[비즈한국] Daemyung Sono Group, a comprehensive leisure company operating brands such as Sol Beach, Sono Felice, Vivaldi Park, and Ocean World, was led by Chairwoman Park Chun-hee following the passing of its founder, the late Honorary Chairman Seo Hong-song, in 2001. Only last year did Chairwoman Park promote her son, Vice Chairman Seo Joon-hyuk, to Chairman and entrust him with the management of Sono International, while simultaneously spinning off the construction division to appoint her daughter, CEO Seo Kyung-sun, to lead Daemyung Construction.
CEO Seo Kyung-sun independently leads the comprehensive resort consulting firm Seo & Partners outside of the Daemyung Sono holding company structure, with Seo & Partners overseeing five subsidiaries (Red Stone Estate, Alon Development, Central Partners, Wonmyung Development, and Wonkyung Development). Recently, however, it was revealed that CEO Seo has established a new real estate development firm, "Lee Won Development," which shares the same business objectives as these existing subsidiaries. Why does CEO Seo continue to add subsidiaries that engage in the exact same business activities?
Seo & Partners, a comprehensive resort management consulting firm established by Daemyung Construction CEO Seo Kyung-sun in February 2019, oversees five subsidiaries: Red Stone Estate, Alon Development, Central Partners, Wonmyung Development, and Wonkyung Development. Since 100% of the shares are held by special related parties, including CEO Seo, it is effectively a family-owned company. The primary business objective for all five subsidiaries under Seo & Partners is real estate development.
CEO Seo serves as the CEO for four of these subsidiaries, with the exception of Central Partners. The subsidiary Red Stone Estate is currently pursuing a large-scale resort facility project in Jeju Island called "Scoria Fields Park." The project was previously embroiled in controversy after it was discovered that bribes were paid to the village head of Seonheul 2-ri, Jeju City—the site of the project—while it was initially being pursued as the "Jeju Animal Theme Park." Alon Development was established in 2021, and Central Partners, Wonmyung Development, and Wonkyung Development were established in 2022. It is understood that none of these four subsidiaries have engaged in any actual business operations since their inception.
However, an investigation by Bizhankook revealed that CEO Seo Kyung-sun established "Lee Won Development" as a new subsidiary of Seo & Partners this past March. According to the corporate registry and the Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART), Lee Won Development has a capital of 10 million won and is 100% owned by Seo & Partners. Upon its establishment, CEO Seo Kyung-sun was appointed as its CEO, and it shares the same business objectives as the other four subsidiaries of Seo & Partners. Aside from Wonkyung Development and Lee Won Development, the other subsidiaries remain dormant and are in a state of capital impairment, with concerns that Wonkyung Development is also at high risk of falling into capital impairment.
Why does CEO Seo Kyung-sun continue to establish real estate development subsidiaries instead of scaling up existing ones?
A representative from Daemyung Construction explained, "The five subsidiaries, excluding Red Stone Estate, are Special Purpose Companies (SPCs). They were established to pursue real estate development projects on a project-by-project basis; however, it is difficult to disclose the specific development projects being pursued at this time."