Professor Soon Hoon Bae is a business scholar and Chairman of S&T Heavy Industries. He graduated from Kyunggi High School and Seoul National University's Department of Mechanical Engineering, received a PhD in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and then took his first steps into society as an engineer at BorgWarner Corporation in the United States. He subsequently served as an assistant professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), then worked as an executive at Daewoo Group affiliates including President and Chairman of Daewoo Electronics, Vice President of Daewoo Engineering, and Vice President of Daewoo Shipbuilding.

In 1998, he served as the 4th Minister of Information and Communication of the Republic of Korea, and from 2003 served as Chairman of the Northeast Asian Economic Hub Promotion Committee under the Presidential Advisory Policy Planning Committee.

Later, from 1999 to 2008, he served as Distinguished Visiting Professor (tenured position) at KAIST, and from 2006 to 2008 served as KAIST Seoul Vice President and Graduate School of Business Dean.

From 2009 to 2011, he served as Director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. He received the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Iron Tower in 1988, the Korea Science and Technology Award in 1989, the Korea Business Leader Award in 1993, and the French Legion of Honour, and was awarded the 8th Person of the Year Information and Communication Award and the Order of Service Merit, Blue Stripes and Red Stripes of the Republic of Korea. He has also served as an outside director for Zeus Corporation and S.C. Johnson, and as an advisor to various companies including Monitor Group, CVC, and Macquarie Group.