Chey Chul-won Former president of M&M

By Lee Hyo-sik

A younger cousin of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who is currently under police investigation for assaulting a trucker with a baseball bat, was also found to have threatened a neighbor over a noise dispute in the past.

Local broadcaster SBS reported Saturday that in June 2006, Chey Chul-won, the 41-year-old former CEO of SK Group affiliated logistics firm, Might & Main (M&M) Corp., threatened a housewife living in the apartment below his with an aluminum baseball bat after she had filed a complaint with a security office because of the extreme level of noise upstairs.

After receiving a call due to the complaint from the office, Chey and three other men came downstairs, said the housewife who was identified only by her surname Kim.

“I clearly remember that Chey held an aluminum baseball bat and the three others had clubs. Chey grabbed my husband by the collar as soon as he opened the door. The violence came to an end only when police officers showed up,” Kim said on TV.

In fear of further violence, Kim’s family moved to a new place immediately after the incident. A security guard confirmed Kim’s story, saying Chey and others blackmailed the family. “They moved out of the apartment a month after they were threatened. No other residents dared to complain about Chey’s behavior afterwards.”

Under the law, those who threaten others’ life with a weapon can be subject to at least one-year prison term even if both parties reach a compromise. But the police did not take the incident seriously, and did not book Chey and the others on charges of threatening violence.

“I am sure that Chey has been using violence against others over the years. Although from the latest incident, he will finally be held responsible for his violent actions,” Kim said.

On Dec. 2, Chey appeared before the police for questioning over an allegation raised by a laid-off trucker who he had brutally assaulted with a baseball bat and then paid him 20 million won in compensation. When asked by reporters about the alleged act, he said he was sorry for what he did.

The case was made public by MBC’s investigative program that aired on Nov. 28.

The 52-year-old trucker, identified only by his surname Yoo, claimed that Chey had hit him more than 10 times with an aluminum bat and beat him with his fist at Chey’s office in central Seoul on Oct. 18.

According to the program, Chey savagely beat the trucker who struggled to dodge the blows, shouting at the victim, “1 million won for one hit.”

He said on TV that during his visit to Chey’s office to discuss the sale of his truck, he was beaten over 10 times in front of company executives and paid 20 million won afterwards for the physical abuse.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency plans to reprimand an officer at Jongno Police Station, who initially disregarded the incident.

On Nov. 1, the officer questioned Yoo over a complaint filed by M&M that he unlawfully disrupted company business. At the time, Yoo said he was beaten by Chey and given money to stay quiet.

But the officer did not begin an investigation into the case and did not report to his superiors about the complaint, the agency’s internal affairs division said.