Chung's business ventures steered through the tumultuous times of Japanese colonial rule in Korea as well as the post-Korean War stresses on the economy.

[4] The fast-paced atmosphere of the town along with the articles in newspapers Chung read sparked his imagination; he soon grew tired of the poverty that he and his family had to endure.

At the age of sixteen, Chung and a friend decided to travel to the city of Seishin (Chongjin, currently in North Korea) for work in hopes of escaping the harsh realities of farm life.

[3][5] After a 15-mile trek through the most dangerous parts of the Paechun valley, the pair reached the town of Kōgen (Kowon, currently in North Korea) where they took up jobs as construction workers.

The journey that Chung and his friend had embarked on made him realize his passion for civil engineering and gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Once he returned to his home village of Gasan-ri in Tsūsen-gun, he devised another escape plan: this time towards Keijō (formerly Hanseong, currently Seoul).

He worked first as a laborer at Jinsen Harbor (Incheon, currently in South Korea),[3][5] a construction worker at Boseong Professional School and as a handyman for a starch syrup factory.

After considering the reality of restrictions imposed on Koreans in certain industries by the Japanese colonial government, Chung decided to enter the automobile repair business.

Chung won major government contracts and became responsible for building much of South Korea's transportation infrastructure, including the Soyang Dam in 1967, the Gyeongbu Expressway in 1970, the world's largest shipyard in Ulsan, the Kori Nuclear Power Plant among others.

Chung also won contracts from the United States Forces Korea to build facilities for their personnel as his younger brother could speak English and was on good terms with the U.S. Army engineers.

During the North Korean invasion of 1950, Chung abandoned his construction projects and fled with his younger brother to Busan for safety.

Chung continued to build onto the company by gathering any kind of work he could get from the United Nations Command and the Korean Ministry of Transportation.

The foundation was organized into four major areas of service: medical support, social welfare, research and development, and a scholarship fund.

Through its efforts, the foundation established nine hospitals throughout South Korea, built Ulsan Medical College, and funded the Asan Life Sciences Research Institute.

President Kim Dae-jung wanted to provide a $100 million donation as a way to jump-start economic development in North Korea under his Sunshine Policy.

Kim persuaded Chung to increase his investment by $100 million with money from secret loans provided by the government-controlled Korea Development Bank.

The historic 2000 inter-Korean summit took place, with Chung traveling across the border in a motorcade of cars containing some 1001 "unification cows" as a gift to the North Korean people.

[13] His wife, Byun Joong-seok, died on 17 August 2008, at the age of 88, due in part to long-term heart complications,[14] and was buried in a family graveyard in Hanam, along with her husband and their son.