SK Group digitizes former chairman’s archive

Former SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyon, left, talks to former U.S. President George H. W. Bush at Grand Hyatt Seoul in this January 1996 photo. Courtesy of SK Group

SK Group has digitized the archive of former Chairman Chey Jong-hyun’s business activities as part of its contribution to research on Korea’s modern economic history, the group said Wednesday.

The group said it recently completed the digital restoration works for more than 17,000 documents, photos, audio recordings and video clips related to Chey, two years after it launched the project in 2023 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the group's founding.

Chey, who died in 1998 at the age of 69, was one of the tycoons who contributed to Korea’s rapid economic growth from the 1970s to the 1990s. When he took over as chairman from his older brother, SK Group founder Chey Jong-gun, the group was a midsize company with growth potential, but under his leadership, it grew into one of Korea’s top five conglomerates.

During his tenure, Chey audio recorded most of his business activities, including performance reports, planning sessions, meetings with employees and other important conferences. These recordings captured key decision-making moments of the group, such as important meetings with top executives and conversations with high-profile figures.

Former SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyon, center, enters the Yukong office after acquiring the refiner in this December 1980 photo. Yukong is now SK Innovation. Courtesy of SK Group

The restored archive contains a total of 17,620 items, comprising 131,647 individual clips, pages and pieces. It includes approximately 5,300 audio and video items, 3,500 documents and 4,800 photographs. Among them are 3,530 audio files containing voice recordings of Chey. SK Group said the recordings would take a year to play in full at eight hours a day.

During a 1992 meeting with executives, Chey emphasized a practical approach to research and development, saying, “Employees in R&D should also be involved in market management and marketing because they need to understand where the money flows and what technologies customers are looking for.”

His remarks are in line with chipmaker SK hynix’s market-driven research, which enabled the company to be a dominant supplier for Nvidia’s artificial intelligence processors, the group said.

The archive recordings also include Chey’s negotiations with senior officials in the Middle East over oil supply during the first and second oil crises of the 1970s and Chey’s comments to console employees when the group gave up its telecommunication service license in 1992.

“The archive has its significance as it offers a direct glimpse into the thoughts and philosophies of the entrepreneurs who led Korea’s growth period,” an SK Group official said. “Given the vast volume and age of the materials, restoration was not easy, but we were able to significantly enhance their quality through digital technologies.”