▲ Hyun-sik Cho, Vice Chairman of Korea Technology Group (left) · Hyun-beom Cho, CEO of Hankook Tire (right)
Hankook Tire's management rights dispute structure is expected to become visible sooner or later.
The dispute between brothers and sisters, which began with an adult guardianship application to Yang-Rae Cho (formerly Hankook Tire Group), is expected to reach a turning point with the expression of opinions of the rest of the brothers.
According to the business community, the eldest son, Hyunsik Cho, Vice Chairman of Korea Technology Group, will soon submit a written opinion to the court regarding the request for adult guardianship against Chairman Yang-rae Cho.
An official at the Law Firm, who served as the legal representative for Vice Chairman Cho, said, "As the deadline for submitting the opinions presented by the court is October 5th, we are trying to give our opinions in any way before that." "I am still thinking about whether to do it or to make an opinion as a related person."
Vice-Chairman Cho issued a statement on the 25th of last month and said, "I will participate as a member of my family in the (father) adult guardianship judgment process."
With this submission of the opinion, Vice Chairman Cho's position will be more clearly revealed, and the confrontation between brothers is expected to be clear.
The conflict between the Hankook Tire family came to the fore in June, when the youngest President Hyun-beom Cho took over 23.59% of his father, Chairman Cho, through overtime mass trading, increasing the stake in the Korea Technology Group to 42.90%.
Previously, the eldest son (19.32%), who served as the group vice chairman, and the group COO (Chief Operating Officer and President), and the youngest (19.31%), who served as the CEO and president of Hankook Tire & Technology, had almost the same shares of the brotherhood management structure. .
Including the eldest daughter, Jo Hee-kyung, chairman of the Hankook Tire Sharing Foundation (0.83%) and the second daughter, Cho Hee-won (10.82%), the total family's share is 73.92%.
In fact, it seemed that the succession structure was decided as President Cho Hyun-beom without any conflict, but a month later, in early July, the chairman asked the Seoul Family Court for a trial to initiate limited guardianship against Chairman Cho, and the conflict intensified.
An industry official said, "It seems that the conflict and checks between the brothers continued," and "Vice Chairman Cho Hyeon-sik plays an important role in the recovery of the relationship between Hyundai and Kia Motors, which the relationship wished for so far. It seems that he has been on guard to secure his father's stake.”
Earlier, Chairman Cho also argued through his agent, "It seems that he encouraged his father whose judgment was blurred when President Cho Hyun-beom was arrested and problems were raised in management ability and ethics."
In the midst of this, the younger daughter Jo Hee-won, who has been silent, is also interested in what kind of opinion to submit.
(Photo = Courtesy of Hankook Tire, Yonhap News)