SK chairman's daughter becomes consultant

By Kim Jae-won

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s oldest daughter has joined Bain & Company’s Seoul office as a consultant, the U.S.-based consulting company said Thursday.

Chey Yun-jeong, 25, was recruited earlier this year by the consulting firm and is working as a junior consultant. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Chicago after attending an international high school in China.

Market watchers said consulting firms are popular destinations for children of chaebol owners before joining their family’s conglomerates because they can strengthen business networks and learn perspectives in management.

They said Hyosung Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang and Kumho Tire Vice President Park Se-chang also had worked at consulting firms before joining their family’s conglomerates.

Cho started his career at Bain’s Seoul office in 1996 and moved to the firm’s Tokyo office in 1997. After working at Japan’s NTT Communication for a couple of years, he joined Hyosung in 2000.

Park began his professional career at A.T. Kearney Korea in 2000 before joining Asiana Airlines in 2002. In 2005, he moved to Kumho as a manager at the strategy team of the company.

Children of Hyundai Heavy Industries major shareholder Chung Mong-joon also worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company before joining the group. Doosan Group Chairman Park Yong-mann’s son, Jae-won, worked at BCG before joining Doosan Infracore in 2013.

Meanwhile, Chey Yun-jeong’s younger sister, Min-jeong, attracted public attention last year for applying to the Navy’s Officer Candidate School (OCS). It is a rare case for a daughter of a business tycoon to serve in the military in Korea. She is also a granddaughter of former President Roh Tae-woo.

SK Group Chairman Chey has been serving a four-year prison term since 2013 for embezzling corporate funds worth tens of billions of won.