CNN spotlights Chung Ju-yung memorial concert, reaching 180 countries

A memorial concert honoring the 25th anniversary of Chung Ju-yung's death — founder of Hyundai Motor Group — has reached audiences worldwide through CNN. The broadcast captured not only the performances but also rehearsals by world-class pianists and the behind-the-scenes work of craftspeople, shining a light on Chung's pioneering spirit and philosophy of "innovation for people."

Hyundai Motor Group announced Tuesday that CNN's flagship cultural program "Showtime" had broadcast the preparation process and behind-the-scenes story of the Asan Chung Ju-yung 25th Memorial Concert: Resonance Continues, held at Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall in February.

"Showtime" focuses on the planning and backstage stories of major cultural and arts events around the world. This marks the first time the program has dedicated an episode solely to a Korean cultural event. The broadcast aired four times on CNN International from June 27 to June 29, reaching more than 180 countries including South Korea, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Through its narration, "Showtime" described the concert as "a musical portrait of the life of Hyundai Motor Group founder Chung Ju-yung, who was born into a poor farming family and made a significant contribution to rebuilding South Korea after the war." The broadcast covered both the meaning of the concert in commemorating the founder's spirit of challenge and exploration, and the intense preparation that went into bringing it to the stage.

The memorial concert brought together four of the world's top pianists — Kim Sun-wook, Sunwoo Yekwon, Cho Seong-jin and Lim Yunchan — on a single stage under the theme "Resonance Continues." It is considered highly unusual for soloists of their caliber, each active independently on the global stage, to collaborate for a single performance.

The concert opened with Kim Sun-wook and Cho performing Schubert's Fantasy for Four Hands, followed by Sunwoo and Lim presenting Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos. The evening concluded with all four pianists performing together — Wagner's "Tannhäuser Overture" and Liszt's "Hexameron," both arranged for four pianos.

The concert originated from a proposal by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung. Speaking at the event, Chung said he was deeply moved after attending a four-piano recital in 2009 at his wife's suggestion, and that he had begun planning the concert with pianist and conductor Kim Sun-wook a few years ago. "If I had asked my grandfather, he would have said, 'What are you hesitating for? Just do it,'" he said.

Kim Sun-wook described the concert as "a project prepared not merely as an act of remembrance, but with reflection on the achievements of founder Chung Ju-yung and the legacy that continues to this day." He added, "It feels like a dream that four people active in different parts of the world could gather in the same place at the same time — it was no easy feat."

The broadcast also gave detailed coverage of the rehearsal process, highlighting how the four pianists coordinated their individual interpretations and wove them into a unified musical flow, as well as the work of unseen professionals who helped complete the stage.

The program featured craftspeople at the Steinway factory in New York assembling grand pianos from more than 12,000 parts, as well as Lee Jong-yeol, South Korea's first master piano tuner, bringing the four concert pianos to peak condition. The broadcast emphasized that the concert's excellence was the product of collaboration among countless specialists, not just the performers on stage.

Cho Eun-ah, a professor at Kyung Hee University's College of Humanitas, said in the broadcast, "Even looking back at Korean music history 100 years from now, this concert will be remembered as deeply meaningful."

A Hyundai Motor Group official said it was "especially moving to have been able to introduce to audiences around the world not only the performances of top-tier artists but also the intense preparation behind them," adding that the sight of artists and unsung professionals giving their all resonated with founder Chung Ju-yung's people-centered management philosophy, allowing the concert to leave a deeper impression on viewers.