logistics Base Command. After Park is demoted he travels to the United States a second time, for three months at the U.S. Army Adjutant General School. |
| 1961 | 34 | Serving on the career management body at Army Headquarters when the May 16 coup takes place; works at the martial law command from the morning of 16 May. Appointed chief of staff to the chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, and standing member for commerce and industry on its Finance and Economy Committee. Leads a trade mission to Europe and surveys its industry. |
| 1962 | 35 | Takes part in drawing up the First Five-Year Economic Development Plan, and presses hard for reforestation financed by anthracite development. |
| 1964 | 37 | At Park Chung-hee’s insistence he gives up study in the United States and spends ten months travelling Japan as a special envoy, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. First meets Yasuoka Masahiro. Named president of Korea Tungsten Mining on 8 December. |
| 1965 | 38 | Hwang Kyung-no, Noh Joong-yeol and Hong Keon-yoo join him at Korea Tungsten, which returns to profit within a year. The president of Kawasaki Steel is invited to the presidential office; Park Chung-hee visits Pittsburgh and discusses an integrated steelworks with Foy, chairman of Koppers (26 May). |
| 1967 | 40 | Appointed chairman of the committee to promote construction of an integrated steelworks. |
| 1968 | 41 | The name Pohang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. — POSCO — is settled, and the company is founded at the UNESCO building in Seoul on 1 April, with him as its first president. A site office (“Rommel House”) opens on Yeongil Bay; ground is prepared for the plant, and land bought and building begun for employee housing. |
| 1970 | 43 | The “Hawaii Idea” of 1969 — diverting the Korea–Japan claims settlement funds — is realised, and Park Chung-hee grants him discretion over the purchase of equipment (the “paper mapae”). |
| 1971 | 44 | Establishes the Steel Scholarship Foundation. |
| 1973 | 46 | First tapping from No. 1 blast furnace on 9 June; the Pohang Works is completed on 3 July. Korea’s first integrated steelworks begins operating, at 1.03 million tonnes of crude steel a year. |
| 1975 | 48 | Founds the Korea Iron & Steel Association and becomes its first chairman. |
| 1978 | 51 | POSCO is chosen over Hyundai as the operator of the second integrated steelworks. Named Person of the Year by the Dong-A Ilbo. |
| 1980 | 53 | Chairman of the First Economic Committee of the Legislative Council for National Security; elected Korean chairman of the Korea–Japan Parliamentarians’ Union. Gwangyang Bay is fixed as the site of the second steelworks. |
| 1983 | 56 | Dredging and reclamation begin for the Gwangyang Works. |
| 1986 | 59 | POSTECH opens. |
| 1987 | 60 | POSTECH holds its first entrance ceremony. The Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST) is founded. The first phase at Gwangyang is completed, and he receives the 114th Bessemer Gold Medal of the Metals Society in Britain (13 May). |
| 1988 | 61 | Elected to the 13th National Assembly as a proportional-representation member for the Democratic Justice Party. |
| 1990 | 63 | Becomes chairman of the Democratic Justice Party. On the founding of the Democratic Liberal Party, joins its supreme council. |
| 1991 | 64 | POSTECH holds its first commencement. |
| 1992 | 65 | The fourth phase at Gwangyang is completed and with it the quarter-century undertaking at POSCO, reaching 21 million tonnes of crude steel a year. He resigns as chairman, is named honorary chairman, and retires from politics. |
| 1993 | 66 | Begins his years abroad. |
| 1997 | 70 | Wins the by-election for the Buk-gu seat in Pohang. Joins the “DJT” alliance and becomes president of the United Liberal Democrats. |
| 1999 | 72 | Meets President Kim Dae-jung weekly, working on economic recovery and political reform. |
| 2000 | 73 | Steps down as president of the United Liberal Democrats and takes office as Prime Minister. Resigns on 19 May. |
| 2001 | 74 | Undergoes surgery in New York, at a Cornell University hospital, to remove a cyst beneath the lung. |
| 2002 | 75 | Returns to Korea after the surgery. Pohang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. changes its name to POSCO. |
| 2003 | 76 | Invited as an adviser to the China Development Research Foundation, he speaks on the Chinese economy at the China Development Forum 2003 at Diaoyutai in Beijing. |
| 2004 | 77 | The biography “Park Tae-joon, the World’s Greatest Steelman” is published. |
| 2008 | 81 | Becomes chairman of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation. |
| 2010 | 83 | Gives a special lecture at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. |
| 2011 | 84 | Dies at 5:20 p.m. on 13 December, and is buried at the Seoul National Cemetery in the section for those who rendered distinguished service to the state. |