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| Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young |
The "family feud" involving Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young has been making headlines after someone claiming to be his sister, posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website Sunday, alleging he has broken the law frequently.
The petitioner urged the government to take measures against the illegal acts Chung allegedly committed while managing Seoul PMC, which was previously Jongro Academy.
Jongro Academy was founded by Chung's father in 1965 and was involved in multiple businesses, including the country's oldest cram school, and changed its name to Seoul PMC in 2015 after its education business was sold to Haneul Education. Since 2015, Seoul PMC has been focusing on real estate leasing services.
Jongro Academy became an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group in 2005 when Chung, a son-in-law of the automotive group's chairman, received a 57 percent stake in the academy from his father.
The petitioner claimed Chung was given the huge stake because he was a son, not a daughter.
Alleging that Chung increased his stake in Seoul PMC through illegal transactions, she claimed he did not allow her to read the company's accounting books, despite her 17 percent stake in the firm.
In addition, she said the vice chairman managed the company's assets using "borrowed-name" bank accounts.
"He also paid himself 300 million won ($247,000) per year for his "ownership" of the company's trademark rights," she said. "Moreover, he recently ordered me to sell my stake to him at 20 percent lower than the actual price."
As of Tuesday, more than 270 people had signed the petition in support.
The administrator of the Cheong Wa Dae website blanked out the names of Chung and the companies with asterisks, Monday, to prevent a defamation suit.
Hyundai Card has remained cautious about commenting on this issue, saying it is a family matter.
According to the company, Chung Eun-mi, the vice chairman's sister, lost a suit against Seoul PMC in January.
She is waiting for an appellate judgment which will come in late August.
