Han Chang-woo


Han Chang-woo is a Korean-born Japanese businessman who is the CEO of the pachinko management company, Maruhan.

Early life

Han was born in Korea and secretly entered Japan in October 1945. He obtained Special Permanent Resident status and attended Hosei University, graduating with a degree in economics in 1952.

Career

Shortly after graduation, he took over a pachinko operation run by his brother-in-law in Kyoto. He founded Maruhan Corporation in 1972. Han became a Japanese national in 2002.

Philanthropy

He has announced that he intends to give away his entire fortune to foster Korean and Japanese relations before he dies. More recently he has pledged to up his culture fund based in Japan to 140 billion won and an education fund in Korea to 10 billion won.

Awards

Controversy

A lawsuit was filed in September 2020 in the U.S. Territory of Guam alleging that he had unlawfully taken away $300 million in stock owned by one of his daughters. The Suit also claims that Han Chang-Woo's motivation for this action was to force his daughter to divorce her second husband, an African-American businessman and retired pro basketball player.