[1] Hyundai Construction played a major role in the importation of Korean laborers to the Middle East to work on construction projects in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the decade following 1975, Hyundai signed their first contract in the region for construction of a shipyard for the Iranian Navy near Bandar-e Abbas.

800,000 Koreans went to work in Saudi Arabia and another 25,000 went to Iran; Hyundai was their largest employer.

[4] As of March 2007, HDEC is the main shareholder of Hyundai Merchant Marine, which is the de facto holding company of Hyundai Group.

The former president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, was a former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction.