SK海力士继承者们：当财阀剧本失灵之后

On November 26, 2024, at the Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, the 50th-anniversary ceremony of the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies was held. As the venue lights dimmed, an AI-generated video appeared on the screen, showing Choi Jong-hyun, the second-generation chairman of SK Group and founder of the foundation.

He had passed away suddenly in Los Angeles in 1998, 26 years prior. In the AI video, he spoke again, addressing the young people who had studied abroad on the foundation's scholarships: "Plant a seed in your heart, and I hope you will have the dream of seeing it grow into a big tree; we are willing to wait until the seed you planted becomes a tree."

Sitting at the central table in the audience were his son, Chey Tae-won, the current chairman of SK Group and head of South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, along with the two children Chey had brought to witness the event: his eldest daughter, Chey Yun-jung, and his eldest son, Chey In-geun. Chey Tae-won later explained to the media why he brought them: "This is our legacy, so they need to be trained. They need to see what their grandfather did and what their father did." He said he "obligated them to attend." During the event, he also mentioned "remembering the source when drinking water": when you drink water, think of where it comes from, and beneficiaries should remember those who originally dug the well.

SK Hynix has surged over 700% in the past year, with a market capitalization just surpassing 1,000 trillion Korean won, overtaking its older rival Samsung Electronics to become the most valuable asset in the history of South Korea's chaebols. As the AI cycle propels Hynix to the most prominent position in the Korean capital market, outsiders looking for the company's successors find that SK's third generation hasn't neatly assumed their positions according to the traditional chaebol script. The eldest daughter was the first to enter the group's executive narrative, the second daughter has the deepest connections to Hynix, Washington D.C., and the U.S. military network, while the eldest son, who seems the most likely heir, is instead the quietest one.

After Hynix's Surge, the Old Script for Korea's Chaebol Successors Has Broken Down

The succession of South Korea's chaebols has historically revolved around four key elements: the eldest son, equity, marriage connections, and the father's approval. Samsung, Hyundai, and Hanwha have all followed this script.

In October 2022, Samsung Group's third-generation leader, Lee Jae-yong, was officially appointed chairman, completing the group's generational transition; his eldest son, Lee Ji-ho, recently entered the Korea Naval Academy, preparing for military service early, which itself is a typical "succession training move" for the new generation of Korean chaebols. Hyundai Motor Group followed Samsung slightly later, with third-generation leader Chung Eui-sun taking over in 2020. Hanwha Group, in 2025, saw Chairman Kim Seung-youn transfer half of the holding company's shares to his three sons, effectively handing the empire to the current Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, aged 42, whose status as the eldest son has never been doubted by outsiders.

The core of this script is "letting the public and the market identify the crown prince early." From Lee Jae-yong to Chung Eui-sun to Kim Dong-kwan, regardless of differences in personality, ability, or path, they were all written into the "successor" role by their fathers, families, and the media, gradually moving towards that chair through equity, military service, education, and career training.

SK is different. Chey Tae-won has three children with his ex-wife, Roh Sook-young: eldest daughter Chey Yun-jung (born 1989), second daughter Chey Min-jung (born 1991), and eldest son Chey In-geun (born 1995). All three children are currently relevant to the group's future, but none fits neatly into the "crown prince" position.

Chey Yun-jung was quickly dubbed the "most obvious succession candidate" by Korean financial media, but her focus isn't chips; it's SK Biopharmaceuticals. Chey Min-jung previously handled international trade and policy responses at SK Hynix's U.S. branch, but she left Hynix in 2022 for San Francisco to start a medical venture. Chey In-geun looks most like the traditional male heir, but he left SK E&S in July 2025 to join McKinsey's Seoul office. By the conventions of Korea's third-generation chaebol heirs, a consulting firm represents an "external training" path, not a succession mandate.

Chey Tae-won himself made this quite clear in a 2021 interview with BBC Korean: "It hasn't been decided yet. My children also have to strive for opportunities. My son is still young and will live his own life; I won't force him." When asked if the children's participation in management would require board approval, he answered, "Yes."

This statement turned the succession from a family matter into a public test of legitimacy. All three children must prove themselves, and the means they have to do so are no longer equity, marriage connections, or the status of being the eldest son.

Chey Yun-jung: The 'Most Obvious Heir,' from the Lab to the Boardroom

On June 28, 2024, at the SKMS Research Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, an SK Group management strategy meeting took place. Attendees included CEOs from major subsidiaries like SK, SK Innovation, SK Telecom, and SK Hynix, along with key family members of the group, totaling over 30 people. Chey Tae-won was on a business trip in the U.S. and participated via video. The meeting was described by Korean media as an intensive discussion tinged with a sense of crisis, scheduled for one night and two days, with the first day having "no preset end time" until a direction was formed.

Chey Yun-jung was at the table. She was the only participant attending in her capacity as Chey Tae-won's child, and the youngest executive within the SK Group. The media interpreted her "sudden appearance" as part of a management training course.

To understand how she earned that seat, we must rewind and look at her training. Born in August 1989 at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seoul, her maternal grandfather, Roh Tae-woo, was then the President of South Korea. She spent her childhood and middle school at an international school in Beijing, then earned her bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Chicago—her parents' alma mater. During her undergraduate studies, she also worked for two years as a researcher at the Chicago Institute of Neuroscience and had research experience at the Harvard Physical Chemistry Institute. After graduation, she worked as a consultant at Bain & Company for two years. This is the standard training for a third-generation Korean chaebol heir.

Chey Yun-jung (left) with Chey Tae-won (center) and Chey Min-jung (right)

In 2017, she joined SK Biopharmaceuticals as head of the Strategic Investment team. But in 2019, she made a decision that seemed unlike a typical heir: she temporarily left SK to pursue a master's degree in Biomedical Informatics at Stanford. This was a computational biology direction, not general biology. Two years later, she returned to SK in a strategic role while simultaneously starting a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at Seoul National University. She is still a Ph.D. candidate, majoring in Genetics and Development.

In January 2024, she was promoted to Head of Business Development (Vice President level) at SK Biopharmaceuticals, leading the introduction of radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) and radioisotope supply contracts. This is a core pipeline for SK Biopharmaceuticals' transition from traditional neurological drugs to AI-era precision medicine. Later that year, Chey Tae-won established a new "Growth Support Division" within SK Inc., the group's top holding company, responsible for mid-to-long-term planning, portfolio management, global expansion, and new business evaluation, placing it directly under her charge.

Her marriage also deviates from the old chaebol script. In October 2017, she married Youn Do-yeon, a former colleague from Bain. Youn graduated from Seoul National University's Business School and later served as co-CEO of More (모레), a Korean AI infrastructure startup. More builds software platforms for AI model training and computation parallelization, received a strategic investment from KT in 2021, and was valued at approximately 350 billion Korean won in 2025. This is not a traditional chaebol marriage alliance, nor is it the "marrying a common employee" often described by some media. It represents a new type of elite network combination: a chaebol's eldest daughter marrying a tech entrepreneur of the AI era.

In the succession narratives of female members of chaebols like Samsung and CJ over the past decades, daughters were often visible through art galleries, hotels, charitable foundations, luxury retail, or their children's dowries. Chey Yun-jung's position is different. She sits at the SK Group table deciding future directions. Her visibility is not built on marriage, art, or image crafting, but jointly established by scientific training, consulting experience, a doctoral thesis, strategic investments, and a top executive position in the group.

The way chaebol daughters are seen is changing. Yet, Chey Yun-jung herself rarely speaks publicly. She is discussed by Korean media with the label "most likely succession candidate," but her personal story remains quiet in public reports.

Chey Min-jung: The Warship, Washington D.C., and Hynix's Globalizing Successor

On October 13, 2024, also at SK Group's own Walkerhill Hotel, Chey Tae-won's second daughter, Chey Min-jung, and Chinese-American entrepreneur Kevin Hwang held their special wedding ceremony.

About 500 guests attended, including Lee Jae-yong, Koo Kwang-mo, Kim Dong-kwan, and other SK family members. After a 1.38 trillion won divorce lawsuit, Chey Tae-won and Roh Sook-young appeared in the same space for the first time, sitting side-by-side in the bride's parents' seats. The couple's shared dog was also present.

Chey Min-jung's wedding ceremony

After the groom entered, Chey Min-jung walked into the venue alone, without being given away by her father. The entire ceremony had no officiant. Her sister, Chey Yun-jung, gave a congratulatory speech, and the groom's brother spoke in English. Before the ceremony began, the entire audience observed a moment of silence for the fallen heroes of the Korea-U.S. alliance. An empty table was set on one side, adorned with medals, dog tags, a rose, and a lemon—a U.S. military tradition called the Missing Man Table, honoring missing and fallen service members.

Born in 1991, Chey Min-jung attended middle school at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China and earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. Among third-generation Korean chaebol heirs, almost none have come to China for their undergraduate studies; others typically go to Ivy League schools or stay in prestigious Korean universities. During her studies in Beijing, she reportedly funded her living expenses through scholarships, part-time convenience store jobs, and income as a tutor at an exam prep academy, receiving almost no financial support from her parents. This "path of self-reliance" is an extremely rare marker among Korean chaebol heirs.

In 2014, she made a move that baffled all Korean media: she applied and was accepted into the 117th class of the Korea Naval Officer Candidate School (OCS). While military service is mandatory for South Korean men, it is entirely voluntary for women, and this was the first time a female member of a Korean chaebol family had voluntarily served. During her interview, she said she was inspired by the challenging spirit and leadership of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1915. During the 11-week pre-commissioning training, she often told visiting family and friends: "I am proud to be a daughter of the Republic of Korea. After going through this training, I have an even greater sense of pride."

Chey Min-jung in her naval uniform

She was assigned to the ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin destroyer (DDH-975) as an operations information assistant officer. In December 2015, she deployed with the 19th rotation of the Cheonghae Unit to the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, conducting anti-piracy escort missions. Before her discharge, she served as a situation officer in the Combat Command Headquarters of the 2nd Fleet under the West Sea Fleet Command, retiring as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade) on November 30, 2017.

After her service, she returned to China, working in private equity at an investment firm for about a year, then went to Georgetown University in the U.S. for a master's degree in International Business and Policy. In August 2019, she joined SK Hynix's INTRA department, the external cooperation division, handling international trade and policy responses, working between Washington D.C. and Seoul. This is her direct connection to SK Hynix. But not as an engineer, product manager, or factory operations specialist—her focus was policy. She later moved to the strategy department of SK Hynix's U.S. legal entity, handling M&A and investments.

It was during this time that she met her husband, Kevin Hwang. They were neighbors in the DuPont Circle area of Washington D.C.

Kevin Hwang was born in Indiana, USA. He holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer in 2016 and served in South Korea for about nine months starting October 2020 as a logistics plans officer for USFK. Both have military backgrounds, a connection Korean media described as "deepening their relationship through shared military experience."

In February 2022, Chey Min-jung took a leave of absence from SK Hynix and went to San Francisco to work as an unpaid advisor for Done Global, a telehealth startup. Korean media later revealed she actually served as its CFO. A year later, she co-founded Integral Health with a scholar from the Yale School of Medicine's psychiatry department, serving as CEO, focusing on AI-driven collaborative care and behavioral health integration.

Her current LinkedIn headline reads: "Founder of Integral Health | Investor in Healthcare & AI | Veteran | 2x Exits." The "Veteran" label remains in the most prominent position.

A recurring theme in Chey Min-jung's life is the military. From Shackleton to the Gulf of Aden, from Washington's SK Hynix INTRA to marrying a former U.S. Marine Corps captain. Unlike her sister, she hasn't entered SK's internal management layer, nor did she marry into a prestigious Korean family according to the traditional chaebol script. However, she has concretized the new-era position in which SK Hynix finds itself. Semiconductor companies in the AI cycle increasingly resemble geopolitical entities, dealing with U.S. policy, trade controls, supply chain security, and capital M&A. Chey Min-jung's resume is perfectly aligned with this line.

Chey In-geun: The One Who Looks Most Like an Heir, Yet is the Quietest

Chey In-geun's story begins in a hospital room.

In 2003, SK Group was embroiled in a fraudulent accounting scandal, leading to Chey Tae-won's imprisonment. That same year, his and Roh Sook-young's youngest child, Chey In-geun, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes; doctors said he would need lifelong insulin injections. Chey In-geun was eight years old.

During that time, Roh Sook-young, the daughter of a former South Korean president, moved into the pediatric ward of Seoul National University Hospital with her son. At night, with Chey In-geun asleep, she would sit alone beside him. Roh later recalled in an interview that her son struggled hard with diabetes until he was 17, but he was a very bright boy, often serving in the choir at a church near their home, offering special songs during services with his beatboxing, and studying the Bible with his second sister, Chey Min-jung, at night.

Chey In-geun's educational path differed from his two sisters. He first attended a non-traditional middle school in Korea known for its innovative education, then transferred to Hawaii. His mother, Roh Sook-young's, educational philosophy was "there's no need to be anxious about forcing children into the same universities as everyone else"; rather, one should explore different, creative ways of parenting. While Chey In-geun attended high school in Hawaii, Roh lived there for over two years, accompanying him.

He later followed in his family's footsteps, earning a degree in physics from Brown University. Chey Tae-won also majored in physics at Korea University, and Chey Tae-won's younger brother, SK Group Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, also studied physics at Brown. This is the clearest academic continuity within the family. The father-son