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OK Financial Group Chairman Choi Yoon’s Private Company ‘OK Company’ Drops ‘OK’ from its Name

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that OK Company, a mysterious affiliate within OK Financial Group, has dropped ‘OK’ from its corporate name. OK Financial Group’s governance structure centers on Chairman Choi Yoon, with his family holding shares in key affiliates. Among these, OK Company—wholly owned by Chairman Choi—is known to be a vehicle for managing his personal assets without significant business operations. It appears the name change occurred following controversy triggered by labor union accusations after last year's parliamentary audit.

According to the corporate registration, OK Company changed its name to ‘C&P Company’ on December 11, 2024. The move appears intended to dissociate the entity from OK Financial. While Chairman Choi’s spouse, Atsuko Kimura, remains the CEO, Chairman Choi Yoon has been registered as an internal director alongside Kimura following the name change. The company’s address remains the same and is known to be Chairman Choi’s private residence.

Established on November 17, 2017, OK Company is a firm whose exact role within OK Financial Group has remained unclear. Its only public business activities involve providing funding to OK Financial affiliates, such as by purchasing their private bonds. The company has no employees, and as of 2023, it reported a meager revenue of 4 million won and a net profit in the 5 million won range. Its registered business purposes include: real estate-related financial consulting, new technology business funding consulting, financial market research, and investment of surplus funds.

The nature of OK Company came to light during the October 2024 parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee, where OK Financial Group’s governance was scrutinized. During the audit, OK Financial Vice Chairman Kim In-hwan described OK Company as “a firm that manages Chairman Choi’s personal assets” and added, “The group does not manage it.”

In response, Rep. Shin Jang-sik of the Rebuilding Korea Party raised concerns, stating, “A company managing the chairman’s personal wealth exists under a financial group. Is it appropriate for the same corporate group to manage private wealth?” Rep. Shin also pointed out that Chairman Choi’s spouse, Kimura, who is known to be a homemaker, serves as an executive of OK Company and receives remuneration from the firm.

Subsequently, the OK Financial Group labor union (the OK Financial Group branch of the Korean Financial Industry Union) filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on November 26, 2024, accusing Chairman Choi and Kimura of breach of trust and embezzlement (Related article: OK Financial Chairman Choi Yoon’s family accused of embezzlement and breach of trust... will the identities of affiliates be revealed?).

The union raised two main allegations at the time. First, that Chairman Choi’s practice of investing personal funds into affiliates through OK Company and receiving interest in return could constitute self-dealing. Second, suspicions that even though the company generates virtually no revenue, Kimura used corporate cards and vehicles, and processed the rent for her private residence as a company expense.

During a press conference regarding the prosecution complaint last year, the union argued, “We have captured numerous instances of corporate assets being misappropriated for personal use. Misappropriating corporate assets is a violation of the Commercial and Criminal Codes,” adding, “In terms of corporate ethics, this is an issue that can undermine corporate transparency and cause immense harm to investors and employees.”

OK Financial Group stated that it was difficult to verify the allegations surrounding OK Company and the ongoing prosecutorial investigation into Chairman Choi Yoon and his spouse.