Police Launch Investigation into Choi Tae-won's 'SK Siltron Private Interest Exploitation' Allegation Case

Chairman Chey Tae-won of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry is giving a greeting at the 2022 New Year's Meeting of the Business Community held on the 4th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The police have launched an investigation into the case in which SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was accused of hijacking business opportunities of the holding company SK Inc. by acquiring shares of SK Siltron, a group affiliate.

The Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 5th that it is investigating the case, which was reported by the civic group People's Livelihood Countermeasures Committee against Chairman Chey on charges of violating the Commercial Act and the Fair Trade Act, after receiving the case allocation the previous day.

The People's Livelihood Committee filed a complaint with the police on the 23rd of last month, stating that Chairman Chey's inappropriate actions were against the management ethics pursued by SK.

The Fair Trade Commission concluded after a three-year investigation last month that Chairman Chey had hijacked business opportunities of SK Inc. by acquiring shares of SK Siltron in 2017, gaining nearly 200 billion won in unfair profits. Additionally, the Fair Trade Commission imposed fines of 800 million won each on SK Inc. and Chairman Chey, totaling 1.6 billion won. This is the first case in which the Fair Trade Commission sanctioned a conglomerate head for exploiting business opportunities of an affiliate.

The Fair Trade Commission did not file a prosecution request, considering the lack of precedents in courts and the Fair Trade Commission, which made it difficult to recognize the violation of the law.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.