Sungeun Park, Chairman of GBM – Korea-U.S. Friendship Association
First met Trump in Manhattan in 1998
Supported three presidential elections
GBM grew to become one of the top 10 building management companies in the U.S.
Contributed to bilateral friendship by establishing the Korea-U.S. Friendship Association
Korean-American rights should be fully realized through politics

Business Leader

Sungeun Park, chairman of General Building Maintenance (GBM) and president of the Korea-America Friendship Association, is a leading Korean-American businessman in the South Central region of the United States. Mr. Park founded GBM in 1983 and built it into one of the top 10 building management service companies in the U.S. He is also the Honorary President of the 23rd World Korean Business Congress, which opens on April 17 in Atlanta, Georgia.

His motto for success is “work for others, not yourself. He founded GBM not to make money, but to help immigrant Koreans find jobs as the president of the Atlanta Korean American Association.

Mr. Park is close to US political leaders, including US President Donald Trump. Starting with Ronald Reagan’s campaign for president in 1979, Park has helped many candidates across party lines, including Republicans and Democrats such as Andy Kim, who ran for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey.

“President Trump may be rhetorical in his relationship with South Korea, but it shouldn’t be taken literally,” he says, adding, ”As proud as he is of South Korea, I don’t think he’s going to actually do anything unfavorable to South Korea.”

Here’s what he had to say

-Hansang is a prominent figure close to President Trump. What kind of relationship?

▷Daewoo E&C’s real estate project in East Manhattan was stalled when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis hit. I met Mr. Trump in Manhattan in 1998 while I was scrambling to help Daewoo E&C secure financing. Our relationship grew and we supported his campaigns during his three presidential runs. As a result, he was invited to attend the inauguration.

-I have a lot of concerns about Trump’s second term. What is the outlook for U.S.-Korea relations in the future?

▷Trump’s strategy is the same as the “shock and awe” operation during the US-Iraq war. It is a strategy of first striking and then pulling back. He’s also going to put the brakes on relations with South Korea. But don’t take Trump’s words literally. We need to be smart. I have no doubt that the U.S. leadership, including Trump, will not actually do anything unfavorable to South Korea.

-I am confident that they will not do anything unfavorable to Korea because.

▷The U.S. has fought wars and provided aid for many other countries, not just South Korea. The people of South Korea are the only ones who have received help, and they are grateful and defend the U.S.-South Korea alliance. This is why Trump sees Korea differently. He is proud of Korea.

-He’s proud of Korea.

▷He immigrated to the United States with the intention of succeeding, but he had to make connections to become a ‘backup’. I caught the attention of former President Reagan when I donated $1,000, my monthly income, to his first campaign. Since then, I’ve supported the campaigns of nearly every Republican presidential candidate. As a result, I served as a Republican National Committee member eight times. The first and only Korean-American to do so. Twice, he was among Georgia’s 15 presidential electors.

-He became politically active as an executive because.

▷There are many people who are more capable than me, but they are hiding. Korean-Americans are a hard-working people, but they are underrepresented in politics in the United States. We have the ability to be the best in American society, but because we don’t participate in politics, we don’t realize our full rights. However, there is hope for the younger generation. Andy Kim, the first Korean-American senator, is a prime example. If he is re-elected in six years, something great will happen.

-How do you see the future of U.S.-Korea relations as president of the Korea-America Friendship Association?

▷Korea and the United States are like brothers. People in the U.S. don’t see it (the relationship with Korea) the same way as other countries like Japan or China. There have been some bumps in the road, such as anti-American incidents, but we need to continue the good relationship.

-Hansang is the most successful businessman in the U.S. state of Georgia, and his secret is.

▷The secret is that he did not work for himself but for others. In 1981, he became president of the Atlanta Korean American Association. At the time, his mother was widowed and he was struggling to raise two young children and work as an insurance salesman. Then the recession came in 1983, and I saw about 12 people who couldn’t find a job and were panicking, so I started a cleaning company with the idea that I would find them jobs myself. Within a year and a half, we had $1 million in sales and a waiting list of clients. The people who got jobs were grateful and worked really hard.

-How did you come to the United States?

▷I first came to the United States in 1974. When I was a cartwright at the U.S. Army base in Pocheon, my boss in the U.S. Army paid for me to study in Indianapolis after I got out of the army, but I only went to college for two years and started working as an insurance salesman in 1975. In 1978, he moved to the warm state of Georgia, where he has lived ever since.

Born in Seoul, Korea, in 1942; President of the Korean American Association of Atlanta in 1981; First President of the Southeast Korean American Association of the United States from 1982 to 1983; Founded GBM in 1983; President of the National Federation of Korean Americans from 1991 to 1992; Founded the Korea-U.S. Friendship Association in 1996; Awarded the Camellia Medal of the Korean National Medal in 2000; Inducted into the Georgia Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame in 2006; Awarded the Ellis Island Award in 2024

[Correspondent Yoon Won-Sup Yoon in Atlanta]

Source: Maeil Business

https://www.mk.co.kr/news/world/11242105