[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that Chae Seung-seok (56), Vice Chairman of AK Holdings and the third son of Aekyung Group Chairwoman Jang Young-shin (90), was appointed as a registered executive of Aekyung Asset Management in January of this year. Vice Chairman Chae previously served as CEO of Aekyung Development but resigned in January 2020 after allegations of illegal propofol use surfaced. He returned to management in January last year as Vice Chairman and Head of the Sustainability Management Office at AK Holdings, but he has been serving as an unregistered executive. His new position as a registered executive at Aekyung Asset Management appears to signal an expansion of his management role.
Aekyung Asset Management operates AK Plaza Giheung and Thermeden
Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok was appointed CEO of Aekyung Development in December 2005. Aekyung Development operated the Joongbu Country Club (Joongbu CC), a golf course located in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do. In 2021, it transferred Joongbu CC to an affiliate, Aekyung Joongbu Country Club (now Gwangju Investment Development), and has since operated the hot spring water park 'Thermeden'. Aekyung Development was absorbed and merged into Aekyung Asset Management in 2022.
Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok resigned as CEO of Aekyung Development effective January 1, 2020. He expressed his intention to resign after being investigated by the prosecution for illegal propofol use. In his first trial, the Vice Chairman was sentenced to eight months in prison, and in his second trial, he received a one-year prison sentence suspended for three years. Neither the Vice Chairman nor the prosecution appealed, so the sentence was finalized.
After keeping a low profile for some time following the trial, Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok returned to management in January last year as Vice Chairman and Head of the Sustainability Management Office at Aekyung Group's holding company, AK Holdings. At AK Holdings, he holds the status of an unregistered executive. An unregistered executive refers to a person who is not listed on the corporate registry but is assigned an executive position or title within the company. Unregistered executives do not participate in the company's board of directors.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok was appointed as an inside director of Aekyung Asset Management in January of this year. Unlike at AK Holdings, he is a registered executive at Aekyung Asset Management. Aekyung Asset Management is the entity that absorbed Aekyung Development, where Vice Chairman Chae previously worked. It currently operates AK Plaza Giheung and Thermeden. Chae Hyung-seok, Vice Chairman and CEO of Aekyung Group (66), and Chae Dong-seok, Vice Chairman of Aekyung Group (62), are also listed as inside directors of Aekyung Asset Management.
Following his role at AK Holdings, Chae Seung-seok is expanding his management reach by being appointed as an inside director at Aekyung Asset Management. However, as the Vice Chairman was previously convicted of illegal propofol use, criticism is expected to arise. An Aekyung Group official stated, "Since Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok holds a stake in Aekyung Asset Management, he was brought onto the board of directors."
Prospects for joint management by the three brothers
Currently, management control of Aekyung Group is effectively held by Vice Chairman and CEO Chae Hyung-seok. The shareholders of Aekyung Group's holding company, AK Holdings, consist of: Aekyung Asset Management (18.91%), Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok (14.25%), Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok (8.30%), Vice Chairman Chae Dong-seok (7.53%), Chairwoman Jang Young-shin (7.43%), and Chae Eun-jung, former Vice President of Aekyung Industrial (Chairwoman Jang's eldest daughter, 63, 3.85%). The largest shareholder of Aekyung Asset Management is Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok, with a 49.17% stake.
While Aekyung Group's system under Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok is solid, the stake held by Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok cannot be ignored. Chae Seung-seok surpasses his older brother, Vice Chairman Chae Dong-seok, as the third-largest shareholder of AK Holdings. In Aekyung Asset Management as well, Vice Chairman Chae Dong-seok is the second-largest shareholder (21.69%), and Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok is the third-largest shareholder (11.66%).
The business world believes that given Vice Chairman Chae Seung-seok has served as Vice Chairman of AK Holdings for over a year, the joint management of the brothers—Hyung-seok, Dong-seok, and Seung-seok—will continue for the time being. With Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok at the forefront of management, his younger brothers appear to be supporting him. Since the stake held by Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok is already larger than the combined stakes of Chae Dong-seok and Chae Seung-seok, the possibility of a split in the business group is considered low.
A business industry source analyzed, "There were talks that Aekyung Group might split off Jeju Air in the past, but there have been no related moves for several years, and no one from the owner family is participating in the management of Jeju Air, so we do not view the possibility of a spin-off as high at the moment."