Siblings of Hyundai founder face contrasting fates

By Kim Tae-gyu

In Korea, it was once recommended to have as many children as possible and families full of boisterous and capable boys in particular were envied by ones filled with silent and weighty daughters.

Accordingly, Hyundai empire founder Chung Ju-yung should be a happier man than his life-time rival Lee Byung-chull, who established Samsung Group. The former had a total of eight sons compared to the latter’s three.

With the 10th anniversary of the late Chung’s death this month, however, many of his sons have faced major misfortunes with the exception of his second son, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo.

Tycoon Chung lost two of his sons before his own death. His first son died in 1982 in a car accident and his fourth-son killed himself in 1990. Chung also lost his youngest brother in a traffic accident.

Just after his death in 2001, one of his most beloved siblings committed suicide: Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Mong-hun jumped to his death from his office in Seoul amid a police investigation into slush funds.

Back then, the junior Chung gained authority as the foremost leader of Hyundai with the full support of his charismatic father, who preferred Mong-hun to Mong-koo for some reason.

Chung’s third, seventh and eighth sons run some businesses like department stores or financial firms but they failed to distinguish themselves beyond their family ties in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Excluding Mong-koo, Chung’s sixth son Mong-joon is arguably the exceptional figure among his offspring. As the largest shareholder of Hyundai Heavy Industries, the primary shipyard in the world, he was a presidential candidate.

The former leader of the Grand National Party (GNP) was once regarded as one of the strongest contenders of the governing party to run in the next presidential race next year.

As president of the Korea Football Association (KFA) since 1993 and a vice president of FIFA from 1994, Mong-joon flexed his muscles in the sports communities both at home and abroad.

However, the sixth-term lawmaker saw his support recently plummet.

First of all, he stepped down from the stewardship of the GNP midway through 2010, less than a year after he took the post.

In early 2009, he quitted the presidency of the KFA and failed to be reelected as FIFA vice president late last year, losing to Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan at the Asian Football Confederation Congress.

The 59-year-old also worked on the country’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup last year. A successful campaign would have substantially jacked up his popularity and provided the necessary momentum to achieve his ambition of becoming president. But with Qatar winning the hard-fought competition such was not the case.

Fortunes of second son

By contrast, the sky appears to be the limit for Chung Mong-koo, which has lifted Hyundai-Kia Automotive to one of the world’s top five automakers during the first decade of the new millennium.

When Chung Ju-yung was alive, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors were deemed second-string brands, which prioritized price competitiveness. But after his death, they advanced to become top-tier brands.

The Seoul-based group churned out a total of 5.73 million vehicles last year, up 24 percent from a year before. It aims to crank out 6.33 million this year to achieve the group’s time-honored target of 6 million.

Mong-koo also took over Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C), the country’s largest builder, at the expense of his sister-in-law, Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, Mong-hun’s widow.

Both Hyundai Automotive and Hyundai Group threw their hats into the ring to vie for the 35-percent stake in Hyundai E&C. The latter seemed to be victorious by bidding 5.5 trillion won against the former’s 5.1 trillion won.

Even though Hyundai Group was picked as the preferred bidder and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with creditors, the shipping group lost because of controversies surrounding its funding scheme.

Hyundai Automotive eventually acquired HE&C as the entity agreed a stock purchase contract with creditors earlier this week.

As a result, Mong-koo has bragging rights as the legitimate successor of his father because the two backbones of the Hyundai empire have traditionally been automotive and construction units ― they were Hyundai’s two start-up businesses in the late 1940s.

In addition, his sister-in-law Hyun may be concerned since Hyundai E&C holds a 7.75-percent stake in Hyundai Merchant Marine, which is large enough to worry Hyun in the case Mong-koo joins forces with other shareholders.

As the country’s runner-up shipbuilder, Hyundai Merchant Marine accounts for about 80 percent of Hyundai Group’s total assets and 60 percent of its sales.

At a photography exhibition for the late Chung Ju-yung held on Thursday, Mong-koo said that he would not take advantage of the stake to threaten Hyun’s management rights.

Asked whether he is ready to sell the stake of Hyundai Merchant Marine, however, the 72-year-old replied that he has no intention to dispose of his stock. Hyun would not like of that idea, according to analysts.